Nevada County’s State Senator was among Republican lawmakers voting “no” on the main budget bill. Brian Dahle says it covers the 32-billion dollar deficit by cutting some spending, while delaying other spending and shifting some expenses to other funds. The plan will also borrow six-billion dollars and set aside nearly 38-billion in reserves, the most ever. But he says it does little go address the ever-growing cost of living in California…

click to listen to Brian Dahle

Dahle says the new budget also doesn’t adequately address the growing number of strict and expensive regulations, making it more difficult for business owners…

click to listen to Brian Dahle

Republicans say the plan is unsustainable and will leave the state with projected multi-billion-dollar deficits over the next few years. It does not raise income taxes to close the budget gap. But it does impose a new tax on managed care organizations, which are private companies that contract with the state to administer Medicaid benefits. That will generate an estimated 32-billion dollars over the next four years.