Senator Suzette Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) joined members of the Senate Republican Caucus in formally requesting key statewide budget priorities.

The letter, sent April 1, met the Budget Committee deadline for statewide budget letter submittals. 

“California taxpayer spending has skyrocketed in recent years, yet our quality of life has only gotten worse,” said Senator Valladares. “It’s time for this state to focus on things that matter, like implementing the will of the voters with Prop. 36, investing in job creation, and preventing wildfires.” 

Valladares, concerned about misuse of taxpayer dollars, also pointed to the governor’s office as an example of improper spending. In fact, since Governor Newsom has taken office, he has grown his office budget by 164%, to $38 million. This is more than 2.5 times the budget of the previous governor’s office.   

“The governor’s PR machine continues blowing through taxpayers’ dollars even as he snubs them while doing so,” Valladares continued. “It’s a good thing that states can’t print money like the federal government does. One can only imagine how many more billions of dollars Governor Newsom would spend on the pipe dreams he prioritizes over the needs of Californians.” 

Valladares’ and the Senate Republican Caucus’ budget priority requests include:

Wildfire Prevention & Preparedness. 

$3 billion annually for long-term and ongoing funding for forest and vegetation management, keeping seasonal firefighters on payroll year-round.  

Building Water Storage Now. 

$1 billion to build projects enhancing water reliability and supply, safeguarding communities and protecting property. 

Tackling Crime.

Support the will of the voters by allocating $400 million in annual Prop. 36 funding to allow implementation of the treatment-focused approach to reducing California’s dangerously high crime rate. 

Investing in Jobs. 

Relieve job creators of the $21 billion in unemployment debt the governor saddled them with in the wake of his pandemic-related business shutdowns. Burdening businesses with that debt — that the state should have paid off in the first place — will only make it more difficult to create new jobs in California. 

Investing in Students. 

The legislature should reject the governor’s plan to cut more than $1.2 billion in funding to the University of California and Cal State University systems and nearly $400 million from Middle Class Scholarships. 

Caring for Medically Fragile Kids. 

$4 million in this budget and $8 million annually to increase the Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate for pediatric day health centers. 

Ed. Note: The above information was provided to KHTS by Valladares’ Office.

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