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“The State Budget: Will a
Ballooning Deficit Lead to a Grand Compromise?” will be the subject of
“The Maddy Report,” a half-hour public affairs program scheduled to air
at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 19, and 4 p.m. Sunday, April 20, on KSEE
Channel 24.
Joining Maddy Institute Executive Director Mark Keppler in Sacramento
for the TV interview will be two of the “Big 5” governmental leaders who
negotiate the state budget – Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los
Angeles) and Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines (R-Clovis).
The program also will feature Elizabeth Hill, a non-partisan legislative
analyst and one California’s most respected experts on the state budget.
The guests will discuss the budget process and key issues being debated
that will impact the quality of life in the San Joaquin Valley.
While some analysts suggest California could tally $16 billion or more
in debt over the next few years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently
declared a “fiscal emergency.” The governor has proposed a budget that
calls for more deficit financing and 10 percent across-the-board cuts
that would shrink funding for schools, close state parks, cut payments
to the poor and release more than 20,000 non-violent prisoners. That
still may not be enough, according to some experts.
Among the issues: How did the
state go from a $4.1 billion reserve to a $1.9 billion deficit in less
than a year? And what about next year—when experts project an $8 billion
deficit?
Don Jackson, Maddy Institute chair, said this and other Maddy Report
programs provide the balanced, fact-based and thought-provoking
examination of issues facing the region, state and nation that is a goal
of the institute.
The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno
was established in 1999 by the California Legislature. It honors state
Sen. Ken Maddy, whose 28 years of public service was marked by
integrity, legislative know-how and bipartisanship.
The Maddy Institute’s mission is to provide non-partisan,
interdisciplinary and fact-driven analysis of public policy issues
impacting our region and state. The institute also provides practical
training for local officials and civic leaders, fellowships for Fresno
State students with local state and federal legislators, and symposia
and extension courses on a range of topics relating to public policy and
public administration.
For more information about The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute, contact the
institute at 559.294.9119 or
mkeppler@csufresno.edu.
A podcast of this program will be available online at
www.maddyinstitute.org.
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