The budget

The fight over how to bridge California’s $19 billion deficit has just set a disturbing record: the longest budget impasse in state history. As this slow motion train wreck has unfolded, thousands of you have contacted me and my staff to express your frustration and concern. Many are distressed about how the budget delay, on top of last year’s $30 billion in cuts, is affecting the North Bay. Many are concerned about raising taxes. Many worry that further cuts will harm education and healthcare. But almost everyone agrees on one thing: a resolution to this mess is needed NOW.

Please know that I hear you, and I agree. I am especially distressed by the apparent lack of urgency in Sacramento about this crisis. I believe negotiations should be taking place all day, every day, but that’s not happening. I believe the Governor should declare an emergency session and all Legislators should be called back to the Capitol and kept there until we have a deal, but that’s not happening either. Instead, last week, even as billions of dollars in deferred payments were creating hardship for school districts and local governments around the state, Governor Schwarzenegger decided to take a trip to Asia with 30 of his staff! Budget negotiations had to be put on hold for an entire week while he and his entourage toured Japan, China and Korea. This is outrageous and unacceptable.

Bridging the $19 billion deficit will require difficult negotiations, major compromises, and painful choices on all sides. But first and foremost, it requires a sense of seriousness, urgency, and political will to work as hard as possible to get the job done. California deserves no less.
That’s why I’m continuing to call for more than just waiting for the on-again/off-again “Big 5” process to make a breakthrough. I’m asking the Governor and legislative leaders to bring the entire Legislature back to Sacramento and lock us down in hearings and deliberations focused 100 percent on bringing closure to the budget impasse. I’ll keep pushing for this type of urgency and commitment in Sacramento, and exploring every creative option for producing a fair, workable budget compromise that puts our fiscal house in order while protecting education and preserving essential safety net services.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman