Compromise Calif. budget draws sharp criticism
By The Associated Press
Friday, September 19, 2008
Lawmakers approved a revised spending plan Friday after agreeing to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's demands for budget reform, ending the longest budget stalemate in California history. Here's a sampling of reactions to the $143 billion budget plan:
"Unfortunately the Legislature was unable to make the hard decisions to end our structural deficit, but this budget is an improvement of the earlier versions."—Gov. Arnold Schwarezenegger.
"It is not the perfect budget by a long shot, but it does address a few goals Republicans set out to achieve. ... In our opinion, increasing the sales tax to close the deficit, as proposed by the governor, would have resulted in an additional 60,000 people losing their jobs."—Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto.
"No one is running around here defending this budget. The real question was: Could we have done any better without a tax? The answer was no. The governor couldn't get anybody to support a tax in his party. The Republicans had the final say and they said no."—Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.
"It's compromise in the worst sense: It compromises our ability to give our kids better schools, provide our families better health care and make our communities more livable. It's the most irresponsible budget of the past half-century."—State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, a Democrat.
"It is totally irresponsible. This budget fails to pay for the commitments the state has already made for education, emergency medical care, police and fire protection, and essential human services."—Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a Democrat running for governor in 2010.
"It's particularly irresponsible to leave a cut of that magnitude on the doorstep of the next governor."—Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project.
"The Legislature and the governor have sold out the future of this state in exchange for a house of cards that will collapse in a matter of months."—Courtni Pugh, executive director of Service Employees International Union California council.