The state’s fiscal year began July 1 but California continues to operate without a budget with the Governor and the Legislative leadership still without agreement on how to close a roughly $4 billion budget gap.
I feel strongly that we cannot allow the budget deficit to be used as an excuse to eliminate our safety net programs which would actually cost the state more as a result of lost federal matching dollars as well as additional pressures on California’s emergency services, among other things. The Democratic budget proposal instead maintains welfare to work, childcare, and cost effective alternatives to expensive nursing homes. It is in difficult times that we must defend our core values and the state’s budget simply cannot be balanced on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable populations.
As a result, the call for budget reform is now louder than ever as we have seen how the limitations of the two-thirds vote requirement has crippled the state’s ability to function. To restore California’s economic health and get people back to work, we must begin to solve the structural problems that have led us to this place and pass responsible revenue solutions rather than allowing a slim minority’s attempt to starve the state of cash.
For information about the differences in the budget proposals:http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2010/
Details about the Assembly’s California Jobs Budget can be found at:asmdc.org/issues/budget.
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