Sep 12, 2008 10:24 am US/Pacific
Budget Mess Sinks CA Lawmaker Rating To Record Low
SACRAMENTO (CBS 5/KCBS/AP) ―
California voters have had it with state legislators over their on-going failure to pass a state budget. A new Field Poll out Friday morning puts their job rating at a record low.
Just 15 percent of California voters approve of the job being done by the state legislature, while 73 percent disapprove. That's the lowest approval rating ever given lawmakers in polls taken by Field over the last 25 years.
"This is about as low a measure as we've ever seen for any institution in this field poll's history. We measure governors, we measure the job performance of presidents, senators, congress, and this rating, 15 percent, is as low as we've ever seen," said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo.
And he says that dissatisfaction is across party lines.
"If you look at the approval ratings of the legislature, just 17 percent of Democrats, 12 percent of Republicans, and 16 percent of non-partisans approve," said DiCamillo.
The poll also found that California voters are more supportive of budget-balancing plans proposed by Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger than of one offered by Republican lawmakers.
The survey found that 32 percent of respondents backed the Democratic plan. It would use a combination of spending cuts and higher taxes on the wealthy and businesses to eliminate a $15.2 billion budget deficit.
Thirty-one percent supported Schwarzenegger's proposal to use spending cuts and a 1 percent increase in the state sales taxes to eliminate the state's red ink.
Nineteen percent liked the GOP proposal to borrow about $2 billion from future state lottery revenue and cut more than either the governor or Democrats proposed.
The telephone survey was conducted Sept. 5-9. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
None of the budget plans has yet to generate the two-thirds majority needed for approval in the state Assembly or Senate. This is the longest California has ever gone without a budget. Its fiscal year started July 1.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Democrat from Los Angeles, blamed the Legislature's failure to pass a budget on the fact that California is one of the few states that require more than a simple majority to approve a new spending plan.
Democrats have majorities in both houses, but need some Republican votes to pass a budget bill.
Bass said Schwarzenegger also is at fault because he has not been able to persuade GOP lawmakers to back a plan that includes tax increases.
The lack of a state budget prevents the state from making billions of dollars a month in payments. They include support for some school programs, aid to local governments, payments to companies that supply prisons, hospitals and other state facilities, and the salaries of elected officials and their staffs.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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