Statement of Courtni Pugh, SEIU California State Council Executive Director

As we head into Labor Day, California’s working people need to think seriously about the dysfunction in our government, dysfunction that allows a minority party to hold our state – and all working people – hostage to a narrow agenda that is at odds with the people of California.

The Republican budget proposal wasn’t worth the wait. In fact, this proposal is, in essence, the starting point Republicans should have offered months ago. It does not deal with the realities of California’s budget situation honestly, and it fails to answer Californians’ clear demand for a compromise budget. Republican legislators have refused to enter these negotiations in good faith, and introducing this proposal at this time is clear evidence of that.

The proposal places California’s schoolchildren and seniors at risk. It cuts $3 billion from education and gambles that it can fill an additional $2 billion hole with lottery borrowing that may not come through. It pushes home care workers into poverty and threatens the seniors and people with disabilities who rely upon them. And it cuts billions from healthcare and other vital services at a time when more and more people are in need of them.

Finally, the Republican proposal is larded with partisan gimmicks -- attacks on the environment and on working people  – and terrible budget policies that would result in deep, ongoing, future cuts to education, healthcare, and other vital services.

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