(The Center Square) – As the first day of the California Republican Convention began Friday in San Diego, one state lawmaker spoke with The Center Square about some of the prime issues that will come into play as the Golden State hurtles toward the June 2 primary and Nov. 3 midterm elections.
As the state continues to grapple with a $35 billion multi-year structural budget deficit, state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, told The Center Square that with so much fraud and waste of taxpayer dollars, he aims to propose ways for the state to trim the budget by eliminating fraud and waste. He said that doesn't necessarily mean cutting programs and services for which the state’s budget should make allocations.
“The problem is, we’re spending more than we’re taking in over a long period of time,” Strickland said over the phone on Friday. “When you’re spending millions of dollars on high-speed rail that’s not moving forward. We spend $500 million on a 911 system and have nothing to show for it. It’s really the amount of money that we’re wasting that’s our problem.”
When asked if he would cut state departments or agencies that depend on funding from the state’s budget, Strickland said he wouldn’t make cuts or eliminations.
“I’m not making cuts, but let’s make sure we stretch the dollars,” Strickland said. “For example, all the hospice loans and the fraud in the health care system. We need more oversight on the dollars we do spend.”
Strickland also said on Friday that state department heads would know better where the fat is and where cuts should be made.
“I’d have to take a look through the whole budget,” Strickland said. “We’d need more time to oversee a lot of those programs.”
The proposed billionaire tax, which is backed by the union Service Employees International – Health Care Workers West and could be on the Nov. 3 ballot, is unpopular with many, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, The Center Square previously reported. Strickland said that by retaining the billionaires who are still in the state, the state’s budget can be balanced, along with cutting fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayers’ dollars.
The billionaire tax is a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of individuals in California with a net worth of at least $1 billion, according to previous Center Square reporting. The union backing the ballot measure aims to generate $100 billion in revenue over five years to help pay for health care, food assistance and other services in California as the state faces a reduction in federal money that previously paid for those programs.
Affordability in California is also an increasingly urgent issue for many Californians, The Center Square has previously reported. As home prices have increased, leaving many in the state unable to afford to buy a home. A number of bills introduced in the state Legislature this year propose to make it easier for first-time home buyers to buy a house, like Republican Assemblymember David Tangipa’s Assembly Bill 1714, or Republican Assemblymember James Gallagher’s Assembly Bill 2700, which aims to push the state’s Public Utilities Commission to find ways to reduce utility rates by 30% by the beginning of 2028.
