Who was working in Sacramento Yesterday while Schwarzenegger, Bass, Steinberg Attended the Inauguration

After watching the Presidential Inauguration last night I got to thinking.  If many of the state leaders are in Washington attending inauguration festivities who is running the state?  Who is working on the budget? and who is figuring out how to solve the cash crisis forecasted by State Controller John Chiang to begin in February.  So I called the offices of Governor Schwarzenegger, Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.  I was greeted with mixed responses and answers.  I asked three simple questions.  The conversations went like this.

While watching the inauguration yesterday I noticed that <blank> attended.  Is this true?  Has <blank> returned to California?  When did they return?  The reason I ask is that I was bothered when I saw them at the ceremony, while the inauguration is a monumental occasion, in California we have a monumental spending problem.  In 10 days the state controller says California will run out of cash.  Why was <blank> spending time in Washington when they should be here in California fixing this problem?  Will the expense of the trip be payed by state funds?

The gentleman I spoke to at the Governors office was very polite and answered my questions as completely as possible.  He said that he believed the governor returned this morning, but he was not sure.  He stated that the governors expenses where payed by a committee and from personal funds and would not be paid for by the state.  He told me that the reason the governor attended was to be part of a historical event, he said nothing of possible work being done in the capital.  I don’t know why but he also stated that governors from other states attended.  And at the end of our conversation he noted that it is a possibility that funding could be coming from the federal government.

Next I called the office of Karen Bass.  The woman on the phone was stern and presented herself in a very defensive manner.  She confirmed that Assembly woman Bass was in Washington for the inauguration and went on to tell me that she was working hard while she was there.  She said that she was “working with contacts” and when I asked if she was trying to get some money from the Federal Government she mumbled something about the Economic Stimulus Package.  When asked about how the trip was paid for I was told that it was paid for using Karen’s own credit card, does that mean no official state business is being done or is Karen just really giving to the state?  Our conversation ended by a comment that placed her in a very defensive position, she said that Assembly woman Bass spends nights and weekends trying to solve the budget problem, even before she became Speaker she was working hard to avoid the situation we are now in.

A woman in the office of Darrell Steinberg confirmed that he attended the inauguration and she thought he would be arriving back this morning.  I asked if he was working on any official business in Washington and she replied by saying he is working on “democratic business”.  She then promptly asked for my name and zip code and the conversation was over.

It is hard for me to believe that any work has been done on the budget in the past few days.  With only 10 days until February they don’t have a lot of time, they must make every day count.

I encourage everyone to call their representatives and ask them if they attended so we can find out what was done yesterday to help the state.

Schwarzenegger, Bass, Steinberg to Attend Inauguration | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Local News.

Update 3:10PM: I guess they could not tell me this over the phone.  Calif. Leaders Lobby For Federal Help