Today is the last day bills can pass out of their house of origin and on to Governor Brown’s desk. Bills that are passed by midnight tonight must be acted on by the Governor within 30 days. The Governor has three options- sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or do nothing (a pocket veto) which is effectively a veto since the bill does not become law. Please start calling Governor Brown NOW! There are several bills on the way to his desk that we must defeat!
SB 623 (Kehoe, D): extends the pilot program that allows mid-level healthcare professionals (mid-wives, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) to perform first trimester abortions.
AB 2109 (Pan, D): this bill makes it much more difficult for parents to opt out of vaccines for their children, regardless of personal or religious beliefs.
AB 2179 (Allen, D): this bill would make trivial violations of Department of Fish and Game regulations punishable by fees, or even criminal. This could potentially be very harmful to hunters, fishers, ranchers and farmers.
These need to be defeated! So begin calling Governor Brown today!
Governor Brown’s phone number: (916) 445-2841
Prop 31 (Original and reconsidered position NO
Prop 31 Reconsideration: OPPOSE
The CFRW Voting Body has reconsidered our official CFRW position on Proposition 31. After reevaluating, our Voting Body decided to change our official position from “No position” to “OPPOSE.” The reality with Prop 31 is that there are good aspects to the prop, but there are really terrible aspects as well.
And we believe that the bad aspects outweigh the good. While Prop 31 has merits- It establishes a two year budget cycle. It requires the legislature to have ALL bills in print for 72 hours before a vote. There is a “pay-go” of $25 million, meaning that the legislature cannot create expenditures of $25 million or more unless an offsetting revenue source or spending cut is identified. But even the merits of Prop 31 would create a problem with the current California Legislature. A “pay-go” system only works with a responsible legislature. In California this could create programs costing $24.9 million, or fudging numbers on spending cuts, or projected revenue for the pay-go falling short. Prop 31 also calls for performance reviews for all state agencies. While this may be very necessary for California, this will create a large bureaucracy in order to over-see this large undertaking. Prop 31 would allow the Governor to cut unilaterally in a declared fiscal emergency if the legislature fails to act. This may seem like a good idea, but it gives the governor far too much power. The proposition also allows local governments to create “Community Strategic Action Plans”, allowing them to override state law or regulations and tailor them to their local needs. It would also allow localities to “tax share” and pool their tax receipts from local governments. This will create litigation galore and won’t actually help local government govern successfully. Worst of all, this is a constitutional amendment, and in California, ballot box budgeting written into our constitution has historically done more harm than good. Prop 98 (K-12 education funding) is a perfect example. California does not need another bad constitutional amendment. Prop 31 is over 8,000 words of convoluting constitutional changes and unnecessary regional governance. The CFRW OPPOSES PROP 31.
Originally: The CFRW ha(d) NO POSITION on Prop 31. While Prop 31 has many merits, it also has many downfalls. Ultimately we want the members of the California Federation of Republican Women to read the proposition themselves and vote with their conscience. Prop 31 would create a two year budget cycle and mandate that all bills are in print for 72 hours before a vote can occur. While these are much needed reforms for transparency and accountability in our government, other aspects of the bill fall short. Prop 31 would allow the governor the authority to cut or do away with any program or measure in a fiscal emergency, as declared by the governor, if the legislature does not pursue it. With a Republican governor we could probably live with this, but with a Democrat governor-say, Jerry Brown- who knows what could happen with so little accountability. Worse, the so called “pay-go” addendum to Prop 31 begs for fabrication and exaggeration of funding sources. With a budget that is so dependent on taxes as a revenue source, ballot box budgeting is already out of control (see: Prop 98). Another aspect of Prop 31 that is misguided is the “Community Strategic Action Plans” which allows local government to ignore state laws and regulations if their plans have a “functional equivalent.” With all the different communities in California, this could invite litigation galore. Prop 31 also requires each and every government program to be reviewed based on their performances. While this is a necessary action for California, it may create a huge bureaucracy to handle reviewing every state program. Prop 31 has many things written in it that could be great for California in terms of transparency and responsible government. Unfortunately it also contains many confusing and contradictory requirements that make our already convoluted state constitution even worse. We will leave you with this example: Back in 2010, Prop 11 was a novel idea that had California citizens draw the redistricting lines so that gerrymandering and political power would be stifled. But the citizen’s commission was hijacked by the Democrats in power and the integrity of the initial proposition was compromised. ◼ Please read Prop 31 for yourself HERE. If you have any further questions about Prop 31 or the CFRW position, please email the CFRW Advocate at advocate@cfrw.org. (Note, we have reconsidered that original position and now recommend a NO Vote on Prop. 31.)
News from Tampa!
Our Republican Women have been very busy at the Republican National Convention! National Federation of Republican Women President Rae Lynne Chornenky addressed the delegates and released a special NFRW poll. Read that ◼ HERE. Our CFRW President Carol Hadley and CFRW Northern Division President Roseann Slonsky-Breault have been blogging their experiences. Read those ◼ HERE. And there have been very many amazing speeches! If you missed any, please view them ◼ HERE.
Now that Romney/Ryan is our official ticket, we must all join together and work hard for November! The election is closer than you think, so find your local VICTORY office and get out the vote! It is what we Republican Women do best!
