Monday, June 29, 2009

A budget vote, and a veto?

Assembly Passes Majority Vote Budget Bills

By Marty D. Omoto
Director/Organizer
California Disability Community Action Network

The Assembly passed a package of 11 bills, including two bills that would increase revenues – one by over $2 billion, and another bill containing over $12 billion in spending cuts, by simple majority votes in a procedural move that avoided the need for any Republican votes. The package of bills head to the State Senate for action on Monday morning (June 29), where Senate Democrats will approve the bills over the objections of Senate Republicans.

But the procedure used by Assembly Democrats – similar to the one used by Democrats in December, left Assembly Republicans angry, dissolving some of the debate Sunday evening on the tax increases into a bitter and angry exchange.

The bills will head to what many expect will be certain vetoes by the Governor, who previously last week said he would do so because he was strongly opposed to new tax increases. If the Governor vetoes the bills, the Legislative Democrats will have to essentially start over and somehow find an agreement with the Governor and possibly Legislative Republicans before the State’s financial situation grows worse.

Earlier Sunday evening Assembly Democrats passed by a vote of 44 to 30, a bill, AB 39x3 (the “x3” stands for “third extraordinary session”) that called for $2 billion in revenues, in a procedure that by-passed the need for any Republican votes – a move that Republicans say, especially in raising taxes, is “unconstitutional”. Right after that vote, the Assembly approved by a vote of 46 to 27, SB 16x3 that includes over $12 billion spending cuts over objections of Assembly Republicans

State Senate Democrats will likely approve those two measures – and the other 9 bills by Monday morning.
From: California Progress Report.

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