Firefighters and the State Budget

Over the last few days, we've seen some truly heroic bravery on the part of our California Firefighters fighting the Station Fire. We are all thankful for their efforts, especially those of us close to the fire whose houses were, in many cases, on the brink of destruction but saved by the brave firefighters.

So we all agree, we need to support our firefighters just like our troops, because in many ways firefighters are our troops, fighting wars every year against a very powerful foe. And supporting our firefighters includes monetary support so that they can buy the latest firefighting equipment and be provided with air support.

What this brings me to is a complaint about the Republicans we have in the State Assembly and Senate. In drafting the budget for this year, California Republicans somehow managed to force the Democrats to approve a budget of the sort that they would approve of. How could a minority force this on the majority? Because, under California Law, any budget needs the approval of 2/3 of the legislature. While the Democrats were in the majority, they still needed 2/3 of the vote, meaning at least a few Republicans. And the Republicans, in an amazing show of party unity, decided to veto any budget that included ANY new taxes. In other words, they wanted to close our record, highest in the nation 24 billion dollar deficit, without adding any new taxes. So the Democrats would have to find 24 billion dollars in cuts that the Republicans would agree to. That's right--not only did we have to cut a huge amount out of the state's expenditures, but it all had to be something the Republicans would agree to. This topsy-turvy world, in which the minority holds almost more power than the majority, was bound to force cuts in quite important things. Like fires. State workers--that includes firefighters-- have been forced to take a 5 % pay cut, AND there is now less money to spend for these brave people. California should change the law so that 50% of the state legislature needs to approve a budget for it to pass. That way, we would have more money to spend on services we truly appreciate and need--services like firefighters.