BUTTE COUNTY STATE BUDGET COALITION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2009
Contact: Evan LeVang: 680-3484; Forest Harlan: 896-1609

Community Members Call on Assemblyman Dan Logue to Support a Common Sense Budget That Balances Cuts and New Revenue

(Chico, CA) , 150 members of the Butte County State Budget Coalition, which is comprised of both providers and recipients of social, elder, disability, community improvement and educational services, called on Dan Logue, California Assembly, 3rd District, to listen to what Butte County citizens want and support a common sense budget with a combination of targeted cuts and new revenues.

A recent statewide poll showed that 65% of Californians – including a majority of both Democrats and Republicans - want the budget crisis to be solved with a balance of cuts and new taxes, while only 29% support cuts alone.

“Californians know we're in a crisis, and we are ready to make sacrifices," said Evan LeVang, Executive Director of Independent Living Services of Northern California, “but there are some things that we shouldn't sacrifice: our children's safety, health and future; the dignity of seniors and people with disabilities, and the vital public resources that make our state great, such as our colleges and parks."

The unprecedentedly large delegation delivered a statement to Mr. Logue's Chico District Office, demanding that the Assemblyman, along with Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (2nd Dist.) and Senator Sam Aanestad (4th Dist.) support a budget that requires “shared responsibility" and “shared sacrifice" from all Californians and businesses. The Butte County State Budget Coalition public statement says that Governor Schwarzenegger's approach to the budget would destroy the California we know. The “Cuts-Only Budget," as it stands:

Will cause thousands of frail elderly and disabled citizens to lose their essential home-based health and assistance services, forcing them from their homes and into institutions.

Is an extreme example of "penny-wise and pound-foolish" public policy, as institutional care for thousands of frail elderly and disabled citizens will be far more costly to California tax payers. There will be no savings in this budget. It will bring only human suffering and economic damage.

Will cause devastating harm to children and parents of working families, elders, people with disabilities, the chronically ill, the unemployed and the impoverished by shredding California's "social safety net."

Deprive millions of the basic health care, home care and other services children, seniors, and people with disabilities need to survive.

Leave thousands Butte County workers unemployed, driving up our county's unemployment rate by more than two percent; ratchet up pressure on revenue-starved state, city and county services and harm small business and driving California further into recession.

Deny some 300,000 students a college education and increase class sizes in our public schools, weakening education for our children and making California less competitive with other states.

Decimate public safety and the public services our communities need to maintain a decent quality of life.

“In a crisis, everyone has to pitch in," said Forest Harlan, of the Butte County Health Care Coalition. “There will be cuts, but we need new taxes, too. Oil companies, tobacco companies, and liquor companies need to pay their fair share."