California’s Legislative Analyst: More State Budget Deficits to Come

Commentary When I came to California in 1987 to write about state politics, one of the pleasant surprises was the Legislative Analyst’s Office. I like using data in my articles. And they provide analyses that truly live up to their “nonpartisan” label. That has happened even as the state has shifted away from a two-party system as the Democrats have achieved supermajority status in both houses of the Legislature, meaning more than two-thirds of votes. I have disagreed with them whenever they have called for tax increases to solve “budget problems,” Sacramento parlance for deficits, because Californians already are taxed way too much. But it’s always good to work with objective numbers....