Republican teachers in the California Teacher Association’s (CTA) Republican Caucus, are calling on their local Republican legislators to get on the bandwagon and support Gov Brown’s tax extensions, according to the CTA. Why not, the taxes will hurt the poorest members of the state most, while letting the wealthy off the hook and Republicans are the party of the rich, right?
The Republican teachers made the statement at a news conference at the Visalia Adult School, in California’s Central Valley, which includes some of the poorest counties in the state. Ironically, Central Valley teachers are not particularly well-paid and will be harmed by the tax extensions, while the wealthy ranchers and oilmen of the region will be hardly affected.
Unfortunately, they were a little late to the party. It is way past the deadline for getting the measure on the ballot. In fact, if the legislature doesn’t come up with a budget today, its members will stop getting paid. In response, the Democrats have come up with an austerity plan that will balance the budget without raising taxes, a plan that they believe they can pass without Republican support.
Here are some of the cuts (as reported in the SF Chronicle):
An additional $150 million each will be slashed from the UC and CSU university systems (they each lost $500 million in March
$3.5 billion in money owed to K-12 education will be delayed for another year
$1 billion earmarked for early childhood education will be transferred to the general fund
Control of state buildings will be given away to private companies
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