PCL E-Mail Blast Archive, 2008 -

PCL Insider: News from the Capitol   Breaking Records in Olympic Fashion: State Budget Now 74 Days Overdue   On Monday and Tuesday, the Senate and Assembly respectively voted down a state budget proposal offered by Republican legislators. As of today, September 12th, the budget stalemate has now lasted a record-setting seventy-four days.   The Republicans' proposal called for deeper spending cuts than both Governor Schwarzenegger and Democrats have recommended, including slashing water quality programs, public transportation, and programs to help restore the state's beleaguered fish populations. The proposal also relied on stop-gap measures such as more borrowing, this time from the State Lottery. The Department of Finance has questioned the legality of such an approach, and Senate Democrats on Monday were quick to point out that borrowing our way out of this year's deadlock simply defers the problem until next year.   The floor votes were more of a chance for legislators from both sides of the aisle to rearticulate their priorities than an attempt to garner the necessary two-thirds vote required for passage of the state budget. The measures failed in the Senate 13-21 and in the Assembly 27-45.   On Monday, the Assembly also amended SB 1072 to reflect the revised budget proposal offered by the Governor late last month. This proposal includes a temporary increase in the state's sales tax, which Republican legislators have rejected. While the bill was amended, the Assembly voted not to vote on the measure.   Republican leaders are now pushing for emergency spending measures to cover programs and vendors that have not received payments since the state's fiscal year started on July 1st. Democrats have been resistant to such proposals, noting that they allow members to get out of town without seriously addressing the state's budget problems.   PCL |  PCL FOUNDATION |  DONATE NOW! Please add pclmail@pcl.org to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. You are receiving this email because the email address was subscribed to our email list. Having trouble reading this email? View it on our website. 1107 9th Street, Suite 360, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone (916) 444-8726 • Fax (916) 448-1789 • pclmail@pcl.org Copyright, 2008 The Planning and Conservation League. All rights reserved. Privacy and Contribution Policies. Click here to unsubscribe

PCL Insider Archive, 2005 - 2008

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