We received this commentary from Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, who hails from Ventura County. The Republican legislator had this to say:
Kudos to Senate Republicans for Insisting on a Balanced Budget
By Assemblywoman Audra Strickland
When I first ran for office, I told the voters of my district that I would be responsible in spending their hard-earned dollars. To me, that means not supporting increased or new taxes, providing benefits to illegal immigrants or spending more than the revenues the state takes in.
While some say that this year’s budget (in the current SB 77) may be "the best deal we could get", I was still unable to support it. Because many forecasters have given our economy a less-than-rosy outlook, it is imperative that we do more than what the Democrats are proposing and properly articulate our Republican position.
Democrats always claim that any reduction in spending will cut education and public safety. The budget is a reflection of our priorities. One quick glance at the budget package, recently approved in the Assembly, shows just how skewed the Democrat’s priorities are. Education and public safety must not need to be prioritized after benefits to illegal immigrants and growing the state’s bureaucracy.
For example, Democrats proposed and supported the elimination of the teacher tax credit – a $170 million dollar tax increase on teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies for their classroom. As a former teacher, I am well-aware of the considerable costs incurred by teachers on behalf of the students in our classrooms.
Additionally, this year’s budget does not require those who receiving the state’s portion of taxpayer-paid benefits to prove their legal status in this country – whether it is for non-emergency healthcare, in-state tuition rates at community colleges and universities, food stamps, abortions and more. Admittedly, this is something all Republican legislators want to change but are helpless due to the Democrats unwillingness to join us.
Much has been made of the fact that the budget that passed out of the Assembly has an operating deficit less than the one initially proposed by the Democrats. To me and the voters of my district, it is still a deficit. Don’t forget that we still have a structural deficit built into the budget and we will automatically start next year’s budget negotiations with a multi-billion dollar deficit.
Lastly, I could not vote for a budget that does not reign in the out-of-control growth in state government. Over that last decade, state government spending has more than doubled. Over the last 4 years, it has grown by over 30%. To make matters worse, state government services have not improved similarly in the same time period and I doubt the average salary for Californians have either.
The budget is now in the hands of our Senators. My colleague, Assemblyman Rick Keene, said it best when he said "If our Senate Republican colleagues can improve it (the budget) …, we support and applaud them."
Kudos to Senate Republicans for insisting on a balanced budget. Count me amongst those who are encouraging them to continue the fight for an improved and more responsible budget.
Because this legislature is controlled by Democrats, this year’s budget may not look like anything Republicans would introduce. However, I look forward to taking our Republican message of a smaller government that lives within its means to the voters of California, ending taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants and measure it up against Democrats who instead want to deficit spend, cut education, cut public safety and raise taxes.
July 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Democrats want to cut education? Huh? All cuts to education were proposed by Republicans, not Democrats.
July 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Were these proposed cuts in the classroom or were they cuts to the apparatchiks in the teachers union?
July 24th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Classroom.
And you have to love the chutzpah of someone who decries the elimination of the teacher tax credit. The teacher tax credit suspension–which hasn’t been in place for years–is part of the budget, as proposed by the Governor. There was no support for it from legislative Republicans, the above post nothwithstanding.
July 25th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Look my mom was a teacher and she always said one of the things that really annoyed her was how the union always talked a good game. But the money they wanted never made it into the classroom. You make that assertion that these are classroom cuts but that is what the union always says. What is really needed is a change from memorizing names and dates to teaching our kids deductive reasoning. Not hoping they cram and remember. But actually teaching our kids how to problem solve.