How Does California Avoid a Future Hijacking of the State Budget?

Contacts: 
Jessica Lass, NRDC, 310/434-2300, jlass@nrdc.org
Jenesse Miller, CLCV, 510/844-0235, jmiller@ecovote.org
Lori Sinsley, EDF, 415/293-6097, lsinsley@edf.org
 
How Does California Avoid a Future Hijacking of the State Budget?
Environmental and health organizations say new laws needed to prevent lawmakers from holding budget negotiations hostage over pet issues
 
SACRAMENTO (February 12, 2009) –  Add dirtier air, especially in the San Joaquin Valley, to the consequences of the California budget framework announced yesterday by the Governor Schwarzenegger and the state legislative leaders. Environmental and health groups say Republican legislative leaders exploited the state’s financial crisis to repeal laws that protect the health and safety of Californians, yet have nothing to do with the budget.

The groups called for new laws to prevent future repeat of this “hijack and hostage taking” of the state budget. Possible solutions include a law to make it illegal to modify state policies in budget talks and the repeal of California’s unique status as one of only three states requiring a supermajority (2/3rds vote) to pass a budget.

“A radical minority of Republican lawmakers hijacked not only the budget, but the constitutional process by which Californians enact environmental protections,” said Warner Chabot, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV).  “They succeeded in delaying the clean-up of dirty diesel pollution. They used secret, closed-door negotiations to reverse environmental laws, established through a public, democratic process. We won’t let that happen again. Starting today, we will work for legislative solutions to make it unethical and unlawful for a minority of legislators who are out of step with the majority of Californians to modify laws in the budget process.”

The months-long budget stalemate brought massive public works projects to a halt, earned the state the lowest credit rating the U.S., and forced the Governor and Democratic legislative leaders to give in to the ransom demands of a small minority of Republican legislators in order to produce an agreement on the budget.

“Republican legislative leaders exploited California’s unusual supermajority requirement to push their unpopular policy agenda that fails to protect the health and safety of Californians or solve our economic problems. Now Californians have to pay the price,” said Ann Notthoff, California advocacy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Republican legislators had insisted on weakening state rules and allowing more diesel pollution from construction equipment, allowing farmers to use more pesticides, and allowing more greenhouse gas emissions from development projects, in exchange for their willingness to consider new revenues for the state, which is facing a $42 billion shortfall through mid-2010. Their major success in the final framework was to allow more diesel pollution.

“Californians in every part of the state will suffer from the delay of the diesel cleanup in this framework agreement. But San Joaquin Valley residents, whose air is already among the worst in the nation, will especially feel the pain. These are the constituents of the two members of the Big 5 who demanded this deal,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of the California transportation and air initiative at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
 
“Valley residents’ lungs are not subsidies for the construction industry. The Valley’s own representatives, Senator Cogdill and Assemblymember Villines, have used the budget process to increase air pollution in the Valley, one of the most polluted air basins in the United States, usurping our democratic rights and inflicting harm on the most vulnerable people,” said Sarah Sharpe, Environmental Health Director at Fresno Metro Ministry.
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About CLCV
The political muscle of the environmental movement in America’s leading environmental state, the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) is the nation’s oldest grassroots environmental political action organization. CLCV uses sophisticated campaign tools to help elect pro-environment officials – and to hold them accountable for passing legislation to protect health, communities and the environment. CLCV publishes the annual California Environmental Scorecard, which rates the actions of every state legislator and the governor on the state’s environmental priorities each legislative year. For the results of the 35th annual California Environmental Scorecard, and for information on CLCV’s election priorities and endorsements, visit www.ecovote.org.
 
About NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.
 
About EDF
Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members nationwide and 100,000 in California. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.

One of the world’s leading international nonprofit organizations, Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org) creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. With more than 3 million members and offices in the United States, China, Mexico, Indonesia and the European Union, EDF’s scientists, economists, attorneys and policy experts are working in 28 countries to turn our solutions into action. Connect with us on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund