(SACRAMENTO, CA)  The following is a statement released by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus, on the release of the Governor’s May Revision for the 2007-2008 budget for California.

“I was hoping that the Governor’s revised budget proposal would be good news for Californians.  But it isn’t.  The news is downright awful.

The Governor proposes more budget cuts in order to make accelerated debt payments on his Economic Recovery Bonds.  It’s a bit like making a double mortgage payment while ignoring the electric bill.  It just creates a different problem.

In order to make these accelerated payments, the Governor’s budget reduces monthly subsistence payments to the blind, aged, and disabled of our society.  This serves the interests of Wall Street investors over the basic needs of the vulnerable in our state.

The revised budget is also a departure from bi-partisan efforts to expand protections for agricultural land in California.  The Governor wants to eliminate all funding for the Williamson Act.  This proposal is shocking in its ignorance.  California cannot have a future in agriculture without preserving its farmland.

The Governor’s revised budget also cuts $1.3 billion in public transportation funding.  This defies the reality we are facing when gas prices are high and demand for public transit is rising.”