Democrats like Feinstein and Biden want to cancel tuition debt for students. Of course that makes fools of those that worked 2-3 jobs at a time, repaid their loans. According to Democrats being a deadbeat is a good thing and government will cover you. Instead of fixing the problem of high tuition costs due to government involvement and programs, just buy off the debt today—and in a few years do it again.
So, now the idea has come up in Sacramento to buy off the high cost of water and electricity THIS year. But, next year, when the costs are even higher, will government again pay off the debt? And what about the honest person, who despite the high cost, sacrifices and pays for the water and electricity> What do they do next year?.
You would think that Sen. Scott Weiner, or Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher would present such a bill, paying the invoices, but refusing to fix the root problem—making it worse next year. Nope, this bill is by two conservative Republican State Senators—Jim Nielsen and Shannon Grove. It is like when Chad Mayes, the Minority Leader of the GOP in the Assembly voted for a $3 billion cap and trade tax increase—what was he thinking? We know what happened to him.
I know the GOP is irrelevant in Sacramento, but presenting bills a Bernie Sanders Democrat would be proud of, is not the answer. Fix the problem, don’t buy it off for a year and make it worse.
From the San Jose Spotlight: “Due to maintenance costs and supply price increases, San Jose residents could see higher water bills by July—despite pandemic-related hardships and resident pushback. Carly Wipf takes a closer look.”
Republicans push to cancel utility debt
Emily Hoeuven, CalMatters, 3/10/21
Debt cancellation is a controversial topic even among Democrats, but two of California’s top Republican lawmakers want the state to forgive residents’ water, electricity, internet and utility debt. In a March 3 letter to Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat and chairperson of the Senate Budget Committee, GOP Sens. Jim Nielsen and Shannon Grove suggested the state use some of its $25 billion surplus to cancel utility debt and provide aid to small community pharmacies, which many low-income residents depend on for health care and COVID vaccinations.
- Nielsen and Grove: “Payment plans may help those with jobs. Moratoriums will delay the debt. These patchwork remedies, however, are not sustainable solutions to lift low-income Californians out of their growing piles of debt.”
As CalMatters’ Jackie Botts has reported, 1.6 million California households have water debt totaling $1 billion, and could face shutoffs when Newsom lifts the state of emergency. Meanwhile, around 9 million households are behind on their electric or gas bills and owe more than $1 billion, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.
