Keeping California’s State Parks and Beaches Open and Safe from Robocuts

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In this week’s Democratic weekly radio address, Assemblymembers Ira Ruskin (D-Redwood City) and Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) explain why Democrats want to protect California’s state parks and beaches from closures and drastic budget cuts.

You may listen in English or Spanish. The transcript is below.

Hello, this is Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Environmental Resources.

Soon, millions of Americans will travel during spring breaks, vacations, and weekend getaways, and many will choose California’s treasured state parks and beaches as their destination.

State parks and beaches have provided Californians and visitors from around the world the chance to enjoy breathtaking views they will remember for the rest of their lives.

During this tight fiscal year, Assembly Democrats recognize that Californians value our state’s investment in state parks and beaches.

Camping in the forests of our state parks cannot be replaced by video games or the Internet.

Our state beaches provide tens of millions of yearly visitors the tranquility of the California Pacific coast, and in return, these visitors provide an important source of revenue for hundreds of beach communities across our state.

And for our children and adults alike, historical state parks are valuable tools for understanding our shared history.

Unfortunately the 10% across-the-board budget cuts proposed by the Governor will close 48 state parks and beaches.

Even though our state parks generate $2.35 in revenues for every dollar we spend on them.

Of the 6.5 million people that visited these threatened parks last year, many were from out-of-state, spending valuable tourism dollars in California businesses.

There’s a reason every state in the union actively promotes a tourism economy.

Leading the attack, however, are legislative Republicans, who refuse to consider any new revenues for our state parks or other valued services.

We need to have a conversation about the values we share in this state, what we’re all willing to do to preserve California’s quality of life.