ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS’ PAY-AS-YOU-GO PLAN GOOD NEWS
There is much written today about the new proposal introduced by Assembly Republicans for a "Pay-As-You-Go" plan for infrastructure investment in the state. In essence, this plan says that the fiscally prudent course for California to set when looking at building and improving our state’s highways and roads, state universities , water storage, and flood control is to use money in the bank now – rather than maxing out the state’s ‘credit card’. We should be putting aside money every year from the general fund targeted towards these essential projects.
You see, over the past decades, there has been a total failure on the part of legislatures and Governors to address infrastructure needs in the state. The Democrats in charge of the legislature are intent on using tax dollars for their social engineering projects, and have preferred to let infrastructure needs be handled in a piecemeal fashion through assorted bond measures.
Any responsible strategic growth plan must include investment of current budget funds each year towards infrastructure.
I am no ‘policy guru’ by ANY stretch, but I had an opportunity last night to spend quite a bit of time on the phone with some policy folks from the office of Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (did you see his piece on this plan on the FR yesterday?).
They pointed out a few things about the Assembly Republicans’ proposal that I wanted to mention.
The center piece of the plan is that starting with the ’07-’08 budget year, roughly a billion dollars a year (VERY modest given that the general fund is near $100 billion NOW) must go towards certain types of infrastructure investment (the ones mentioned above).
There is a provision that includes a modest increase in this amount as the budget grows – but there is a cap. Assembly Republicans, in an effort to be realistic, have avoiding presenting a proposal that would ‘squeeze out’ existing programs paid for by general fund dollars. In order for their to be an increase, the General Fund must grow by $5 billion AND the full amount of funds guaranteed to K-12 education under Proposition 98 must be taking place.
Their plan does NOT provide for funding for the public education system (K-12) on the grounds that there are $12 billion in outstanding education bonds already approved that have not been funded (by and large, these funds require 1-1 matching by local districts). Their proposal does NOT include funding for local projects — this is in keeping with the idea that local projects should be financed locally. Taxpayers in San Diego should not be paying for San Francisco Schools. The exception is that the plan does call for funding for the state universities systems, as these are statewide systems which attract students from all around the state. The proposal calls for securing Proposition 42 revenues (this was a gas-tax passed by almost 70% of voters that is supposed to go towards roads and highways) to be used exclusively for transportation infrastruture investment. This proposal also does not include funding for courts or prisons.
Anyways, at some point when I have them, I will share with you more details on this plan. But for now, we should be thankful that some rational thinking is being injected into the debate. The FlashReport calls on Senate Republicans to strongly consider also sponsoring this plan, and presenting a unified GOP front that any Strategic Growth Plan must have, at its core, a pay-as-you-go approach to investment, and for the Governor to amend his proposal to include all of the elements of the Assembly GOP plan.
MONTEREY COUNTY GOP DONATES $50K TO MALDONADO IN PRIMARY???
I read with disbelief yesterday in an e-mail sent out by my colleague and fellow web-correspondent, Steve Frank, that the Monterey County Republican Party had made a $50,000 donation to the the primary campaign of State Senator Abel Maldonado in his bid for State Controller. This was an eye-opner because Maldonado doesn’t have a ‘free ride’ in his primary, and is clearly NOT the GOP nominee as the June primary is months away. Former Assemblyman Tony Strickland is waging a spirited battle to gain the GOP nomination for this spot. Clearly such a donation is out of line with State GOP rules on the subject (this is pointed out in Frank’s e-mail). But is it against the law?
Well, whether it is against the law, or not, it is over the line. The way that we maintain sanity in our political system is for official party organizations to stay out of contested party primaries, and allow voters to choose the nominees. There are many groups and organizations that can and do endorse in primaries, as well as many elected officials that endorse as well. But when the party itself (whether nationally, statewide, or locally) picks one horse over the other, it creates too much opportunity for mischief, and also leads to ‘party bosses’ picking nominees instead of the party membership.
I spoke with Paul Bruno, the Co-Chairman of the Monterey County Party last night — and Paul was remarkably candid and straightforward. He said that his County Party is supportive of both of their (State) Senators, Abel Maldonado and Jeff Denham, and has donated $50,000 to each (the Monterey County Party has an impressive $400,000 budget!). He acknowledged that the contribution to Maldonado was in a primary, and said the decision had been thought through carefully, and they had saught legal counsel before making it.
The Monterey County Republican Party has seen an impressive era of growth and organization under the leadership of Chairman Peter Newman. This is certainly a controversial donation that they have made. But let’s not let the debate over the propriety of that donation take away from the tremendous accomplishments of this committee in a ‘blue’ area of the state.
This all will certainly set the stage for an interesting debate. We will see where this all goes. Or as Matt Drudge would say… ‘Developing…’
Have a great day!
Jon
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