California's treasurer says the state's lawmakers need to fix the budget before the spending plan's annual structural deficit balloons out of control. Bill Lockyer projected the state's finances over the next 20 years. He concludes the current structural budget debt could grow to more than $14 million in two decades.
Lockyer says the analysis recommends balancing current infrastructure needs with realistic expectations about borrowing for the future.
Lockyer : It’s not easy, but that's the best I can do is lay out a menu and the hope that it'll at least be catalytic and there'll be some robust discussion among policy makers to try to actually get to the goal.
Lockyer says the goal is a fiscally-sound spending plan. He says a key component will be making debt service a budget priority that'll compete with other spending priorities. Lockyer says lawmakers should take into account the impact of borrowing on other state spending like education.
