California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) recommended and the Rules Committee unanimously confirmed Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) to serve as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review.
Experienced and knowledgeable in the state’s convoluted budget process, Senator Nielsen will be an assertive steward as decisions are made on the spending of taxpayers’ monies.
In response to the Governor’s budget proposal, Senator Nielsen expressed his appreciation that the Governor advocated for fiscal restraint in presenting many of the same recommendations Republicans have made for the past decade.
“I appreciate the Governor’s efforts; however, this budget proposal doesn’t adequately address the structural deficit that continues to plague the state treasury. It also continues to fund the Governor’s 'dream' of the High Speed Rail that California taxpayers don’t want and can’t afford.”
Senator Nielsen added, “The state recently received more tax dollars than state financial experts predicted. These monies should either be returned to taxpayers or used to pay down the state’s debt.”
Citing cost-of-living adjustments and other automatic increases in the state’s budgets, Nielsen vowed to push for reforms in the budget process.
“California’s financial problems have not been erased by this temporary financial windfall created by a ‘temporary tax increase’ (Proposition 30) last year. We continue to be plagued by expensive on-going costs like the High Speed Rail project, and the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare.”
Senator Nielsen continued, “The state has a massive $355 billion ‘wall of debt’ that must be paid down so our economy can grow. Our state’s economy is not recovering like the rest of the country. We must address the need to create more jobs for Californians who want to work.”
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