State Lawmakers Overseas During Budget Crisis
More than a dozen state lawmakers have missed much of the special legislative session called to tackle the state’s fiscal mess, instead traveling to India, China and Hawaii to learn about education, high-speed rail and dams.
The legislators include Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, and several Assembly Budget Committee members who missed a hearing on the crisis on Friday. At least two of the lawmakers are not expected to return by Sunday’s planned floor sessions of the Senate and the Assembly, their staff members said.
“Obviously, they’re not taking the problem (the state’s budget mess) as seriously as the rest of us,” said Barbara O’Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State University. “It’s an acute financial situation for the state. I wouldn’t be out of the country when I’m supposed to be solving this problem.”
The state’s budget crisis has been the biggest issue at the Capitol for the past year. Two days after the Nov. 4 general election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the special legislative session to bridge a revenue shortfall that he estimated could grow to $24 billion in the next two years.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, decided to allow his members to go on their planned trips because budget negotiations are being handled by legislative leaders, said his spokeswoman Alicia Trost, adding that Perata would require them to return for a floor vote.
“These trips are important in maintaining relationships,” Trost said. “Other countries send delegations to California all the time, and it would be respectful for us to also send a delegation.”
The trips are sponsored primarily by nonprofit organizations that are often funded in part by special interest groups. No taxpayer funds are used to pay for the trips, and lawmakers typically use their campaign money to pay their way.
The two-week jaunt through India for eight state senators was sponsored by the California International Relations Foundation, a nonprofit tied to the state Senate. The goal of the trip is to promote cultural, economic and political relations. Among other things, the senators were scheduled to observe India’s education system and its burgeoning high-tech industry.
Tags: arnold schwarzenegger, budget committee members, budget crisis, budget negotiations, campaign money, denise moreno ducheny, fiscal mess, floor sessions, floor vote, high speed rail, india china, legislative leaders, revenue shortfall, sacramento state university, senate budget committee, special interest groups, state lawmakers, taxpayer funds
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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 6:25 pm under