BILL NUMBER: AJR 23 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member De Leon
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Ammiano, Block, Carter,
Chesbro, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Hernandez, Jones,
Krekorian, Mendoza, Monning, Nava,
Salas, Skinner, Swanson,
and Torlakson )
JULY 24, 2009
Relative to the economy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 23, as amended, De Leon. Economic crisis.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States and the
federal administration to work with the Governor and the Legislature
of the State of California to, among other things, provide federal
loan guarantees, flexibility with respect to certain programs, and
certain funding levels for vital programs, as specified.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, California is suffering a historic financial crisis
triggered by a global financial market meltdown largely created by
America's banking industry; and
WHEREAS, As a result of this global financial meltdown, California
is suffering from its highest unemployment rates in history, rates
higher than the rest of the nation, and has some of the nation's
highest foreclosure rates with an unprecedented collapse in property
values; and
WHEREAS, Skyrocketing unemployment, falling property values, and
quickly eroding personal income levels have triggered state revenues
in California to drop nearly 30 percent over the past two years; and
WHEREAS, California is the largest state in the nation, making up
one-eighth of the nation's population and one-seventh of the nation's
economy; and
WHEREAS, California has historically been a so-called donor state
that contributes more in the way of federal tax dollars than it
receives in federal support; and
WHEREAS, California generally receives less than 80 cents back on
every dollar it sends to support the federal government while other
states such as Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and several other
states receive more than twice that amount in federal aid; and
WHEREAS, As a result of this fiscal crisis, California has been
forced to make billions of dollars of cuts to critical education,
health care, and local government programs that have significantly
undercut the impact of the recent federal stimulus initiative by the
President and Congress; and
WHEREAS, California has repeatedly and unsuccessfully requested
greater federal flexibility with various state programs receiving
federal funding that would help blunt the crushing affects
effects of this global financial crisis at
little to no cost to the federal government; and
WHEREAS, While California has made many difficult budget choices,
the federal government has been reluctant to take action to assist
the state despite the fact that this global fiscal crisis was largely
triggered by Washington's collective failure to properly oversee and
regulate the financial markets that ran amok while amassing
incredible personal fortunes for company executives and ultimately
wiping out decades of hard earned savings by working people and
pensions funds throughout the world; and
WHEREAS, Washington quickly came to the rescue of the banking
industry, investing $700 billion in the nation's banks as well as
providing loan guarantees and approving huge bonuses with taxpayer
funds to banking executives who had just ran these companies into
insolvency believing it was necessary to keep those institutions
working; and
WHEREAS, Washington rescued floundering auto manufacturers
spending billions of taxpayers dollars to prop up those private
sector companies and preserve the jobs of the workers employed by
those companies; and
WHEREAS, Despite having just taken ownership interest stakes in
several large corporations in order to prevent the acceleration of
this financial meltdown, and that several of those corporations are
now reporting record profits, are planning on providing enormous
employee bonuses, and are paying back their government loans, the
administration and Congress have largely turned a blind eye to the
financial meltdown of its biggest revenue contributor, California;
and
WHEREAS, One such company that benefited from federal loan
guarantees and recently paid off its government assistance and
repurchased its stock owned by the federal government, Goldman Sachs,
has announced that it is on pace to pay its employees an average of
$773,000 this year, more than double what it paid last year; and
WHEREAS, California by itself is one of the world's largest
economies, with the nation's greatest public higher education system
that serves as the intellectual, agricultural, technological, and
creative engine for the rest of the nation, but is suffering from an
unprecedented economic recession creating a significant drag on the
national economy that is threatening to stall the national economic
recovery; and
WHEREAS, California's parents are deeply concerned about their
children's education, health, and safety, which is why they cannot
understand why, in the midst of this unprecedented crisis, Washington
is resisting providing assistance to California, but is spending
their tax dollars on enormous bonuses to banking executives who
helped trigger this financial crisis; and
WHEREAS, California's parents also have the same dreams and
aspirations for their children as parents in West Virginia, Alabama,
and Mississippi, which is why they cannot understand why in the midst
of this crisis the federal government is sending their tax dollars
to benefit kids in those other states, while funding for their own
schools is being slashed, triggering massive teacher layoffs, larger
class sizes, delays in purchasing new textbooks, and significantly
higher tuition costs at California public universities; and
WHEREAS, While California taxpayers subsidize other states, the
federal government could substantially assist this state by updating
funding formulas for key state programs, such as Medi-Cal, which are
currently based on outdated data that do not reflect current economic
circumstances; and
WHEREAS, The federal government could take many additional actions
that would not add to its deficit, such as allowing the state
greater flexibility to draw down federal funds, allowing more
flexibility for meeting maintenance of effort requirements, and
providing credit enhancements on state debt just as they have done
for major banks; and
WHEREAS, California is not asking for a bailout, but a fair shake.
California has been the federal government's biggest financial
supporter for decades, but in this historic financial crisis
triggered by events in Washington and on Wall Street, California
needs to retain more of its tax dollars to assist it own residents,
or at a minimum obtain some financial flexibility from the federal
government that it helps underwrite and support; now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
strongly urges the Congress of the United States, its congressional
delegation, and the administration to work with the Governor and the
Legislature of the State of California to provide federal loan
guarantees to help make necessary short-term borrowing more
affordable to California taxpayers, provide the state with more
flexibility to accelerate the drawdown of federal benefits and
matching grants, provide more flexibility for the state in meeting
its maintenance of effort requirements, and provide funding levels
for vital programs that fully recognize the unique and devastating
circumstances facing this state during the economic crisis; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each
Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the
United States.