SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) made the following statement in response to the Governor’s proposed State Budget:
“On August 24, 2007, the Governor declared, ‘the budget deficit is zero.’ Now he is telling us that we must devastate the workings of state government to close a $14 billion deficit. What he didn’t tell us in August, and he’s not telling us today, is that he unilaterally created $6 billion of this problem on his first day in office. He is now asking hard working Californians to dig us out of the hole by slashing everything in government—from public schools and universities, healthcare, services to the poor and law enforcement. Until the Governor restores the $6 billion revenue stream he cut, we can’t have an honest conversation about this budget crisis. I will do everything I can to make sure he doesn’t balance the deficit on the backs of poor, elderly, disabled and middle class citizens of this state.”
For those joining in gay marriages today, the road from outlaw status to respectability was paved in the Legislature over three decades.
From decriminalizing sex between same-sex couples, to outlawing job discrimination against homosexuals, to adding gay members to the legislative roster, the government has been taking steps, measure-by-measure, that have led to gay couples joining hands in marriage ceremonies across the state.
