“Californians across our state understand that we must live within our means yet the Governor’s proposed budget continues to spend public dollars at a record-setting level--$8 billion more than last year’s budget. As we review the details of this budget proposal, we need to significantly expand our budget reserves, pay off our liability and debt, and provide any remaining dollars for infrastructure investment. And as stewards of hard earned tax dollars, we must stop any budget diversions and gimmicks that has plagued previous budgets.

"The budget is one of the most important documents that affects the lives of all Californians. The public should know what is in it. California is ranked last in budget transparency—we are overdue for modernization in our budget process so that the public can see line-item by line-item, how every state department and agency spends our tax dollars.”