Sacramento Snapshot: Budget process gets underway

Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more. 

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It’s all about the dollars and dance videos in Sacramento right now.

Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his preliminary budget proposal last week — and it was a decidedly dimmer outlook than in more recent years. The state is grappling with a $22.5 billion deficit, and the governor said he wants to navigate that without dipping into the state’s reserves or making cuts to certain issues like education.

The commitment to education is welcome news to Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, who chairs the Senate Education Committee.

But he also had a message for Orange County residents: The deficit, at the moment, seems manageable.

“The budget is, as always in January, a work in progress, and the economy is in an interesting position,” Newman, also a member of the Senate’s Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, said. “It will probably result in delays instead of cuts to programs that would impact Orange County residents.”

Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, looks at the budget proposal with positivity as well: “I am proud that we are entering 2023 with fiscal prudence and thoughtful consideration for how we can scale back without compromising what’s most important: Public education, wildfire preparedness, water supplies and innovation.”

Still, Min said, “Orange County values (should) have a strong voice at the negotiating table.”

“My constituents have a front seat to the impacts of climate change and a key stake in how well the state addresses year-round wildfires, extreme temperatures and coastal erosion.  While only the first iteration, the governor’s proposed budget targets funding reductions to programs that seek to address our changing climate,” Min, also a member of the Budget committee, said. “We need to strike a balance between what is fiscally responsible and what vital services, such as education, health and human services and the environment, take high priority.”

The governor’s proposal isn’t the final product. Legislators will hold hearings and work through the proposal. Newsom’s office will release a revised plan based on the latest economic forecast in May, and the legislature has until June 15 to pass the budget.

Aside from the budget, TikTok is already trending in Sacramento this year.

Much like lawmakers in Washington, D.C., legislators in California’s capital city are considering restricting access to TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video hosting app. There is widespread scrutiny by lawmakers across the country of the impact the app has on younger users as well as security concerns. The spending package signed by President Joe Biden late last year included a limited TikTok ban on certain devices operated by the federal government.

“We know that it collects an unnecessary amount of data on its users. It’s a clear security risk for the state,” said Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita. “This is a bipartisan issue to keep Californians safe.”

Sanchez has filed legislation to ban TikTok and other apps with similar security concerns from government-issued devices in the state. It’s similar to recent legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa Valley, who said a prohibition on state devices is a “commonsense way to prevent exposure of our sensitive material and the possible tracking or data breaches.”

Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, said it’s a topic that will be examined in the Judiciary Committee that he chairs

“I take the security concerns raised by the Department of Defense about TikTok, and the fact that several branches of the United States Armed Forces have banned Tiktok from their devices, very seriously. It means there are some real security threats that we need to be examining, especially with the use of official government devices,” Umberg said. “The state may have similar concerns because so much private sensitive information is also in California’s databases; for example Social Security numbers and bank account information.”

”That being said, TikTok is extremely popular and a mode of communication used by millions, including elected officials to connect with their constituents. When government starts to ban modes of communication, it’s something we need to scrutinize very closely,” he added.

In other news

• Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, was unanimously chosen to serve as Minority Caucus Chair this session. That’s the No. 2 position in GOP leadership in the upper chamber. According to her office, this makes Nguyen the highest-ranking Vietnamese American official currently serving in California’s government.

• Republican OC Assemblymembers Phillip Chen, Laurie Davies and Tri Ta last week asked the California Public Utilities Commission to probe increases in natural gas prices as well as provide relief for consumers.

• Sen. Catherine Blakespear, whose district includes southern Orange County, has tapped former Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr to serve as a senior district representative for Orange County. She also nabbed Jack Christensen, who was working with the San Diego Association of Governments, as her district director.

Speaking of Blakespear, she has filed two spot bills — meaning the language will be developed more with the help of experts and other stakeholders — to increase access to affordable housing and curtail gun violence.

• A tidbit from Alex Vassar, a legislative historian with the California State Library, Assemblymember Tri Ta, R-Westminster, is tied with 10 other members in the lower chamber for the shortest name. The most recent was Assemblymember A. Joel in 1912, Vassar said.

Source: Orange County Register