First elected to the State Senate in 2004, Senator Dutton, who represents California’s 31st State Senate District that includes portions of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, won a second term in November 2008 when he captured nearly 60 percent of the vote.

After being the point-person for Republicans on major issues like the budget and transportation, Senator Dutton was unanimously selected Senate Republican Leader-elect in early 2010. He assumed control of the caucus following passage of the 2010-11 budget.

The GOP Senate leader’s position against the tax extension was re-stated clearly in his reaction to the governor’s updated budget proposal, the May Revision.  Sen. Dutton wrote:

Senate Republicans believe Governor Brown is moving in the right direction by making education and law enforcement funding a top priority. We also applaud the governor for embracing Republican proposals of paying down state debt and providing some job-creation incentives.  But the May Revise goes too far on taxes and not far enough on reforms.

Rather than curbing government spending, the governor’s revised budget still sets the state on a course of excessive spending growth in the future – spending that relies on tax increases. With $6.6 billion in new revenues, Republicans are right – we don’t need, and it’s ridiculous to ask voters for, five years of new taxes.

Clearly the California economy is trying to recover, which makes it critical that the state budget include reforms that Senate Republicans have been seeking from day one – a hard spending cap, pension reform and business-regulation relief. The Senate Republicans’ long-terms solutions provide the stability small businesses need to grow and create jobs.

Fourteen CTA members, including CTA President David A. Sanchez, were arrested during State of Emergency week outside of Sen. Dutton’s office while seeking to persuade him to change his position. They were arrested for tresspassing and released about 18 hours later.

If you are a constituent of Senator Dutton, please contact one of his offices:

Capitol office: 916-651-4031

Rancho Cucamonga office: 909-466-4180

Riverside office: 951-715-2625

Email: [email protected]