Sacramento, California - Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) released the following statement regarding Governor Brown Jr.’s release of the May Revise of the 2015-16 state budget today:
“I am pleased to see that the Governor‘s revised budget makes significant strides to reduce poverty, restore funding for schools and early childhood education, improve our higher education funding, and in the end build reserves in order to invest in future transportation infrastructure efforts throughout our great state, I look forward to working with the Governor and tackling these important and complex issues,” said Garcia.
On Salton Sea:
“I applaud the Governor for having the conversation on the Salton Sea and for highlighting his efforts through the creation of a Task Force. However there is no local representation on this committee and we must have a seat at the table. Too many task force’s and not enough action” said Garcia.
On Education:
“I applaud the budget revision for including increases in funds for K-12 schools, which suffered deep cuts during the recession. However as a co-author of AB 47, I’m a strong supporter for universal pre-school and unfortunately the revision does not include initiatives for preschool and childcare, and the Assembly will continue to pursue this issue,” said Garcia.
On Economic Outlook:
“While the economic and revenue forecast tells the story of a state economy that is expanding, not all areas of the state have experienced the same economic growth. Areas especially hard hit in the recession, as well as those that have historically been economically challenged, need new tools to help stimulate their local economies. That is why I have introduced AB 2 to allow disadvantaged communities to establish Community Revitalization and Investment Authorities, and AB 185 to offer a California New Markets Tax Credit to investors that bring private capital to lower income neighborhoods," stated Assemblymember Garcia, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy.
