Breaking news, we just confirmed that Judge Randell Wilkinson, Department C-19, Orange County Superior Court, will hold the scheduled hearing on Minuteman receivership tomorrow at 1:30 pm regardless of Gilchrist’s Notice of Dismissal of his own case!!! The Court may be inclined to DENY what is usually a routine request for dismissal and nevertheless order Minuteman into receivership anyway! Hold on!… Read More

Senator Dave Cogdill’s bill, SB 59, to build much needed water supply via new dams,was defeated this morning in the Senate Natural Resources and Water[less] Committee, by a party line vote of the 3 Reps aye and 4 Dems no, with one Dem abstaining.

Statements in opposition include that lakes cause global warming and that even though there will be 12 million more Californians by 2030, that we will be using less water in totalby then. This is the kind of genuine give and take we have when discussing water policy in this state. Look for this to become an initiative, where I believe that voters will see through the distorted logicand support new water supply. Too bad this legislature cannot see the light and place it on the ballot itself, giving the voters the option without an expensive qualification petition effort… Read More

Rumor abound around the capitol that revenue is falling short of projections in last year’s budget. The May revise, coming soon, is said to be gloomy, although no one has said so publicly yet. Capitol bean counters have an interesting method for determining what receipts from income taxes will be. If you will recall on your tax form, you send your return to one address if you owe money, to another if you get a refund. By counting the trucks going to each address, the estimators know, within a couple of million dollars, exactly how much the state is going to receive.

That being said, it appears that the state is on the verge of another budget crisis.

I survived two such crises during my fourteen years in the Legislature. The first began in 1991 and ended in 1994, after several years of increased spending, an average of 11 percent per year in the late 1980s. Governor Deukmejian tried to stave off the crisis by returning surpluses to the taxpayers, as he did in 1986, with the billion dollar rebate. The CTA responded with Proposition 98, which required any surpluses to be spent on education, and put all education spending on autopilot. The… Read More

Welcome to Anaheim, California. As you read this column, there are professional signature gatherers who have been hired by a coalition headed up by the Walt Disney Corporation to qualify a ballot measure in this central Orange County city. No, the measure is not to name Mickey the official mouse of the Anaheim (I would be surprised if that wasn’t the case already!). Actually, the measure they are circulating is a very bad one — which actually is the reason for me spending some time on this local issue.

The measure, in a nutshell, would institute an extreme form of what is called ‘ballot-box zoning’ in this city of well over 300,000 residents. Specifically, Disney is pushing a measure that would set into stone the current city zoning ordinances (the ones that dictate the ‘acceptable uses’ on property) in the Disney Resort Area around the Magic Kingdom. It would do so by requiring that ANY changes (like if you own a coffee shop and want to convert the use into an apartment building) would have to go through a citywide vote for approval at the next regularly scheduled municipal election. Normally you would pursue this… Read More

The aforementioned, in today’s FR, bill to ban incandescent light bulbs moved through the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee this afternoonwith a 9 to 3vote.… Read More

As a personal follow-up to Fleischman’s "Lord Save Us from the Press Releases of GOP Legislators," some additional input.

Those constituent newsletters and other communications where folks tout how much media attention they’re getting….OK, we know that’s the real reason some go to Sacramento, but do they have to admit it?

If a legislator’s newsletter goes out with any media mentions, it’s preferable to not have headlines such as, “Assemblyman Jones Gets More Press Coverage.” The goal is the legislation – or blocking the bad legislation – not the press coverage.

Sure, if the media coverage assists in achieving that goal – or even in giving the legislator more credibility and more clout – then great. But, the press coverage should be ancillary to the foremost goal of getting the bill passed or the effort concluded. The press coverage should be referred to as a means of showing that the media are focused on the legislator’s efforts, not as a means of proving how much press one is… Read More

The flurry of thousands of pieces of legislation flying around the State Capitol this time of year (hold on to your wallets and purses!) continues to allow the FlashReport to bring our readers into the building to take a closer look at individual pieces of legislation.

Today we’re taking a moment to look at Senate Bill 1000, introduced by Republican State Senator Tom Harman of Orange County.

PROPERTY RIGHTS Before I delve into the specifics of this legislation, let’s have a short little primer on property rights. This has been a big issue lately, especially since the United States Supreme Court in their (terrible) Kelo v. New London decision cleared the way for government to come in and take someone’s private property through eminent domain if the government deems that a different use for that property would further ‘economic development’ in the area. This has lead to a national trend of local measures to protect… Read More

Today the California Republican Party has has re-launched its website, www.cagop.org, and it is definately worth a visit!

As you can see from the graphic to the left, the new website has a great look, and a main page that will allow you to easily navigate the site (don’t worry, you won’t actually have to see Senator Harry Reid’s face every time you go to the site).

Things to see on the site:

Below is a capture of the page of the site that allows you to easily drill-down to your own County GOP leadership, with contact information and a map on how to get to your local GOP County HQ. You actually just click on the graphic of the county that you are from, and up comes the information! CRP Chairman Ron Nehring is blogging over there, so you’ll want to check out the California Republican Blog. The CRP is posting its latest releases and statements in an online Newsroom. A calendar of events to let you know what is going … Read More