Jerry Brown orders California agencies to halt new car purchases

[The Northerner]

The governor also wants vehicles that are not 'essential' for state business to be sold. He says the action is needed at a time when California faces a $25.4-billion budget shortfall.

Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday ordered government agencies to halt new car purchases and sell automobiles that are not "essential" for state business as he launched an effort to cut the number of state-owned passenger vehicles.

The governor said the state needs to reduce spending at a time when it is facing a $25.4-billion budget shortfall.

"There is a lot of wasteful spending on cars that aren't even driven," Brown said in a statement. "And we can't afford to spend taxpayer money on new cars while California faces such a massive deficit."

Brown, who uses his state-owned 2008 Pontiac for work, wants to make a 50% cut in the 11,000 passenger cars and light trucks used mostly by bureaucrats. The state owns 50,000 cars, trucks, vans, buses, boats and aircraft, said Elizabeth Ashford, a spokeswoman for the governor.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-cars-20110129,0,1929180.story

[Imagevision]

1. Go Jerry, Arnie is a hard act to clean up after, but you seem to be doing ok...

[mike_c]

3. if you call balancing the budget on the backs of the poor, sick, and needy "ok...."

Draconian cuts to higher education, social services for the ill and for children, jobs programs for the poor. And Jerry is going to ask permission via ballot initiative to raise additional revenue in a special election during June, which will undoubtedly fail and cause the cuts to double-- yet Governor Brown makes no demands for wealthy individuals or corporations to pay their fair share. While sufficient wealth exists within this state, it is unconscionable to abandon the poor, sick, and needy in order to avoid burdening the wealthy even a little bit.

I think it's refreshing that Brown is being honest about the magnitude of California's budget problems, and that he's willing to confront the issue directly. But it's political patronage as usual when he decided to let the poorest Californians suffer the most from his draconian cuts.

[Tejas]

6. How do you feel about state pensions?

Being you are in CA, would be interested in your viewpoint.

[mike_c]

8. well, I've been working for years in anticipation of receiving one...

...so my feelings could generally be described as "Favorable? Hell yeah!" I'm faculty at the California State University so my pension, like many California state employees, is a defined benefit plan funded by joint employee/employer donations and administered by CalPERS. My impression is that PERS is fiscally responsible and solvent-- it's the largest public employee pension fund in the world, if I recall correctly.

In general though, I believe that all workers deserve to know that when they grow old or become disabled, either their employer or the state will provide for their care and a retirement income. I'd be quite reluctant to spend my working years in service to an employer whom I knew would abandon me as soon as they'd squeezed the last drops of effort from my body and soul.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. You might want to take another look at CalPERS

It is getting wobbly, mostly dues to bad real estate deals. It was also the subject to raids by governors from both parties until and initiative put a stop to it.

It is the one pension I am not counting on when I finally hang it up, which may come sooner than I planned with the recent cuts Brown has proposed, its CalPERS

[CreekDog]

12. Actually they figured out if you all retire too early, it will cost the state millions

because of the furloughs, state workers have been accruing more vacation/leave time, leave that is payable to each employee upon separation. and paying accrued vacation is not a state law requirement, but a national one.

so now the state is worried too many employees will retire.

interesting, isn't it?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. I declined to pursue tenure so technically I can be dropped at the end of any semester

I do not expect to lose my position but it is going to be hard times in higher education here in CA.

[upi402]

2. Wish this guy won the presidency n/t

[Peregrine Took]

4. He's 25 years ahead of everyone else...always has been.

Good methods can save tons of money in terms of government procurement.

Commodities and equipment purchases can realize real savings by doing so but the big money is in contracts and real estate leases.

[Imagevision]

5. Governor Brown needs to demand the wealthy individuals & corporations pay their way not to

copy Obama's tax cuts to the million/billionaires strategy. Jerry brown are you listening!

[melody]

7. Jerry is doing what he can, as he said he'd do

Anyone griping about it too loudly does not understand California politics.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. He is much more constrained this time around

Recent initiatives and even the approach he took to address Prop 13 and Prop 4 have any governor in a corner. Right now he is pulling back on state support which will force localities to raise taxes. Some will go for it, some will not. It will require votes at every step.

[melody]

14. It's just so nice to have an adult in office

And not a movie star who hires fiscal magicians.

[browntyphoon]

11. Good. They can sell off old ones to cover new ones.