When Dan Schnur was Chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, he did something really good by way of public disclosure. He had the staff add up all the political spending for candidate, measure and party contributions and lobbying attributable to organizations, and he came up with a “top ten” list in a brochure entitled “Big Money Talks.” The period covered January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2009. Eyebrows were raised when the figures were revealed and it was learned that the California Teachers Association was the biggest lobby in the state during the period, spending $211,849,298 on politics.

I’ve just updated the figures with the able assistance of my associate Alex Tomescu, based on the same methodology, for use in a book I am writing, and I can report here that CTA’s lead as the biggest special interest in California has only grown larger in the last two and 1/2 years. In fact, since 2000, CTA has spent almost six times more than the California Chamber of Commerce on state politics; more than three times big tobacco or Chevron Oil Corporation, and more than twice the second biggest special interest in… Read More

President Obama’s strategy is clear: focus on winning control of the House for Democrats so he can have the unified control of government he needs to write his legacy in his final two years, as he did in his first.

Republicans today hold a 17 seat House majority, and a review of how House races are shaping up suggests the President is unlikely to get his wish.

To return Nancy Pelosi to the Speaker’s Chair requires a switch of 17 seats in addition to Democrats holding every seat they now occupy, including several in California they barely took from the GOP in 2012. That’s an extraordinarily steep hill to climb.

The outcome of the 2010 elections on the state level continues to have a big effect across the country. While most attention was focused on the Republican takeover of the House that year, less visible were Republican victories at the state level, seizing numerous governorships and state legislatures that set the stage for a 2011 redistricting that was very favorable to the GOP.

Nationally, analyst Charlie Cook rates twice as many Democrat seats as flippable (24), than Republicans (12). That’s the reverse of… Read More

The average impact fee in California for single-family residence in 2012 was $31,100 per unit, nearly 90 percent higher than the next most expensive state and 265 percent higher [that’s more than TRIPLE] than the norm among jurisdictions that levy such fees, which typically pay for capital improvements, like water and wastewater facilities, required by a new development.

Many states and localities on the eastern side of the Sierras do not have such fees at all, and are not included in the average.

These fees also impact multifamily housing; the state’s fees on multifamily units averaged $18,800, 290 percent [almost QUADRUPLE] above the average outside the state — again, not including in the average states and cities that don’t charge any impact fees. http://www.newgeography.com/content/003882-california-homes-require-real-reach

To add insult to injury, that “fee” becomes part of the price of the home or apartment – the base on which the annual property taxes are calculated.… Read More

As a fiscal conservative and county supervisor, I’m adamant that public funds should never be used for political purposes. Never once have I voted for either the City of Woodland or County of Yolo to take a position on a state ballot measure. I believe it’s inappropriate for government entities to get involved in the political process.

With that being said, local government organizations don’t need to be muzzled from the political process, especially with the continual increase in power of other public representatives including public employee unions. The opinions of local governments are often critical voices in campaign debates, and they don’t use public dollars to advocate their position. Moreover, it doesn’t mean that gutting and amending bills during the last weeks of legislative session is good policy. But Senator Jerry Hill wants to change the rules of the game and completely silence local government associations in state and local ballot campaigns.

In a stunning act of desertion from his roots in local government, former County Supervisor Hill is pushing an end of session “gut and amend” bill designed to silence local government… Read More

I am deeply concerned about reports that the President is preparing to order acts of war against the government of Syria without congressional authorization.

The Constitution clearly and unmistakably vests Congress with the sole prerogative “to declare war.” The President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief to order a military attack on a foreign government is implicitly limited by the Constitution to repelling an attack and explicitly limited under the War Powers Resolution to: “(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” Unless one of these conditions is present, the decision must be made by Congress and not by the President.

Nor does our participation in NATO allow the President to order an unprovoked act of war. The North Atlantic Treaty clearly requires troops under NATO command to be deployed in accordance with their country’s constitutional provisions. The War Powers Resolution clearly states that the President’s power to engage United States Armed Forces in hostilities “shall not be inferred …from… Read More

When legislators reconvened from their summer recess, I penned a column in which I advised Republicans to be unified and vigilant in opposing efforts by Democrats in the final days of session to expand the size and scope of state government. I also said to keep an eye out for those issues that divide Democrats, because it is in that instance where Republicans, unified, can seize the moment and actually get some wins – governing, as it were, from the minority.

I can think of no better example of where Republican legislators have an opportunity to actually see a positive outcome in this legislative session than with the passage of SB 594 (Hill). Without getting into the technical jargon, this legislation would put and end to an egregious process whereby non-profit entities affiliated with government organizations have been able to literally dump millions of dollars into support and opposition to statewide ballot measures through a financial shell-game.

Let me take a few paragraphs to summarize how this is done, followed with some specific examples of how this dubious but effective technique has been used to the detriment of the freedom and liberty of… Read More

“Not surprisingly, within moments of news of Detroit’s bankruptcy, pension scare mongers took to their pedestals to place all the blame on pensions. California, Los Angeles, and other governments would surely follow Detroit’s footsteps in short order, they cried. It’s simply not true, like most of the claims made by the anti-pension soldiers who have been trying for years to take away the retirement security of firefighters, teachers, police officers and other public servants.”

Ralph Miller,President, LA County Probation Officers’ Union, AFSCME,Fox & Hounds, August 20th, 2013

Miller has a point. California is not Detroit. California’s population has not imploded, nor will it. Detroit’s economy was reliant on one industry, California’s huge economy is diverse and relatively healthy. Turning California around, while daunting, is going to be a lot easier than turning around Detroit. And, yes, it was a collapsing industrial base and an imploding population that did as much or more… Read More

Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of Visalia has summed up the obvious problem presented by California’s tax, spending, and regulatory policy: “(o)ur excessive tax and regulatory burden is killing businesses and driving them to other states.” People have two ways to vote: at the ballot box, and with their feet. At the last November ballot, Californians accepted the invitation of liberal Democrats and enacted the largest state income tax in the country. The result today is 1,700,000 unemployed residents, twice as many unemployed as five years ago. And the liberal Democrats and their special interest allies in control of the state have managed to add even more to the average Californian’s tax burden, enacting in the meantime the highest tax on gasoline at the pump. They are moving forward dozens more of tax increase bills in the Legislature. No wonder so many businesses and high-income individuals are fleeing the state. They are voting with their feet between elections.… Read More