Legislative leaders wrap up Washington, D.C. tour

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Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) were in Washington this week pleading for funds as state revenues plummeted. They held meetings with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and others in Congress and the White House.

Before heading back to Sacramento to face what is expected to be another summer dominated by bickering over how to spend what money the state has left, they briefed reporters on the trip. The leaders expressed optimism, even as officials in Washington have continued to say federal assistance is going to fall far short of what California needs to balance the books.

‘We’re not talking about a bailout,’’ Perez said, ‘but rather making sure California get its fair return on our federal tax investment.’’

The leaders focused much of their lobbying effort on an appeal for more MediCal money, which they pitched as crucial for the state to implement national healthcare reform. ‘It is not significant in this highly partisan environment in Washington that California’s Republican governor and Democratic leadership are on the same page with the same message that we want to be the model for national healthcare reform,’’ Perez said.

Steinberg seconded that and joked that he found this trip more productive than the last one, noting the last time he was in the U.S. Capitol was the day after Republican Scott Brown’s election to the Massachusetts seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. ‘Everyone seemed interested in other things,’’ he said.

-- Richard Simon in Washington