14 of the 29 Assembly Republicans serve in a broad leadership structure that is hand-picked by Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines.

Today Villines announced his team and we'll start by going straight to the most interesting picks first — who did Villines tap to represent the large freshman class on his leadership team? Serving as Whips are Assemblyman Jim Nielson (not surprising as he is a former State Senator), Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, and my own Assemblyman, Jeff Miller. Congratulations to all three of you!

Last week Villines announced that his #2, serving as Caucus Chairman, is Cameron Smyth. Rounding out the team: Floor Manager: Sam Blakeslee. Assistant Leaders: Roger Niello, Bill Emmerson, Van Tran, Martin Garrick and Ted Gaines. Chief Republican Whips: Anthony Adams, Chuck DeVore and Jean Fuller.… Read More

This afternoon, in what we are told is a very rare occasion, the 120 members of the State Legislature will convene in a special join session to get an in-depth briefing on the state of California’s finances. What will they be told? Undoubtedly these presentations being made by various officials ranging from Democrat State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Democrat State Controller John Chiang, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, and the Governor’s Finance Director Mike Genest will paint a dire picture of California’s financial condition. Look for a lot of extreme statements about how the failure of the legislature to take action to deal with the current fiscal year’s deficit of at least $12 billion (or is it $15 billion?) will result in dire consequences. Wee will hear about massive lay-offs and an insolvency in state government finance that come the Spring will bring state government spending to a halt. We’ll hear about the state having to issue IOU’s, and no doubt we will hear about how this situation will drastically and negatively impact some of the state’s most vulnerable residents.

What… Read More

A new Legislature took office on December 1st. It was an exciting day, especially for the 25 “true freshmen” who joined the Legislature for the first time. All of these new members are in the Assembly.

I remember when I helped elect a new Assemblywoman from Sacramento County way back in 1978. She held her young daughter in her arms as mother and daughter both raised their hands to take the oath of office in December of that year. It was such a cute photograph that it made the front page of the Sacramento Bee, and we used it liberally in her reelection campaign.

I am quite certain that most of the new legislators who took their oath of office last week enthusiastically intend to do their best to govern with distinction. They know the challenges that California faces are great and they honestly intend to make the sacrifices that will be necessary to meet those challenges.

The enthusiasm of freshmen legislators is legendary. When Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly first took office back in 1982, he worked so many hours in the Capitol that he took to sleeping on the couch in his office. This was a… Read More

Around this time of year I’ve been known to tinker around with JibJab.com – one of my favorite websites.

Last year we caught our blog boss, Jon, Elfing Around (could appear again this year too……..) and I premiered the "Night of the Living Democrats" and even had a Republican version too.

Since I’m no longer in the legislature I didn’t want to feel left out of the budget process (because I sooooo miss arguing about taxes and spending cuts) – so I’ve participated in my small way by creating the video below.

I hope our legislative leaders will follow this holiday advice.

I call it "How NOT to solve the budget crisis".

Enjoy.… Read More

I have some out of town guests here this week and one of our destinations was the Santa Ana Zoo. Its a zoo more because they have a big sign that says Santa Ana Zoo than because there are a lot of animals there.

But it was a fun hour and half distraction.

When we got there, the parking lot was full and there was a line of about 100 people waiting to get in one entrance. Of course, I found another entrance, I don’t wait in lines, and my guests and I got in. Then I saw a sign "Senator Lou Correa Day".

It turns out that Senator Correa has been hosting his constituents at the zoo since he was in the Assembly. This was the 8th annual event. Around 3500 moms and dads and kids and grandparents showed up this Sunday. They get free admission, a picnic lunch and there was a free raffle, this year I think the grand prize was a flat screen TV. They also collected 2500 pounds of canned food to replenish the stocks at the Orange County Food Bank. Correa’s constituents also brought toys for… Read More

This afternoon, in what we are told is a very rare occasion, the 120 members of the State Legislature will convene in a special join session to get an in-depth briefing on the state of California’s finances. What will they be told? Undoubtedly these presentations being made by various officials ranging from Democrat State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Democrat State Controller John Chiang, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, and the Governor’s Finance Director Mike Genest will paint a dire picture of California’s financial condition. Look for a lot of extreme statements about how the failure of the legislature to take action to deal with the current fiscal year’s deficit of at least $12 billion (or is it $15 billion?) will result in dire consequences. Wee will hear about massive lay-offs and an insolvency in state government finance that come the Spring will bring state government spending to a halt. We’ll hear about the state having to issue IOU’s, and no doubt we will hear about how this situation will drastically and negatively impact some of the state’s most vulnerable residents.

What else… Read More

President-Elect Barack Obama announced Saturday that he plans to revive the economy and create jobs by upgrading roads, schools and energy efficiency in the greatest public-works initiative since the interstate highway system in the 1950s.

His announcement was in response to news of more than a half-million American job losses last month. He reportedly offered no price estimate. As the Associated Press observed, “The president-elect’s address never once used the word ‘spend,’ relying instead on ‘invest’ or ‘investments,’ and pledging wise stewardship of taxpayer money in upgrading roads and schools, and making public buildings more energy-efficient."

Hmm. “Invest” in government spending… Echoes of Bill Clinton? Absolutely. One of Clinton’s first acts in 1993 was to push a package of public works money through a Congress controlled by his own party. Sounds familiar indeed. The current thinking by transportation policy advocates is to convince the government to put up about $65 billion… Read More

The is an article this morning in the Sacramento Bee where is talks about how the top priority of newly sworn-in State Senate President Darrell Steinberg is to expand the role of government in California, moving the responsibility for the health of children from their parents to the state government.

Are you kidding, Senator?

This concept of yours is a major problem for a whole slew of reasons. But let’s start with the biggies.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More