Maldonado Criticizes Budget Compromise for Including $1 Million for Office Furniture

After meeting with his caucus to discuss details about an alleged budget deal, Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) issued the following statement:

“To me, this is not a serious budget solution. There are proposals to tax the taxes, cut funding to education, health care and other important projects. But this budget still gives another $1 million to the State Controller for new office furniture. I asked the Big 5 to take this money out of the budget to show the people of this state that the Legislature was serious about making real reforms. But it’s just business as usual and the budget still funds these pet projects.

I cannot go to my constituents and tell them that this is a serious budget when it still funds pet projects like new office furniture for a renovated state office building. I will ask it again: Where are our priorities? Everyone keeps talking about protecting our state’s priorities. When did new office furniture become such a vital priority?

This is about more than a million dollar allocation for office furniture. It is about a broken budget system. Everyone keeps talking about reforming our budget system. But when given the opportunity to prove to the people of California that the Legislature knows how to fund priorities, the Big 5 failed miserably. This is not the best budget. This budget funds furniture over teachers, students, the elderly and disabled. My constituents deserve better.

Last week, I sent a letter to the Big 5 demanding that the funding be removed from the budget and allocated to other programs. But instead, the Big 5 ignored my request. If they were truly making a good-faith effort to show the people of California that they were serious about fixing this budget problem, the million dollars would have been re-appropriated to a vital program.

I am calling on the Big 5 once again to remove this allocation from the budget. This is unnecessary funding. We are in an economic crisis. Now is not the time to fund pet projects,” Maldonado stated.

Senator Maldonado sent a letter to the members of the Big 5 on February 6 stating that the severity of our economic crisis demands that new office furniture not be funded.