A few moments ago the Assembly approved AB 2123 (Lieu), which establishes the “California Financial Literacy Initiative.” This initiative will create a government program “for the purpose of providing resources and instruction to Californians” about how to be financially literate. The program will be overseen by the state controller, who, according to the bill, “has the experience and duty to lead an initiative to grow the state’s economy by bettering Californians’ financial literacy.”

Does it strike anyone else as hypocritical that our state controller and state lawmakers want to teach Californians “financial literacy”? I can’t speak to the “experience” of all state controllers past and future, but do we really want John Chiang teaching us about financial literacy? He’s currently defying the governor’s attempt to curtail government spending during the budget crunch. And lawmakers are 46 days past their constitutional budget deadline. If average citizens were 46 dayspast due on their bills, creditors wouldn’t be very… Read More

Now I’m not one to review movies, nor will I make it a habit here, lest I invite an E-towel snap from our FR leader, however I would recommend the new release "Swing Vote". It stars Kevin Costner and although the premise may be a stretch, it is a lot of fun and takes a good poke at what elections and politics can become. It does us the favor of not being preachy nor taking a partisan position, it just keeps it fun and a bit serious too. And hey, it has appearances by Richard Petty and Willie Nelson!… Read More

We are pleased to present this exclusive commentary from State Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard…

Tax Increases are Doses for the Addict By Bill Leonard

My heart goes out to the current Legislative Republican members as the cave-ins, compromises, squishes, and treasons of the past have all come home. California’s on-going structural financial problems have not been solved by postponing decisions and by papering over the excess in spending over revenue. This has been the solution that has been regularly adopted, usually by picking off a few Republicans with political promises. Even if it might work again, it will not solve the problem. The spending levels are not… Read More

The Assembly is presently scheduled to convene Sunday at 3PM for a budget vote. We are supposed to have language in Saturday afternoon sometime, not much time before the vote on a document we haven’t seen yet. Right now, the Assembly Budget Committee is meeting in Room 4202 to hear ACA 19, the measure backed by our entire causus. This is the amendment that contains the spending limit that would be placed on the legislative budget process. Dems have been fiercely opposed to a limit. We hope that we can turn the corner on this issue as their is no self discipline in this legislature to limit spending and we cannot keep digging out of these budget holes. Of course the rainy day fund which, should be called the drought fund, is part of the discussion, but it means little by itself as without spending limits, only rarely would there be ‘excess’ funds to place in a drought fund.

Later, ACA 19 was defeated in committee on a party line vote.… Read More

We are pleased to present this exclusive commentary from State Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard…

Tax Increases are Doses for the Addict By Bill Leonard My heart goes out to the current Legislative Republican members as the cave-ins, compromises, squishes, and treasons of the past have all come home. California’s on-going structural financial problems have not been solved by postponing decisions and by papering over the excess in spending over revenue. This has been the solution that has been regularly adopted, usually by picking off… Read More

Petitioner Denise Erkeneff of Dana Point filed a lawsuit today against city council candidate Luigi Rossetti, Jr., the county and city to obtain a court order to strike the fictional name "Lou Penrose" from the ballot and ballot statements in the upcoming Nov. 4 municipal election. Rossetti is the District Director for Orange County Congressman John Campbell and a Dana Point resident. Erkeneff’s family are long-time Dana Point residents. Erkeneff is a Republican, and is active in the south country community.

Rossetti is registered to vote in Dana Point, and his driver’s license, marriage license, and social security numbers are all in the name of Luigi Rossetti, Jr. He is employed by Congressman Campbell and the U.S. Congress in the name of Luigi Rossetti, Jr., has received a traffic ticket in that name, has attended driving school in that name, and owns his home with his wife in Dana Point in that name.

However, Rossetti filed a Declaration of Candidacy for the Dana Point city council and a Candidate Statement in a different name, "Lou Penrose." The county and city certified this name on… Read More

SB 381 which would allow on-line voter registration, passes off our floor today. This would allow a person with a California ID to register without actually signing their form nor set foot inside a county election clerk’s office. The secretary of state would use an electronic signature for you. You could then vote absentee, without being seen.Or if you should decide to vote in person, you still can, in the state of California, not show any form of ID and be handed a ballot.… Read More

On Tuesday I took my interns to Sacramento to meet with policy advocates from Cal Chamber and various legislators. Thanks to the help of Chris Finarelli in Assemblyman Huff’s office(thx, Chris!!!), the day was the perfect opportunity for my interns to see their state government up close and personal. While we were in town, we learned some interesting factoids, and I thought I would share some of these with all of you in the form of a contest. The first person to name all the Sacramento Superstars correctly gets a prize pack of goodies!. You’ll get an official Go Green t-shirt…lovz it…a Go Green coffee mug…when what you drink is sew hott…and a Go Green eraser…very handy during deficit budget dayz.

So, here’s the quiz. See if you can name the lobbyist or the legislator who fits this description…

This legislator serves as the head of the E3 caucus. (You get a bonus point if you know what the E3 caucus is.) This lobbyist probably works with CBIA on a number of issues. This legislator thinks we should follow the example of the French. (You get a bonus point if you can explain why). This lobbyist is a … Read More