BLAKESLEE COUNTERS VILLINES ON 1A
There are a number of key differences between outgoing Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines and his chosen successor, Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee. But the most start distinction worth mentioning now, as opposed to when the official handing of the conch shell takes place on June 1st, is their position on Proposition 1A on the May 19th Special Election ballot. Villines helped draft 1A, and has been advocating its passage. Blakeslee opposes it, and urges Californian’s to reject the measure and the $16 billion in higher taxes that are triggered if it were to pass.
As FR readers know quite well by now, the text of Proposition 1A contains a revenue "smoothing" measure designed to try and guide California politicians into saving money during good times to then have reserves to spend during tough times. There is a vibrant debate as to whether the measure achieves that — with this website publisher coming down on the side that says that the measure is written too loosely to stop a determined Governor and Legislature from spending too much…
While the measure itself does not include a tax increase, seven Republicans in the Capitol (if you include the Governor) joined with all of the Democrats to pass tax increases, some of which have already hit Californians hard (roughly $14 billion worth) and they have approved another $16 billion as well, but that additional tax load never gets enacted if 1A is defeated. Massive taxation for a questionable revenue "smoothing" measure? I don’t think so… And neither does Blakeslee.
SUPERMAJORITY OF ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS OPPOSE 1A
For those keeping track, FR’s placing of Blakeslee in the firmly anti-1A column means that 20 of the Assembly’s 29 Republican legislators are now officially opposed to the measure — a supermajority. Already that is the case in the State Senate Republican Caucus where ten of 15 GOP Senators publicly oppose the measure.
If you are curious as to which GOP legislators are not opposing 1A, it’s easier to list those 14 legislators than to list the 30 who do (though we admire and applaud all of them). 9 Republican legislators actual urge you to vote yes on 1A and to tax yourself: Senators Roy Ashburn, Dave Cogdill, Bob Huff and Abel Maldonado, and Assemblymen Anthony Adams, Tom Berryhill, Danny Gilmore, Roger Niello and Mike Villines. Five Republican legislators, since we last checked, have "no public position" on 1A — Senator Dave Cox, and Assemblymen Bill Berryhill, Paul Cook, Bill Emmerson and Nathan Fletcher (note: if that position has changed for any of these folks — as it has been a month since we reached out directly — and they let us know, we’ll update FR readers).
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