In the State Budget, Too Many Good Programs Can Sometimes Be Bad

Gov. Jerry Brown‘s new state spending plan could be called a chicken budget — as in the chickens are coming home to roost.

Not bad chickens, mind you. But expensive.

The birds I’m talking about are programs, mostly worthwhile, that Sacramento previously enacted. Now they have to be paid for.

Dig deep into Brown’s $171-billion budget proposal for the next fiscal year and you’ll find a flock.

California’s generous treatment of Obamacare, for example.

This state was the first to embrace the federal Affordable Care Act. We even bought into an option that expanded Obamacare’s usage through Medi-Cal, our healthcare program for the poor.