Facing a $25 billion state budget shortfall, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed to cut hundreds of thousands of parents and their children from the welfare rolls on July 1. Additionally, law enforcement officials say the governor’s proposal to transfer thousands of convicted felons and parolees to county jails and oversight will “wreak havoc” on the criminal justice system.

“I don’t think there is any question the day of reckoning has arrived,” said Paul McIntosh, executive director of the California State Association of Counties, which has devoted a special section of its Web site — “Counties in Fiscal Crisis” — to educate officials about the situation. Calwatch

The poor would be better served if we break up the state.