I just got a call from State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, just as I was preparing to post a photo and release on the press event held jointly by Senate and Assembly Republicans outside of the very closed State Senate chamber doors.  The chambers were closed as Democrats cancelled, on a party-line vote, the session today to support the "Boycott of America" taking place nationally today.

Ackerman (pictured behind the podium, with Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia to the left) had this to say to me,  "The Republican caucuses supports legal immigration.  We do not support illegal immigration.  We shouldn’t be condoning their activitists by not encouraging people to go to work and to school."

Here is a release sent along by FR friend Morgan Crinklaw at the Assembly GOP Caucus:

SACRAMENTO – Returning to Sacramento only to find the legislative chambers closed for business, Assembly and Senate Republicans today strongly criticized Legislative Democrats for shutting down the Legislature in support of Monday’s national immigration boycott, arguing that California faces many challenges that require serious attention by lawmakers.

“While the Democrats are out in the street protesting today, Republicans are in the Capitol, ready to work hard for the people of California,” said Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia, of San Diego.  “We think it is irresponsible that Democrats have closed the Legislature today, especially when we have so many important issues to address.”

Without a single Republican vote, Senate Democrats last week approved a controversial resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 113, expressing their support for today’s “Great American Boycott.”  Republican lawmakers chastised Democrats for urging Californians to boycott businesses and schools on Monday, arguing that this irresponsible action will hurt our economy and threaten our children’s educational preparation.

The Democrat leaders of the Assembly and Senate cancelled the scheduled floor session for Monday, and instead scheduled a check-in session.  This action enabled Democrat lawmakers to rally their supporters to boycott their paychecks for the day, while hypocritically collecting their own salary. 

“Every mainstream politician in California, from Governor Schwarzenegger to Senator Boxer, has encouraged students to ignore the boycott and go to school – except Legislative Democrats,” said Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, of Tustin.  “Democrats today have shown how truly far outside the mainstream they really are.”

This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.