Senator Dave Cogdill of Modesto, the new Republican Leader. He is a strong leader on developing new water for California and for firm fiscal restraint, as well as unquestioned integrity, a great choice. Congratulations Dave!

[Publishers Note: We here at the FlashReport extend our congratulations to Senator Cogdill, and also would like to praise Dick Ackerman for the years of outstanding service he gave to his caucus and his party during his years in that position. – Flash]

UPDATE: FYI, there will be a transition period, with Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman passing the torch officially on 4/15.… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: Knowing that FR correspondent Matt Rexroad has a longstanding professional relationship with Senate Republican Leader-Elect Dave Cogdill, I asked him if he would share something about the man with FR readers… – Flash]

Senator Dave Cogdill is someone many of you will learn about in the coming months. As the Senate Republican Leader-elect he will be making headlines for all sorts of political and public policy reasons.

The problem is that many of these stories will ignore the best part of the Senator. He is probably one of the best people to ever serve in the Legislature. He is truly a good person.

This is a guy that is not and will not be a cheerleader. He is thoughtful, calm, and respectful.

When Senator Dave Cox was the Assembly Republican Leader in 2002, Cogdill was on the Elections Committee. The guy was just rock solid. During the final weeks of the election Cox, Cogdill, and Tony Strickland were calm and collected when some other people around the state weren’t… Read More

There’s a full-blown fight in San Diego between common sense and enviro extremists over a new San Diego Gas & Electric power line called the Sunrise Powerlink… a project thatsbeen winding its way through the state approval process for more than two years.The project is a much needed power line that will help keep the lights on and import clean energy from solar, wind and geothermal projects in the Imperial Valley .This should be a no-brainer for the global warming crowd that’s been screaming for more green power. Yea, right…that would require actual support for a piece of infrastructure that keeps our state moving forward. We’re about to enter the final rounds of this prize fight and its time to jump into the ring. The CA Public Utilities Commission will be in San Diego on Feb. 25… Read More

Today the Governor announced some cost savings measures that include an immediate hiring freeze for state government. Estimated savings, according to the Governor, could reach $100 million. Good for the Governor — every little bit helps.

That having been said, to put the magnitute of our $15 billion (and growing) shortfall into perspective, we’d have to have this hiring freeze in place until 2158 to deal with the shortfall, not factoring in inflation, which would add decades onto that year.

The Governor has called on the legislature to make more cuts. The billion in cuts earlier in the week were a good start, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg…… Read More

Over the weekend, this FlashReport commentary evoked quite a bit of controversy and response. After an in-depth analysis of the RNC’s fundraising numbers, the FlashReport revealed that the RNC has been performing a "cashectomy" on California Republicans. In 2006, the RNC gave California just $204,101 out of the $37.5 million spent by the RNC in state party support. California ’s share was less than ½ of 1% of the RNC’s total state support, while Golden State donors gave over $12.9 million to the RNC.

Apparently there are some that dispute my research, saying that California received over $6.25 million in 2006. In order to make this true, one would have to look not at the RNC, but to the National Republican Congressional Committee, a separate organization.

Before we delve into the nitty-gritty, let me first offer this disclaimer. McCain-Feingold’s draconian campaign finance restrictions make it much harder for political parties to coordinate expenditures. It would be illegal for the RNC to transfer funds and… Read More

I have had the great privilege of representing Riverside County for 14 years – first in the Assembly and now in the Senate.

I just can’t express here well enough how honored and grateful I am to have had the opportunity to serve the people of the 37th Senate District. It’s been a once in a lifetime job – and I’m glad I had the opportunity to be involved.

I take my job and mypolitical beliefsvery seriously and I thought long and hard before I endorsed in my Senate seat.

After all, I am a voter in SD 37 and I want a conservative Republican I can always count on to represent me in the Senate. Someone I can trust to do the right thing.

Russ Bogh is that man. Yesterday, I stood with Russ and endorsed him for my seat. I’m very comfortable with my decision and know he’ll do a great job. Russ is a steady, solid conservative vote.

Here’smy statement we gave to the… Read More

Today, Governor Schwarzenegger is officially going on record against Senate President Pro-Tem Don Perata’s outrageous and politically motivated recall drive to remove Republican State Senator Jeff Denham from office. Denham’s “crime? – he voted against a state budget that history has proven to have contained far more spending than it should have.”… Read More

Update: The Senate bill, SB 8xxx,concerning the RV’s, aircraft, and boats use tax, did come up as "promised" and was defeated on the Assembly floor again, this timein it’s Senate iteration. It received less "aye" votes than last week, 47, where it had 49 before. The Assembly today [Friday, Feb 15] passed 6 bills that in some way addressed the mid-year budget shortfall under the emergency declaration by the Guv. Disappointingly, much of it was borrowing or putting off making payments, but there was also contained in the bills some reduced mid-budget year spending. It is a bit of progress towards our huge challenge budget-wise the rest of the year. All the bills passed with very strong bipartisan support, all of them receiving at least 70 votes if my memory serves.

What did not happen was the proposal to affect owners of aircraft, RV’s and boats with a plan to expand the time from 90 days to one year that the vessel would have to remain out of state to not be taxed as a new vessel or other technical reasons,etc. Some look at it as closing a loophole, others as a… Read More