Senate Leader Atkins, Budget Chair Skinner Praise Budget Bills’ Passage as Historic Investments in California, Future
SACRAMENTO – Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) and Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) released the following statements regarding the Senate passing budget bills that will improve the quality of life for Californians and protect the state’s natural resources:
Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins:
“What could have been one of our state’s darkest fiscal disasters has instead become a bright beacon of hope and investment in the future—even more so with the finishing touches the Legislature just made to the record climate and environmental funding included in this year’s budget.
“This has been an amazingly productive year for California, and while we enacted record-level investments in the budget earlier this summer – one of the most Legislature-driven budgets in modern history – we’ve spent the weeks since then examining ways to further enhance and address some of our state’s most critical issues. We doubled down on our efforts to help combat and prepare for wildfire, allocated additional funding for water resiliency in light of ongoing drought conditions, and invested resources that will help make student housing within our public higher education systems more affordable. We enacted environmental and climate expenditures in this budget that are the largest in California history, and for good reason – the climate crisis, from extreme heat to sea level rise – demand our immediate and urgent attention.
“We have accomplished in one year what many would hope to accomplish during their entire tenure in public office, and we did so when need and uncertainty was at a fever pitch. I’m grateful to our Senate Committee on Budget & Fiscal Review Chair Nancy Skinner and our budget subchairs for their tireless work on this, as well as the partnership of Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Governor Gavin Newsom. This was an amazing final act to a five-star budget production.”
Senator Nancy Skinner:
“California faces unprecedented challenges — a devastating pandemic and climate change-induced wildfires and drought. But once again we’ve risen to the challenge, passing a budget with record-breaking investments that will help Californians respond to the climate crisis, fight wildfires, lessen homelessness and support our residents and businesses impacted by the pandemic.
“My thanks to Senate President pro Tempore Atkins for her steadfast leadership, and to my legislative colleagues and Gov. Newsom and his administration for their creativity and hard work on helping create a good news budget that all of California can all be proud of.”
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Toni G. Atkins is President pro Tempore of the California Senate. Having previously served as Speaker of the California Assembly, she began her tenure in the Senate in 2016. As Senator for District 39, she represents the cities of San Diego, Coronado, Del Mar and Solana Beach. Website of President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins: www.senate.ca.gov/Atkins