What California lawmakers say about the two-year budget deal

Reporting from Washington —  Several members of California’s delegation said Tuesday that the budget agreement reached by the White House and congressional Republican leaders is good, but not perfect.

The bill was released late Monday night. The House is scheduled to vote on it Wednesday.

Other members of California’s delegation said they hadn’t had enough time to read the $80-billion, two-year proposal to fund the government, which is aimed at resolving the stalemate over paying for federal programs and would avoid the threat of another government shutdown until after President Obama leaves office in 2017.

It would increase spending on both military and domestic programs above the existing spending caps known as sequestration.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) said the plan includes many reforms Republicans and Democrats have worked on for years but haven’t been able to pass.

“These were kind of the easiest of the tough things to do, especially as it relates to dealing with entitlements [and] mandatory spending,” Nunes said.

Nunes said the bill could mean a return to the normal budgeting process and help Congress avoid another crisis in December when federal spending authority runs out again, “but don’t ever think that we can’t pull defeat from the jaws of victory.”

Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) said he had started to review the proposal, but hadn’t made a decision.

“For us to wait for the last minute to actually get a look at it is, honestly, frustrating,” Valadao said.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) said he is interested in seeing whether Republicans can unite to pass it.

“They are the majority party. They are the ones who are supposed to govern and it seems like every time they hit the end of the road and are about to go over the cliff, they turn to Democrats to save them,” he said. “I’m interested to see if my Republican colleagues will step to the plate and do their job.”

Becerra, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said he likes some parts of the bill, and needs to weigh the parts he doesn’t before he decides whether to support it.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called the bill a much needed victory for the country.

“While not perfect, it will begin to correct the breakdown in our federal budgeting process and provide certainty that the United States will continue to pay its bills through March 2017,” she said in a statement.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) said he read the bill Tuesday morning and, while he still had a few questions, he planned to support it.

“Under the circumstances it’s probably the best we can do,” Calvert said. “Overall I think it takes us off the cliff and moves us in the right direction.”
Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) said he expected to be up late Tuesday reading the bill.

“I just got a copy of it,” he said, waving the document. “Let me read it and then I’ll give you my take on it.”

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