Posted on | March 14, 2013 | Comments

State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, and Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside (Senate photo)

No votes were taken and no promises were made. But a pair of Riverside Democrats made their case Thursday to Senate budget writers that the 2013-14 spending plans needs to include $15 million for UC Riversides medical school.

Assemblyman Jose Medina and state Sen. Richard Roth, both Riverside Democrats elected in November, said the schools future depends on the state appropriating the money. Riverside County and other donors already have committed $18 million to the school.

Without the $15 million were talking about today, the community commitments associated with that may dry up, the preliminary accreditation that the medical school received will be pulled undoubtedly and the school will fail, Roth told the education subcommittee of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.

Each of the panels three members seemed to agree on the need for the school in the medically underserved Inland region but all stepped well short of pledging to support spending state money on it.

If I had it, it would be an easy call, said state Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood. I dont think we have $15 million just sitting around unspent.

Roth and Medina are the latest Inland lawmakers to lobby for medical school money. In past years, state Sen. Bill Emmerson, Assemblyman Brian Nestande, and former Inland lawmakers Bob Dutton, John Benoit, Jeff Miller, Denise Moreno Ducheny and helped carry the schools water in Sacramento.

By: Jim Miller

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MEDICAL SCHOOL : Medina, Roth urge $15 million in budget