Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, is responding to the Nov. 13 Forum story, "Vets homes in budget crossfire," which said, "Democrats blame Republicans for steadfastly opposing any tax hikes to avoid painful cuts in state programs like veterans homes."

As we saluted our veterans this past Veterans Day weekend, I was disturbed to read that Sacramento Democrats were claiming that Republicans were endangering our veterans because of our refusal to raise taxes.

As vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, I have made it clear during this year's budget debate that our veterans should not be made victims of California's fiscal irresponsibility. That is why Republicans fought hard during budget negotiations to provide essential funding for the timely completion of new veterans homes in Fresno and Redding.

However for reasons that I can only surmise to be political, the Democrat-controlled Legislature cut the money for the new homes without advance warning in the budget that Gov. Jerry Brown signed June 30. No public hearings were held on this budget cut.

The article does point out we fought to transfer $8.1 million in unused prison construction money to open the homes in 2012. This would have restored funding without raising taxes or fees on Californians. Unfortunately, when given this funding alternative, the Democrats said no.

Given that my friend, Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, is currently serving in Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism, it is outrageous for Democrats to suggest we would throw current and future veterans under the bus because of our position on taxes.

After all, a budget is a document of choices. The Legislature could have found savings in other areas of government to fully fund our veterans homes, such as tackling the state's pension crisis much earlier or putting the brakes on the high-speed rail boondoggle that is now estimated to cost nearly $100 billion.

Funding for our veterans should never be a matter of debate, nor should our veterans be used as pawns in the majority party's budget manipulations. It is crass political grandstanding when Democrats use the legitimate needs of our veterans to justify their never-ending quest to raise taxes while refusing to find savings in other areas to make those veterans a priority.

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Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, is responding to the Nov. 13 Forum story, "Vets homes in budget crossfire," which said, "Democrats blame Republicans for steadfastly opposing any tax hikes to avoid painful cuts in state programs like veterans homes."

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