Big Bear, CA, May 16th, 2016 – Big Bear Assemblyman Jay Obernolte said on Friday morning that he stands along with Governor Jerry Brown for financial caution.
The governor released his revised budget Friday, and Obernolte, who is the vice chairman of the Assembly’s budget committee, expressed a more cautious and less politically partisan opinion about various spending priorities in the Legislature, and more concerned about California spending beyond what the governor had recommended .
The governor says that tax revenue growth in the state is slowing, and yet the California State Assembly continues to advocate for higher state government spending.
One area where Obernolte and the governor disagree is transportation spending. Brown is pushing for increases to the gas tax and other new revenue to promote the California HighSpeed Rail Authority’s 2016 Business Plan.
The plan lays out an approach that will ultimately connect the San Francisco Bay Area to the Los Angeles Basin via the Central Valley with highspeed passenger rail service. Obernolte said the state needs to better spend the money it has.
