Legislature Prepares For State Budget Vote
The California State Legislature is preparing to vote Friday, June 15, on the 2012-2013 State Budget. Friday is the constitutional deadline for having a state budget passed and sent to the Governor.
Both Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Senate Budget Committee Chair Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) say the budget to be voted on meets the Governor’s criteria for being balanced this year - and lays the groundwork for a balanced budget in following years – leading to an actual budget surplus in a few years, as well. The fiscal differences between the Legislature’s budget and the Governor’s budget are, according to both Senators, relatively small, and negotiable. They deal with funding and proposed cuts related to Cal-WORKS and child care; legislative Democrats are holding firm on their belief that they do not want to make cuts to funding that will affect those Californians who are out of work, who are single parents, and who are facing an economy where no jobs are available for them.
In response to concerns from Legislative Republicans that there has been “no transparency in the budget process,” and that they have “…seen nothing in writing,” Senator Steinberg noted that there have been 60 budget committee hearings in the last few months, and that the actual state budget bill is in print for them to review; Senator Steinberg said Republicans have removed themselves from the budget debate in year's past and while he welcomes them to the table, Democrats "...are not going to wait for them."
