Lester Snow, Director of Department of Water Resources, has once again penned an exclusive commentary for FlashReport readers…

We’re in our third consecutive year of drought due to below-average rain and snowfall in California. Despite the recent storms, we are still well behind average for the year and there’s virtually no chance that we will get enough rainfall this spring to pull California out of this drought. Three dry years combined with court-ordered restrictions on pumping from the Delta climate change impacts, and a state that has grown by 9 million since the 1991 drought has created a real crisis for our economy, our environment and our agriculture industry. Today, the Governor has taken bold action to assist… Read More

Remember the "Don’t tase me bro," line that was all the rage after an anti-war protester slammed the John Kerry speech years ago.

Well, taxpayers can adopt their own version of this request: Don’t tax me bro!

Ashley Nicole Ingram posted the line on her FaceBook status while attending the LA "Taxpayer Tea Party" – similar "Tea Parties" are going on across California to protest the recent Mega-tax hike and pork-pie stimulus package.

She’s allowed me to use it here, but I can see the bumper sticker industry rolling out a new hit sometime soon. … Read More

As I’ve previously mentioned several times, Controller Chiang decided to put his public employee union bosses, from whom he has raked in plenty of campaign dough, ahead of taxpayers when he refused to implement the Governor’s Executive Order during the last budget impasse. While the state was facing an huge financial shortfall and the Governor was taking executive action to cut costs by reducing the pay of state employees to minimum wage, Chiang refused to implement the order and cited that his computers weren’t up to speed with what was required from a 5-year old court ruling.

Yesterday, Judge Timothy M. Frawley has tentatively sided with Schwarzenegger based on a 2003 case, White v. Davis, that ruled that state workers aren’t authorized their full pay until the money is appropriated in the state budget. Since tentative rulings are rarely overturned, we can expect that the Judge will take this stance again on Friday in his final ruling. This sets a… Read More

As I’ve previously mentioned several times, Controller Chiang decided to put his public employee union bosses, from whom he has raked in plenty of campaign dough, ahead of taxpayers when he refused to implement the Governor’s Executive Order during the last budget impasse. While the state was facing an huge financial shortfall and the Governor was taking executive action to cut costs by reducing the pay of state employees to minimum wage, Chiang refused to implement the order and cited that his computers weren’t up to speed with what was required from a 5-year old court ruling.

Yesterday, Judge Timothy M. Frawley has tentatively sided with Schwarzenegger based on a 2003 case, White v. Davis, that ruled that state workers aren’t authorized their full pay until the money is appropriated in the state budget. Since tentative rulings are rarely overturned, we can expect that the Judge will take this stance again on Friday in his final ruling. This sets a… Read More

An edited version of this commentary appears today in Capitol Weekly Newspaper, and can be accessed here.

THE “BEST WE COULD GET” WAS THE LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA? By Jon Fleischman

Last week, six Republican legislators joined with all of the Democrats in the State Capitol to vote for the single largest state-level tax increase in the history of our nation. I could spend a few paragraphs outlining for you why, on a policy level, this is exactly the opposite of what Californians need right now from their state government. But I wanted to spend a little more time on the political ramifications of that decision, at least as it impacted the delegates at the California… Read More

An edited version of this commentary appears today in Capitol Weekly Newspaper, and can be accessed here. THE “BEST WE COULD GET” WAS THE LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA?

By Jon Fleischman

Last week, six Republican legislators joined with all of the Democrats in the State Capitol to vote for the single largest state-level tax increase in the history of our nation. I could spend a few paragraphs outlining for you why, on a policy level, this is exactly the opposite of what Californians need right now from their state government. But I wanted to spend a little more time on the political ramifications of that decision,… Read More

The Flash Report’s “Blog Scan” page is a great resource to track the daily events in Sacramento and I frequently read the articles posted. I couldn’t help but notice that the California Majority Report recently posted an update by Steve Maviglio titled, “De León: Greater Transparency Need in State Spending.” Maviglio details De León’s Assembly Bill 400 which will require state agencies to post their general and federal fund expenditures online. Maviglio speculates that De León got the idea from President Obama’s promise to track stimulus spending. However, this idea is certainly not new nor is it Obama’s creation. My Republican colleagues and I have introduced similar legislation only to have it stalled in committee. In fact, last year I introduced… Read More

You have to ask yourself what kind of a dumb person would literally, and with a lack of literary delicacy, put a cell phone up their butt. Actually, it turns out maybe not so dumb after all. Who would have a good reason to do this? Better yet — why should it be a felony? Senator John Benoit can answer these questions right here.

(And before you prejudge me or Senator Benoit, he is not introducing legislation that would limit the use of a cell phone, in this manner for "recreational" purposes… Individual liberty is, after all, not to be trampled upon lightly… I know… Gross…)

For those of you with long memories, back in the 80’s, Eddie Murphy recorded this tune, which seems an appropriate way to end this most inappropriate blog post…

… Read More