Posted on 02/03/2006 10:47:30 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO - Kiss goodbye that $3-per-month water fee Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had proposed to help shore up state levees. The senator in charge of overseeing the multibillion-dollar waterworks proposal axed the fee proposal Thursday night.
And while the fee - some call it a tax - still lives in the Assembly, it appears doomed for the short term.
The governor had proposed to charge every household $3 per month to pay for improvement to the state's water system, including maintaining levees in the Delta. The fee's demise means $5 billion of the $35 billion waterworks proposal now must be found elsewhere. It also means homeowners from Stockton to San Diego won't have to pay an extra $36 a year.
"Some are calling it a water fee and some are calling it a water tax, but virtually no one was anywhere near ready to support it," said Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Chairwoman Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica.
Kuehl said she intends to keep trying to hash out some kind of a fee, which most agree is needed to permanently fund the billions of dollars in levee and water improvements planned under the governor's proposal.
"I believe it is more responsible to consider it in a separate bill and give everyone more time to think about it and discuss it," Kuehl said. "The best way to evaluate and resolve the issues raised by this proposed water charge is through the regular legislative process."
Schwarzenegger spokesman Darrell Ng said:
"The governor is glad the senator agrees that a dedicated funding source is needed to avoid the boom-and-bust cycle that has occurred in past years. He remains committed to working with the Legislature on a comprehensive solution."
Whatever emerges from legislative debate is likely to contain millions of flood-control dollars to San Joaquin County and the Delta.
Including the water fee would have made passing any proposal tougher because Republicans viewed it as a tax and all but vowed to block it.
"This whole thing is very fluid right now," said Modesto Assemblyman Dave Cogdill, who represents the Mother Lode. "I think the more people looked at it, the more they saw its glaring flaws. They just realized it was going to be a major stumbling block for the whole process."
Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, called the $3 fee "a step in the right direction," and he applauded Schwarzenegger for having the guts to propose it. "But I understand Senator Kuehl's concerns," he said.
Machado said the governor's proposal would have treated bungalows and mansions equally. He has been working for the past several years on developing a fairer way for the beneficiaries of water improvements to help pay for them.
But those sorts of proposals in the have proven politically divisive.
Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Chairwoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, said she has not yet decided whether to jettison the water fee, but, like Machado, she said something must be developed soon.
"If not now, when?" Wolk asked. "This question has been put off and put off and put off. We need to answer it."
*snicker*
I know I shouldn't be laughing about a tax I'm going to have to pay, both for my business and for my residence, but it is enjoyable seeing Democrats putting the breaks on a tax.
Gosh, weren't they telling all of us last year that we needed new taxes? Guess someone looked at the calendar and figured that this would be a great big club over their heads come election time.
Frankly, charging water users for maintenance of the delta water delivery system isn't a bad idea. What is bad is the way they spend the money, with levee repair costs, once $300/foot and now at over $5,000/foot because of backward, unaccounable, bureaucratic (but I repeat myself) and outrageously extended environmental mitigation costs.
..the way they spend the money, with levee repair costs, once $300/foot and now at over $5,000/foot because of backward, unaccounable, bureaucratic (but I repeat myself) and outrageously extended environmental mitigation costs.
---
I caught a bit of Chuch Devore this morning on KSFO and he brought out the same info.
What ever happened to having a gubamint that we could be proud of for efficiency instead of only hoping to seek to endure the mediocrity thereof.
Whatever happened to blow up the boxesful of bureaucrats that waste, squander and ensnare us in a web of inaction and out and out dabble in subterfuge and do so willingly.?
That was a myth.
Whatever happened to blow up the boxesful of bureaucrats that waste, squander and ensnare us in a web of inaction and out and out dabble in subterfuge and do so willingly.?
The desire to use them to control the market in order to benefit political sponsors.
Do you recall this little principled outburst last week in a transportation committee hearing?
In a decision that will rank as the most shameful in the history of the California Senate, the leadership has abandoned the legislature’s role as the central decision-making organ in the state government. The careful deliberation and amendment of public policy is now a thing of the past.We’re told our role is now “advisory.” This is a legislature. We are not supposed to be advising on legislation. We are supposed to be acting on legislation.
Well guess what pops up again this week from the other side of the isle on the same subject?
"I believe it is more responsible to consider it in a separate bill and give everyone more time to think about it and discuss it. The best way to evaluate and resolve the issues raised by this proposed water charge is through the regular legislative process."
Also mentioned was a confirmation of the legislative revolt brewing, on the Republican side of the isle, over the Wilsonegger gang's MO:
Including the water fee would have made passing any proposal tougher because Republicans viewed it as a tax and all but vowed to block it.
The Wilsonegger gang's MO of bypassing Assembly and Senate Republicans by dealing directly with Democrat, legislative leaders in financial planning and policy decisions may be coming to an end because of an unlikely ally: Assembly and Senate Democrats who are also apparently fed up with their leadership's participation in the corrupting of California's constitutional process.
Keep an eye open. There will be more to come.
Yes... This is getting intensely interesting!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.