The Eureka Reporter

Mary Beth Wolford and Dan Heinen listen as Assemblywoman Patty Berg speaks to a crowd of approximately 50 people during the Northern California Association of Nonprofits meeting at the Baywood Golf and Country Club in Bayside on Friday.

by Diane M. Batley, 5/15/2005

Assemblywoman Patty Berg (D-Eureka) was the featured guest speaker at the Northern California Association of Nonprofits meeting at the Baywood Golf and Country Club in Bayside on Friday.

"We all know (regarding nonprofit organization programs) you can't have a successful program without investing in outreach," Berg said to the crowd of approximately 50 people.

Democrats in the Legislature have drafted a budget proposal which they will release next week, Berg said.

The budget, transportation, education and health and human services are all important elements of the plan, she said.

Berg also spoke to the crowd about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts in education spending.

Schwarzenegger has reneged on his educational promises for kindergarten to 12th-graders and still owes them $2.3 billion, according to Berg.

She said she did not "believe we have a spending problem. We have a revenue problem."

Berg's district includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino and Trinity counties as well as parts of Sonoma County.

She serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long Term Care and as Chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. She also serves on the Assembly Health, Appropriations and Water, Parks and Wildlife committees.