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I came to Sacramento with the hope of solving problems and making California prosperous again.
I am encouraged that Governor Brown seems genuinely committed to solving the significant challenges our state faces.
California has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation – now at 12.5 percent – and we continue to deal with a budget crisis that this year alone stands at $28 billion.
I applaud the governor for his no-nonsense approach to California’s challenges. For example, although mostly symbolic, he’s right to take away thousands of non-essential cell phones from state workers.
However, Governor Brown’s budget proposal will not restore California’s economy. Government must spend your tax dollars efficiently and effectively. That will require real and permanent spending reductions, not more taxes.
Only one-third of the governor’s proposed budget includes actual spending reductions. In this budget, there are more than $4.5 billion in so-called cuts that are really nothing more than an accounting shell game – he’s simply moving money from one account to another.
The governor is also asking voters to extend the recent tax hikes. Higher taxes didn’t solve the problem two years ago. It won’t solve it now. Taxpayers already said “NO” to a two-year tax extension in 2009. Why would they now vote to tax themselves for five more years?
And most importantly, this budget does nothing to help the more than two million unemployed Californians get back to work. The only way to put an end to this budget debacle is for government to get out of the way and let the business community create and retain jobs. More people working means more revenue for the state. More revenue for the state means the state can provide needed services.
The governor has proposed a good starting point. My Republican colleagues and l look forward to working with him in the weeks ahead to get California back on the road to recovery.