Who’s Counting Beans Now?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he hates ballot-box budgeting, with “autopilot” funding mandates that tie his hands when it comes to drawing up a budget. We agree.

That’s why this and almost every major newspaper in California editorialized more than two years ago against Proposition 49, the platform used by the not-yet-governor to launch his political career. The measure passed in November 2002, ensuring $550 million a year for after-school programs. It kicks in automatically once state revenue grows by a certain amount, now forecast to happen around 2008.

It provided no new revenue source for the purpose. It was just another unfunded spending mandate.

At the time, Schwarzenegger scoffed at critics, calling them unimaginative bean counters. Increases in revenue would more than pay for the program, he said.

Look who’s counting beans now. “Do the math,” the governor said in his State of the State address Wednesday as he proposed to suspend -- for the second year -- Proposition 98, the funding mandate guaranteeing that a set share of the budget goes to schools (a much higher priority to most voters than after-school care). “Our revenue increases by $5 billion but our spending increases by over $10 billion,” Schwarzenegger complained.

The governor appears to have learned that increased revenue doesn’t always mean extra cash to spend as you want. Though more money might be coming in, there also are more requirements for spending it -- debt service on bonds and other ballot-approved measures, as well as more residents needing more services. In fact, feeding the Proposition 49 mouth would probably mean even more money diverted from schools.

After-school care is a noble goal. So are healthcare, public safety and a host of other public programs that Sacramento must juggle each year -- and that it now is looking to cut as evenly as possible.

Mandated spending “has taken away the freedom and the responsibility of legislating,” the governor said. So true.

If Schwarzenegger wants the public to grant him and the Legislature some of that freedom back, he can show he means it by starting with his own contribution to the quagmire: putting a revocation of Proposition 49 on the ballot.