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Q&A: Fixing state budget is Bass' top priority
By Jim Sanders - jsanders@sacbee.com
Last Updated 5:22 am PDT Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
Los Angeles Democrat Karen Bass will be sworn in today as the first African American woman to serve as speaker of the Assembly.
Bass, a 54-year-old former nurse, physician's assistant and Los Angeles community organizer, sat down Monday with the The Bee's Capitol Bureau.
Questions were edited for brevity.
Q: Are you sure you want this job?
A: "I think this will be the biggest challenge I've faced – and I'm ready to step up and do it."
Q: Differences between yourself and your predecessor, former amateur boxer Fabian Núñez?
A: "I did martial arts. … So I'll kick, he punched."
Q: Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?
A: "Obama. … I believed that he was the only candidate who had the possibility of bringing in new voters, exciting young voters and picking up where Howard Dean left off in terms of the technology."
Q: Priorities as speaker?
A: "I think the budget has to be the priority – I say that that's my one, two and three priorities. …
"It seems to me to make the most sense that I stay focused on the budget, continue with my agenda of foster care and then promote the agenda of other members versus taking on major issues myself."
Q: By foster care, you mean the idea of an initiative to raise up to $500 million a year for foster care?
A: "Right. And we're polling now to identify a funding source."
Q: Solving the state's chronic budget gap?
A: "I'm hoping to form a commission that would look at more longer-range solutions, look at the tax structure." (Bass is asking former Govs. Gray Davis and Pete Wilson to suggest potential members.)
Q: What do you expect from this week's May revise?
A: "I hope revenue. I don't know. … Over the last few weeks we've heard wildly different numbers of how big the deficit's going to be. So I think that's what we're waiting to see."
Q: Q: Do you expect a proposal to lease the California Lottery?
A: A: "I do, actually. I think it's possible that the lottery will be in there, but I honestly don't know. … I'm just hoping it will not be a cuts-only budget."
Q: Can you see Democrats approving a cuts-only budget?
A: "No."
Q: Are you willing to say that Democrats want to raise taxes?
A: "No. … What I'm willing to say is that I think everything should be on the table."
About the writer:
- Call Jim Sanders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5538.
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