Come Hell or High-water Ron George likes getting his way. Whether it is re-defining marriage to his liking, ignoring previous decisions to get the parental consent result he wanted, violating private property rights or religious rights, Ron George and the Imperial Court he runs gets his way.
Now, George through the Judicial Council is poised to get his way with courthouses and a 10 billion dollar revenue bond through SB 1407.
SB 1407 raises fees on all kinds of court filings including parking tickets, family court filings, traffic violations and attending traffic school in order to get 5 billion dollars worth of money for courthouse construction.
Whats wrong with that? Lots of reasons.
Why are courthouses getting special budgetary treatment over other budgetary items? Shouldn’t the General fund make them a priority?Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association thinks so, they oppose the bill.
Maybe we could re- allocate a mere $500 million a year and not pay billions in interest. It takes 10 billion in fees to get 5 billion in buildings.
This is an end run around the people of California that rejected courthouse bonds in the past. An end run around the people that Ron George and others would love to see happen. After all going around the people is something they are used to.
Finally, the burden falls on people that really don’t use the court system or can least afford it. When was the last time you heard of a parking ticket violation going to court? The vast majorities of these infractions are handled in the mail. You never even see the courthouse. Or your taillight is out and you haven’t fixed it because you bought gas instead and presto you have a bigger fee to pay.
If Republicans want to fund Ron George’s courthouse program they shouldnt go along with taxing and feeing the poor and those that dont use it. Take a play of the Democratic playbook. Why not a windfall profits tax on law corporations that get millions of dollars in settlements or judgments. They tie up the court system more that grandma’s broken tail light.
I wouldn’t hold your breath for that solution.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:00 am
SB 1407. I oppose this bill and ten thousand other attempts to keep the over grown beast of CA gov’t budget overfed forever at the expense of the private sector.
Get Sacramento out of your wallet!