THANKS
First order of business is a thank you to the citizens of California, the people of my districts over 32 years, and to Republican volunteers. It was a wonderful, thrilling experience to serve in public office. While extremely frustrating to having never served in a majority it was also very fulfilling to help people trying to do business with the state. I do miss the opportunity to argue for conservative principles and the challenges of trying to stall the leftward drift of California government. We do have a lot of problems in California and every one of them is human caused or should I say legislator caused with help from several governors and judges.
FUTURE
So many friends have asked about my future and the current answer is that I do not know. I loved putting out the Leonard Letter but I am looking to other fields also. Right now I am getting reacquainted with Sherry my wife of 32 pretty special years, enjoying grandkids (Katie and Gavin) and helping my Mom. Sherry and I have actually gone on our first trip in three decades without a legislative, governmental, or political purpose.
BUDGET VOTE
Nevertheless I still check FlashReport early every morning and catch up on California politics. The Republican legislators should have received more credit for the brilliant counter to Governor Brown’s demand for a vote on taxes. Their idea to put both a tax increase and a tax cut on side by side ballot measures is very smart. It is innovative in the way that it keeps within the spirit of the no new taxes pledge and it responds very well to Brown’s demand.
Brown in rejecting the Republicans thoughtful compromise has now committed the first serious tactical error of his administration. It turns out he was bluffing with all this hot air about voters in California should have a say in their government just like we want for those in Tunisia and Egypt. It is now clear that Brown’s “reluctance” on taxes was an act and that he is truly an advocate of raising taxes on Californians. Were it not for Republican solidarity in the legislature Brown would drop the idea of a ballot measure and push the taxes through as legislation.
BUDGET
Ray Haynes breakdown of the budget a few weeks ago in these pages is worth re-reading. While the numbers are certainly large it is mostly because California is so big. Living within our revenues means cutting back to spending levels of 5 years ago. This is not bankruptcy. This is not great depression. This is telling people who enjoy free health care and living expenses that the handouts are ending. Haynes nailed it in showing that we do not need more taxes but we do need more spending discipline.
It is understood that the Department of Finance is the right arm of the Governor and it is forgiven that their budget options are spun the way the Governor wants but what is less understood is that the Legislative Analyst is a creature of the Legislature and not an independent agent. Their analysis is only trustworthy in the context that is consistent with the desires of the legislative leadership. Other than Ray Haynes there are very few truly independent analyses of the budget.
The LAO’s mission is to make recommendations on finding savings to keep all existing programs. No reduction in program just making them all work better. This is an admirable goal but only if you are happy with the underlying program itself.
There is more than enough tax revenue to fund true priorities. The Governor is estimating revenues of $83.5 billion in the coming year. Add to that all property taxes, local sales taxes as well as state fees and excise taxes that fund CalTrans, CHP, PUC, Consumer Affairs, DMV which are the agencies where most Californians have any kind of contact or service.
There is not enough waste or fraud to balance the state’s budget and keep all of the general fund programs. While cutting government cars and cell phones is appealing (Schwarzenegger cut the cars by 18% last year), the savings achieved, if any, are no more than rounding errors in the whole budget. No one wants to cut programs as almost all programs have an underlying basis of justification that makes sense. There are very few programs like abortions where you are for them or you are against them with no middle ground. IHSS has been in the news lately as generating Republican support. It is a thoughtful program designed to pay people who can assist a home bound person and avoid having to go to an expensive state paid nursing home. The fact that is pays family members for these services is only a logical extension of the program. It would be wrong to hire strangers to assist when a family could do it. Yet it is unaffordable and grown too expensive to sustain.
Every other program has a similar history of logic but now has grown beyond what taxpayers can fund. To solve the long term structural budget imbalance will require much more than painful squeezing but unheard of actual elimination of state government program.
JUDGES
If it were not bad enough that Legislators fall in love with their programs and Governors jump to taxes as the solution to any problem, the courts have grabbed too much power. I was involved with several lawsuits related to the real estate sales proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Not only does the Governor have executive authority to propose state property for sale but the Legislature has to approve either in advance or as part of the sale each transaction. There are no constitutional issues here. Two branches of government have agreed on a policy. But for those who disagree with these policies the courts make themselves available to intervene. There is no justification for this apart from a blatant power grab. Whether it’s a federal judge arrogantly telling California how to run its prisons or some Superior court judge granting a restraining order against the Governor, the overreaching power is in violation of our system of checks and balances. Who is there to check the power of a runaway court? Regardless of how Governor Brown and the Legislature work together to balance the budget unless their power is checked it will be the courts who decide if any of those cuts, changes, or policy shifts will go into effect.
REDEVELOPMENT
While it is fun to see Assemblyman Chris Norby and Governor Jerry Brown agree on attaching the redevelopment agencies bank accounts, there still remains a wide gap in goals. Brown simply wants the money. He is content to leave the powers of eminent domain and redevelopment zones in place. Norby wants to drastically limit the powers of those agencies and those reforms are not on the table.
RE-DISTRICTING
August 15th is chaos day. That is the day the new California Citizens Redistricting Commission has approved for adoption of final maps for the legislature and the Board of Equalization. While maps will be in circulation before then it is not until they are adopted that legislative candidates can confidently know in what district they are registered to vote. I sold my house in early 1981 and was looking for a new place when I realized that the gerrymander could put me outside my own district. So I lived in my travel trailer for several months until maps were approved so I could confidently live in my own district. The closing month of the legislative session could become second priority as legislators study maps to see what other incumbents or prominent local opponents might now live in the same district. For the voters this uncertainty should be a good thing as candidates will be campaigning more directly to the voters. However, the promise of a competitive legislature is overblown. At best the commission might develop a half a dozen more competitive districts out of 120. But if they even do that it would be good for the people.