I was reading Assemblywoman Noreen Evans column in today’s Sacramento Bee and laughing out loud.  She continues to live in fantasy land suggesting that “living within our means” is meaningless.  I recommend that John Burton make her the spokesperson for the California Democratic Party and encourage her to keep on saying it. GOP majority, here we come.

But in all seriousness, during these tough times, government must live within its means and work to get the most from every taxpayer dollar.  Local governments are particularly challenged as they must balance their budgets.  Most are cutting services and employees, but are they getting the most from every dollar?

A report released today by the good folks at the Associated Builders and Contractors California Cooperation Committee  (which you can download by clicking the link under this blog post) suggests that California’s charter cities – those with the most flexibility to bypass state regulations – aren’t taking advantage of the ability to exempt themselves from prevailing wage.  There are 114 charter cities in California yet during these times of budget red ink, 67 reported that, in effect, they are willing to pay millions more that they have to in order build roads, schools and parks.

Among the 67, include Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Roseville, Newport Beach, Stockton and Vallejo.  Twelve cities have partially exempted themselves including Anaheim, Fresno, Sacramento and San Diego.   Thirty-four cities have fully exempted themselves including Modesto, Carlsbad, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Visalia and Marysville.  Kudos to them!

Prevailing wage is nothing more than a state sanctioned union payoff.  The state does not determine the average or median age of workers.  Instead, they make the prevailing wage by using the collective bargaining agreements from unions.  And thanks to Gray Davis, prevailing wage also includes required payment to so called “industry advancement funds.”  In Northern California, for example, when a local government requires contractors to pay carpenters prevailing wage, that also requires payments to no fewer than seven union slush funds including something called the Carpenters Work Preservation Committee Trust. 

What a scam…something taxpayers should never be forced to pay for.

Bottom line is that, just as we’re demanding that state government live within its means, so to should local governments.  Those that have the opportunity to free themselves from the state’s bureaucratic and costly mandates must do so.  FlashReport commends the Associated Builders and Contractors of California Cooperation Committee and hopes they keep this issue visible.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.