Posted on 10/31/2005 10:25:57 PM PST by FairOpinion
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Called a non-productive year by some pundits, the truth is that California’s Legislature still passed 961 bills in 2005. Of these, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed 726 and vetoed 232.
This year’s session ended with both good and bad news. The best news, of course, was that Gov. Schwarzenegger held firmly to his promise to veto the same-sex marriage bill (AB 849) passed by California’s liberal Legislature. However, the bad news included his signature on other pro-homosexual bills such as AB 1400, which added marital status and sexual orientation to the list of persons that can sue businesses if they believe the business "discriminated" against them. Under this bill, cross dressers must be entitled to "full and equal accommodation … in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.” This could add an interesting addition to Chuck E. Cheese’s birthday parties for children.
Good News: Vetoes AB 866 attempted to add "sexual orientation and gender" to the list of "specified conduct" found on the "Code of Political Practices" that candidates for elected office may voluntarily sign. The veto message stated that voters best determine if candidates’ rhetoric violates the principles of good conduct.
AB 48 would have raised the minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.75. Minimum wage was never intended to support families; its purpose is to train inexperienced workers. The governor correctly stated that raising the minimum wage would negatively affect business and employment because employers would not hire as many entry-level employees.
AB 13 claimed that the use of the term “Redskins” for school mascots was discriminatory. The reality is that mascot names are badges of honor among schools. Choosing such names belongs at the local level—not dictated by the state.
AB 391 would have required taxpayers to pay unemployment benefits to locked-out union workers during wage negotiations. It would have unfairly ended any meaningful compromises between business and unions in contract negotiations. As the governor pointed out, unemployment compensation was designed to help workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own.
AB 723 attempted to further dictate the kind of “tolerance training” taught in public schools. It was another attempt to remove the decision-making process from the local level, as current law allows.
SB 60 gave drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. State Sen. Gil Cedillo has introduced similar legislation five times over the past seven years.
SB 161 required the state Department of Education, and encouraged schools, to post information alerting children as young as 12 that they have the right to seek “confidential medical services” without parental notification or consent. These confidential services can include abortion and birth control. The law allowing children to access these services still exists; the veto of the bill merely means that blatant and obvious notification to young children will not be posted.
Bad News: Bills signed SB 644 allows pharmacists to refrain from filling prescriptions that may violate their personal moral or religious beliefs only if they have previously filed a written statement with their employer and it doesn’t cause “undue hardship.” The employing pharmacy must still establish protocols to accommodate the woman. Some self-employed pharmacists have said they will be forced to close their businesses rather than adhere to this law.
Two bills expand automatic benefits that equal those of married couples to domestic partners. SB 973 amends current law by allowing automatic domestic-partnership benefits in public-employee unions. SB 565 exempts domestic partners from certain property-tax reappraisals that currently exempt married couples.
AB 1586 prevents healthcare services and insurers from “discriminating” on the basis of “gender.”
AB 547 creates the “Clean Needle and Syringe Exchange Program,” which allows cities and counties to add a clean-needle exchange as part of their menu of government programs offered to the public. The bill ignores the need to focus on the rehabilitation of drug users rather than add another government program to support their drug use.
Considering the plethora of anti-family bills introduced this year, the number of negative bills vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger exceeded our expectations. His stated reasons did not always coincide with our reasons for opposing such bills; however, the end result was the same—some of the worst bills were ultimately defeated and we are thankful for that.
A preview of next year’s bills reveal that two really onerous bills remain on the “active” list as two-year bills—meaning bills that have been held-over until next year. These include the physician-assisted suicide bill (AB 651) and universal healthcare (SB 840). So stay tuned; once the November election is over, legislators will be gearing up for more activity in 2006 and that does not always bode well for families.
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Karen Holgate is director of Legislative Affairs for California Family Alliance. CFA is a not-for-profit lobby promoting family, religious, and business friendly legislation and is affiliated with California Family Council.
So a Chief Executive CAN veto a bill? Interesting.
I like Schwarznegger. He may not be everyone's Republican, but he's the best we've had here in California for a long, long time.
Our CPA said that these 230+ vetoes have save California Tax payers billions of $ this year and each year on out.
The governor has used the line-item veto 133 times in the past two years, cutting $435,322 in spending.Yep--quite impressive.
There you go distorting things again.
He vetoes teh homosexual marriage bill, which was the important one, but you already knew that.
I am distorting nothing. On the same day, he signed at least 6 Pro-Homosexual bills. You've already shown your Pro-GLBT bias, FO. No wonder you don't consider things like the GLBT Assembly Bill 1400, "Civil Rights Act of 2005," as really "important" and calling them "mere crumbs." You got it passed, just as you wanted. Your real agenda becomes more transparent every day.
Arnold’s Gay Rights Give-and-Take - Governor signs civil rights bill...Late last week, while the media focused on his veto of the same-sex marriage proposal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill intended to protect gay men and lesbians against discriminatory business practices.
Apparently, not too many people noticed.
Assembly Bill 1400, the Civil Rights Act of 2005, authored by Central Coast lawmaker John Laird, will expand anti-discrimination codes by including sexual orientation in the law. It builds upon the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, or medical condition. Laird’s bill forbids all businesses that provide services, goods or accommodations to the public—including shopping malls, hotels, bars and restaurants, schools and medical offices, among others—from discriminating based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.
(snip)
Come on, this lie is beneath you. Grey Davis already gave most of the rights of married people to domestic partners (who may be other than gay couples). Arnold can't undo this without something reaching his desk even if he wanted to. In a very practical sense, this can only be undone by referendum.
Are you saying he should've used the line-item veto to undermine the negotiated deals he made with the legislature? That's not smart politics. You oppose 76 and yet 76 offers the governor an opportunity to adjust a budget mid-year to reign in spending to respond to actual revenues if the legislature doesn't do it themselves in the 45 day period they're allowed.
There was no new borrowing this year, debt maintenance began a year early. When a state is in a fiscal mess you do what you need to get wiggle room to make the structural changes required to keep this mess from happening again. Since the legislature is beyond obstructionist, he's been forced to go to the People which is a very slow and expensive process. There's hope, at least, that redistricting could change the makeup of the legislature and via injected competition, force them from their extreme spend-free socialism. Look at how Clinton moved toward the middle after the 1994 GOP Revolution. Arnold himself acknowledged his reform and recovery agenda is taking longer to implement and far more difficult to enact than he expected all thanks to the Dems, unions and their politic pals. He tried to get better candidates elected and he wasn't able to overcome the power of incumbency in the gerry-mandered districts.
There's no magic wand to repair the systemic damage in California. It's a many-headed hydra.
There are some things I might've done differently and I desperately wish Arnold didn't need a year-long crash course in highly partisan politics (and got better and smarter support from the state GOP) but you can't say no progress is being made.
LOL. Apparently so! Yours is a doubly-wonderful remark coming from a Texan.
I fear our fellow Freeper is one who can't see her pursuit of the perfect is really the enemy of the good.
I think, on balance, and especially for CA, Arnold has been a remarkable governor. He is in a death struggle with the unions, and nothing less than California's future as anything other than an illegal immigrant receptiicle hangs in the balance.
What a coincidence that you would show up to defend the Rainbow Putsch with your pro-GLBT agenda.
DBeers said it best.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1493860/posts?page=186#186
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