Senate Republicans prioritize Californians’ needs in budget, urge Newsom and Democratic leadership to do the same

Republicans in the Senate, led by Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Vice Chair Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks),have submitted a letterto outline statewide budget priorities to provide Californians with greater safety, prosperity, and more opportunities.

Sent yesterday to meet the deadline for statewide priority requests, Republicans called for common sense priorities in this letter.

"California's budget should reflect Californians' needs," said Senator Niello. "Legislative Leadership asked for our priorities, and now it is up to the majority party to move forward in a transparent and bipartisan approach. We look forward to the opportunity to focus on practical solutions that avoid fiscal challenges in the future."

California's largest-in-the-nation budget has ballooned in recent years. General Fund spending has increased by nearly $86 billion, or 60%, since Governor Gavin Newsom took office while the budget process has become increasingly less transparent.

Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) stated, "If Democrats and the governor could manage the state's budget effectively, we would have more than enough resources to address critical priorities and fix California." He continued, "Senate Republicans stand ready to work with our colleagues across the aisle to break the cycle of escalating debt and budget deficits that are projected to persist for years."

Senate Republicans' budget priority requests include:

• Wildfire Prevention & Preparedness. $3 billion annually for long-term and ongoing funding for forest and vegetation management, keeping seasonal firefighters on payroll year-round.
• Building Water Storage Now. $1 billion to build projects enhancing water reliability and supply, safeguarding communities and protecting property.
• Tackling Crime. Support the will of the voters by allocating $400 million in annual Prop. 36 funding to allow implementation of the treatment-focused approach to reducing California's dangerously high crime rate.
• Investing in Jobs. Relieve job creators of the $21 billion in unemployment debt the governor saddled them with in the wake of his pandemic-related business shutdowns. Burdening businesses with that debt - that the state should have paid off in the first place - will only make it more difficult to create new jobs in California.
• Investing in Students. The legislature should reject the governor's plan to cut more than $1.2 billion in funding to the University of California and Cal State University systems and nearly $400 million from Middle Class Scholarships.
• Caring for Medically Fragile Kids. $4 million in this budget and $8 million annually to go for increasing the Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate for pediatric day health centers.