• mp3 Speaker Karen Bass says the economic stimulus package in the Democrat’s budget package will create tens of thousands of jobs and keep other Californians from losing their jobs.

• mp3 Speaker Bass says the Governor’s response to the budget package is similar to a child telling Santa to stay away unless he gives him everything on his list.

• mp3 Speaker Bass says the Governor’s hasty reaction to the budget/economic stimulus package is mind boggling.

• mp3 State Treasurer Bill Lockyer says unless something is done about the state’s financial situation Wall Street will not invest in California.

(Sacramento) – At the state capitol today, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer joined Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to call on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the fiscal package passed out of the legislature on Thursday. With $3 billion in economic stimulus and $18 billion in spending cuts and revenue solutions, the package was hailed by all three state leaders as an important tool for getting California’s economy back on track. Speaker Bass made the following statement:

“The economic stimulus package Assembly and Senate Democrats passed yesterday, along with our $18 billion in cuts and revenues to address the state’s cash crisis and bring down the budget deficit, is a strong package for Californians and is much closer to what the governor asked for than he himself may realize. On a day when California’s unemployment rate jumped to 8.4%, it’s important to remember the package we passed yesterday creates at least 367,000 new jobs. Not to mention helping reassure Wall Street so other bond-funded projects can hopefully move forward and not add all those jobs to the unemployment rate.

“We include $3 billion in new revenues for transportation projects and we also accelerate $3 billion in bonds for transportation projects. That includes $ 800 million for public transit systems, including new buses and train cars for commuters. That includes $700 million to cities and counties so they can continue to improve neighborhood streets and roads and other local transportation facilities (see attached list of funding amounts to cities and counties). And that includes $500 million to improve traffic corridors from Shasta County in the north to San Diego County in the south. Cities and counties will receive close to a billion dollars for local road and transportation projects. Not only will these projects keep people and goods moving, they will create thousands of good construction jobs. Did we gut CEQA? No. Communities trying to keep their air and water free from contamination aren’t the problem – the recession is. We did meet the governor more than halfway by easing CEQA rules for transportation projects and surplus state property. And we make it easier for hospitals to move forward with expansion and construction.

“All of these efforts also create jobs. Again, more than 367,000 new jobs in the Democratic plan. For Governor Schwarzenegger to oppose these new jobs and the cash and budget fixes because – as he said – it isn’t exactly the way he originally proposed is mindboggling, especially given today’s unemployment numbers. It’s like a child telling Santa, “If you don’t bring every single item on my list, then stay out of my chimney.”