Assemblyman appointed to key legislative panel
Morgan Hill and San Martin were given a direct voice into the state budget cuts today when 27th district Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, was appointed to several budget committees dealing with the continuing fiscal crisis. Laird has represented the two cities in the Assembly since January 2003.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez announced that Laird would contribute to the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1 on Health and Human Services and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
“I’m honored that Speaker Núñez has selected me for these posts,” Laird said Monday from Sacramento. “As Californians, the time has come to make critical choices about our priorities and our vision of the future. As legislators, this budget is our most important opportunity to show we have the courage to make difficult spending decisions today and the foresight to plan for a brighter tomorrow.
“The budget is much more than a spending plan. In the coming weeks and months, we will not only get our fiscal house in order, we will do it while making choices that will determine the future of higher education for the next generation, access to health care for millions who do not have it, our ability to protect our threatened environment and our responsibility to safeguard civil rights in this diverse state.”
Laird is filling a vacancy on the committees formed when Assemblywoman Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park (Los Angeles County) left to chair the Appropriations Committee. He has already begun attending multiple meetings and, so far, has hopes that the Assembly, Senate and governor will agree to a budget by June 15.
“There is a chance of getting a budget in time,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of things earlier – such as holding hearings on service levels.”
Negotiating with the governor before the “May Revise” will also help. But success may come down to the simple point of agreeing on major issues in time, he said.
It could also be helped along by Gov. Schwarzenegger’s willingness to negotiate.
“The governor has been very open to negotiations for everything,” Laird said. “Just as he negotiated on the (Proposition 57) bond and on workers compensation.”
Laird said there has been positive movement on workers compensation, too, which has been called a big problem for California business.
The Assemblyman said he has heard from many constituents, most of whom have similar messages.
“Everybody believes that you have to cut to get through the current situation,” Laird said. “I’m not hearing that we should only cut. I’m trying to find the proper balance.”
The Assembly Budget Committee is responsible for everything related to formulating the state budget.
The Assembly Budget Subcommittee #1: Health and Human Services oversees funding for state and federal programs that serve children, working and low-income families, the aged and disabled of California.
And finally, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) consisting of eight Senators and eight Assemblymembers, makes recommendations to the Legislature concerning the budget; the organization and functions of the state, its departments, subdivisions, and agencies and appoints and advises the state’s Legislative Analyst, a non-partisan overseer of budget matters.
The JLBC serves as a watchdog for state government department spending, and advises the state’s Director of Finance on expenditures in excess of amounts set forth in the Budget Act.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/ Contact: E-mail: As******************@*********ca.gov or call 916-319-2027 or 831-425-1503.
