Today the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is launching a new website focused on the state budget crisis. Their site launch comes at a key time as Democrats in the State Capitol seem intent, once again, to penalize California taxpayers for the state’s budget shortfall. Below is information on HJTA’s site launch! BUDGETFIGHT.COM LAUNCHES ON DAY OF BUDGET VOTE New Web site highlights tax increases and accounting shenanigans in latest proposal Sacramento, CA — Today, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) released a new website BudgetFight.com to keep California taxpayers and the Media apprised of the higher… Read More

2 for 2. June’s school tax elections in Los Angeles County continues. Palos Verdes Peninsula’s Parcel tax passed with 68% of the vote. Los AngelesCounty voters love passing bonds and taxes for localschools. Only one of the four scheduled for June may fail. Locals feel they get value eventhough they reject taxes at the state level.… Read More

This photo, taken by one of FR’s state legislator friends in the Capitol, clearly shows a sign for a committee meeting that was canceled by the Democrats. The lost words make the sign VERY appropriate indeed, and more correct. If you don’t think that liberal policies coming out of Sacramento are "canceling jobs, economic development and the economy" — click here.… Read More

Yesterday was a pretty good day. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a charter amendment I wrotefor the City of Newport Beach in a unanimous decision. The charter amendment locates the future City Hall building on city-owned property adjacent to the Newport Beach Central Library at Fashion Island.

Initiative proponents William Ficker, Jack Croul and Marian Bergeson were responsible for qualifying the initiative for the ballot in February, 2008, but were opposed in the campaign by a majority of the City Council, who had other ideas about where the City Hall should be.STA Campaignsmanaged the effort for the proponents. After a spirited campaign, the voters decided by a 53% to 47% vote to pass the initiative. Opponent Allan Beek, an "open space" advocate,waged the campaign against the measure, and filed pre-election and post-election Superior Court challenges, losing on all counts. He then took his appeal, and now the decision of the three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals willmost likelyclose this chapter in Newport Beach history.

The Court’s memorandum on the decision has some… Read More

I’m watching the Senate and Assembly Floor sessions at www.calchannel.com. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen just delivered a powerful speech on the Assembly Floor highlighting the flawed process that has the legislature considering a major policy proposal that no one has been able to even read. Over on the Senate side, Republican Bob Dutton is dicing up the content of the proposal — noting at this moment the gimmick financing of sliding the state’s June 30 payroll by one day, into the new fiscal year, in order to paper-over well over a billion of the shortfall.… Read More

This morning the Democrats implemented their budget drill — and I am happy to report that all of the Republicans in the State Capitol, whether in the Senate or the Assembly, voted against it (well, with what we call the "Maldonado Exception" — which means he doesn’t play well in the sandbox with fellow Republicans so he was on the Senate Floor, but abstained. The held the bill "open" so I suppose he can drop in a vote later. Unfortunately we don’t have an FR psychiatrist to help us understand the inner-workings of that guy).

Senate President Darrell Steinberg has challenged Republicans, saying that we don’t have a plan. To this, I would say, as I have said before, let’s put Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed fixes up for a vote. Of course there are some items in there that I don’t like — but on balance, it is vastly better than what the Democrats put forward today. Put up Arnold’s proposal, and let’s have a vote!… Read More

Rep. John Campbell penned an excellent op-ed last Friday for the Investors Business Daily, in which he discussed the comparative chances entrepreneurism vs. Obama-Pelosi statism for reviving the American auto industry. Campbell, naturally, comes down on the side of liberty and common sense — which unsurpor5isiingly dove-tail with his 25 of experience in that industry:

INCYMI: Entrepreneurs Will Reinvent GM’s Castoffs

By Rep. John Campbell

Before I lost my mind and entered politics, I was in the car dealership business for 25 years. In fact, I was the first Saturn retailer chosen back in 1988, and served on the Franchise Operations Team. I opened one of the first 25 stores in 1990 and eventually owned and operated five Saturn Facilities in Orange County, Calif.

… Read More

As you read this, the State Legislature is gearing up to attempt its first raid on local government. The urgency of this warning can’t be overstated; If they achieve this smash-and-grab by taking (not even borrowing) the Highway Users Tax Account gasoline tax, cities and counties will see their ability to maintain their streets and roads crippled.

San Bernardino County currently relies on these gas tax dollars for potholes, rehabilitation and resurfacing of 2,700 miles of paved roads in the unincorporated areas alone. If the County were to lose just the HUTA dollars alone (about $32 million), an estimated 200 essential public works personnel would lose their jobs immediately.

Among budget proposals that will likely be voted on are billions in additional raids of transportation dollars, including deferring the first two quarterly payments of the local (city and county) share of Proposition 42 state sales tax on gas, equal to approximately $300 million, which would further hinder local road safety projects, maintenance and repairs.

These raids would disproportionately impact transportation funding, especially when the industry is facing 20%+ unemployment.… Read More