Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez on the California State Budget

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Fabian Nunez
Speaker of the California Assembly

Last night through good-faith bipartisan negotiation, the Assembly passed a budget that while far from perfect, is perfectly responsible given the realities of the situation.

Crafting a state budget in California is a difficult endeavor in large part because the 2/3 vote requirement in the constitution makes it difficult for anyone, even the majority party, to achieve everything they would like. Add to that the fact that the legislature is controlled by Democrats and the governor is a Republican quite unlike many of the Republicans in the legislature, and you have a recipe for stalemate.

We threw out that recipe.

The balanced budget passed by the Assembly contains no new taxes, creates no new programs, pays down debt and has the largest reserve in history – all while doing our duty toward schools, the elderly, blind and disabled and other vulnerable Californians like foster kids and the mentally ill. We’re being responsible fiscally and morally.

The budget conference committee chaired by Assemblymember John Laird, one of the most conscientious members of the legislature, drastically improved on the Governor’s May budget proposal by rejecting the most draconian cuts and shoring up the state’s underlying fiscal condition.

The budget passed by the Assembly improves on the conference committee’s work by

Strengthening the reserve to pay for emergencies like forest fires and earthquakes and by narrowing further the structural deficit that overshadows the states financial picture.

People on the extremes probably aren’t going to like this budget. But Democrats can support it because it fully funds K-12 and higher education – including restoring academic preparation programs that help more kids succeed in college and contribute to our economy. Republicans can support it because it has a $1.3 billion higher reserve, an $857 million lower structural deficit and a $1.4 billion lower out year gap than even the Republican governor proposed.