Around 6am this morning, the California legislature adjourned from its regular session. Needless to say, the Democrats who control the majority in both legislative chambers, near as I can tell, produced nothing helpful in their final legislative push. With the state’s economy in the doldrums, so many opportunities to pass legislation to stimulate the economic through tax or regulatory relief were rejected (Republicans authored these ideas, to have them dismissed by the liberal ideologues who see taxing and regulating the people they represent as some sort of dogmatic quest). On the contrary — we saw notable bills such as ones to ease incarceration for prisoners, and more regulations on the energy sector that will result in higher consumer costs. Oh yes, and the water crisis remains a crisis as the Sierra Club completely trumped common sense, with the Democrats amazingly producing a water bill that includes no new water storage… (Kind of like saying you fixed the leak on a boat by replacing the canopy.)
We’ll have more coverage on the end of the session, and our team is already working on our annual "Top Twenty Bills To Veto" feature — which this year will be co-authored by State Senator Mimi Walters, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, and yours truly. If you have some suggestions of particularly onerous bills that are now on their way to the Governor, you can drop us a line here.
Let me take a moment to praise the leadership of the Dennis Hollingsworth and Sam Blakeslee, who valiantly led efforts of Republicans in that face of a very tough liberal majority.
This morning State Senate Republicans released some statements upon the close of session that we’ll share with you…
Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth:
“As millions of Californians continue to suffer through the worst recession in 35 years, the Democrat-led Legislature could not even uphold the budget agreement until the ink was dry. They chose not to pass a single job creating bill. They couldn’t deliver a water package to parched farms and cities, and they were silent on our coming pension crisis.”
State Senator Jeff Denham:
“This was the lost session with many missed opportunities and mishaps – reoccurring and devastating budget deficits, no real fix to the water crisis and the unacceptable early release of prisoner. The full-time Legislature, controlled by career politicians, is clearly failing. There is political in-fighting rather than solutions to pressing issues like water and jobs. It’s time to return California to a part-time institution.”
State Senator Tom Harman
“We faced challenges this year that were beyond anything we could have anticipated and sadly we took the easy way out too many times. Waiting until the last minute and jamming through controversial legislation is no way to run a state. This type of bullying, rather than honest debate and consensus building, has left Californians with higher taxes, the early release of prisoners, and a state still in need of a water plan. The majority party continues to ignore the real needs of Californians – jobs, safe neighborhoods and a good, reliable source of water.”
State Senator Tony Strickland
“Today marks the end of a difficult legislative session for the State of California. While I am pleased to have seven of my bills pass the Legislature, deep frustrations still exist because we have yet to accomplish a fundamental fix to our budget problem and cut additional wasteful government spending.
I look forward to spending some much needed time in my district with constituents. However, I am eager to be called back to Sacramento for a special session so we can work on our broken tax system and fix California’s ongoing budget problem.
I will work with Democrats, Republicans, and the Governor to find a solution we can all agree on. It won’t be easy, but we must encourage job growth and business deregulation in order to solve the state’s economic situation.”
Senator Mark Wyland:
"The Legislature has spent the last two weeks rushing to meet yet another ‘bill factory’ deadline. This is no way to handle the state’s business or be responsive to our citizens’ needs. We should be devoting more time to all of our actions, whether it is balancing the budget, sitting on committees or voting on bills.
One way to accomplish this would be to implement my Legislative Accountability Act, which would allow the Legislature to focus for an entire year on just the budget and oversight, leaving the second legislative year to concentrate on bills and other business. Doing so would not only allow legislators to reduce the number of non-critical bills, but would also allow us to focus on our top priority: balancing the state budget and ensuring accountability for every taxpayer dime we spend.”
Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth separately issued this statement on the legislature’s inability to produce a solution for the state’s drastic water problem…
“The President Pro Tem announced “no vote” on a water bond tonight. He also said he wants his Senate Bill 68 to be passed by the Legislature. That bill does not address critical water needs for the people of California. Instead his bad policy will actually make the problem worse and undermine efforts to ever solve this issue.
There is zero funding for any water storage in SB 68. There’s no relief for struggling farms, or farm workers. After losing tens of thousands of jobs in California, his plan is to create two new government bureaucracies without delivering a single drop of water. Senator Steinberg spent too much time catering to the views of extreme environmentalists and left less than a day to reach agreement on improving our failing water infrastructure. It’s very unfortunate and furthers the public’s disdain for government when top priorities don’t include the needs of our citizens, improving the economy and getting people back to work. ”
To review the Joint Legislative Water Committee bill language please visit: http://cssrc.us/.
Senate Republicans stand ready and willing to work on a full comprehensive solution to California’s water needs."
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