ASSEMBLYWOMAN LORENA GONZALEZ ON PASSAGE OF THE 2013-14 CALIFORNIA STATE BUDGET

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, made the following statement following passage of the 2013-14 fiscal year budget for the State of California:

“Today, the California Legislature approved the state budget for the coming fiscal . After years of difficult cuts, this year’s budget is on-time, fiscally sound and restores funding for the programs that matter to San Diego County’s families.

“My colleagues and I advocated for this year’s budget to expand educational opportunities for our children and young adults, to reduce unemployment and rebuild the Middle Class by creating more jobs in the private sector, and to strengthen the state’s safety net for health and human services.

“Here are some of the highlights that I am most proud to have supported in this year’s state budget:

• Restores funding for public K-12 education for all schools in the state but also improves funding for School Districts like ours in the South Bay and Mid-City that serve low-income and English-learning students.
• Maintains funding for Regional Occupation Programs and Adult Education that are vital to training our future workforce.
• Increases funding for early care and preschool programs.
• Expands Medi-Cal to provide wider access to healthcare for the working poor as well as basic dental care for adults.
• Increases the incentives used to put residents back to work through welfare-to-work programs.
• Cuts the processing time for business filings at the Secretary of State from over two months to a maximum of 5 days.
• Allows local governments to more easily invest in critical infrastructure projects that can improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods and grow our economy.
• Provides $1 million over the next three years to maintain the Goat Canyon sediment basins in Border Field State Park to prevent debris and other pollution from flowing into the Tijuana Estuary.
• Funds the California Veterans Service Officer programs to improve timely access to federal benefits for local military vets.

“This budget represents a step forward in improving  our schools, higher education and state services so that they are befitting of our Golden State.”

…..
To learn more about the 2013-14 state budget process, visit: http://www.asmdc.org/issues/budget-blueprint/.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez represents California’s 80th Assembly District, located in southern San Diego County and including the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista and National City.