Capitol Alert

This will begin a long overdue conversation about the state budget and our state’s values.

For too long the discussion has been dominated by those who only want to cut the services Californians depend on.

As a result, we’ve been forced to cut and borrow our way out of deficit after deficit.

And as the governor just noted, we’re facing even more cuts to our schools, to law enforcement and to our most vulnerable citizens.

That’s not what the people of California want.

We are calling on Governor Schwarzenegger and our Republican colleagues to join us in reshaping the conversation.

It’s time that all of us in Sacramento show the courage to look at what really needs to be done to keep our fiscal house in order -- not simply continue to dismantle vital services.

For our part, in the Assembly, I am taking action today to reduce our expenditures by 10%.

But, clearly, cuts alone won’t fix things.

If there’s a $14 billion deficit, you could close every one of the state’s public universities and still be nowhere close.

You could kick every Medi-Cal patient out of their nursing homes and still be nowhere close.

You could shutter nutrition programs for every child that needs them and still be nowhere close.

In fact, you could take all of those steps together and still face a serious budget gap.

The conversation can’t just be about price, it has to be about priorities, too.

We can get good value for our dollars and we can make sure our values are reflected in good budgets.

As Democrats, we will fight tirelessly for the principles we share with the vast majority of Californians.

Californians believe smaller classes for kids are more important than bigger breaks for yacht owners.

Californians understand fixing the foreclosure mess is more important than subsidizing vacation homes.

Californians want a decent quality of life for the elderly, blind and disabled who need only small assistance from their neighbors to maintain independence and dignity.

Those are the values that must shape our debate and our direction.

And no conversation about where the state should be headed can be complete without acknowledging the overwhelming need to fix the state’s broken health care system.

California families face a fiscal emergency every time they struggle to pay for health care.

And our overburdened emergency rooms face a fiscal crisis every day.

The health care reform we negotiated with the governor takes a giant step toward the universal coverage that Californians want.

And we wrote the plan specifically so it wouldn’t impact the state budget or add to any deficit.

Seizing this historic opportunity can provide one of the bright spots on a tough road ahead.

Without question, California faces another tough year.

But this is no time to abandon the California Dream.

And Democrats won’t.

When first elected, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called California “The Golden Dream by the sea” -- a shining example admired the world over.

California is a brand name – just like our own Governor.

Everyone has an image of our state.

For generations, California has represented hope, opportunity and prosperity – a tomorrow better than yesterday.

That’s why we are America’s largest and most dynamic state – and the window on all the promise and potential of the future.

But the governor’s new vision is to make yesterday our future – to take California’s brand name and make it generic, like detergent or trash bags.

The governor now proposes permanent, ongoing cuts to the state budget.

In the governor’s plan for California, we will always be 43rd in the nation in education.

In the governor’s plan, each year, fewer disabled and fewer seniors will have help in their homes.

In the governor’s plan, fewer kids, regardless of how hard they work, will have a seat in our colleges.

The governor is selling us on the excellence of mediocrity.

Advocating automatic cuts but failing to establish priorities and how to fund them is political expediency at its best and political leadership at its worst.

As Californians, we owe it to ourselves, and our children, to do better.

That’s why our state is so great.

Because everyone here -- and everyone who comes here – strives to be the best and to do their best.

California is the envy of the world.

Let’s keep it that way.