July 28 update: Governor Schwarzenegger has signed California's new budget. The 27 bills that made up the new budget include $488,847 in line-item veto cuts. Learn more by reading the full budget summary or download a breakdown of the cuts.

SAVECALIFORNIA.COM NEWS RELEASE
July 24, 2009 -- For Immediate Release

Band-Aid Budget Passes California Legislature
California pro-family leader issues statement

Sacramento, California -- Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a statewide non-partisan pro-family organization, issued the following statement in response to the California Legislature passing a new, short-term budget:
 
"This bad budget is gimmicky, it steals from local governments, incurs more debt obligations, refuses to implement much-needed structural reforms, and continues to use taxpayer dollars to fund all kinds of abortions. This budget fails to make the hard decisions because the Governor and the Republican leaders would not persevere long enough to make the tax-and-spend Democrat politicians agree to eliminate tens of billions of dollars of government waste. This budget is like putting a band-aid on cancer because the cancer of government overspending continues to grow while the average family's financial picture has noticeably shrunk. More than passing a budget, the California Legislature has again passed the buck and kicked the structural problems down the road."

SaveCalifornia.com opposed the budget deal for these reasons:

1. Paying $9.5 BILLION to the wasteful, dysfunctional state education establishment in return for the educrats dropping their flimsy lawsuit about Prop. 98. This "payout" and "payoff" is sleight of hand that implements the ballot-box budgeting of Prop. 1B, which the voters rejected on May 19.

2. "Borrowing" $4 BILLION from counties, cities and special districts. This scheme allowed by the constitution means more debt to pay back. It also means local governments will be sorely tempted to raise local taxes and fees. This local raid is not good for the state or local governments or the people.

3. No pension reform. With outrageous examples of government retirees receiving 90% to 100% of their working income, burgeoning pension costs must be curtailed, not simply talked about.

4. Accounting gimmicks include "kicking the can down the road" by accelerating income tax withholding, increasing estimated tax payments for businesses and the self-employed, and shifting the last day of pay for state employees ahead into the next fiscal year.

5. Taxpayer-funded abortions, which Republican legislators claim to oppose and Democrat legislators unanimously support, are still in the budget. Tens of millions of dollars are being spent on abortion and abortion-related programs of Planned Parenthood and their allies. While the Governor and the Democrats are pro-abortion, pro-life Californians know this budget is morally unacceptable.
 
SaveCalifornia.com's research has determined tens of billions of dollars could be saved annually by eliminating waste, fraud, duplication, and inefficiency from California state government.

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SaveCalifornia.com is a leading West Coast nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing children and families. We stand for marriage and family, parental rights, the sanctity of human life, religious freedom, financial freedom, and back-to-basics education.