Politics & Government

East Bay Politicians React To Governor's State of the State Speech

East Bay politicians reacted favorably to Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State speech.

In the speech Wednesday morning,Brown said California is continuing its comeback, but he urged the state Legislature to be cautious about spending.

Here's some of the reaction from East Bay political leaders.

State Sen. Majority Leader Ellen Corbett (D-10): “As California continues to recover following several years of devastating cuts to education, health and other important social services, I was encouraged to hear Governor Brown focus on growing the economy and creating jobs. I look forward to working collaboratively with the Governor and my legislative colleagues in the months ahead to ensure that our optimistic and bold vision for California becomes a reality.”

State Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis): “I applaud the Governor’s message that California must remain on a path of fiscal discipline, and share his desire to continue to pay down our state debt and build our state surplus. I also share the Governor’s concern regarding the drought and the importance of taking immediate steps as well as investing in long-term strategies to better manage future droughts, which may be more frequent as a result of climate change."

State Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo): "I praise the Governor’s efforts to establish a meaningful rainy day fund to minimize the tremendous volatility in the budget that we have seen in recent decades.  The huge swings in revenue have made it extremely difficult to sustain critical programs and services. I was very pleased to hear the Governor’s top priorities for dealing with the severe drought facing California are conservation and water storage.  Conservation will have an immediate impact.  Increased storage will provide more certainty over the long term and promote regional planning for water sustainability."

State Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont/Newark): “California is moving forward and we are not turning back. We’ve had three years of on-time, balanced budgets with a fourth on the way, and we are adding jobs, investing in our schools and universities, and building a rainy day fund.”


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