SACRAMENTO - Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-28) issued the following statement in response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal:

“This is a brutal budget proposal. I am not happy with these proposed cuts. There is no question that Californians are really going to feel the pain, in their schools, colleges and local communities. State parks will close and our most vulnerable people -- the poor, the disabled and the elderly -- are all going to feel the impacts.

“I was a mayor for eight years -- I know the tough decisions you have to make when the money just isn’t there.  For the most part, I think that the governor spread the pain as fairly as possible. 

“Budget cuts are only a short term strategy to deal with the fact that our revenues are down.  We need a long term plan to also deal with the imbalance between revenues and expenditures. We have a historic opportunity to stimulate the California economy using the infrastructure bonds to put Californians to work building much-needed public works projects. Private-public partnerships could put private investment dollars to work to help build projects which government can not fully fund.  I think this is something we should seriously consider. 

“As Chair of the Local Government Committee, I am relieved that that the governor did not shift state fiscal problems to local government by taking local tax dollars.  I’m also relieved that the governor’s proposed cuts to county heath services, the local COPS program, Rural Sheriffs and the Williamson Act are limited to the 10 percent across the board cut that was applied to state agencies.   But I am concerned that these cuts are in addition to the deep cuts that local officials are already making, since the economic conditions that are contributing to the state’s fiscal crisis are also impacting local budgets. 

“As Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention, I’m pleased that the governor is proposing $1.3 million General Fund to fund the new Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy.  It’s a small investment to balance the billions of dollars that youth violence costs our state.  But I’m disappointed that the $9.3 million allocated this year for community-based youth violence prevention and intervention activities is not included in the proposal.

These are all issues that we will examine more closely as the Legislature takes up its work on this proposal. Over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing the budget in detail. I look forward to working with the Governor and other members of the Legislature to develop short- and long-term solutions that will protect our state priorities, keep our state solvent, and produce a balanced budget.”