Have you ever wondered how much money your local school district receives and how its academic achievement ranks compared to its neighbors?

That fairly simple information has been hard to come by, but the Pacific Research Institute has finally created a database that puts such information at your fingertips. Their School Finance Center website gives you data for the school districts and charter schools in California. One of my favorite features of the site is a simple chart that looks like your gas tank. It shows you from the lowest to the highest where your district ranks in academic achievement and in money received per student. My Republican colleagues and I recently unveiled a reform proposal, “Roadmap To California’s Future,” which calls for more legislative sunshine and accountability. This School Finance Center website helps to achieve that goal of transparency because it clearly demonstrates how much money is being spent and how well students are performing. As you can see from the data, there is no correlation between student performance and more money—some schools do better with less money while others to worse with more… Read More

ASSEMBLYMAN NIELSEN ENDORSES WHITMAN This morning, Assemblyman and former Senate Republican Leader Jim Nielsen announced that he has decided to switch his loyalties and endorsement in the contested Republican primary for Governor. He had earlier endorsed Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. He is now throwing his support to former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Nielsen was recently tapped by Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee, a Poizner supporter, to serve in a newly created "Ways and Means Committee Chairman" position for Assembly Republicans — serving as Vice Chairman of both the Assembly Ap propriations and Budget Committees.

While Poizner has a vast edge over Whitman when it comes to endorsements from elected Republican federal and state legislators, this is the second legislator in a week’s time who had been supporting him that has now moved to Whitman. Congressman John… Read More

Los Angeles County came out with a proposal to cut welfare costs today, or at least that is what they called it. In the world of government, where black is white, and a spending increase is a cut, these bureaucrats think they are helping "balance the budget." Their proposal, however, is an example of just how far off the reservation our government has gone. These bureaucrats want to use the child care money to pay parents to take care of their own children. Think of it this way, welfare recipients get their welfare money to stay home, and then, on top of that, they get child care money to take care of their own kids. What an idea. Does anyone really think that welfare recipients will make any effort to get off the rolls, once they hit this gravy train?

I was the Vice Chair of the Committees that oversaw welfare policy for 12 years. It is the worst job for a Republican in the Legislature. Thousands of whining bureaucrats trot out the sob stories of society for hours on end, demanding more government spending. Truth is, 75% of the money spent on our welfare programs are spent on bureaucrats, administrators, or wealthy vendors, while the… Read More

Op ed from today’s Union Tribune here.

California is facing a 24 billion dollar deficit. While there is no shortage of ideas for how to deal with it, I suggest we learn a lesson from Clyde Jennings, the CEO of J&W Lumber. On a recent visit to his facility, Clyde told me about the difficult cuts he has been forced to make in our declining economy, the efficiencies he has found, and how every member of his 50-year… Read More

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is deserving of praise this morning, for his quick and public rejection of the billions of dollars in tax increases that are included in the package of changes in the state budget introduced by Democrat legislative leaders yesterday. Key provisions of the Democrats’ plan include a 50% hike in state cigarette taxes as well as the creation of a tax on oil. Governor Schwarzenegger has made it clear that he will veto this package if it is placed on his desk as proposed. Of course, even before the Governor gets legislation to fix the budget deficit, there is the question of whether Democrats will work with legislative Republicans – their track-record for doing so isn’t so good, and it was not a positive sign that Republican legislators pretty much found out about the details of this proposal at the same time as the rest of us. A bi-partisan fix is important because without a 2/3 vote in the Senate and Assembly, it will be several months before any of the changes are enacted. With the supermajority support, changes go into effect immediately.

I am sure that many will scrutinize the details of this latest proposal, which purports to… Read More

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is deserving of praise this morning, for his quick and public rejection of the billions of dollars in tax increases that are included in the package of changes in the state budget introduced by Democrat legislative leaders yesterday. Key provisions of the Democrats’ plan include a 50% hike in state cigarette taxes as well as the creation of a tax on oil. Governor Schwarzenegger has made it clear that he will veto this package if it is placed on his desk as proposed. Of course, even before the Governor gets legislation to fix the budget deficit, there is the question of whether Democrats will work with legislative Republicans – their track-record for doing so isn’t so good, and it was not a positive sign that Republican legislators pretty much found out about the details of this proposal at the same time as the rest of us. A bi-partisan fix is important because without a 2/3 vote in the Senate and Assembly, it will be several months before any of the changes are enacted. With the supermajority support, changes go into effect immediately.

I am sure that many will scrutinize the details of this latest proposal, which purports to… Read More

Assembly Republicans have one representative* on the Joint Budget Committee who has consistently opposed tax increases as part of solving the state’s fiscal crisis — Assemblyman Jim Nielsen. Nielsen serves as the Vice Chairman of the Assembly’s Appropriations and Budget Committees, and he has shared with us some thoughts about what has been taking place in that key committee.

Less than a month ago, Californians went to the polls and soundly rejected tax increases, gimmicks and massive borrowing to solve California’s budget crisis. In spite of that resounding message to the Legislature, the majority has turned a deaf ear to voters and repeated the tired mantra of more taxes and increased spending.… Read More

For years, Rep. Loretta Sanchez has fooled too many people into thinking she’s some kind of conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat, even as she amasses a reliably left-wing voting record.

Sanchez punctured that myth yet again today, casting the deciding vote to cut off funding for Guantanamo and going along with the new, dainty, squeamish sensibility of the Age of Obama that will somehow win the War of Terror (that is, if we still called it that).

But Sanchez first voted against cutting off funding. Then the hammer of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came down hard of Loretta, who 10 minutes later changed her vote.

Spineless, on top of being plain wrong. What a combo.

Plus, Loretta hands yet another issue to GOP Assemblyman Van Tran, prepping a run to take out Loretta in 2010.

You can read more about it on RedCounty.com.… Read More