Fallbrook's state senator opposes newly passed budget

Another round of budget brinkmanship has prompted a pair of Inland area state senators and a political pundit to call for changes before such delays, which slow payments to school districts and other programs, happen again and again and again.

“This is a real sham of a process,” state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, said in a telephone interview when asked to dissect the recent budget wrangling and detail the steps needed to reform legislative procedures.

It was one of many such calls that Hollingsworth and his staff, as well as other California Republicans, fielded after they sidestepped calls by a popular Republican governor to back a budget that had been stalled nearly two months.

That snub, Hollingsworth said, was aimed at sending a message that a looming state deficit and a broken budget process need attention now.

Besides fielding phone calls, Hollingsworth and his Republican counterpart to the north have been putting their positions on paper.

In May, Hollingsworth issued a press release warning that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal would worsen the deficit and rely too heavily on borrowing and optimistic revenue projections.

And while he later praised the $700 million in cuts made and other measures taken, Hollingsworth voted against the budget when it was narrowly passed by the Senate on Aug. 21.

Two Republican senators – representatives based in Tustin and Santa Maria -- broke ranks to provide the necessary margin for passage.

There are currently 25 Democratic state senators and 15 Republicans. Each Senate district serves nearly 847,000 residents.

Citing a list of concerns, Hollingsworth said in a press release that the budget was “not one I wanted to affix my name to for posterity.” He added that lawmakers must start now to prevent a possible $5 billion shortfall and avoid another summer of cash-starved schools and other public agencies.

Hollingsworth’s sprawling 36th District stretches from Lakeland Village to El Cajon and takes in such communities as Temecula, Murrieta, Fallbrook, French Valley, Poway, Santee and La Mesa.

Senator Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, also took steps to explain his budget “no” votes and press for future reforms.

“I could not, in good conscience, vote for a budget that will cripple California’s government in years to come. It falls short,” Battin said in a press release following passage of the state’s $145 billion spending plan.

His 37th District covers more than 4,800 square miles and is the 10th largest in the state. His district is entirely within Riverside County and it includes Sun City, Canyon Lake, Perris, Quail Valley, Romoland, Lakeview, Nuevo, Moreno Valley and numerous desert and pass communities.

A week later, a 12-paragraph guest column penned by Battin was published in The Desert Sun newspaper. In it, Battin warned that rising gasoline prices, a housing market crunch and a cooling job market have combined to make a $5 billion deficit a real possibility next year. He also noted regional funding inequities and flaws in the budget process.

Battin ended the guest editorial by warning: “It is time for the state to admit it has a spending problem and face it – head on.”

Dan Walters, a noted statewide political observer and columnist for The Sacramento Bee, was equally blunt three days after Schwarzenegger signed the budget.

Walters capped his column by warning that “California is on a pathway to fiscal ruin” and the “budgetary dysfunction” is part of a larger crisis that threatens the state’s economic and social future.

Several crucial steps are needed now to reform the process, Hollingsworth said during a Labor Day weekend telephone interview.

Better monitoring is needed early in the fiscal year to track revenues and evaluate state finances and expenses. And rather than waiting until budget deadlines approach or pass, lawmakers must begin work early to prepare Senate and Assembly versions that can be compared, contrasted and shaped. Also, the majority political party must compromise and work closely with members of outnumbered parties to ensure a consensus, Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth concedes that his spending and budget reform battles have just begun. The warnings that he and others are sounding have been noted “to a certain extent,” Hollingsworth concluded.