March 31, 2009

Statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera on House Democrats’
state operating budget proposal released today

"Since day one of the legislative session we have known the state faced a massive budget shortfall, which makes 79 days of inaction by the majority party hard to understand. State lawmakers could have made important policy changes in early January that would have reduced state spending and the size of the budget shortfall. Instead, very little was done and our problem has now grown to an unprecedented level.

"At a time when we need fundamental changes to state government and state spending, the House majority party budget proposal represents more of the same. For example, it relies heavily on one-time federal dollars, diverts money from other important funds and borrows against our state’s future. It actually spends more money than our last budget. This short-sighted approach prolongs tough decisions, pushes our problems into the future and almost guarantees a large budget shortfall in two years.

"I continue to support a no-new-taxes budget that streamlines state government. This approach prioritizes public safety, transportation, education and safety-net services for our vulnerable citizens. At the same time, we must fundamentally change our budget process. For example, a constitutional spending limit, a balanced budget requirement and a system in which extraordinary revenue generated in good economic times is set aside. These are just a few proposals that would prevent current budget problems from ever happening again."

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For more information, contact: John Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758