California Assembly Passes State Budget with Republicans Cutting $1.2 Billion From Transit...

[villager]

Source: Ca. Progress Report

California Assembly Passes State Budget with Republicans Getting $1.2 Billion Taken From Transit, 4 Month Delay in COLA for Disabled and Seniors, Cut in Prop 36 Drug Treatment Funds

*Tax Giveaways to Large Businesses Also Pass Assembly in Separate Bill Not Tied to Budget Bill

*Perata Blasts Tax Credits; Senate Republicans May Have "Unit Rule" to Oppose Unless Majority of Them Agree to Support


The California Assembly finished its work a couple of hours before the sun rose this morning and passed a revised budget bill by a vote of 56 to 23. Assembly Republicans got about $1.4 billion of the $2 billion in cuts they demanded, and it is fair to say that this budget passed largely on the backs of public transit and with a four month delay of cost of living increases for the aged, blind, and disabled. Assembly Democrats did manage to save kindergarten to 12th grade education from cuts Assembly Republicans had demanded.

A separate bill containing a package of 5 tax credits, some of them directed to large businesses, not tied specifically to the state budget, also passed on a 51-19 vote and was apparently a sweetener to the deal required to get Republicans to vote for the budget. There also are changes to the way that national corporations' tax obligations are computed. It is expected to cost $600 million a year, and unless there is sunset language which has not been discussed, this will continue indefinitely unless a two-thirds majority backfills this amount at some point in the future. This is not likely.

All of this faces an uncertain fate in the State Senate where a two-thirds vote is needed for passage. Senate President pro Tem Don Perata blasted the tax giveaways, noting that a tax credit for teachers that had been a feature of past budgets was removed.

Although Democrats have 25 of the 40 Senate seats, only two short of the 27 needed to pass a budget and therefore only two Senate Republicans are needed to accomplish this, Republican Senators apparently have made a pact with each other that unless a majority of them (8 out of 15) are willing to vote for a budget, they will withhold their votes. So much for post partisanship and any individual judgment. \

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Read more: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/07/california_asse_19.html

[tandot]

1. Cuts in spending for the poor and tax giveaways for large corporations

Again, Republicans fucked CA.

I use public transportation and more is needed here. I hope that those fuckers who voted for Republicans get stuck in traffic for hours without end each day they put their asses in their gas-guzzlers.

[villager]

2. good public transportation is bad for oil companies, and thus

bad for Republicans. They have made their donors happy, once again....

[DBoon]

15. Republicans are affluent suburbanites

They look at public transportation as something that the lower classes use. In their mind, if someone can't afford a BMW, why should they get subsidized public transit

[Megahurtz]

3. Wow.

:wtf: Cutting funding for Public Transportation right after the Bus Drivers
all received their 10% pay increases? This is not going to go over well.:(

What fucking ReThuglican assholes.

[villager]

4. the next step is to see how this "compromise" fares in the state senate...

n/t

[sarcasmo]

5. Cut Mass Transit spending so Oil revenues go up.

I wonder how many of those reps who had voted to cut mass transit spending were owners of an oil stock?

[villager]

6. certainly they benefit from the "contributions" aka bribes...

n/t

[kimmylavin]

7. Oh yes...

Because what we need in California is less public transportation... what a bunch of jerks!

And yes, let's make sure to screw over the elderly and the disabled while we're at it.
The Dems managed to "save" education - what the hell were the Repubs trying to kill it for???

[villager]

8. because the Repubes wanted that money to build prisons...

n/t

[AX10]

9. To those around here who said that Arnie was not that bad....

just look at this. Cuts for public transporation? :wtf: Delays in COLA? :wtf: Tax cuts for massive corporations? :wtf:

:argh:

[villager]

10. yup... but then, the Assembly Repubbies don't like him because he's "too left..."

n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Cuts for public transportation.. with a governor who CLAIMS

to want to fight global warming.

[villager]

12. he doesn't still drive his Hummer, does he?

n/t

[ProudDad]

13. Last I heard the groppensteroidenfuhrer

sold three of them...

That leaves him with only three left...

Poor bastard... :sarcasm:

[devilgrrl]

16. Oh I know!!!!

Then they let him skate on the whole ENRON debacle.... yeah, he ain't that bad. :eyes:

[Joanne98]

14. They keeping attacking transit because they want to privatize!

It's why they attack Amtrack!