Today, the California Legislature is taking up budget trailer bills that will make devastating cuts to many social programs. Ironically, it is not even clear yet whether Republicans will vote for the cuts they are forcing Dems to make, let alone whether they will allow the people of this state to vote for extending certain taxes for the next five years to save some of these social programs.
Republicans have been demanding concessions to get their votes: (1) rolling back public employee benefits, particularly pensions, (2) a hard spending cap on state spending, (3) gutting CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, which governs development projects in CA.
I will be updating this diary today (and tonight) as the floor debate continues. This is an important day in California!
1:12 p.m. And immediately, the Assembly goes to caucus. Democrats and Republicans will meet separately - for how long, we don't know - and will no doubt be planning their respective strategies for today's budget vote.
1:15 p.m. Likewise for the Senate.
2:43 p.m. Both houses are still in recess as caucus meetings apparently continue. Meanwhile, Capitol Alert sheds some light on what to expect in today's (tonight's?) vote:
What about Proposition 25, the voter-approved initiative allowing lawmakers to pass budget bills on a majority vote, you ask? It's true that many of the trailer bills could have been drafted as majority-vote measures, so long as they are taken up after the main budget bill. But that's not today's game plan.
The fact that Democrats had them drafted as two-thirds measures offers insight on the impetus behind today's vote. Democrats want to show they are united behind spending cuts. If Republicans balk, Democrats will make it known that Republicans won't even vote for cuts, let alone a tax election.
As I mentioned yesterday, if Republicans choose not to even vote for the cuts - which they've been saying all along are necessary - it will be the height of hypocrisy and it will almost certainly lead to some bitter sniping between the two sides as Democrats make the case to voters that Republicans are not serious about governing while Republicans say Democrats are simply playing political games to avoid doing "real" reform.
3:30 p.m. And just like that... they're back - Assembly gavels back in. Asm. Calderon specifies which trailer bills will be referred from the Budget Committee.
They are currently taking up SB 77, dealing with redevelopment funding. See the bill here.
Asm. Blumenfield says, "Right now we are moving forward on budget bills we can all agree on... hopefully."
Asm. Norby urges an "Aye" vote on this bill. Says "I know you are all getting pressure from your cities to vote against this." Continues, "Redevelopment is not really about development, it is about sales tax. We subsidize these big box stores to sell us things from China."
Norby says we must choose: "students or stadiums... classrooms or Costcos."
3:45 p.m. Asm. Diane Harkey suggests voting "No" on SB 77. Says voters don't want state to take money from local governments.
Asm. Hall: "It's hard for me to hear people say that redevelopment didn't happen." He goes on to describe redevelopment that happened in his district. "I don't know about the other districts, and I don't know what you've read in the papers... but I can assure you that everyone in this house is very aware of the Compton community... there is no one in this house that is not aware of my community... I will hold the Governor accountable to his commitment that we will make right these communities that need it the most."
4:15 p.m. Assembly Speaker John Perez says these measures are a part of the plan that will reduce state spending by more than $12 billion. "These cuts will effect almost every aspect of our lives in Cailifornia... Getting control of our finances is essential... Our actions today will help us move forward... this is an unprecedented period in California history. We're facing challenges unseen since the days of the Great Depression." Urges an "Aye" vote.
Asm. Blumenfield: If you can't support this, you're in essence saying you want more cuts to schools, etc."
The vote is taken and SB 77 gets 50 votes (w/ 21 against). These bills all need 54 votes to pass.
Almost all Democrats vote "Aye." Only Republican to vote "Aye" is Asm. Norby. Bill is put on call.
Now they take up SB 72, with cuts to Human Services:
Asm. Blumenfield: "I hate these cuts. These cuts go against every fiber of my being. These cuts are awful." Says, as bad as the cuts are, they pale in comparison to what will happen if steps are not taken to fix the budget situation.
FLOOR VOTE on SB 72: 52-5 (on call)
Asm. Smyth: Asks why we are focusing our cuts on the most disadvantaged. Says instead we should delay court construction costs and bond sales (to save approx. $500 million). "There are no cuts to administration in here... I ask that we vote no on this, go back to the drawing board, and look at alternatives."
Translation of Asm. Smyth: Thank goodness I'm a Republican and I don't have to take ANY responsibility for governing. I can just sit back and complain about whatever solutions the Democrats come up with. Life is good!
Asm. Beall takes direct shot at Asm. Smyth and the other Republicans for their posturing, says "Because I'm not into posing and claiming that I care about people who are developmentally disabled, I'm going to vote yes."
I'm speechless. Asm. Shannon Grove says Democrats are "throwing our elderly and our most vulnerable under the bus." What a complete hypocrite. She is laboring under the illusion that pension reform and taking services away from illegal immigrants can somehow magically solve the budget problem. That's what happens when you give people a microphone who have never had to shoulder the responsibility of actually governing the state. Pathetic.
It's rapidly becoming clear that no progress will be made today. This is the point at which 'collaboration' and 'discussions' fall apart and are replaced by political posturing.
Asm. Harkey: "I don't think you comprehend what the real gameplan is. We need to get down to the real business of making state government leaner and make it work for people."
Asm. Berryhill: "How about we eliminate half of Caltrans."
5:00 p.m. Assembly is moving through bills pretty quickly now; Senate is just now coming back from recess.
In the Assembly, Republicans are not giving Dems enough votes to get to 54 on any of these bills, however. Wait, check that. SB 74 just passed with 56 votes. SB 82 also passed, with 54 votes.
In the Senate, Sen. Steinberg says "Today we will vote on cuts that will make a $9.1 billion dent in our budget deficit." Asks members to keep in mind the effect on the "people we serve."
Sen. Mark Leno: "The Governor's proposed budget will set state spending at historically low levels." Cites statistics to back up his claim:
"This budget has $5.05 of general fund spending per $100 of personal income. We haven't been as low as that since the days of Ronald Reagan's governership."
I wonder how many Republicans will be persuaded by these stats? (sarcasm)
Sen. Tony Strickland says he will be supporting these difficult cuts. Equates it to regular Californians who are also squeezing their own personal budgets.
5:30 p.m. Senate now taking up the transfer of funds from Proposition 10 (i.e. First 5 California). Sen. Leno says it is just a one-time transfer - not a long-term one as the Governor had suggested.
Republicans are cooperating in the Senate. The bill passes.
Now taking up bill to transfer funds from Prop. 63 (mental health funds). Steinberg speaks of "shared sacrifice" and describes how hard this vote is for him, given that Prop. 63 was one of his proudest accomplishments.
5:52 p.m. Now the waiting begins. Both houses have stopped making progress on budget bills for the moment. The Senate is taking up 'adjourn in memories' and the Assemblymembers are currently talking amongst themselves. Woop... just as I'm typing, the Republicans call a Republican caucus meeting. Now the REAL waiting will begin!
By the way, in my diary earlier today I put up a poll question on what CA Democrats should do. Here are the results so far:
Should Democrats Compromise on CEQA to get a Budget Passed?
3% Yes, it's necessary to avoid even more massive cuts to all our social programs
96% No, force Republicans to take the heat for delaying the budget vote
Gotta love the fighting spirit of Kosers!
6:34 p.m. Assembly is taking up AB 105. Asm. Diane Harkey says we should eliminate High Speed Rail rather than take money away from local transportation projects.
Asm. Galgiani and Asm. Blumenfield ask for an "Aye" vote. Bill passes easily. Assemblymembers Knight, Donnelly, and Miller are only no votes.
Senate is now taking up SB 74, with the cuts to developmental disability programs. Sen. Leno: we have done our best to preserve infrastructure so that when there is opportunity and political will here in Sacramento, these cuts can be reversed.
SB 74: Passes in the Senate with only one "No" vote - which was Senator Yee (running for Mayor of San Francisco)
SB 80: Passes in Senate with 33 "Aye" votes.
7:23 p.m. More waiting...
8:30 p.m.Both the Assembly and the Senate floors are quiet right now. Word is that Gov. Brown is meeting with various legislators in the Speaker's office trying to wrangle one more vote for the bill that would cut RDA funding. They have one Assembly Republican on board already - Asm. Chris Norby. They need one more.
Twitter tells the tale:
@davidsiders Steinberg says Senate Reps deserve credit for cuts votes, baffled by Reps in Assembly
@FlashReport After contemplation it is fair to say that if Dems want bipartisan cuts they need to include the other party in the "what gets cut" process.
@nathanbarankin Just to be clear: more than $7b in cuts hurting people passed, but GOP balks at effort to cut RDA biz subsidy.
@CapitolAlert Bee colleague Jim Sanders reports Asm. Nielsen (r) has gone into speakers office where Brown mtg w lawmakers. 1 more vote on RDA needed
@lienh Guv Brown just left mtg to try to wrangle that last assembly vote for rda cuts, it doesnt look promising
@KQED_CapNotes pro Tem calls the shots / RT @nathanbarankin: Steinberg: there is no timetable for when Senate will shut down tonight.
9:00 p.m.: L.A. Times has a good article on what's happened earlier tonight.
Assembly now taking up AB 97:
Asm. Linda Halderman (R) (a doctor) criticizes the "rationing of care" in this bill. Asm. Richard Pan (D) (also a doctor) defends the bill. Says this is one of the sacrifices that has to be made without increases to state revenue.
Asm. Blumenfield educating new Republican members - clarifies that pension reform will not help address General Fund shortfall. "No one has offered a different alternative to get to financial stability... We've got to make compromises."
The measure passes with a 56-14 vote. Republicans voting "Aye" are Assemblymembers Norby, Olsen, Smyth, and Harkey.
Meanwhile, the Senate has adjourned for the night.
9:25 p.m. And that wraps things up for tonight. Both houses are adjourned. RDA bill failed (for now). Thanks for following! I'll try to post something tomorrow about where we go from here (i.e. whether there is still hope for getting a vote on tax extensions).
Crossposted (and slightly edited) from www.CapInsider.com