Santa Barbara Officials on State Budget Plan

Santa Barbara’s elected representatives in Sacramento strongly disagree over Governor Jerry Brown’s revised May budget, which still calls for extending past tax increases even though state bean counters report receiving $6.6 billion more in revenues than anticipated. Republican State Senator Tony Strickland says the new revenue figures highlight why taxes are unnecessary, let alone punitive and counterproductive. Democratic Assemblymember Das Williams supports the governor’s proposed May Revise in part because Brown has pledged to allocate even more to K-12 education. Even with the additional revenues, the state still confronts a $9 billion shortfall. Brown and the Legislature have approved $11 billion in cuts already. If the Legislature attempts to balance the budget only with cuts and no revenue increases, Williams predicted the results for his district—as well as the state—will be “ugly,” especially for the elderly and the disabled.