SACRAMENTO, CA – The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California, representing 700,000 public and private sector workers, released the following statement from President Bill A. Lloyd on the Governor’s revised Fiscal Year 2010-11 budget proposal today:

“The May Revise budget is not the budget Californians deserve.  We need an open and transparent process that will look out of the Capitol and to the people of California, a budget that will reflect our values and move us closer to the kind of California we want to bequeath to our children and grandchildren.

“The common vision that we all share for California – quality schools, world-class universities, independence for our parents and grandparents in their elder years, and economic prosperity for our families – requires that we begin rebuilding California immediately.

“Sadly, rather than offering a blueprint for California’s economic recovery that invests in our schools, in vital services and jobs, this budget revision takes a wrecking ball to our state’s economic foundation.  

“Ignoring Californians’ demands for action to advance our state’s economic recovery, the proposed budget will put half of California’s 350,000 caregivers out of work and send our unemployment rate soaring. Disregarding the public’s consistent support for compassionate and cost-effective in-home care, this plan puts at risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of frail seniors and people with disabilities and adds billions upon billions in institutional care costs to future budgets.  

Consigning generations of hard-working public employees to poverty in their elder years, this proposal would dismantle a pension system that has served taxpayers well for decades.  

Rather than being honest with Californians about the choices facing California, this budget protects egregious corporate handouts in favor of eliminating a welfare-to-work system that saves money and lifts a million children out of the worst poverty, child care that enables low-income families to stay in the job market, and mental health services that prevent homelessness and keep communities safe.

“The janitors who keep schools and hospitals clean and healthy, the cafeteria employees who feed needy children, the home care workers who are a lifeline for seniors and people with disabilities have sacrificed time and again while global corporations walked away with sweetheart deals in every budget.  It’s time for big banks, oil companies, tobacco companies and other global corporations to contribute their fair share to investing in California.

“This budget proposal is more of the same failed solutions that led to our current budget crisis, and it will not lead California to recovery.  But SEIU’s 700,000 workers won’t give up on the state we care about and work hard to serve.  We will lead the fight to rebuild California by championing the real solutions California needs.”

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SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California. We come together to build a better California by fighting to pass policies and elect candidates that benefit working families and advance the issues we care about: affordable healthcare, good wages, retirement security for all, a healthy environment, good schools and universities, and stronger communities. We believe that by working together we can build a California where working families can thrive again.