I don't know if they can cut the budget in half, but I would be happy if they would simply lose the "Spend everything in our budget or we will lose it" mentality. I too live in California and you would think that with the increase in revenue generated from property taxes over the past few years, we would have a surplus of cash, not a deficit. IMO they should be forced to begin with a 0 based budget and prove the need before our money is spent. And while they are at it....legalize the weed...California could become a cash rich state rather than one close to BK. Like I said, I don't use the stuff, but I don't see the difference between marijuana and cigarettes (actually I think marijuana has less health risks...could be wrong), and the last time I checked...cigarettes are taxed pretty high.