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Health & Fitness

The budget has passed but the fight will continue...

Hello Friends,

Two weeks ago I voted for the 2013-2014 fiscal year budget that the California State Legislature passed and was signed by the Governor yesterday with only minor changes.

Overall, this is a balanced budget based on fiscally conservative revenue projections that restores funding for priorities like education, veteran resources and our courts, while also setting aside over $1 billion in reserves.  This is the third year in a row that the Legislature has passed a budget on time by the constitutional deadline.

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As a former South Bay school board member, I have been fighting for more funding for our South Bay schools.  Thanks to all the letters, e-mails, and phone calls from many of you, K-12 school districts will receive more funding this year than last year.  Moreover, we achieved an increased base funding grant for all school districts, including suburban districts.

The budget increases funding for the University of California, California State University, and community college systems.  This is an important investment in our economy and our future workforce.  Also, families with incomes at or below $150,000 will benefit from a cut in student fees by up to 40 percent beginning in 2014-2015.

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I am also pleased that the budget provides $6 million in additional resources for our military veterans to reduce the unacceptable backlog for filing veterans disability claims. As Chair of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, this is a top priority for me.

The budget also provides a modest funding increase of $63 million for the state’s courts.  As a former prosecutor, I will continue to fight to restore court funding to ensure access to justice for all.

While I am pleased that we passed an on-time balanced budget that restores funding for priorities like education, this is a compromise budget, and it is not perfect.  There are parts of the $96.3 billion budget that I am not happy with.  However, I will continue to fight for the South Bay, and I will continue to fight for common sense priorities for California -- good jobs, good schools, safe neighborhoods, and a healthy environment.

As always, I welcome your thoughts.

 

- Al

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