Assembly Dems take their own swipe at Washington

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has been openly critical of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent rhetorical jabs at the Obama administration and the state’s Congressional delegation. While Schwarzenegger has laid blame at Washington’s feet for a portion of the state’s $20 billion budget deficit, Bass said Schwarzenegger isn’t helping matters by “throwing punches at the people he wants to help us.”

But Bass might want to check in with members of her own caucus about pointing fingers at Washington. A  non-binding resolution authored by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) , and co-authored by 33 other Assembly Democrats, passed out of an Assembly committee Monday, and makes many of the same points the governor has made over the last week.

The Assembly Banking and Finance Committee did soften the tone of the resolution somewhat during through some amendments Monday. But the jist of the resolution is clear — Washington is part of California’s budget problem.

“California has been the federal government’s biggest financial supporter for decades, but in this historic financial crisis triggered by events in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street, California needs to retain more of its tax dollars to assist it’s own residence,” the resolution states.

The original resolution stated “the (Obama) administration and Congress have largely turned a blind eye to the financial meltdown of its biggest revenue contributor, California.” That language was removed by the committee Monday.

You can read the entire text of the resolution here