President’s Message
The next 72 hours before the Primary election on June 3 is crucial for the success of our Republican candidates. We need as many volunteers as possible to walk precincts, make phone calls and many other tasks. There are still many voters who have not made up their minds and we need to educate those voters about why they should vote for our Republican candidates over the Democrats. Contact your candidate’s campaign office, call your county party and /or county victory office to see how you can best help our candidates.
If you are walking precincts or making phone calls be sure to bring you club membership brochures. You might be meeting some new volunteers so be prepared to educate them about the Federation and why membership is so important! Your membership brochures also come in handy when you are walking precincts to educate the voters about our candidates. We are Federated Republican and we can multi task!
The Tustin Area RWF in Orange County put together a great program and called it the good neighbor program. They bring their club brochures with them when they walk and after talking with the voter, especially if the voter is a woman, they ask the voter if they would like to help make a difference. They stress that even if someone doesn’t have time to attend meetings membership is so important because we become more informed, educated and empowered about the issues. We can then talk to our neighbors about these issues and our candidates. Knowledge is Power!
So many more volunteers are needed on Election Day itself, there is so much to do right up to the closing of the polls on June 3. Precinct Captains and just volunteers who want to help are needed to visit the polls to check the list of voters who have not yet voted at their polling place and then call these missing voters to remind them how important their vote is. Maybe someone needs a ride to and from the polling place?
If every one of our members volunteered just 2 hours over the next 72 hours or on Election Day we would have an army of Federated woman across the state. We need to be reminded that one person does make a difference because we are all working together to make a difference! Two hours out of 4 days is not difficult and it can help ensure victory on June 3 and in November. We can change the political climate in California and in Washington DC if we work hard. Isn’t 2 hours worth the time to help turn California into the Golden State once again and ensure that we leave future generations not just a strong America but also that Shining City on the Hill?
Thank you for all you do,
Roseann
Working together To Make A Difference
End of Session Scramble
Today is the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin and onto the next house in order to “stay alive” and continue on their bill journey. All bills that are not passed out of their original house will fail passage and be “killed.” Unfortunately many of the bills the CFRW opposes have already passed out of their house of origin and are already in the next house. But the good news is that now we have a new opportunity to try to crush these bad bills in their next committees once the Legislature returns from their summer recess. Here are some of the bills we will be working on defeating:
AB 1522 (Gonzales, D): Would require all California employers to provide paid sick leave for all employees that work more than 7 calendar days in a year. They would accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Status: Held in Senate Rules for Committee assignment
SB 837 (Steinberg, D): After amendments, would provide transitional kindergarten for low-income 4 year olds across the state to the tune of $387 million a year. Original bill would have mandated pre-Kindergarten for all Californians. Status: Read in Assembly, held at desk
SB 935 (Leno, D): Would adjust required minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2015 and would increase by one dollar every year until 2017, when the minimum wage would be adjusted to reflect inflation and the consumer price index. Status: Read in Assembly, held at desk
SB 1000 (Monning, D): Would require drinks containing sugar to have a “safety warning label” and all sugary drinks manufactured, sold, and/or distributed in California would be required to have the label. Status: Read in Assembly, held at desk
SB 1077 (DeSaulnier, D): Would establish a pilot program for vehicle “mileage based fees”, or in other words, taxing Californians for every mile they drive. Status: Read in Assembly, held at desk
The Primary is Here!
Next Tuesday is our state’s Primary Election! Many of our members will be working hard to get out the vote these last few days and especially on “Super Saturday” tomorrow. While you are engaging voters for your primary candidates, remind them that there are two propositions on the ballot that they should be informed about. The CFRW is recommending NO on Prop 41 and YES on Prop 42. Click HERE for proposition Talking Points and read further for more information on the ballot measures.
After extensive research and analysis, the CFRW has come out against Prop 41. Prop 41 is titled the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act. Taken at face value, this would seem like a proposition we should support. But upon further review and analysis, Prop 41 does little to fix the homeless veteran problem and actually does more harm to veterans looking to purchase homes. Prop 41 would take $600 million away from the CalVet program, a $900 million bond program passed by voters in 2008, and instead uses that money to build multifamily, low income housing for homeless vets. The original CalVet program helped vets secure loans for purchasing property, homes, and farms. This new prop is leaving only $300 million for those vets and instead using $600 million in bond money to support approximately 19,000 homeless vets in the state of California. California has almost 2 million vets living here, yet we are shifting 2/3rds of already approved bond money to help 1% of vets in the state. We believe that the homeless vets should be helped- with a hand up, not a hand out. Prop 41 would build all new multifamily, low income housing, which is why labor unions are big supporters of the bill. But Prop 41 would also create a new tax liability for Californians, averaging in at least $50 million annually in new costs over the next 15 years. Prop 41 would also create new bureaucracies for its implementation, many of these overlapping with already established state and federal programs for our homeless vets. This creates more waste and unnecessary spending when this bond money could be better spent to help our vets. We believe that our vets deserve creative solutions. A robust economy and affordable, competitive college programs would help Californian veterans. How about tax credits for businesses that employ vets? Or reworking the CalVet program for better loan options for vets to purchase property themselves. Prop 41 is the easy answer, not the right answer. Click ◼ HERE for talking points in opposition to Prop 41. We OPPOSE Prop 41!
By contrast, Prop 42 is a straightforward bill. The CFRW Voting Body voted to SUPPORT Prop 42. Prop 42 is called the California Compliance of Local Agencies with Public Records Act. It would require that all local agencies comply with the California Public Records Act (CPRA) and the Brown Act. A good question would be: why weren’t localities already complying with these important transparency acts? Prop 42 would guarantee a private citizen’s right to open, public records and to attend public meetings. This could save the state millions of dollars by eliminating the requirement that the state reimburse local agencies for compliance with these laws. Now the local agencies must comply with these transparency laws and will be incentivized to keep costs down since the state will no longer reimburse costs. In an increasingly paperless world, most local agencies should make their records available online to keep costs low and transparency high. We SUPPORT Prop 42!
