SACRAMENTO (MCCLATCHY) — In a bold legislative move never before attempted, a committee of hungover California Democrats is demanding that global positioning technology be embedded into every dollar spent by the Newsom administration.
“Gov. Newsom wants California state government to spend $7,039.57 every second of every day, but literally no one can tell us what happens to that money,” said San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu. “Well, with GPS, we can track a $20 bill from the Assembly Committee on Budget to the pocket of a homeless drug addict defecating in a potted plant.”
Democrats came up with the idea after state Auditor Elaine Howle said the state can’t track whether $5.7 million in daily Education binge-spending goes to students in need, after spending on Homelessness must rise to $4,716 per minute because homelessness is growing, and after spending on the Bullet Train must rise from $17 to $27 per second or the project risks more cost overruns.
- Total state government spending: $7,039.57 per second
- Bullet train spending: $17.74 per second
- Homeless spending: $78.60 per second
- Education spending: $3,995.43 per second
“Take the homeless for example,” Chiu said. “No government entity knows how cities, counties and agencies are using the state’s budget to shelter and care for 151,000 homeless Californians.”
Chiu and other Democrats say it’s time to end reckless spending.
“The lack of accountability — for how the money is spent and whether it’s producing results — is no longer acceptable,” Chiu said. “With centralized data in the form of GPS tracking, we’ll know if California’s binge spending is actually working.”
