State payroll bloated? Think again

Over and over, the right wing tells us, California government is too big. It's been repeated so many times that it's become conventional wisdom.

The facts, however, tell a different story.

California actually had the third fewest state employees in proportion to its population in the country in 2008, according to a new report by the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy. In fact, California is 28 percent below the national average.

Other implications from the data:
• Between March 2008 and October 2009 state and local government declined by approximately 70,000 jobs while California added approximately 600,000 residents. As a result the ratio of employees to population in each of the three categories discussed above has declined in California. Declines in state and local government employment were experienced in some other states as well.
• The data suggest that at the aggregate level California is not overstaffed relative to caseloads in the major program areas. Indeed, a stronger case can be made that public programs are being carried out with less staffing than in most other states.
• Public agencies in California continue to face serious budget challenges as the weakening economy reduces revenues while most caseloads are still increasing. States and local agencies face mid-year budget revisions and can look forward to a very challenging 2010-2011 budget year with continuing challenges in following years even with a moderate economic recovery and associated revenue gains.

So if the state and local government payroll has shed 70,000 jobs, then why is California on the financial brink of disaster? It is more than just the recession. Ever since the 1990s, Sacramento has been handing out tax cuts and tax loopholes to millionaires and large corporations. And the consequences of 20 years of misguided policy have finally come home to roost.