Sacramento – Assemblyman Mathis issued the following statement upon the passage of the California State Legislative Budget in the Assembly:
“Once again, this Legislative body never ceases to amaze me. Just last year, our state had about a $100 Billion surplus, and now we have an over $30 Billion+ deficit. Despite the fiscally reckless policies that have driven our finances off a cliff, Legislative leaders refuse to work across the aisle to draft a financially responsible budget to address the giant deficit they’ve created. On top of that, lawmakers have passed an overly-optimistic budget despite the fact that we will not have the tax revenue data available until October, meaning we should be calling for a special session in November to address the budget shortfalls that we will have. Looking at this budget, it’s apparent that there is no new funding for surface water storage projects that our state so desperately needs. At the same time, this budget will redirect our already-high gas tax dollars away from maintaining our highways & roads into other unrelated projects. This budget does nothing about the impending 8% gas tax increase in July, which is happening despite California having some of the highest gas prices in the nation. Nothing in this budget properly funds wildfire prevention or forest management even as we enter wildfire season. This is an irresponsible budget based on risky revenue estimates that continues to make life harder for working Californians. I will not support a fairy-tale budget bill and I hope, in the future, this body will get responsible about addressing the issues our state faces. We are the “so-called” 4th largest economy on the planet and our people live in 3rd world conditions.
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