‘Public’ Budget Debate Is Fiction, Issues Really Settled In Private

If you wonder what is going on with the state’s budget, due June 16, then you should realize that it’s not a public process. One writer called the public hearings on California spending part of a “fiction” that it’s a public process, and that must be frustrating to hundreds or thousands of people wondering about job security or if they’re going to have access to the courthouse.
 
But it’s not just the legislature. Gov. Jerry Brown Gov. Jerry Brown was quoted in the L.A. Times recently saying that negotiations over the state budget would take place “a lot in private, and a little bit in public.” That was before the talks skipped over the hard stuff and went into private discussion. From what we can tell, some $100 million in increased court spending seems secure on the legislative side but the governor has not signed off yet. How does that compare to other issues?
 
Well, a proposal to restore a dental program for poor adults is in the Senate spending plan and would cost more than the courts increase – $131 million. Read about that here