"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday will seek to put a fresh spin on a host of familiar money problems facing California as he delivers his final State of the State address.
After six full years in office and numerous failed efforts at budgetary reform, the Republican governor is confronting the reality that he has largely failed to achieve the fiscal reforms he promised when he took office in 2003. His chances of securing them are waning.
His final year in office is likely to be overshadowed by the economic misfortune that has plagued the state in recent years and sent tax revenue plunging."
"There is something very wrong with our budget, with our tax system. There is also something very wrong with our budget system, since we don't have a rainy day fund to cover some of these downturns and so on," he told reporters during an education event in Sacramento. "So I've been talking about that since I came into office and I will continue talking and fighting for those kind of issues."
Still, he lamented entering his final year, asking reporters to let him "live in denial" about his shrinking window of opportunity to achieve long-lasting fiscal reforms.
But the ever-optimistic governor indicated Tuesday that he will continue pushing an aggressive agenda in 2010 that will include plans for tax, political and pension reforms.
After six full years in office and numerous failed efforts at budgetary reform, the Republican governor is confronting the reality that he has largely failed to achieve the fiscal reforms he promised when he took office in 2003. His chances of securing them are waning.
His final year in office is likely to be overshadowed by the economic misfortune that has plagued the state in recent years and sent tax revenue plunging."
"There is something very wrong with our budget, with our tax system. There is also something very wrong with our budget system, since we don't have a rainy day fund to cover some of these downturns and so on," he told reporters during an education event in Sacramento. "So I've been talking about that since I came into office and I will continue talking and fighting for those kind of issues."
Still, he lamented entering his final year, asking reporters to let him "live in denial" about his shrinking window of opportunity to achieve long-lasting fiscal reforms.
But the ever-optimistic governor indicated Tuesday that he will continue pushing an aggressive agenda in 2010 that will include plans for tax, political and pension reforms.