Highlights of Senate Republican Policies in the news June 20 - 26, 2009
 

Senator Sam Aanestad 

State Budget Surgery Fails California Chronicle
 
Senator Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) and other Senate Republicans stood up for California taxpayers, by rejecting a budget proposal loaded with more than $2 billion in tax hikes. Senator Aanestad says he will not support any budget plan that places yet another burden on state taxpayers, and demanded that the Majority Party listen to the message that was delivered last month during the special election.
 
"Every single county in California rejected, by a near 2-1 margin, the proposed tax hikes that were spelled out in Proposition 1A," said Senator Aanestad. "Voters delivered a very strong and clear message on that day: no new taxes. I’m flabbergasted that some people in this building still don’t understand that message."
 
North state TANC opposition swells Redding Searchlight
 
Rapidly swelling opposition to a proposed 600-mile high-voltage transmission line through Northern California has grabbed the attention of top north state legislators.
 
Both state Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, and Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, say they have serious concerns about the $1.5 billion power line. The planned transmission towers, wires and substations could severely disrupt lives in the north state for the sake of delivering power to distant urban dwellers, they said.
 
Election officials say it's payback time Appeal Democrat
 
More than a month after voters statewide cast ballots in a special election that generated little enthusiasm, local elections officers are still waiting on the state to pay the bill.
 
The May 19 special election, in which voters rejected five of six measures touted as reform for the state's budget, was paid for by local governments with the understanding they'd be paid back.
 
 
Senator Roy Ashburn
Oil Production Tax Would Cost Us In The End - Bakersfield Californian

The latest tax craze at the state Capitol, pushed by Democrats, is an oil severance tax. This is a tax that would be imposed on every barrel of oil that comes out of the ground. This increase in the cost to produce a barrel of oil will be passed on to the consumers with higher prices at the pump. With that comes a new blow to the economy as consumers and companies are forced to spend more on energy and less on buying or developing goods and services. This is hardly the time for a new tax on gasoline.
 
Senator John Benoit
 Proposed legislation authorizes the DMV to suspend drivers' licenses for conviction of boating-under-the-influence Temecula Valley News
 
A Riverside County lawmaker's proposed legislation to authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend a person's driver's license for a conviction of boating-under-the-influence appears headed for passage.
 
On Wednesday, the Assembly's Public Safety Committee approved SB 154 in a 7-0 vote.
 
The bill, authored by Sen. John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, is now under consideration by the Assembly's Appropriations Committee, one of the last hurdles before the full Assembly votes on the measure, which was approved by the state Senate in May.
 
The bill would reinstate the DMV's authority to revoke a person's driving privileges when the individual has been convicted of operating a boat while intoxicated and had a similar conviction, or a DUI conviction, in the last seven years. From the mid-1990s to mid-2008, the DMV used a vehicle code provision to suspend motorists' licenses when they were convicted of boating under the influence, according to Benoit's office.
 
Jail payments boost welcome San Bernardino Sun
 
San Bernardino County spends more than $20 million annually to jail illegal immigrants arrested for committing crimes in the county. The county received just $2.3 million last year to help cover the costs, and less than $1 million the year before that, as Supervisor Paul Biane noted on this page last month.
 
Back in March, we endorsed state Sen. John Benoit's bill that would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to bill the feds annually for the full cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants. If the feds don't pay - and they wouldn't - the state's attorney general would have to pursue every legal recourse to get the feds to either provide compensation based on the state's average incarceration cost to take custody of the inmates.
 
 
Senator Dave Cogdill
 
Cogdill requests pay cut - Fresno Business Journal
 
Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) has sent a letter to the state controller requesting a 5-percent decrease in his salary effective July 1.
 
In his June 22 letter to John Chiang, California controller, Cogdill wrote:
 
“I share your concern for immediate action from the Legislature to enact a comprehensive budget solution.  Please know that I am committed to achieving a responsible budget that will help our state move forward. I know this will be a challenge, but the consequences of inaction will only cause the difficult decisions before us to become even more painful.”
  
It's time to take inventory - Long-Beach Press Telegram
 
As the state scrambles for dollars, the governor and other politicians are tossing out some attention-grabbing ideas, such as selling San Quentin prison or the Los Angeles Coliseum. Those are interesting possibilities, but since these facilities are currently in use, selling them isn't a quick - or necessarily practical - solution.
 
A more thoughtful, long-term approach is being promoted by Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto. He got the blessing from Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to lead a committee that will inventory surplus state property and propose streamlined ways to sell it.
 
 
Senator Jeff Denham
 Loose Lips: Airing air board grievances Merced SunStar
 
The air-board paratroopers trying to drive Supervisor Mike Nelson from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board should've consulted Lips before launching their blitzkrieg.
 
Rather than this public-relations campaign that's only going to have Nelson bunkering down to hold his position, the group should've found a replacement and offered Nelson a six-pack to quietly give up his seat.
 
California lawmakers fail on first try to close deficit Salinas Californian
 
A Democratic plan to begin closing California's $24 billion budget deficit failed Wednesday, as legislative leaders said they will have lawmakers work through the weekend in an attempt to avoid a cash crisis by next week, the start of the new fiscal year.
 
Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, complained that he had received budget documents just an hour before Wednesday's vote.
 
"Parts of this I can support; parts of it I can't," Denham said.
 
"There are a number of cuts that I've never voted for in my career up here, but right now we are in the toughest situation. Hopefully today sets the stage for Republicans and Democrats working together.''
 
 
Senator Bob Dutton
 Senator Dutton Calls Partial Budget Fix No Fix at All - Inland Empire News
 
“I met with the Governor this morning and he made it clear that he will not accept a piecemeal approach to solving the $24 billion deficit,” Senator Dutton said. “He also made it clear today and has been clear for some time that the Legislature must solve the entire deficit without tax increases.
 
No more tax increases. Period. Highland Community News
 
I thought that surely the Democrat controlled 10-member committee would have heard the message voters sent during the special election on May 19 and resolve to close the current gap through spending reductions.
 
Unfortunately, my hope faded quickly as it became apparent that the Democrats aren’t willing to stop spending money this state doesn’t have.
 
Governor Schwarzenegger outlined a plan in May that would close the state’s $24 billion spending gap. While the choices were difficult, I support the necessary spending reductions that solve the problem.
 

Senator Dennis Hollingsworth 
Republicans reject Democrats' central plan to close state deficit - Southern CA Public Radio
 
The Democrats’ plan to cut $11 billion from state programs was only a partial solution to California’s 19-and-a-half-billion dollar deficit. Senate minority leader Dennis Hollingsworth said that’s why his party opposed it.
 
Democratic plan to fix budget headed for defeat - San Francisco Chronicle
 
State lawmakers failed Wednesday in their first attempt to solve the state's $24.3 billion deficit when a key budget bill proposed by Democrats failed to win the two-thirds majority needed to pass.
 
Moments before the Legislature voted, state Controller John Chiang warned that, without quick action by lawmakers to close the budget gap, he would begin issuing IOUs next week to local governments, private contractors, state vendors and to taxpayers awaiting tax refunds.
 
for all of these stories, visit the California State Republican Caucas  http://cssrc.us/