SEIU Calls Unfair Budget Evidence of a Broken Process
Statement of Courtni Pugh, Executive Director, SEIU California State Council
"SEIU recognizes that in facing a $42 billion budget deficit, Legislators had few easy choices. But this budget does not represent shared sacrifice. The past three state budgets have forced families who are struggling to make ends meet sacrifice too deeply. This budget represents more of the same approach.
"It is unclear how the Legislature and Governor can justify taking away so much from seniors, people with disabilities, families struggling to make ends meet, and kids while giving away over a billion dollars a year in tax breaks to corporations.
"Even worse than the devastating cuts is the budget cap. The cap makes all of the cuts permanent, guaranteeing that our schools, our healthcare and other services will remain among the lowest-funded in the country and will never recover.
“Proving that our budget process is broken, the state’s two-thirds vote requirement allowed the minority party to bring us to the brink of disaster. SEIU believes that we need to fix the broken budget process to protect the interests of the majority of Californians, especially kids, seniors and people with disabilities.”
SEIU California State Council represents over 700,000 workers throughout California in all of its diversity. SEIU members in California are social workers, nurses, classroom aides, security officers, college professors, homecare workers, janitors, and more.