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SACRAMENTO – Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) issued the following statement after legislative Democrats passed a fake budget bill, Senate Bill 74, just to meet state and constitutional deadlines.
“The state is facing a government-induced recession with more than 4.8 million unemployed Californians and a budget deficit of $54 billion. Despite this economic crisis, the Democrats’ backroom budget deal has prioritized pet projects and includes a $9 billion tax increase on our job creators.
“Today’s incomplete and poorly prioritized budget is the result of last-minute discussions that lacked public transparency. Californians deserve better,” said Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove.
As presented, SB 74 is a budget riddled with bad accounting practices and does not prioritize the needs of California families and job creators. The Governor and Legislative Democrats’ Budget include:
- $22 million to enforce the anti-worker law (AB 5, 2019) forcing more people out of work, even though there are more than 4.8 million residents on unemployment now.
- $5 million to buy a new state park even though the Governor has prevented people from going outside.
- $2.9 billion to continue the high-speed rail project, despite more cost increases, project delays, and a $54 billion state budget deficit.
- $9 billion in new taxes on businesses, even though thousands of businesses are barely staying afloat or being forced to close due to the stay-at-home order.
- Lastly, the Governor and legislative Democrats are relying on billions of dollars from the federal government—yet the Governor allocated $6.5 million to sue the federal government.