Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton responded to Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg’s representation that the budget being voted on Wednesday "responsibly and honestly 
promises to put California’s fiscal crisis behind us once and for all."
"The simple truth is, the budget the Senate Democrats are putting up for a vote on Wednesday is not a balanced plan," said Dutton. "It is just another short-sighted tax-and-spend scheme that relies on a $50 billion bailout from California taxpayers. It does nothing to fix the state’s budget crisis or put Californians back to work. The Democrats say, "Let the people vote," but what the Democrats really want is for the people to pay for government as usual."
The Democrats’ budget proposal is not half cuts/half taxes:
- $50 billion in total tax increases over 5 years
- $26 billion in extra spending over 3 years
- $14 billion in tax hikes this year
- $7 billion in cuts
- $7.5 billion in gimmicks
The Democrats’ budget proposal has no long-term solutions:
- No plan to put people back to work
- No pension reform
- No spending cap
- No change to government as usual