COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:

Two months ago, the California legislature passed a “get out of town” budget following a record-breaking budget impasse.

Long-term budget reform offered up by Republicans was disregarded by the majority party in favor of one-time-solutions that did little to help our state weather the economic storm that swept through our country in October. With California’s economy in freefall, it is estimated that our budget deficit has now grown to as much as $11.2 billion, and it’s getting larger by the day. Permanent solutions are needed to reduce the long-term deficit, and failure to act is simply not an option if we want to save California from bankruptcy. So, where do we go from here?

Undeterred by the economic meltdown, Governor Schwarzenegger is once again calling for tax increases as a part of the solution — $4.7 billion, to be exact. Cheered by Democrats, these new taxes include a 1.5% sales tax increase, a new oil production tax, and slapping the sales tax on various services like appliance and furniture repair, vehicle repair, and veterinary services.

Raising taxes is unnecessary and downright dangerous in our current economy. History has shown that higher taxes never bring in the revenue promised, and actually result in less tax revenue because of the damaging effect tax increases have on the economy. Higher taxes could be the last straw for many companies teetering on the edge, forcing some to shut down, downsize or move to other states, threatening more California jobs at a time when our unemployment rate is already at a 12-year high. We should be focusing on job creation and economic growth, not coming up with ways to devastate our economy even more.

Californians already pay more than enough in taxes to fund our state’s most important priorities.

What we must do is better prioritize spending to meet our citizen’s needs, go through the budget line by line to eliminate wasteful government spending and suspend new programs that we cannot afford. While no one enjoys making difficult budget choices, a bankrupt state government cannot provide vital services to anyone, even the neediest Californians. We must act now to find savings in every area of the budget, while safeguarding education dollars and acting responsibly and with compassion for those who rely on government for essential services.

JIM SILVA is the assemblyman for the 67th district, which includes Huntington Beach.