After 3 hours of floor debate…
After three hours of floor debate, the Senate and Assembly took up two versions of the budget: One consisting of the Republicans’ plan (essentially the Governor’s plan with a few small tweaks), and the Budget Committee plan (the Democratic leadership plan, but without the revenue increases as were originally presented). Ultimately, the Democratic plan was rejected by 5 votes in the Assembly and 6 votes in the Senate.
On the Assembly side:
- The Senate Republican bill finished with 25 “Aye” votes and 49 “No” votes. There were 4 abstentions, with Republicans Adams (Hesperia) and Tran (Costa Mesa) refraining from voting for their parties’ budget plan, while Democrats Arambula (Fresno) and Solorio (Santa Ana) declined to reject the proposal. There are 2 vacancies.
- The Senate Budget Committee (Majority Leadership budget) bill finished with 49 “Aye” votes, 25 “No” votes, and 4 abstentions. Democrats Huber (Lodi) and Solorio (Santa Ana) did not vote on the bill, while Republicans Norby (Brea) and Tran (Costa Mesa) abstained as well. There are 2 vacancies in the Assembly.
On the Senate side:
- The Assembly Republican bill finished with 12 “Aye” votes and 24 “No” votes. Republicans Blakeslee (San Luis Obispo) and Walters (Laguna Niguel) voted “No”, while Correa (Santa Ana) was the sole present Democrat to abstain. There were 3 excused absences or vacancies.
- The Assembly Budget Committee (Majority Leadership budget) bill finished with 21 “Aye” votes, 14 “No” votes, 2 abstentions from Democrats Correa (Santa Ana) and Yee (San Francisco), and 3 absences or vacancies.
Senator Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) spoke against the Democratic budget plan and said he would not vote again for tax increases. Assemblyman Gilmore (R-Hanford) also spoke against the plan, though he has told visitors to his office that he supports health and human services. Some of the Democrats who abstained from voting on their caucus’ plan are in swing districts and facing strong challenges in the November elections, and are wary of voting for anything their opponents can use against them.
We surely have our work cut out for us but, when we hear legislative leaders warn repeatedly during debate that we must not pass a harmful budget in haste, we know that our work has made a difference and it strengthens our determination to win a responsible budget with the revenues we need to protect this golden state we love.
Leading advocates from the HHS Network issued a series of statements responding to Tuesday’s vote. You can read them here.
