In case you need some sort of poignant reminder of exactly how whacked out Capitol Democrats are — and how they literally are continuing to over-regulate California, and expand the "Nanny State" — we need only publish for you a list released by the State Senate Republican Caucus highlighting what are just some of the terrible pieces of legislation coming up for a vote in the Senate (it’s just as bad in the Assembly!)…  Republicans are opposed to all of these…

And before you comment or ask, YES, these are FOR REAL.  We did NOT make these up.

TAXES
 
SCA 6 (Simitian) – Lowers threshold to raise local taxes–Undermines taxpayer protection. Amends the Constitution to permit school districts, community college districts, or county offices of education to impose a parcel tax within their jurisdiction upon the approval of 55 percent of the voters, rather than a 2/3 vote.
 
SCA 18 (Liu and Yee) Fee increases/property taxes–Makes it easier to raise fees.  Proposes a Constitutional Amendment to exempt fees and charges for storm water and urban runoff management from voter approval requirements for the imposition or increase of property-related fees.
 
SCA 5 (Hancock) Majority-vote budget–Seeks to amend the California Constitution in order to eliminate the 2/3rds vote threshold for passing the State Budget and the opportunity for the State Budget to be subject to referendum.  At least the current two-third voting threshold represents a minimal check on this incredibly naive and terribly devastating approach to governance.

SCA 16 (DeSaulnier) Legislative amendments to initiatives–Asks the voters to amend the Constitution to establish an indirect initiative process (as an alternative and in addition to the current process) giving the Legislature the power to modify and enact any initiative that has obtained enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.  The whole reason for instituting the direct initiative, referendum and recall process in California was to give "the People" a means to get a around a legislature that was unresponsive to their needs.

JOB KILLER BILLS
 
SB 1121 (Florez) Overtime for agricultural workers–Eliminates the agricultural industry’s long standing exemption from onerous, burdensome, ambiguous and inflexible overtime (after 10 hours) and meal and rest period mandates in existing law.  This measure would result in significant job loss in agricultural and related industries. Make no mistake this measure is not about protecting workers in the agricultural industry, it is about making it easier to sue farmers and collect huge attorney’s fees.
 
SB 1272 (Wolk) – Sunset on tax credits–Requires any legislation introduced on or after January 1, 2011 that authorizes a tax credit to include a 7-year sunset and specified performance measures. If the goal here is to cut costs, why not extend this to all government programs, not just tax credits? This bill could drive businesses out of state.

SB 1304 (DeSaulnier) – Paid leave for organ donation is a little too generous–Requires private sector employers to provide their employees up to 30 days of paid protective leave to donate an organ. Imposing a new paid leave mandate for some employees who are volunteering for this procedure is unfair and puts a burden on employers who are already struggling to stay afloat.

SB 1113 (Wolk) – Taxpayer beware–This bill allows the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to bring an appeal to the supierior court when the Board of Equalization (BOE) has sided with a taxpayer in a tax dispute.  Under this bill, low-income taxpayers would not have an effective way to challenge the position of the FTB, as they would not have the resources to continue their challenge beyond the BOE level.

Even taxpayers with sufficient resources to fight the FTB’s position beyond the BOE likely will settle meritorious claims where the amount in dispute does not justify moving forward with litigation.

SB 1231 (Corbett) – No sweat!–This bill expands California’s “Sweat-free Code of Conduct,” to prohibit the abusive labor of all persons, not just children. Amongst other things, it requires a contractor to exercise due diligence in ensuring that their subcontractors comply with the Slave and Sweat Free Code of Conduct.  Enactment of this bill will have a serious negative impact on private sector jobs. It further encourages businesses to leave California.  This measure will make contracting with the State of California more burdensome and bureaucratic.

SB 1474 (Steinberg) – Card check--Eliminates the requirement for a union representation election under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) if a majority of the members of a bargaining unit sign representation cards. This process is commonly referred to as “card check.”  By forcing an employer to recognize a farm workers’ union through the undemocratic “card check” process, this measure would deprive farm workers with the right to a secret ballot which is a fundamental tenet of effective democracy. Without the protection of a secret ballot, there are no effective means to ensure free choice in the voting process. 

SB 1391 (Yee) – Punish businesses who adjust for weak economy –This bill requires businesses to pay back to the state any tax credits if they finish the year with fewer employees than they started with. This bill could backfire and cause significant private sector job loss due to businesses closing their doors or exiting the state. It’s ridiculous for the state to try to blackmail private industry into keeping employees if the company is not profitable and needs to downsize in order to stay afloat. 
 
VOTE EARLY, AND OFTEN

SB 1140 (Yee) – Election day voter registration–This bill opens the door for voter fraud and undermines the election process. Voter registration deadlines are in place to provide elections officials a reasonable opportunity to verify registration information. Without this requirement, the the door of opportunity for voter fraud would be opened even wider.

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS

SB 1006 (Pavley) – State climate change regulations on local planning agencies–Requires the Strategic Growth Council to provide guidelines to local and regional governments to assist in development and implementation of climate change strategies.  This measure will have a long-term negative impact on jobs and the economy by increasing the likelihood that local planning agencies reject new projects or development based on climate change fears.

SB 1100 (Corbett) – Battery collection and recycling plan–Requires household battery producers to submit a product stewardship plan to the Dept. of Resources, Recycling and Recovery to account for their plan to collect and recover 95% of used batteries. This bill will only shift higher costs to consumers and perpetuate a needless bureaucracy.

SB 1212 (Leno) – This bill is based on pseudo-science, based on lingering fears and claims that radio frequency from cell phones can cause cancer. These claims have been repeatedly found to be false. Requires warning labels relating to the radio frequency absorption rates to be included at the point of sale, on the exterior packaging and in the instruction manuals of cellphone devices, burdening cellphone makers and distributors with costly regulations, some of which would be nearly impossible to fulfill. There are already federal regulations in place for protecting consumers against dangerous products. Adding an extra burden specifically to California manufacturers or stores will simply drive out businesses to other less restrictive states.

AB 7 (Huffman) – Nanny government prohibits “non-wood” baseball bats–Prohibits the use of a non-wood baseball bat at a private or public high school competitive baseball game or practice or during a physical education class or activity until January 1, 2012.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.