Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg today said he is willing to consider calls to target GOP districts with steeper cuts if legislative Republicans will not vote for taxes or to put taxes on a statewide ballot as part of a budget solution.
"When it comes to kids or the vulnerable, I wouldn't want to make distinctions between who lives in a Democratic district and who lives in a Republican district, but when it comes to sort of basic services, convenience services that affect adults... I have an open mind," Steinberg told reporters after speaking at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon.
The Sacramento Democrat said he thinks a targeted-cuts scenario like the one state Treasurer Bill Lockyer laid out in an interview with the Bay Area News Group-East Bay's editorial board comes down to "basic fairness."
"You don't want to pay for government, well then, you get less of it," he said.
Jann Taber, spokeswoman for Senate GOP leader Bob Dutton, said any blame for an all-cuts approach should be placed on the Democrats for rejecting the proposals already offered by Republicans.
"If they're threatening cutting services in Republican districts it's because they're unwilling to stand up to the public employee unions and allow voters to vote on a spending cap and pension reform as part of a budget deal," she said.
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