Looking at it broadly, I think that the budget proposed by the Governor starts off the negotiating process from the right spot — which is with the premise that California taxpayers should not be punitively taxed to make up the budget shortfall. There are a lot of innovative solutions being proposed which is critical given the funding shortfall. This proposal recognizes that that the long term health of state government depends on an economic recovery.

With concern for the taxpayer being the top priority, there are concerns about the return of the tax on homeowners insurance, counting on new revenue from red light cameras, and the myriad of proposed "revenue increases" that appear on a list to potentially implement if the federal government does not kick in requested funds to balance the budget.

It is my hope that GOP lawmakers make it clear pretty quickly that the Governor is right when he says we need to live within our means, and that new taxes and fees (aka: "revenue increases") are not on the table, period.… Read More

Ron Nehring, Chairman of the California Republican Party, has just sent us his thoughts on the new proposed budget. We’ve formatted it as a column which you can read by clicking here.… Read More

The Governor just introduced his 2010-2011 proposed State Budget. It’s big and fat and filled with a ton of details. If you are THAT FlashReport reader, thanks to Capitol Weekly a nearly-200 page document with a lot of details are available online here.

Linked below this post are three helpful documents. The first one is a succinct three-pager from the Governor’s office for the more "normal" non-wonkish types to get sense of the budget proposal. Also is a list of money that Governor wants from the federal government, arguing that our state pays more into the U.S. Treasury than we get back. Finally the Governor’s office created a one-pager concerning proposed education reforms.

Again, there is a LOT to digest here. Look for those controversial components of the proposal to get more attention here on the FlashReport and elsewhere.… Read More

The campaign trail of gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner took him last evening to South Orange County, where I call home. He had an event with local elected officials. It was so close that I had to swing by and check it out. There I saw Orange County Supervisor Pat Bates, and since Poiz’s campaign had announced her endorsement earlier in the day, I thought I’d whip out the Flip camera (it’s always with me in case of that "TMZ moment") — and have some fun.

A reminder — as an officer of the State GOP, I do not endorse in contested Republican primaries. So if you are a GOP candidate for statewide office, and you come into my turf, I may "Flip you on!"

… Read More

LETTER TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS PRAISING RACE TO THE TOP LEGISLATION

January 8, 2010

Dear Race To The Top Passage Enthusiast:

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

LETTER TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS PRAISING RACE TO THE TOP LEGISLATION

January 8, 2010

Dear Race To The Top Passage Enthusiast:

I recently saw your public statement proclaiming the great victory for California in the passage of "Race To The Top" education legislation, that brings our state’s laws in compliance with federal guidelines, and making our state eligible for hundreds of millions of federal tax dollars.

On the micro level, I agree that this legislation positively impacts California’s education system — the substance of its contents are largely positive. At this level, it’s good that we passed it — and pleasant to see it pass over the objections of the California Teachers Association labor union.

That said, I ask you and all of my friends to consider that at the macro-level, the "Race To The Top" legislation passed out of Washington, D.C., represents the worst form of federal meddling into issues out of its purvey. Federal interference with state and local issues has… Read More

Yesterday, I posted a blog on Flash Report that disputed the numbers Governor Schwarzenegger used to compare California’s spending of prisons and higher education.

He said during his State of the State speech that California spends 45 percent more on prisons than on higher education. I replied that the state spent 7.3 percent of thetotal state budgeton prisons and 9.7 percent of thetotal state budgeton higher education, which differs vastly from the Governor’s State of the State numbers.

Keep in mind I was using the Governor’s own 2009-10 budget numbers!

Here’s the Governor’s chart (I’ve highlighted prisons in yellowand higher ed in green): (Click on the chart to enlarge it.)

Today, I read a Flash blog that… Read More

In the State of the State address yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger talked about using tax incentives on the purchase of green technologies as a means of creating jobs. This is not simply a theoretical notion. The fact is, there are several initiatives throughout the U.S. that could make this piece of the Governor’s plan a reality, and the President and CEO of two of them will be my guest on Go Green Radio tomorrow.

Robbie Diamond is the President & CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) – www.secureenergy.org – , and the Electrification Coalition – www.electrificationcoalition.org -, both nonpartisan, not-for-profit groups of business four star military leaders committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security dangers caused by our nation’s dependence on petroleum.

Among Robbie’s distinguished group of… Read More