Los Angeles 04/15/2011: State Senator Curren Price spoke on the future of California. He started his talk by acknowledging the budget cuts. He stated that $60 billion were cut from the budget this year and most of these cuts reflect o n education, and particularly universities and community colleges. State Senator Price countered that by saying that California has always been able to sustain its growth level. It is the 8th largest economy in the world.
Where as in 1980 17% of the state budget was allotted towards education today only 10% of the state budget is allotted towards the education. State Senator Curren Price has begun a program that would award schools more funding if they agree to implement the best policies.
Price talked about the gap between the labor market and California’s supply of college educated workers. This discourages businesses from setting up in California. Business increasingly prefer to go to markets where the supply of labor is favorable. This in turn cuts tax revenues for the state, raises unemployment and lowers wages in California. The way forward is to encourage more business to set up in California to bring California back to its status as n economic powerhouse.