… Read More

It’s no secret that California prison costs are out of control.

What is lesser known is that prison costs have escalated sharply due to personnel costs, not because of an increase in prisoners (prisoner population growth has stayed well below the rate of inflation and general state population growth in the past 20 years).

California Youth Authority (CYA) is a good example of employment growth gone wild. Look at this chart and you’ll see that in the past 10 years the youth prisoner population has decreased dramatically while personnel have decreased only modestly, which has led to a flip flop in the prisoner to employee ratio.

Another way to look at it: California’s youth prison-to-employee ratio was 2 to 1 in 1999 and now that stat has flipped to 1 to 2.

Before federal judges look at releasing 44,000 prisoners into our neighborhoods they ought to look at the far less dangerous move of trimming costs at CYA.… Read More

This is a really funny video focusing on John Garamendi’s residency (or lack thereof) in Congressional District 10… or is that 3? (h/t to Lisa V. at the CC Times Politics Blog, who in turn gives a h/t to Halfway to Concord)… … Read More

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on the status of Bay Area Assemblywoman Fiona Ma’s legislation to create the California Blueberry Commission (at a time when California legislators should be striving to drastically reduce the number of state boards and commissions).

We only caught on to this outrageous piece of legislation, AB 606, after it had already passed out of the State Assembly. Last month (National Blueberry Appreciation Month, I might add), the State Senate Food and Agriculture Committee narrowly passed the bill. However, not without bipartisan opposition. That committee has only five members — three Democrats and two Republicans. With Democrat Loni Hancock opposing the bill, Republicans could have ended the quixotic quest for a State Blueberry Commission right then and there. But while Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth voted with Hancock against AB 606, Republican Abel Maldonado voted with Democrats Dean Florez and Fran Pavley to pass it!

The bill will next be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 17th.

It is our hope that the the Blueberry Commission bill will be "pressed… Read More

For some time now, Tustin Councilman Jerry Amante has been the prohibitive frontrunner in the race to succeed Chuck DeVore in the State Assembly in the 70th District in the heart of Orange County. Actually, to be more accurate, Amante came out of the gate early with an impressive array of endorsements, and really had created a “presumptive Assemblyman” status for himself. We were certainly prepared here at the FlashReport to call it that way. But it would appear that Amante’s “lock” on the GOP nomination in AD 70 is not as certain as I would have predicted.

The latest campaign filing reports show that Amante, who has been impressive in his ability to garner endorsements, has had a rather lackluster go of raising funds – according to filings Amante raised around $43,000 in the last period and had less than $12,000 cash on hand as of June 30th. That is a very poor showing. Especially for someone running in a district that includes many of Orange County’s wealthiest enclaves. And as we like to say, in districts like these, there are literally thousands of potential candidates one mortgage away from… Read More

There’s nothing new about the State of Nevada wooing California business. Who can blame the Silver State? California business, after all, is ripe for the picking with its status of being one of the worst states to conduct business and its excessive taxation and stifling regulations.

Now Nevada is using the fodder of California’s issuance of IOUs rather than cash as another excuse to ramp up efforts to pursue Golden State businesses. And by ramping up efforts I mean spending $1 million in TV ads in Southern California markets – beginning this weekend.

Read more here.… Read More

Who are these three? An order to release 25% of felons from state prisons is one of the most mind boggling judicial orders ever issued in US history. The idea is so bizarre, strange and breathtaking we need to have a look into the background of each of the judges. Are they mere cranks or serious social policy reformers?

Here’s the first clue. All were appointed by Jimmy Carter. What are the odds? If you were forced to choose who among the three is the most exotic you would have endless shouting matches. Let’s begin with Stephen Reinhardt. … Read More

This week, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted not to allow marijuana dispensaries within unincorporated areas of the county for up to a year. That same day, the City of Victorville took a similar action.

These actions are taking place more and more as a result of Proposition 215, which, under state law, allows marijuana use if “recommended” (not prescribed) by a physician.

As part of his “hope and change” agenda, President Barack Obama, the country’s chief law enforcement officer, has vowed not to enforce federal laws in California pertaining to marijuana.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away an attempt by San Bernardino and San Diego counties to not be forced into issuing medical marijuana identification cards on the grounds that doing so could be in violation of federal law.

The laws being what they are, San Bernardino County is now forced to adhere to the state requirement to hand out medical marijuana cards on behalf of the state.

But now, the question of allowing medical marijuana dispensaries comes front and center.

Ventura County and cities like… Read More