Senators Wrangle Over Budget Details; Californian’s Left Hanging

 

Senators Wrangle Over Budget Details; Californian’s Left Hanging

 

As the stand-off between republicans and democrats in the State Senate continues, local representatives urge Santa Barbara County residents to petition to end the budget impasse.

Assemblymember Pedro Nava made rounds Aug. 7 and 9, from Santa Barbara to Ventura, in hopes of getting residents to support his petition to California Republican Senate Leader Dick Ackerman to end the budget impasse and approve the 2007-2008 state budget proposal with one more republican vote.

“I believe it’s important to put a face on those in our community who are harmed by the continuing state budget impasse because of the ongoing intransigence of a few in the senate,” Nava said, in an Aug. 7 press conference. “They are holding the whole state hostage, creating hardship not only for the most vulnerable in our community, but all Californians.”

Nava’s visit to various local healthcare and social-service providers, including Santa Barbara’s Eastside Neighborhood Clinic, came after the budget failed to pass in the State Senate in early August.

Though the Assembly passed the state budget and sent it to the State Senate for approval July 20, it still has not been approved by the senate, which needs at least a two-thirds vote to pass the budget. The budget was supposed to be approved in mid June.

Many republican senators are not happy with the proposed 2007-2008 state budget, arguing that the proposal is unbalanced. Some of the disagreement reportedly stems from how bond proceeds should be spent in relationship to Assembly Bill 32, better known as the Green House Gas Bill. A.B. 32 enforces a limitation and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

“A.B. 32 is one of the reasons for the stand-off,” Ackerman said. “There was an agreement last year between the republicans, democrats and the governor, that the bond proceeds were going to be dispersed through the budget and that the implementation language was going to have to be agreed to by a two-thirds vote.

“One of the implementations has to do with trying to reduce spurious lawsuits, and [Attorney General] Jerry Brown has already started his lawsuit activity and it’s pretty clear to everyone that what he’s doing could inhibit the ability for us to spend these bond proceeds as the people voted for.”

While the majority of republican senators are not budging, Sen. Abel Maldanado, R-Santa Maria, is the sole republican senate member to vote in favor of the budget. Maldanado could not be reached for comment.

Many democratic senators, including Nava, assert that republican senators are abusing their power by including items such as A.B. 32, that they say are not budget items.

“There are a number of disagreements. The one that I think is the most inappropriate is the republican senators’ desire to prevent the attorney general from implementing A.B. 32. This is a legislative issue not a budget issue,” Nava said.

Ackerman, however, refuted Nava stating: “He is incorrect. There will eventually be regulations adopted under A.B. 32 that would allow anybody to file suit to try to stop a public or private project when there’s no regulation to set up any criteria.”

Though a budget agreement is long overdue, both sides seem to agree on one thing — a budget needs to be passed soon.

“We’re hopeful we get a budget as soon as possible because I think it’s important for the people of California to have a budget,” Ackerman said. “But it’s also important to have a responsible budget. And the budget which started with the conference committee report last May or June would have put us deeper in debt.”

Nava said he does not want to see the impasse continue any further.

“The longest time it’s extended in the past was approximately 67 days. I certainly don’t want to repeat that experience,” he said. “We already have health care clinics that are using lines of credit or have dipped into savings to provide services to people.”

If the stalemate does not end soon, some local health organizations and other non-profit organizations may be forced to close their doors.

Dr. Cynthia Bowers, executive director of the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, stressed the impact that the hold out has had on the allocation of state funding to the clinic.

“More than half of our clinics’ funding comes from reimbursement for services performed under state contracts,” she said. “Non-profit agencies such as Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics do not have any reserves to fall back on to cover costs of staff and supplies without ongoing income. We will be able to operate for a short period of time by borrowing money to cover costs. However, I am very concerned that in less than a month we will no longer be able to provide these necessary services.”

For more information about the 2007-2008 state budget, visit www.ebudget.ca.gov.