Garamendi: Governor's 2008 - 09 Budget Does Not Meet Needs of California

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By John Garamendi
Lieutenant Governor
State of California

The budget proposed today fails a very simple test: it does not meet the needs of California.

Thirty years ago, I began my career in public service hopeful that our state could do more to improve the lot of California’s families. Sadly, the budget debate today is about how our people can get by with less – less education, less healthcare, and fewer opportunities for the future.

California is at a crossroads. We know we can no longer paper over the fiscal challenges that confront state and local governments, but neither can we abandon our moral responsibility to protect the most vulnerable, or compromise the historic promise of our Golden State.

There is no question that our state’s chronic structural imbalance calls us to carefully examine our budgeting priorities, remembering that the success of the Golden State over the past half century was based on a robust, entrepreneurial private sector matched by state investments that propelled us into the 21st century.

We built the foundation for innovation and achievement with the world’s best education systems that trained our workforce and researchers, a highway system unparalleled in its effectiveness at moving goods to market and people to work, and a water system that gave life to the California economy as we know it today.