Here’s the first thing that needs to be cut to begin balancing the California State budget.
When not in a capital gripped by budget crises, state Sen. Ron Calderon can be found touring his San Gabriel Valley district in a Cadillac STS V8 Luxury Sports Sedan that the state bought for $54,830.
The Democrat from Montebello spent an average $83 per week on gasoline last year, charged to California taxpayers on a state-issued card.
When legislators’ cars need maintenance or are in accidents — even with spouses or offspring at the wheel — taxpayers also pay, state records show.
The cost of providing lawmakers with Cadillacs, Lincoln Town Cars, Priuses and Lexuses, keeping the vehicles full of gas and fixing them when they crash was $3.2 million during the last three years.
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