Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced) released the following statement today in response Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 (Cedillo), which calls for California to boycott Arizona because of its new immigration law:

“California businesses are leaving the state in droves and taking thousands of jobs with them. A ‘You boycott me, I’ll boycott you’ scenario is a risk California cannot afford to take. Arizona has every right to protect its citizens and I fully support its immigration law. With a $19 billion deficit and statewide unemployment edging towards 13 percent, California’s Democrat legislators should be focused on creating jobs and balancing the budget, not poking their noses into another state’s business.”

Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced) slammed Senate Democrats today for playing a game of budget chicken with California’s most vulnerable residents after they tried to pass a measure (Assembly Bill 790 by Hernandez, D-Baldwin Park) to pay state employee salaries during a budget impasses, but not make payments to nursing homes, health clinics and other vital facilities.

This was the first salvo in what will likely be a bloody budget battle; Denham once again stood up for California’s most vulnerable citizens.

“Democrats defined their priorities today as they began their annual game of budget chicken and threw the elderly, blind and the disabled under the bus,” said Denham.

Last month, Denham offered an amendment to AB 790 that would have provided an emergency appropriation to ensure that hospitals and nursing homes, and other vital services, receive the necessary funding to keep their doors open when there is a budget stalemate. The Denham amendment was killed in the Senate Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote.

AB 790 currently only ensures that state workers get their salary and benefits while budgets are late or are still being debated.

Denham proposed in 2007 and 2008 to provide continuous funding for vital services when the budget is late. Both attempts failed on a party-line vote.

The measure failed to pass out of the Senate today, but will likely be voted on again in the Senate soon. The bill currently requires a two-thirds vote.

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Senator Jeff Denham (257kb)