When the dust settled on the current budget bill that was hastily passed out of the State Assembly, it turns out that there are some significant policy issues that have arisen… Senator Dave Cogdill has taken a moment to articulate what some of those issues happen to be in this submission… In the Legislature, when considering public safety matters, we used to debate whether or not to increase or reduce sentences, whether or not to increase or decrease penalties. It’s a constant back and forth between those of us who want to be tough on crime and criminals and those who would like to see mandates on criminals eased up. I proudly belong to the former group. There is no logic behind fighting crime by relaxing laws. However, it is part of the liberal toolbox – right up there with lowering classroom standards in order to make sure everybody passes.… Read More

Just across the transom is the news that Governor Schwarzenegger has tapped FR friend John Cruz to be his new Appointments Secretary. This is outstanding news as I am pleased to report that John is a proud Reagan Republican with a strong track record of assisting GOP candidates and causes. The appointment of Cruz to this critical post in the adminstration is a GOP "pick up" as his predecessor, though short-lived, was from the party of Hillary Clinton.

You can read the official release here with all of John’s accomplishments and affiliations, and some praise from the Governor for John’s ability.

We know that a lot of conversations take place behind the scenes about whom to recommend to the Governor for appointment to thousands of important administration positions — and I feel very comfortable knowing that John will be weighing in on all of those decision, as someone who things of Republicans in the… Read More

Senate Pro Tem Don Perata just annnounced that he would discontinue "work on all bills until the Senate Republicans vote for the budget."

Just like Brer Rabbit said; "Don’t throw me in that briar patch."

Obviously Don was not thinking. The one thing Republicans in the Senate and Assembly think about 24 hours a day, seven days a week is how to stop bill in the Legislature. With the Democrat majority, no good Republican ideas pass, so the only bills that get out are bad Democrat ideas, or worthless Republican ideas. Threatening to kill all the bills in the Legislature unless the Republicans vote for the budget guarantees that Republicans won’t vote for the budget. It is the best of both worlds for Republicans, it stops an unbalanced budget from being enacted, and stops the latest idea for big government by the Democrats from ever becoming law.

He must be joking, foolish, or very cunning, trying to embarass Republicans with this threat. The only people he will hurt are… Read More

This just in from Bill Leonard: I had an excellent discussion with Finance Director Mike Genest yesterday. Among things I learned is there is a difference between the way the Department of Finance and the LAO report their Budget numbers, although they arrive at the same conclusions. On July 24, Legislative Analyst Liz Hill summarized the situation this way: “Revenues and Expenditures. The budget assumes the state will start 2007-08 with a fund balance of $4.8 billion. It projects $102.3 billion in budget-year revenues, an increase of 6.5 percent from 2006-07. The budget authorizes expenditures of $103 billion, an increase of 1.3 percent from 2006-07. The… Read More

This last few weeks, the mostly closely guarded piece of information in state government politics was precisely where Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez went vacationing with his family in Europe. Because I couldn’t identify precisely where on the "Continent" the Nunez family went, I reached out and used a photo of the Eiffel Tower as being symbolic of Europe.

Well, we have learned from a very reliable source that while Californian has had no budget, Fabian and family have been relaxing in Greece! So when I mentioned that he was likely eating a croissant, it was actually probably some Souvlaki.

So, we now publish a photo of the ruins of the Greek Parthenon, that sits on the Acropolis, high above… Read More

OK, so I guess some legislators are taking their responsibilities more seriously than others. As I have opined, I think that in return for a full-time salary, state legislators should be at work, IN THE CAPITOL, until there is a budget. I know from talking to them earlier today that State Senator Dick Ackerman and Assemblyman Van Tran are in the building. And I just got off of the phone with my own Assemblyman, Chuck DeVore, who is also in the Capitol. As a matter of fact, DeVore has blogged about whom he has seen (and mostly hasn’t seen up there). I guess he just missed Senator Tom McClintock, who was also in his office.

It would be great if all of our legislators would cut short their time in their districts, and return to the State Capitol and work on producing a new budget document that will pass muster with both chambers. … Read More

Today, Democrat Senate President Don Perata damaged his own (waning) credibility with the Capitol Press Corps by, frankly, saying something that simply was untrue. He held a press conference and told assembled reporters that Republican Senators want to rewrite California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) regulations. Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman was forced to respond and set the record straight…

… Read More

Fresh from his lengthy vacation in Greece, Fabian Nunez has sent a letter to Dick Ackerman where he apparently equates a call for his return to the Capitol to being "personally maligned" — nice.

Anyway, Nunez in an effort to extend the budget kabuki dance further throws out that if budget negotiations are reopened, he and his Democrat colleagues will bloat the budget further with even more deficit spending. Anyways, you can read Nunez’ letter which is attached. Below is a response that Senate Republican Leader sent back to the Speaker just now: