On June 30th, the wishes of California voters will be fulfilled. At the end of this month, the last vestiges of the “temporary” tax increases passed in the ill-fated 2009 budget deal will expire. De facto tax relief will be given to working Californians, which is sorely needed in this over-taxed state.

For many months now, we’ve had to endure Governor Jerry Brown, and legislative Democrats berate Republicans because they believe that the voters should have a chance to decide whether or not to “extend” these incomes, sales and car taxes (and a big reduction in the child tax credit) for four more years.

Republican legislators have rightly challenged Democrats on this point, reminding everyone that will listen that voters already were asked to extend these very same taxes, but for only half the time proposed by Brown, and they overwhelmingly rejected the idea.

Lest anyone has forgotten, Proposition 1A was the top item on a May 19, 2009 Special Election ballot. This measure, if passed, would have triggered the extension of the taxes put into place in the February budget deal, which were only to last for two years.… Read More

I am not saying I endorse the so-called “National Popular Vote” bill that is pending in the Legislature, having passed in the Assembly 52-21-8 with some bipartisan support, as well as in the Senate Elections Committee, however, I am not so sure the arguments I am hearing against it are as sound as opponents portray. And I am also not saying that all the arguments I have heard about “making California relevant again” in national Presidential elections is the only reason to support it. But looking at the legislation honestly, and fairly, I think there is something to it.

National Popular Vote legislation is nothing new. It passed the Assembly in 2006 and again in 2008. It has been enacted in six states and the District of Columbia. And polls show it is supported by about 70% of Californians. National Popular Vote (“NVP”), if enacted here, means that California’s Presidential Electoral College votes would be cast for whichever candidate for president wins a plurality of the vote, regardless of who wins in California. Promoters of NVP say it will guarantee that whoever wins the most popular votes in the country would be… Read More

There are many interesting developments in the new maps for residents of the Central Valley, particularly at the Congressional level. The first thing I took note of was the newly drawn Fresno Congressional District.

Having attended Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearingen’s State of the City speech a few weeks ago, it struck me that Republicans have a real all-star on their hands. When I saw the Fresno district, I couldn’t help but think what would happen if the Mayor decided to run for that seat.

Her polling numbers are said to be off the charts with favorable ratings in the seventies. With a new seat sitting directly over her main constituencies, she would be very tough to beat.

If asked today, I’m sure the Mayor would say she’s focused on the needs of her city and that’s where she wants to spend her energies. But you can’t deny that being an all-star in the Congressional House Majority in a “safe” Republican seat is an opportunity hard to pass up.

Time will tell where the Mayor’s path lies. But, one thing is for certain: It’s a new world with new maps. Maybe we will see new candidates… Read More

At first blush when the ‘visualizations’ were published on June 1st by the California Redistricting Commission [CRC], Republicans believed they dodged the bullet. Then came the first draft, 10 days later, and panic began to spread. Substantially revised from the visualizations, some experts estimated that three to seven Republican congressional seats could be threatened.

Only 36% of the state’s 53 Congressional seats 19 remain Republican hands. Obama trounced McCain in 2008 with a 61% to 37% showing. Even with Governor Brown’s massive victory in 2010, he earned only 53% vs. 42% for Whitman. In a bad year, Californians will at least give to republicans 37% to 42% of their vote. For Congress, the percentages are actually higher. So why would Republicans ‘lose’ more seats?

Clever gaming and racial gerrymandering is the answer. Democrat activist Secretary of State Debra Bowen and the California State Auditor are responsible. Under the CRC initiative act, Bowen and the Auditor set up procedures to vet several thousand candidates who would eventually make up the 14 person commission. They each took their duties seriously… Read More

You have to give Jerry Brown credit. Last week he blind-sided his Democrat colleagues in the legislature with his veto of the budget.

Brown didn’t get everything he wanted and rarely – check that, never – does anyone in the legislative process get everything they want.

So Brown vetoed the budget without even a hint to Speaker Perez or Senate President Steinberg. They were as baffled by the move as the largely irrelevant Republicans.

But now, Brown has them right where he wants them. With state law preventing legislators from receiving their salaries (note this is not a deferment of their salaries, it is a forfeiting of their salaries) until the budget is enacted, those legislators that live paycheck-to-paycheck will have little choice but to capitulate to Brown’s demands.

It’s a crafty move that demonstrates why the veteran pol owns the term-limited legislature.

It is time to end term limits and put a check on the Executive, the staff, the bureaucrats, and the special interests.… Read More

In a whirlwind of activity recently, the California State Assembly completed committee work on hundreds of bills. The state is not better for this effort. I serve on both the Budget and Appropriations Committees, and both met not long ago to address financial legislation before moving it to the floor of the Assembly. It is hard to decide which committee did the most damage to California.

The various budget subcommittees three weeks ago authorized nearly half a billion dollars in new spending. Half a billion dollars in new spending for a near bankrupt state! The Governor’s May revise reported a bit more than $6.5 billion in unanticipated revenue, and it is already burning a hole in the pocket of Democrats on the Budget Committee. Some of the spending decisions are particularly ridiculous.

For example, the Governor proposed eliminating the Commission on the Status of Women. This is one of those expensive, do-nothing but feel good about yourself while not doing it, commissions that liberals love. To his credit, the Governor proposed zeroing it out of existence. At the hearing, witnesses in response to my questioning testified that private organizations such as NOW… Read More

It’s not my imagination — State Senate President Darrell Steinberg has been much more prominent and verbose than his counterpart, Assembly Speaker John Perez, when it comes to the state budget. Maybe it is because while Steinberg (in his immature way) is focused on trying to pass a state budget complete with massive tax increases, Perez is focused on his quixotic quest to eradicate the City of Vernon. That’s his prerogative, of course. This isn’t new, last year he obsessed over legislation concerning carpets, dragging it into Big 5 budget negotiations. Yes, carpets.

As I have… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: We are pleased to offer this original, exclusive commentary from FR friend Paul Jacob. Paul Jacob is president of Citizens in Charge, the only national organization dedicated to protecting and expanding the initiative and referendum rights of every American without regard to partisanship or politics – Flash]

SENATE BILL 448 -A BAD SIGN By Paul Jacob

Centerville, Virginia, man made news when he agreed to his wife’s demand that he stand at a busy intersection wearing a sign emblazoned “I Cheated: This is My Punishment.” His merciful wife ended the punishment after just a couple hours.

In recent years, a few judges have sporadically sought to shame criminals in similar fashion. Back in 2007, several people convicted of shoplifting opted to avoid a longer jail sentence by donning a sign outside the store they had ripped off. One sign read, “I Am a Thief, I Stole from Wal-Mart.”

But Wal-Mart soon opted out of allowing such humiliating and dehumanizing… Read More