Author: Jennifer Yoder, California Senior Alliance
California politicians have been on a spending spree. In just three years, the politicians blew a $100 billion surplus, resulting in a $30+ billion deficit. Spending per resident went up by 38% in just five years.
So what results did voters get for all that taxpayer-funded spending spree? Homelessness exploded, schools stagnated, and roads crumbled. The politicians have spent more and more, only for us to get less in return.
Instead of funding priorities that matter to seniors and all Californians, the politicians chose to waste it. Here are just a few examples.
- $37 billion on homelessness — with zero accountability and a worsening crisis.
- $230 billion to build a High Speed Rail system — up from its original budget of $33.5 billion.
- $31 billion lost to unemployment insurance fraud.
- $1.2 billion on a secretive Capitol office building — double the original budget.
- All while ignoring 75% of the State Auditor’s recommendations to cut waste or promote efficiencies.
With the record budget surplus gone, the politicians are already calling for higher taxes. Instead of cutting back on wasteful spending, they want you to bail them out. Sacramento politicians proposed more than $800 billion in new taxes over the last two years—hitting your income, your purchases, and even the miles you drive.
California doesn’t have a tax problem, we have a spending problem.
Seniors living in California already pay the highest income, sales and gas taxes in the nation. Meanwhile, our cost of living is soaring, and taxpayers are receiving worsening services in return. How much more in taxes do we need to pay for the politicians’ out-of-control spending?
Every senior should know that California needs to fix its wasteful spending before sending Sacramento another dime.