Many CA state parks are going to be closed, among them Fort Ross, Jack London, Angel Island, and here is the link to the SF newspaper article

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAJO17TG6U.DTL

Wow, that is a pretty comprehensive list. As far as I know, this will shut off just about all public access to coast redwoods except within the national park. And closing Mount Tam!!! Hard to believe.

We have heard this before. I don't think the legislators will allow it unless they don't want to keep their jobs.

They MAY close, it's a PROPOSAL right now and it may never happen, or only some might close.

Well, as our governor found out - the people have spoken and they don't want to pay for services provided by taxes. They don't want to pay increased taxes, they don't get to keep existing services.

This is a bit nuts. It will only save $70 million and hundreds of state rangers will lose their jobs and our parks will be unprotected with just a padlock on the gate.

I hope the first time someone drowns on a "closed" state beach that the family sues the state for $70 million. Or what if someone starts a fire in a "closed" state park and it burns down a bunch of homes worth more than $70 million?

How's about cutting the legislative staffs? Or reduce their cost of living allowances? Or cut down on prisons - send those prisoners to the Farallon Islands? How about cutting all the fraud, waste and abuse in state government? Hey! I know! Let's cut the health benefits that these legislators have granted themselves! That'll save more than $70 million!

et, I agree. Not to mention that the Parks belong to the people of California.

At the next election we should vote every single one of them out.

LOL the taxpayers oif CA pay plenty for services. They voted that the legislature should solve the problems they are getting paid to solve and stop shiftng the responsibility to make budget decisions to the voters.

Notice how all the cuts are to the most emotion-filled departments and agencies. It truly a "punishment" mentality in Sacramento.

Suzie, I agree.

But, some of those things actually require a vote because they change the constitution or something. The legislature had passed all of them by large margins.

Get rid of Prop 13. That's what ruined California schools, and most of the state too. People here seem to think the Tooth Fairy pays for everything. Calif. needs a new constitutional convention to rewrite all our state laws and get rid of all the mandated initiative spending that takes about 75% of the budget and leaves the Governor little room to run things. Its not the Governors fault, nor the legislators, IMO..its the people of Calif. who want more and don't want to pay for it...or understand how it gets paid for.

I agree Suzie - they are now "punishing" us because we voted down their poorly-written, confusing, borrow from Peter to pay Paul measures.

Getting rid of Prop 13 always comes up, but what would you replace it with? I'd agree that we need some change, but we don;t want ot go back to the pre-prop 13 years when retired people, and others, couldn't afford the property tax on their paid-for homes.

I'd like there to be discussion about assessing property tax at a fixed amount per square foot for single family homes. Doing this would encourage smaller homes, using less electricity/gas and even less material to build. No matter how much, or how little the property's marklet value was, or when it was bought, the tax would be the same amount per square foot for everyone.

Someone else will have to come up with an idea for apartments/condos/commercial property!

Also, California was doing fine until Enron screwed us for billions of dollars.

Face it, California is in the state it is in because of its' insane immigration and spending policies. It has allowed millions of low income, unskilled illegal migrants with high birthrates who require a high degree of public assistance because of these factors, into the state. Any criticism was labeled "racist". Combine this with the socialist spending policies of the state of California and this is what you have. Why should the rest of the country have to bail California out? Let them live with the consequences of their immigration and spending policies. Let the rich Hollywood movie stars who are so for this to bail the state out.

corli33,

First, the immigration policies you mention are FEDERAL, not set by the State of California.

As for the rest of the country "bailing" California out...why not? We've been bailing the rest of the country out for a long, long time. Even now, California's GDP represents about 10% of the GDP of the nation. Let Califonria collapse, and wherever you live will be doing the same soon after.

If we had an ounce of intelligence, we'd educate to the max all the children of "illegal" workers so that they would get good jobs, pay into social security and support the rest of us.

By the way......if you are illegal you can not get government services...no food stamps, no low income housing, no government programs at all. You can be treated in an emergency room (the most expensive kind of health care) and children can receive an education.

You also can't just apply for and receive a Green Card. The wait for a Green Card is over 12 years for Mexicans/Hispanics....this is assuming you have done everything legally. Once here in the USA illegally you are screwed, and can't become legal unless there is some sort of amnisty program. Mexicans/Hispanics work harder than our own kids. Just try to get an American kid to work in the fields either in the rain and cold of winter, or under the broiling sun of summer. That goes for just about any other "starter" job too. Our kids seem to expect to start off in high paying jobs that require little actual work.

If you would like to sign a petition that was started by the CA State Park Foundation to keep our parks open here is a link.
http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_may09

"As for the rest of the country "bailing" California out...why not? We've been bailing the rest of the country out for a long, long time."

California hasn't been bailing the rest of the country out, that's laughable. California is in the shape it's in because of its' irresposible socialist spending policies. The rest of the country is taking care of itself.

"If we had an ounce of intelligence, we'd educate to the max all the children of "illegal" workers so that they would get good jobs, pay into social security and support the rest of us."

If we had an ounce of intelligence , we'd enforce our immigration laws. We can't afford to educate a large part of Mexico. The schools, especially in California, are sinking under the weight of the offspring of so many illegals.

"By the way......if you are illegal you can not get government services...no food stamps, no low income housing, no government programs at all"

There is massive fraud and identity theft here and social services often never checks plus free medical care at the emergency rooms cost billions and is the reason so many hospitals have shut down because they can't afford to stay open. Not to mention the much higher levels of crime which costs money. Anyway, once here, many illegals have about 10 "anchor babies" and then collect all kinds of benefits for their babies.

"Mexicans/Hispanics work harder than our own kids. Just try to get an American kid to work in the fields either in the rain and cold of winter, or under the broiling sun of summer."

This is nonsense, you know the same nonsense that "they do the work Americans won't." Most American kids want work but can't find it because they've been replaced by Mexicans . The only shortages would be in migrant work and one can get a certain number of legal contract workers from Mexico for that, not mass illegal immigration. I blame greedy White American employers for this. Employers get the "slave labor" while the rest of America picks up the social costs of so many poor. Only the employer wins.

Face if folks, illegal migration and our government's failure to control our borders costs Americans 380 billion a year in everything from free medical, crime, schooling etc. and is THE major reason along with irresponsible socialist spending policies California is going broke. This is why California should have to live with this and should get no bailouts. So should anywhere else. Deny reality at your own peril. Fill up your country with the 3rd world and you'll have a 3rd world country. Don't our kids deserve better?

corli, For every dollar in tax money that is sent to DC from California, only about 75% comes back to our State. Some other States get as much as 200% back. It's past time for California to get funding for Federal mandates from the Federal government. That is a huge area of expenditure here that can't be reduced or stopped.