“The similarities between California and the auto companies are especially striking. Neither can afford their workforce. California schools pay their employees 35 percent more on average in wages and benefits than the national average (17 percent more when adjusted for the state’s higher standard of living), a significant bite because the state funds much of local education (to the tune of $42 billion last year). Benefits are a big part of these costs.”
“Another budget buster is California’s spending on social services, clocking in at about 70 percent more per capita than the national average. Leading the way is state spending on cash assistance programs (that is, welfare), where the state expends nearly three times more per resident than other states.”
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Most of these costs exist because we have more illegal immigrants than most (any?) other states. The school districts, prisons, and social services departments are not allowed to officially track how much of the costs are due to illegal immigration, IIRC, but I can assure you (having worked for one of these institutions years ago) that it is a VERY significant burden.
Time for taxpayers to stop subsidizing businesses via covering all their employees’ expenses (schooling, medical care, legal expenses, social services, etc.) for them and their kids. If employers want us to have an open border, then they should cover all expenses incurred due to the resulting immigration from poorer countries.
I believe that simply fixing our illegal immigration problem would eliminate at least 80% of our budget problems in California, and probably eliminate 40-50% of the violent crimes in our state.
