A fierce debate over California's budget is right around the
corner. Democratic legislative leaders say they plan to call
votes in the Senate and Assembly as soon as Wednesday - deal or no
deal. That has interest groups focused on a small group of
moderate Republicans seen as potential swing votes. And on
Monday, one of those lawmakers felt the squeeze from both
sides.
Mike Burtch and Marie Roberson have been close for decades,
since they met in a first-grade classroom in Turlock. Burtch
was Roberson's teacher, and their families quickly became
friends. But on Monday, they stood on opposite sides of the
street, outside the Modesto office of Republican State Senator
Anthony Cannella.
Burtch: "Obviously, we don't
agree on-"
Roberson: "-politics, but if it weren't for him and his wife, I would not have stayed in church."
Roberson: "-politics, but if it weren't for him and his wife, I would not have stayed in church."
The teacher - well, he's retired now - stood with union
members and advocates for seniors and the disabled. Burtch
wants the senator to vote for a budget deal that includes Governor
Jerry Brown's proposed tax extensions.
Burtch: "Without these taxes,
our schools, our health care programs - all those things that are
really important to me and should be important to everybody in
California - I think are gonna be in very serious, serious
trouble. They already are, but they're gonna be in worse
trouble."
The pupil is now the coordinator of the Turlock Tea Party
Patriots. She's concerned that the senator could potentially
support placing the governor's tax extensions on a special election
ballot.
Roberson: "He's sitting on the
fence right now, and he's trying to compromise and work with Brown
on issues. There is no compromise. There is straight
line - no taxes - there doesn't need to be."
Roberson did not vote for Cannella last year. She
believes he's too moderate. In fact, it's possible none of
the protesters on either side of the street voted for the senator.
Cannella's a businessman, the former mayor of Ceres and a
former Democrat. So far, he's generally voted Republican but
broke with his party to support several union contracts.
Cannella says he understands the strong feelings on the left and
the right, but...
Cannella: "So if you look at
what I'm working on, these are regulations that will solve the
problem so that adequate revenue does flow into the state of
California so we can pay for the things that are important to us -
like education and public safety and taking care of the
disabled."
Cannella says he's pushing for a hard spending cap and
significant changes to California's pension and regulatory
systems. His staff is in talks with the governor's
office.
