This assignment pulls together some of the things we have le…
This assignment pulls together some of the things we have learned and practiced throughout the course, applied to environmental policy. We address two important questions in this exercise: What do you want your state government to do with your tax dollars? How can you let your state representatives know that? GET INFORMED: Each year the Governor proposes, and the state legislature passes, California’s statewide budget. This budget funds everything from the community college you are currently attending to the state prisons you hope to avoid. California is required to pass a balanced budget–the revenue you bring in through taxes has to match or exceed the money you spend on public goods and services (though there is a way to kind of kick the can down the road in times of crisis). Go to the California Budget Challenge page and click “Take the Challenge.” Read the introduction, which explains the current budget situation in California. After you click “Start Now” you can click “Skip” when you see the page on Budget Reserves and Resiliency. 1. Start the Budget Challenge by looking at “Spending,” and click where it says “Climate change and/or wildfire and forest resilience.” Read the Pros and Cons of increasing spending on any of these environmental programs. Do you think we should raise spending on any programs to address climate change and/or wildfire and forest resilience? Cut and paste the description of one budget item listed as “Spend” in red and explain why you think we should or should not fund that item. Answer in 5-6 complete, grammatically correct sentences, making sure to specifically reference the stated Pros/Cons and to explain which groups you think this budget item might impact. 2. Now click on the tab on the side bar that says “Revenues” and look at “Income Tax.” The California economy is weaker than in years past and we are currently in a budget deficit year, meaning that in order to maintain status quo climate change and wildfire prevention programs we would need to raise more revenue. There are two options to raise revenues (one of which would raise $5billion, the other $22.3 billion.) Read the Pros and Cons of each of these options. Do you think that we should raise revenue to fund climate resiliency through any of the income tax proposals you read about? Cut and paste the description of one of those revenue item and explain why you support or oppose raising revenue that way. Answer in 5-6 complete, grammatically correct sentences, making sure to specifically reference the stated Pros/Cons and to explain which groups you think this budget item might impact. PLAN TO ACT: 3. Find Your California Representatives in the California Legislature. Write down the names of both your State Senator and your State Assemblymember. Write 2-3 sentence phone script that you could use to tell them what you think our priorities should be related to climate change and wildfires. What kinds of things do you think are the most important to fund? The process is just like calling Congress–refer back to the How to Call Your Representative page for a refresher on how it works — so make sure your script reflects what you learned about how to make those kinds of calls. OPTIONAL CIVIC ACTIVITY: This is certainly not required, but I encourage you to try it! If you do, send me an email to let me know how it went. a) Call your state reps and try out your script! OR b) Send an email to your state representatives sharing your opinions about education