It’s been half a century of Democrat rule in California, but now, beleaguered Republicans are hoping the state’s dire economic condition will be a wake-up call to voters.
The state’s eight GOP senators unveiled a list of 2023 priorities to turn around the economic slide, infrastructure woes, and natural disasters like drought and fires.
“Life hasn’t been easy for the average Californian under one-party rule,” Minority Leader Brian Jones (R) said Wednesday at a press conference on the Capitol steps. “Gavin Newsom’s ‘California way or the highway’ has people literally fleeing because of the high cost of living, worsening homelessness crisis, and failing schools.”
Similar to the “Commitment to America” pledge House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) unveiled leading up to the midterm elections, California Republicans created their own to-do list.
It comes on the heels of a strict COVID-19 lockdown that created an exodus of residents and businesses to red states like Texas and Florida and even to Mexico.
Despite years of record budget surplus, the state has remained among the most expensive for housing, food, gasoline, and almost everything else. It now faces a $25 billion deficit in the coming year, the legislative analyst revealed.
Republicans have listed their problem-solving priorities as cost-cutting, crime, homelessness, wildfires, water infrastructure, and aiding students.
“Government should work for you, not the other way around,” Jones added.
Caucus leader Janet Nguyen said she would like to see the state increase the renter’s tax credit, suspend the 54-cent gas tax, and build affordable housing, which is also a Democratic platform.
The senators also discussed crime, which is 13% higher in California than elsewhere. The Golden State had once led the nation in some of the toughest criminal laws, including three strikes in 1994 that gave increasingly stiff prison sentences for each subsequent violent felony up to life.
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Voters have consistently backed stiff punishments for crime and rebuffed efforts to undo the death penalty. However, in the past two decades, the Democratic supermajority has whittled away many of the punishments by passing new laws changing felonies to misdemeanors and allowing early release from prison.
Republicans also outlined their concerns in a Jan. 9 letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), citing the budget shortfall that came after an $80 billion spending spree over the past five years on items that did not include education.
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“Far too many hard working Californians continue to struggle to pay for rent, food, and other bills. They worry about practical needs like water and safe communities. As we move forward, the state budget should focus on fixing these basic issues,” the letter said.
