The Senator Reports

May 7th, 2009

The Importance of Financial Literacy
By Senator Mark Wyland

I was pleased to see the subject of genocide awareness featured last week in The Paper. Exposing students to the mistakes of the past is an important step in preventing future genocides. That is why I authored The Genocide Awareness Act this year in the Legislature, which would strengthen genocide education in high schools.

Only by acknowledging horrific events of the past can we effectively transform the future. The more we educate our kids, the closer we are to determining why it is genocide happens over and over again. With over six million public school students, California has the unique opportunity to influence a huge number of the next generation of citizens by helping our children understand the terror of genocide so it doesn't happen again.

My colleague Senator Simitian said it best when he stated, "Until we confront these issues in a forthright, intellectually honest way, never will we avoid the temptations ahead."

Senator Mark Wyland represents the people of the 38th Senate District, which includes cities in north San Diego County and the south Orange County cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

Senator Mark Wyland
1910 Palomar Point Way, Suite 105
Carlsbad, California 92008
760.931.2455 Office
email: senator.wyland@sen.ca.gov

Numbers Don't Lie
By Assemblyman Martin Garrick

Last week, I wrote about the importance of finding waste, fraud, and abuse in state government. It is beyond reason that legislators would continually ask voters to support an increase in taxes and spending without a full and fair accounting of how state dollars are being spent.

This week, the California State Auditor released its annual audit of “improper activities by state employees.” The results are unsettling and further illustrate my point about wasteful spending in Sacramento.

For example, the auditor reports that the Department of Corrections wasted $580,000 leasing office space that was unused for four years. The auditor also reported that a Department of Fish & Game employee improperly charged the state $71,747 in travel reimbursements, lodging and expenses that she was not entitled to. Sadly, these two examples are just the tip of the iceberg. In total, the audit revealed close to $40 million in improper spending by the state.

Perhaps these new numbers will get the attention of legislators who feel that raising taxes is the only way to solve our budget problem.

Assemblyman Martin Garrick serves the communities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, Vista, and portions of San Diego, Escondido and Oceanside as the Assemblyman for the 74th District.