Thursday, May 18, 2006
Senate leader says California won't pay for Guard deployment
By: AARON C. DAVIS - Associated Press
SACRAMENTO -- The state Senate leader on Wednesday pledged not to budget "one dime" of state money for President Bush's proposed deployment of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border until the state determines whether the plan would hurt California's ability to respond to a disaster.
"As a matter of moral principle and constitutional precedent, we will not be party to budgeting one dime to enable any role for the California National Guard in border monitoring until the Senate immediately and thoroughly reviews the implications of this use of state funds and personnel," Sen. President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, wrote to the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
Perata said the state's contribution to the National Guard instead should be spent on preparing the unit for its primary mission of responding to natural disasters and civil unrest. A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said he supports Perata's review. A California National Guard spokesman, Maj. Jon Siepmann, said the Guard had not yet received details of the deployment and that it was too soon to determine the possible effects of the Senate leader's action.
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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/05/18/news/state/18_02_115_17_06.txt
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