Just off the transom — from State Senator Bob Dutton, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee…

Senate Republicans Announce Website to Keep Taxpayers Updated on Latest Budget News

On Friday, Senate Republicans launched a new website to track the latest news and developments on the 2008-2009 budget crisis. It should be a one-stop shop for taxpayers to stay informed about the budget debate.

The multi-media site will serve as a clearing-house for budget-related news, policy briefs, opinion pieces and legislative proposals. It also features sound clips and video that will shine the light on some of the shenanigans that seem to transpire every year about this time.

California faces a $17.2 billion budget deficit, which is certainly no easy pill to swallow. Democrats, however, propose to raise $11.5 billion in mystery taxes, increase spending by $4 billion over the Governor’s proposal, release felons without parole supervision, and cut funding to local law enforcement on a $106 billion total spending plan that seems to grow exponentially even in tough economic times. Just as California families must do, legislators need to learn how to live within their means using taxpayer dollars.

California taxpayers have made it clear that they expect us to balance this budget without raising taxes. It’s clear to me that we have never had a revenue problem, but rather a spending problem. This website will give Californians access to the facts they need to understand why we need to end the spending addiction. Senate Republicans stand united in protecting hard-working families from tax hikes and ensuring the state spends no more than it takes in.

According to a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll, almost 70 percent of Californians believe the state is headed in the wrong direction and that the budget is a “big problem.” 

The easy-to-navigate and comprehensive website will be updated as lawmakers wind through the budget process and should be your one-stop shop for budget answers.

Of course, you can count on the team here at FR to alert you to items of interest as they appear on this new website!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.