Night owls, the Assembly is going through the labor-intensive process of a ton of trailer bills to the main budget bill. The budget currently has 55 votes on the big board, one more than it needs to pass. But it is still "on call" which means that votes can change. This is done because the ‘deal’ will involve achieving 54 votes on all of these trailer bills, and you wouldn’t want to close the final budget vote until you pass the trailer bills concurrently. Once the trailers have all passed, and they lock int he final budget vote, we will bring you the intel on which GOPers voted for it.
**Update 12:35am. A slight drama is playing out right now. Among the plethora of trailer bills is the health trailer bill, in which is funded, among many other things, an aweful lot of public funds for abortions. Like all trailer bills, it requires 54 votes. Right now, there are only 51 votes for it.
The only abstentions currently are Republicans Emmerson, Gaines, Horton, Maze and Nakanishi, and Democrat Salas.
Presumably they will squeeze these half-dozen members until three of them move.
If not, the failure to pass a trailer bill likely spoils the whole deal.
(For those wondering, the following GOPers are up on the big board as voting for the Health Trailer Bill: Aghazarian, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Neillo, Villines – very tough vote, one I couldn’t cast).
Oh yes, in this trailer is the infamous POISON PILL — a vote for this bill authorizes this measure: In the budget is an increase of $18.9 million in funds from the General Fund for the "Medi-Cal Minor Consent Program." This money, and I am dead serious here, is to fund abortion services for the minor children of illegal aliens. The program specifically PROHIBITS contacting parents for consent, and has never asked for verification of citizenship.