The Senator Reports

July 30th, 2009

The California Budget Deal
By Senator Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad)

Last week, again in the wee hours of the morning, the Legislature passed the 2009-2010 California budget for the second time this year. While there are things to like in this budget, such as no new taxes, major reforms to In-Home Supportive Services and CalWORKS, there are also pieces not to be in favor of, like raiding local government, typical budgeting gimmicks and most importantly, the lack of major reform.

I did not overall support this budget because it is another one of the same that created this huge deficit to begin with. It includes too many one-time fixes that will, as the Governor has said, "kick the can down the alley" for future generations. The package did not include the real reform that California needs, like my proposal for a two-year budget. Major reforms like this would allow the Legislature to measure effectiveness of government programs, so we can ensure we're getting the most for your taxpayer dollars.

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

Assemblyman Martin Garrick Issues Statement Regarding the State Budget
By Assemblyman Martin Garrick

Last week, the State Legislature passed a budget revision that was an important step towards eliminating California’s $26 billion dollar deficit. I’m pleased that we made progress in addressing the overspending of past years by reducing this year’s spending to $84 billion from the $96 billion budget adopted in February.

We also made progress by enacting reforms that will save taxpayer dollars by reducing fraud in health and welfare programs, as well as eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy like the Integrated Waste Management Board. However, there are still challenging times ahead. If the economy continues to worsen, we could very likely find ourselves debating budget revisions again this fall.

Moving forward, the Legislature must do more to close the long-term budget problems that have hurt our state for years. Without true reforms these budgets fixes will only be temporary band-aids.

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.