The following is a guest column jointly authored by Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway and Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chairman Jim Nielsen…

As California begins to debate the 2012-13 budget, we wanted to share with you a new budget resource that will be available. The Assembly Republican Caucus will be launching the “California Budget Fact Check” website – www.cabudgetfactcheck.com. This site will present factually valid statistical data on the California state budget. The goal of the website is to be a reliable “go-to” resource for continually-updated, fresh budget information.

With the advent of the majority vote budget, there has been a growing lack of timely non-partisan information on the budget. Additionally, much of the technical information provided by the administration and by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office lacks context. Throughout the year, California Budget Fact Check will be updated utilizing data from the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Controller and other relevant state… Read More

We have confirmed that longtime Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis of the Inland Empire has been making phone calls to supporters today indicating that he is not running for re-election. We are not prepared to say this means he actually is retiring, since he has been rumored to be retiring before, and he keeps running again, and again.

Lewis of course is known as the “Minority Maker” as he was dubbed by the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board for being a prolific proponent of egregious pork-barrel spending in Washington, D.C. The Journal credited Lewis with bearing some of the burden for the 2006 epic loss of the House by Republicans, because of GOP over-spending.

Lewis’ current seat was divvied up in redistricting and there were questions about which seat he would actually chose to run in. If Lewis does retire, this could set the state for moderate San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos to run. Ramos was a proponent of Governor Brown’s tax increase proposal last year, which was controversial in GOP circles. Also possibly running could be State Senator Bob Dutton, and also there is rumor that if Lewis doesn’t… Read More

We have confirmed that tomorrow 13-term Republican Congressman Wally Herger will announce that he is retiring from the United States House of Representatives at the end of his current term. Herger, who was elected to Congress back during the Reagan years after serving for a brief time in the State Assembly has served California’s North State as a reliably conservative representative.

Herger’s retirement sets the table for a run for Congress by popular rice-farmer and State Senator (and FlashReport blogger) Doug LaMalfa. LaMalfa has represents most of newly created “safe” GOP North State seat.

“Senator LaMalfa is running for Congress, and will do so with the endorsement of Congressman Herger,” GOP consultant Dave Gilliard confirmed for me by phone tonight. Gilliard, who is close with Herger and has been his political consultant for many years, will be running the campaign of La Malfa.

LaMalfa will start out as a strong front runner for this seat, though given that House seats typically come open once a generation, you can be sure that others will look at the race. Should LaMalfa win the seat, that would touch off… Read More

Early this morning the FlashReport broke the news via Twitter that long-serving Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly will not seek reelection this year to Congress. The Congressman told a small group of donors last night. Subsequent to our tweet, the Congressman released a formal statement confirming his decision to retire.

After redistricting, Congressman Gallegly found himself gerrymandered into the same district as neighboring Republican Howard “Buck” McKeon. The popular McKeon serves as Chairman of the the influential House Armed Services Committee. For some time, Gallegly was making noises that he might run, though McKeon currently represents the vast majority of the new seat. Gallegly would have been an underdog in that fight. There was talk that Gallegly might run for a neighboring new seat that is very competitive. Though many doubted whether Gallegly, who hasn’t had to mount a serious campaign for re-election in Congress – ever — would have had the gusto to go through a knock-down campaign.

Gallegly’s announcement sets the… Read More

Veteran political columnist Dan Walters this morning in his Sacramento Bee column made mention of the “Washington Monument Strategy” — referring to putting forward the most politically unpopular cuts in order to make the case not to make cuts, or to make fewer cuts in spending. This strategy, used by liberals (of both parties, I might add), is nothing new…

During the 2008 budget battle, then Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (now a State Senator) penned a… Read More

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Americans for Tax Reform has sent the following letter to all of the members of the California State Legislature…

Dear Legislator,

Now that California’s state legislature has convened for the 2012 session, please keep taxpayers in mind as you take up important policy issues this year. Tax hikes, excessive regulation, and irresponsible spending will impede economic growth in your state and encourage businesses to flee for states with business-friendly policies. Just ask your counterparts in Illinois; they can vouch for this.

There is never a good time for a tax increase, but siphoning money from the private sector is the last thing lawmakers should be doing amid this tepid and uncertain economic recovery. Imposing higher state taxes is even more egregious and unadvisable when put into the context of what has happened and what is scheduled to happen with federal tax policy.

While the media in your state has likely not yet reported on it and your constituents may not yet realize it, the fact is that the largest federal tax increase in U.S. history will hit individuals,… Read More

Due to a supposed staff error, Governor Brown’s proposed state budget was released yesterday, instead of next Tuesday. I was actually shocked when I read that general fund spending in the new budget is $92.5 billion. This actually represents a roughly $6 billion or so increase in the size of the state’s general fund… Yes, Jerry Brown is proposing that state government increases in size.

Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, the Vice Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said this of the Governor’s proposal, “The Governor’s proposed budget increases spending by a whopping 7% based on his rosy assumptions. The Legislature and Governor need to get real about reforming this perpetually-flawed budget process by examining every department and expenditures of government to ensure that taxpayer priorities are being met. I suggest performance-based or a zero-based budget, with a hard spending cap and a reserve as a very good start.”

Nielsen also said, “The last thing we want to do is stomp on California’s recovering economy by raising taxes. If the state cannot live within a 7.7%… Read More

Well, there were plenty of naysayers who said it couldn’t, even shouldn’t, be done, but it now appears all but certain that the Senate redistricting referendum will qualify for the ballot and the Redistricting Commission’s gerrymandered Senate plan will be on hold for 2012 and hopefully for good. With 13 counties representing almost 30,000 signatures left to count, the random sample is showing us with 490,357 valid signatures, exceeding the 95% threshold that triggers a full count and only 14,403 signature short of the 100% mark. My projection is that we will maintain or exceed our current validity rate in the remaining counties and finish at 511,000 or more.

After the full count is completed the referendum will appear on the November ballot, where voters will have a choice between the Commission’s lines and those adopted by the Court for the 2012 cycle. Given recent revelations, with more… Read More