Free Republic

SACRAMENTO – Anti-tax Republican legislators, blamed for what will soon be a record two-month state budget deadlock, answered their critics yesterday, proposing an alternative budget balanced without a general tax increase. The Republican plan replaces a one-cent sales tax increase backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senate Democrats with $2 billion in lottery-backed bonds, $1.5 billion in spending cuts, and $1.5 billion in new tax revenue. The Republican plan, unlikely to quickly end the deadlock, was criticized for making painful spending cuts and failing to end years of state deficit spending. “We believe our plan is the responsible way to...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken on an unlikely role as one of the Capitol's most steadfast champions of a tax hike, spurning his fellow Republicans' uncharacteristic effort to borrow their way out of budget trouble. In an interview with The Times on Tuesday afternoon -- 50 days into the new fiscal year -- Schwarzenegger said resistance to tax hikes had led GOP lawmakers down a reckless path. He said they wanted to balance the budget by raiding local governments and public transportation accounts for billions of dollars. That money, under state law, would have to be repaid with steep interest....

SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Sandre Swanson is convinced that the only way to avoid lengthy budget stalemates in the future is to strip the minority party of what he calls its out-sized influence. The Oakland Democrat is among a handful of East Bay lawmakers who want voters to overturn the constitutional requirement that two-thirds of the Legislature must approve the budget. Now in its 50th day, the budget standoff is threatening to spill into next month as both parties remain far apart on finding a solution to the state's estimated $15.2 billion deficit. "It just has to change, and citizens will...

In the latest episode of Capitol punishment, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass tossed Assemblywoman Nicole Parra from her office on Monday morning after the Central Valley Democrat failed to vote for the budget on Sunday. In a twist, Parra hasn't been reassigned to more cramped quarters in the Capitol itself - but booted straight across the street to the Legislative Office Building. She will be the only member of the Legislature whose office is not housed in the Capitol. "I knew going in Sunday that if I didn't support the budget, something was going to happen," Parra, D-Hanford, said in an...

SACRAMENTO – Seven years of deficits have left the state budget so far out of balance that a Republican legislative leader is saying that closing a huge budget gap with cuts alone is unworkable. Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto said he remains staunchly opposed to tax increases and is now proposing that the state borrow – possibly from funds for local government, transportation and other programs – and quickly repay the loans with money from bonds backed by the lottery. “What we would like to do is see the state get its spending in line with its revenue,”...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he will refuse to sign any bills that reach his desk until the Legislature sends him a budget agreement. "At this point, nothing in this building is more important than a responsible budget to fix our broken budget system," he said at a hastily called afternoon press conference. "So until the Legislature passes a budget that I can sign, I will not sign any bills that reach my desk." Schwarzenegger acknowledged that his decision "means some good bills will fail." But he said with a cash crisis looming, the late budget takes on even greater...

The predominately Democratic California legislature is at it again, coming up with different ways to take your personal freedoms away for the sake of a few. On the heels of attempting to make spanking a misdemeanor, the legislature now wants to make it permissible for a landlord to prevent smoking in apartment buildings on the pretext of protecting other tenants from secondhand smoke. The spineless legislator who sponsored the bill didn’t have the courage to make it a crime under the state’s Health and Safety Code. The proposed legislation merely allows the landlord to make the decision, essentially making him...

Some California legislators might claim to be victims of pay discrimination if the commission that sets state elected officials' salaries decides this week to impose its first pay cut. The California Citizens Compensation Commission is scheduled Tuesday to consider a proposal by its chairman to cut elected officials' salaries by 10 percent to help deal with a $15.2 billion state budget deficit. But a legal opinion the commission requested could limit those affected by the cut to the 80 members of the Assembly and half of the 40 state senators. The opinion by attorneys for the Department of Personnel Administration...

Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado is running for reelection this year - as both a Republican and a Democrat. The Santa Maria lawmaker turned in signatures earlier this week to qualify himself as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary of his 15th Senate District, though he is already unopposed for the GOP nomination. Maldonado's campaign said the rare move was intended to give the moderate Republican's Democratic supporters - including his mom - the right to vote for him in the primary. "Abel's mother, who is a Democrat, said, 'Son, I want to vote for you in the Democratic primary...

SACRAMENTO -- Dick Messer likes driving around Los Angeles with Peaches, his Pomeranian, in his lap and thinks it's ridiculous that a proposal in the Capitol would make him an outlaw for doing so. The proposal, which would prohibit drivers from carrying "live animals" on their laps behind the wheel, is one of several that would regulate who can drive, when, where and how. Bills regulating cars and drivers "It's just nuts, the stuff legislators come up with instead of dealing with the real problems facing the state: crime, the economy, the . . . budget deficit," said Messer, director...

SACRAMENTO – Powerful state senators from both parties are challenging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed spending spree on selected state programs to address global warming. Drawing particular scrutiny is the Institute for Climate Solutions, a new creation of the Schwarzenegger-appointed Public Utilities Commission that would cost ratepayers $600 million over its 10-year life. During a recent Senate committee hearing, Republicans and Democrats claimed the institute was illegal without Legislature approval. That sparked a blunt exchange between lawmakers and Michael Peevey, the commission president who at one time pounded the table to drive home his points. The confrontation was as much about...

He denounced it as a political stunt and power play, but was the recall campaign against state Sen. Jeff Denham the best thing to ever happen to his political career? The upside for the Atwater Republican grew immensely this week when Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, called off the campaign. Denham, who has raised considerable funds to fight the effort, vowed Thursday to continue his defense because his name will still be on the ballot June 3. Indeed, some local Democrats intend to keep campaigning against the senator on a grass-roots level. Ads against him have already run. But Denham...

Don't blame small-town legislators for taking junkets. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday it's good for lawmakers "from those little towns" to go out in the world and see worldly things like "an airport," "a highway that maybe has 10 lanes" or even "a highway on top of a highway." The Republican governor, speaking at a conference with billionaire Michael Milken on infrastructure, said he has benefited by riding high-speed trains in France and China, which gave him more inspiration to support such projects in California. His comments on small-town legislators drew laughs and applause from the big-city audience at the...

Once in a while, almost by accident, the California Legislature sets aside pettiness and venality and does the right thing. It happened last week, although you won't find any official record, when legislation that would have changed a city's redevelopment powers in ways that could lead to widespread abuse was quietly killed without a committee hearing. Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, dropped the bill that the City of Industry was promoting after getting an earful of complaints from other local governments, especially Los Angeles County, and redevelopment reformers. Redevelopment, for those who aren't familiar with it, is the process by...

State regulators have slapped state Sen. Carole Migden and her managers with a $350,000 fine for 89 campaign spending and disclosure violations between 2003 and 2007, including illegal personal use of campaign funds. The state's Fair Political Practices Commission on Tuesday released details of the San Francisco Democrat's transgressions, which also included misrepresenting spending, soliciting donations prior to establishing campaign accounts, and failure to adequately disclose contributions and expenses. The fines come as Migden is locked in a tough re-election battle, facing two fellow Democrats in the June 3 primary, Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco and former Assemblyman Joe...

Eight California lawmakers are traveling overseas this week to study high-speed rail systems and other matters as the Legislature takes an 11-day spring break. Assembly members Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, are on a trip to Spain sponsored by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy. Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, and Assembly members Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, are part of a delegation visiting Japan. One reason for the trips is to study the development of high-speed rail systems in...

Ted Costa isn't one to take government tomfoolery lying down. Costa, who heads the People's Advocate political watchdog group and was a leading architect of the 2003 recall campaign that toppled Gov. Gray Davis, is incensed that Democrats are trying to recall Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater. Chief among Denham's alleged crimes is that he opposed the state budget last year. But Costa says he's thinking about launching a recall against Senate-leader-to-be Darrell Steinberg, unless Steinberg repudiates the Denham recall effort. Costa's grounds: Steinberg helped get the state in its current fiscal mess by supporting last year's budget. "The budget is...

With the unexpected failure of Proposition 93, state lawmakers in Sacramento find themselves with some difficult questions on their hands, questions like: How did our efforts to fool the voters go wrong? And who's to blame? To that second question, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pointed the finger at Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. The Legislature, Arnold says, didn't deliver. By not getting the work of the people done - whether on water, health care, the budget or redistricting - the Legislature's top brass failed to prove itself worthy of the extra time in...

SACRAMENTO -- Softening his past opposition to changes to California's term-limits law, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to endorse a February ballot measure that would allow many sitting lawmakers to run for office again this year rather than be forced to leave the Legislature, said people close to the governor and the campaign. Schwarzenegger's backing is a boost for the Proposition 93 campaign and its chief proponent, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), who will be forced out of his seat after this year unless the term-limits law is changed. Nunez endeared himself to Schwarzenegger by pushing the governor's health...

As a general rule, political officeholders want their voters to be happy because satisfaction with the economic and social status quo translates into approval of those in office. Cranky voters, on the other hand, are likely to take out that anger, even if misplaced, on Election Day; it's one of the risks that those who pursue political careers must accept. Californians are increasingly gloomy, a new statewide poll finds, and axiomatically, they may be inclined to punish politicians, given the chance. Ironically, however, their only looming opportunity to do so will be a measure on the Feb. 5 presidential primary...

Supporters of a proposed ballot initiative to alter California's legislative term limits announced Monday that they are submitting about 1.1 million voter signatures - 400,000 more than necessary - to qualify for the Feb. 5 ballot. Launched by Gale Kaufman and Matthew Dowd, political strategists for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, respectively, the initiative campaign needs 694,354 valid voter signatures. Kaufman announced Monday that the initiative petitions are being submitted to elections officials for certification. "Representing the people of California is honorable work," Núñez said in a written statement. "This initiative with its bipartisan coalition of supporters...

Besieged Senate Republicans continued to block passage of a state budget Friday night even as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly sided with Democrats and urged GOP senators to give up the fight. The deadlock in the Senate persisted despite the Assembly passing a budget on a bipartisan vote following an all-night session into Friday morning. The Assembly has since disbanded for a monthlong recess. GOP lawmakers complain that the Assembly spending plan does not cut deep enough and are holding out for more reductions. On Friday night, Schwarzenegger, whose role in budget talks has largely been limited this year, stepped in...

SACRAMENTO -- A group advocating term limits complained today to the state about use of campaign funds by Democratic Senate leader Don Perata, an Oakland lawmaker activists are targeting as part of efforts to retain caps on politicians' time in office. Bob Adney, director of the California Term Limits Defense Fund, said papers filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission accuse Perata of using some of his political donations "as his own personal slush fund." Adney said in his statement that the complaint is based on portions of a weekly newspaper story, which partially overlap allegations under scrutiny for some...

WASHINGTON — A California Democrat is pushing for Congressional hearings on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for the first time since it was put in place 14 years ago. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., one of the leading opponents of the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military, said Wednesday that she has begun planning with other members of the House Armed Services Committee on holding public hearings in coming months. “I think the country and the rank-and-file military are way ahead of Congress on this issue,” Tauscher said. “I think not only are the American people ready,...

Sacramento -- Senate leader Don Perata's decision last week to lock three fellow Democratic senators out of their offices was viewed by critics as a heavy handed, and very public, way of disciplining lawmakers who disobeyed one of his edicts. But the tactic used by Perata came as no surprise to those who have watched the Oakland lawmaker's ascendancy. In nearly three years as Senate president pro tempore, Perata has developed a reputation for punishing political enemies -- not unlike television's Tony Soprano, whose show logo Perata once used on a fundraising invitation. "Sen. Perata is a former civics teacher...

Once an amateur boxer, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez is no stranger to a slugfest or a political controversy. Now Núñez is preparing for another bout -- one to extend his legacy, and tenure, as speaker. Núñez is banned by state law from serving another term as head of the Legislature's lower house. But he is pushing to change that. "I'd like to stick around this job another four to six years," he said. "I think it would be great, if the voters give us an opportunity and if my members continue to support my leadership." The Los Angeles Democrat is...

In fact, the Assembly Republican leader chimed in hours before the governor even released his plan to cover the state's 6.5 million uninsured residents. Villines criticized a core element that the governor's plan shares with Democratic plans: a requirement that employers cover workers or pay a fee."Health care is just one more big, big burden put on the back of a small-business owner," he said, labeling the employer mandate a "jobs tax." How Villines wields his newfound power could determine the course of negotiations this year in the Capitol. "We've just been abused up there and we just need to...

SACRAMENTO - Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez on Friday barred lawmakers from handing out badges bearing the chamber's seal after one legislator awarded policelike "Assembly commissioner" badges to friends, relatives and campaign contributors. Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, said badges with the seal should be carried only by lawmakers themselves "for security and identification purposes. Period. This change in policy will prevent any possible misuse in the future." He acted after the Assembly Rules Committee chairman reported that Entenmann-Rovin, the Los Angeles company that makes the badges, had been selling ones carrying the seal without approval of the Assembly's sergeant at arms. The...

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has vowed not to increase taxes, contends the money raised from employers, doctors and other stakeholders to pay for the sweeping health care plan he introduced Monday is technically not a tax.</p> <p>But Schwarzenegger's fellow Republicans in the Legislature, his allies at the California Chamber of Commerce and doctors maintain that it is.</p>

Liberalism as a strategy and philosophy is a failure. Progressivism is meeting a similar fate. To continue to govern as a majority in California, the Democrats have had to again redefine their agenda. The easiest path is to redefine centrism leftward. The Governor is coming right along. He used the word "centrist" several times in his inaugural speech today. Unfortunately, it no longer has the same meaning. It wasn't that long ago when Governor Pete Wilson was known as a "moderate" or "centrist" leader. He ran balanced budgets, applied entrepreneurial solutions to the State's problems, rejected extreme environmentalism, funded education...

Aside from the fractured femur he suffered skiiing over the holidays, it's the best of times for Arnold Schwarzenegger. For his fellow Republicans in the state legislature, not so much. After being sworn in on crutches for his second and final term as California governor today, Schwarzenegger is scheduled to outline a legislative agenda that includes corrections reform and new prison construction, additional spending on infrastructure projects, tougher environmental regulation, and a universal healthcare insurance proposal that includes coverage for children of undocumented workers. And judging from the early reactions, the stiffest resistance to many of those proposals likely will...

Session may feature possibly brutal battles over the budget SACRAMENTO - Even as the inaugural pomp and circumstance began in the Capitol on Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is girding to face some difficult challenges with his own party in the year ahead. In one of the most cooperative legislative sessions in recent years, Schwarzenegger struck deals with Democratic lawmakers last year on a range of issues from fighting global warming to increasing the minimum wage. At the same time, while most Republicans voted against the measures, they didn't go out of their way to embarrass or attack the governor in...

The liberal Legislature and a free-spending governor return to work in Sacramento One of the downsides of the end of the holiday season, beyond the normal letdown that follows the close of an enjoyable and festive period, is this dismal reality: California's legislators are back in session, the governor is outlining his new priorities, and the taxpayers will certainly be on the hook to pay for whatever plans the aforementioned politicians advance. This year should be a doozy, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's transformation from reformer to big spender is complete. Last year, the governor ushered through nearly $40 billion in...

SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday vowed to launch his second term "in the spirit of bipartisanship that has accomplished so much for California," GOP lawmakers said they're still waiting for the governor to involve other Republicans before cutting deals with the Democrats who control the Legislature. "I'm one who believes that last year wasn't really bipartisan," said Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Fresno, who was elected to the leadership post in November amid concerns that his predecessor was too eager to cooperate with the Republican governor. Schwarzenegger cruised to re-election in November, riding a surge of...

Amid Monday's swearing-in festivities, a lot of people looked lost. Uncounted guests and visitors swarmed the Capitol. Phil Angelides wandered by, looking for the Assembly floor. Meanwhile, a small cadre of reporters huddled outside Senate Leader Dick Ackerman's office outside the Senate gallery as they awaited word on the political fate of the Senate leader. After two hours of deliberation and "several votes," Ackerman once again fended off a challenge from Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta. But it wasn't just a victory for Ackerman. It was also a victory for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. Perata actively sought...

Monday December 04, 2006 By SAMANTHA YOUNG and DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writers SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California's newly sworn Legislature on Monday picked up where the old one left off, introducing an emotional bill to legalize gay marriage and delving into a power struggle over Central Valley flooding. While legislative leaders struck a bipartisan tone for the session that gets under way in January, rank and file members revived bills that have divided the Capitol. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, reintroduced legislation that would allow gay couples to marry in the state of California. And Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco,...

A closed-door retreat in Newport Beach for Senate Republicans has turned into a leadership battle, with state Sen. Jim Battin challenging Minority Leader Dick Ackerman for the top job - again. Battin has collected seven votes, one shy of the eight votes needed to assume the leadership of the 15-member Senate Republican Caucus, sources told Capitol Weekly. Several senators did not attend the retreat, and another closed-door vote was planned Monday morning in the Capitol--on the same day that new members of the 2006-07 Legislature are scheduled to be formally sworn in. The challenge mounted by the "Battinistas" against Ackerman,...

The bipartisan glow that swathed the state Capitol this year may give way to partisan rancor, as combative conservative Michael Villines prepares to lead Assembly Republicans in the next legislative session, political observers say. Villines, a Clovis Republican who was raised in San Jose, seized power by riding the support of conservative lawmakers, who rejected the more accommodating leadership of former minority leader, San Diego Assemblyman George Plescia. But the move may end up marginalizing the Republican caucus. "They've gone for a guy who was in (Gov. Arnold) Schwarzenegger's face in opposing the bond measures, and rendered themselves a little...

SACRAMENTO — Expect surprises. It's no longer politics as usual. Want to overhaul the Legislature into a single nonpartisan house? How about creating universal health care or a bullet train? Voters may soon get the chance. Californians are so tired of Sacramento and Washington that they are creating a "unique hybrid democracy" to dissolve political gridlock on key issues — a trend that could spread across the nation. That's the conclusion reached by California's two foremost pollsters, looking back to the Nov. 7 election and ahead to coming sessions of the Legislature and Congress. Californians are backing away from the...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election by courting independents and Democrats, but his biggest problem in 2007 may be finding common purpose with his own party. Although Republicans are the minority in the Legislature, party leaders do not plan to be passive partners as Schwarzenegger contends with a projected $5.5 billion budget gap and a dangerously crowded prison system while planning to extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Californians. With the election behind them, Assembly Republicans have installed a new leader, Mike Villines, R-Clovis, a conservative known to be unafraid of confrontation. In the Senate, Minority Leader Dick Ackerman,...

Democrat Lou Correa emerged Monday as the undisputed winner of the intensely fought 34th state Senate District race, leading Republican Lynn Daucher by 1,302 votes with a handful of additional ballots remaining. Daucher acknowledged that Correa had won, while Correa said he will wait until the final ballot is counted before declaring victory. "I respect every voter – it's the respectful thing to do," said the county supervisor and former Assemblyman. The race attracted attention – and campaign dollars – from throughout the state. It was the only Senate seat up for grabs between the two parties. More than $7...

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut deal after deal with the Democrats this year, Republicans in the state Assembly watched with frustration. The tension grew when the governor's chief of staff compared their leader, George Plescia, to a startled deer. "It upset a lot of people," said Assemblyman Michael Villines, R-Clovis. Susan Kennedy's comments were made in private last spring but later leaked to the press. The administration, Villines said, "basically viewed us as being irrelevant." The fallout continued last week when Assembly Republicans ousted Plescia, of La Jolla, as their leader, replacing him with Villines. His charge now is to...

SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Schwarzenegger cut deal after deal with the Democrats this year, Republicans in the state Assembly watched with frustration. The tension grew when the governor's chief of staff compared their leader, George Plescia, to a startled deer."It upset a lot of people," said Assembly Member Mike Villines, R-Clovis. The administration, Villines said, "basically viewed us as being irrelevant. The fallout continued last week when Assembly Republicans ousted Plescia as their leader, replacing him with Villines. Villines, 39, is an unabashed fiscal and social conservative who represents a heavily Republican district. "I don't think it's so much a...

Democrat grabs slim lead as phone-call accusations fly Republican lawyers are investigating potential campaign fraud in the hotly contested 34th state Senate District race after Friday's ballot count pushed the Democratic candidate ahead by 783 votes. Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman said he suspects Democrats working on Lou Correa's campaign may have coordinated with an independent campaign committee to siphon off conservative Republican votes from GOP candidate Lynn Daucher. Correa flatly denies the allegation, saying, "I had nothing to do with it." Ackerman says party attorneys also are investigating who funded last-minute campaign phone calls that attacked Daucher, including one...

Conservative Republican Assembly legislators signaled they are prepared to make life difficult for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by installing a combative conservative as their leader, a move experts said might backfire and actually marginalize the GOP caucus. Republicans are the minority party — they hold only 32 of the 80 seats in the Assembly — and generally are only able to influence legislation — on taxes and budgets — when a two-thirds vote is needed.

All of the melodrama of the unfinished counting aside, there is a lot hanging in the outcome of this race, and it all has to do with the number of Republicans versus Democrats in the California State Senate. If Lynn Daucher is victorious, it will mean that instead of 15 Republicans and 25 Democrats, there will be 16 Republicans. While this seems like a minor difference -- trust me, it is not. The dynamics of the legislature are such that the leverage that Republicans have in the process (especially when the Governor has taken to embracing liberal positions on key...

The two major parties and special interest groups spent many millions of dollars in one state Senate district this year, and the net result was a virtual tie. Republican Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher eked out a 13-vote victory over Democrat Lou Correa in Orange County's 34th Senate District on Election Day, with hundreds of absentee votes still to be counted, and by Thursday, her margin had climbed to 138 votes. Regardless of who winds up with the seat, it's a fairly meaningless contest. Partisan competition for the Legislature was all but eliminated five years ago, when leaders of both major parties...

Assembly Republicans on Thursday ousted their party leader, selecting a more conservative lawmaker who has repeatedly clashed with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the chamber's Democrats. The post-election move signals a more partisan shift by the minority party and comes the same day the Republican governor trumpeted his bipartisan dealmaking while on a trade trip to Mexico. Assembly minority leader George Plescia, R-La Jolla, had been in his post only since March before he was replaced by Assemblyman Mike Villines of Clovis. Villines is a former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson and Sen. Chuck Poochigian of Fresno, who lost a bid...

LOS ANGELES - Despite millions of dollars in campaign spending and a flood of attack ads, the 2007 California Legislature could end up with the same partisan lineups as the 2006 version. Democrats won 47 of the Assembly's 80 seats and were leading in a 48th district that was too close to call early Wednesday. Republicans captured at least 32 seats, the number they had going into the election. In the Senate, where half the seats were on the ballot, only one seat had a chance of changing hands - the lone district held by Democrats in heavily Republican Orange...

Republican Assemblyman Mike Villines of Fresno is circulating a letter among Assembly Republicans seeking to dump GOP Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia and claims to already have 15 votes to replace him, the California Majority Report has learned through Capitol staff sources. Villines, former chief of staff to Senator/AG candidate Chuck Poochigian, is focusing his attention on courting the more conservative incoming class of Republicans and lining up votes of Caucus conservatives. Plescia emerged as the GOP Assembly head last year after then-Republican leader Kevin McCarthy stepped down to focus on his run for Congress. At the time, his main...