…and the skies are grey. I missed it when it came out, but Reason put out a survey of California’s budgetary figures for the last twenty years or so and the results are not encouraging for the “if only we’d tax more” crowd.

High points:

Since 1990, California’s spending has grown at a staggering 5.91 percent a year – a 180.9% increase. They’re almost tripling the government every twenty years. Population growth and inflation combined come to only 4.38 percent per year – meaning that spending growth has outpaced the population and cost increases. Even subtracting the population and inflation figures, there’s been an absolute growth of 35% – meaning that the government is a third bigger than it was less than a generation ago. Sometimes government has to grow (WWII) – but even liberal statists must recognize that a government that doubles in absolute size every lifespan isn’t sustainable.

Since 1990, general fund expenditures have gone from under $1500 per capita to more than $2500 per capita.

Oh, and by the way? If California had kept spending at 1990 levels plus proportional increments for inflation and population growth, they would have a $15 billion surplus this year.

And education spending has shared the upward trend. Since 1990, general fund K-12 spending has increased 191.5% – a 6.11% annual increase, outpacing both inflation + population growth AND the general fund  expenditure growth rate. (Higher ed spending trailed those figures, “only” doubling and growing at 4.18 percent a year.)

California’s problem is that they decided to grow the government more than  anybody was willing to pay for – not that greedy taxpayers aren’t willing to come across. The greedy taxpayers are coming across in huge numbers and with great big fat checks and with a strong upward growth trend (outside the current recession).

It’s just that the wishlist has grown even faster than their revenues.