Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana have more in common than great college football and basketball teams. Each has recently seen an out-of-state exodus of state lawmakers in order to stall or foil legislation that they don’t want to see passed. Or that they don’t want to be responsible for.

Though I would have rather seen the in-state USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl than the out-of-state Wisconsin Badgers, I’ve wondered if the fleeing of Democrat lawmakers from those various Midwestern states, to duck tough votes, might have any precedent in California for Republican lawmakers that might otherwise want to avoid their responsibilities in Sacramento.

I did consult with some esteemed co-counsel, and here is what I found out: in California, legislators are prohibited by state law from accepting payments for work related to the performance of their legislative functions. Gov. Code 8920(b)(4) and Legislative Joint Rule 44. Accepting payments that conflict with their work during the legislative session is illegal. Accepting payments for lodging, meals, etc.,… Read More

Every FlashReport reader should take four minutes to watch State Senator Bob Huff’s outstanding remarks in opposition to the legislature adopting new, higher renewable energy requirements for this state — requirements that will require massive de facto tax increases (through energy bill rate hikes) to achieve…

Senator Bob Huff opposes SB2x from CA Senate Republican Caucus on Vimeo.… Read More

Americans for Prosperity just issued the following statement regarding the new Taxpayers Caucus highlighted on the main page of FR today:

AFP California Calls on Legislators to Join Taxpayers CaucusGrassroots group will hold accountable any lawmakers who don’t support cause

Sacramento—Grassroots taxpayer advocacy organization Americans for Prosperity California joined a coalition of other organizations and state legislators today in urging all 120 members of the state legislature to join the newly-formed Taxpayers Caucus. Led by State Senator Tony Strickland and Assemblyman Don Wagner, the caucus is committed to balancing the state budget without tax increases, and supports Proposition 13’s taxpayer protections.

“California has a 12.5 percent unemployment rate, one of the highest tax rates in the country and is considered one of the most hostile environments for businesses,” explained State Chairman Peter Foy. “We cannot continue on this path over a cliff to fiscal ruin.… Read More

Recently the California Republican Assembly (of which I served as State President from 1995-1997) released its latest comprehensive scorecard of the California State Legislature, for last year. Below is the both the release from the CRA, as well as link to review the entire Scorecard and see how your elected legislators fared. I want to express a hearty congratulations to the five GOPers who got a perfect score from the CRA — former Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, Senator Mimi Walters, and former Senators Sam Aanestad, Dave Cogdill and now-Congressman Jeff Denham. It is worthy of note that you could not get a perfect score if you voted to confirm scoundrel Abel Maldonado as Lt. Governor. I guess I also need to throw the "raspberry award" to our friend Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who managed to wrack up, from CRA’s perspective, the lowest score of any legislative Republican.

You can see the entire scorecard here… Read More

One might look towards the California State Capitol, and wonder if our state’s taxpayers are represented in the building at all. After all, last night a mass of state workers descended on the place to hold a what could be characterized as a "sympathy rally" for state workers in Wisconsin, where the elected Governor and legislature there stand on the bring of ending "collective bargaining" for public employees in that state (this is a process where elected officials no longer can make financial decisions about the spending of taxpayer funds without negotiating that with state workers).

You can tune into Strickland and Wagner at noon with Eric Hogue in the Sacramento Area — or at 5pm they will be on with John and Ken in SoCal and the Bay Area!

Today the Democrats convene meetings of the budget committees in the Capitol for the purpose of crafting a state budget that presumes not only that Republicans will be complicit in an effort to push the largest tax increase in the… Read More

With all eyes on Wisconsin, thought I would share these takes from today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary Email… … Read More

Hiring freezes are one of the most phony of attempts at budget savings. They are like crash diets. The only success might be to shrink fat cells but the freezes do not eliminate any bulk. Almost every Governor has tried hiring freezes when budgets get tight but the reality is that they do not save a lot of money and have never balanced a budget. They are useful symbols to make the press and public think the Governor is taking action.

I worked to implement a hiring freeze last year and all I can say is that it is a non-productive pain. Every department thinks their mission is critical and every department is under pressure from interested parties and legislators to do more. Add in the usual bureaucratic motives of turf building and every department hustles to gain an exemption to the freeze. I turned down many requests. I was told that it would violate the law to not hire more people. I was told that people would suffer if more state employees were not hired to protect consumers, process victim claims, print state publications, and on and on. I still said no. Governor Brown’s staff is going to be… Read More

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go" – President Abraham Lincoln

I’m exhausted. I wasn’t good at pulling "all-nighters" when I was in college. Now, at age 55, my resilience from such things is even less. Congress had an all-nighter Friday night, after a "most of the nighter" on Thursday. Just before 5 AM Saturday morning, after being in session and voting for 20 straight hours, and after 90 hours of debate on over 600 amendments, the House passed a bill to fund the federal government from March 5th until September 30, 2011 spending about $62 billion less than last year. But, more important than my physical depletion is the profound melancholy I feel right now. Yes, a spending bill passed that actually reduces spending. Many of my colleagues who have been around much longer than I have remind me that it is a huge shift to talk about how much we are going to cut instead of how to slow the rate of increase. I get that. But, if you are in a car heading for a cliff, it is not enough to… Read More