Posted on 08/08/2006 8:42:31 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Leading Democratic lawmakers, returning to the Capitol on Monday after a monthlong summer recess, said they will not let election-year politics stand in the way of passing popular legislation that could potentially boost Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's prospects for re-election.
The legislative session will end Aug. 31, meaning that Schwarzenegger will be required in September to sign or veto all bills passed between now and then — during the heart of his re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Phil Angelides.
Schwarzenegger has agreed in concept to two politically popular bills sponsored by majority Democrats in the Legislature — one that would raise the state's minimum wage by $1 over two years, and another that would put California at the forefront in the fight against global warming. In each case, however, the governor seeks concessions that threaten an agreement.
In the case of the minimum wage, Schwarzenegger has agreed to sign an increase measure, but vows to veto the bill if it includes a Democratic-backed provision that would automatically index future increases to adjust for inflation. The governor vetoed a bill last year that included the indexing provision.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez said Monday that he is "committed to a compromise, but we're still committed to indexing."
Asked where a potential compromise might be found, Nuñez indicated perhaps a larger increase, phased in over a longer period of time, would be satisfactory.
"It's in giving workers a significant enough raise that we wouldn't have to look at this again for a few years," the Los Angeles legislator said. "We're negotiating what a compromise means, and I think we're very close."
The existing bill would increase the state minimum wage from its current $6.75 an hour to $7.25 on July 1 and to $8.25 on July 1, 2008, with automatic adjustments kicking in every year thereafter.
The bill's author, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, said that action is needed this year and that an increase should not be delayed by election-year politics.
"We have a duty to get something done," she said. "I'm focused on the families who can't buy food, not who's running for governor."
Polls consistently show that a large majority of Californians approve of an increase in the minimum wage. Lieber cited a recent private poll that indicated 73 percent support for an increase that includes indexing for future raises.
Similarly, a Public Policy Institute of California poll last week showed 66 percent support for a proposal to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which most scientists believe are responsible for global warming.
Nuñez and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, have authored a bill that would place a statewide cap on such emissions from power plants, manufacturing facilities and other stationary sources.
During the summer recess, the Schwarzenegger administration proposed some amendments to the bill, including a provision that would allow for regulations to be suspended if they created economic harm. Another provision seeks to put enforcement of the law entirely in the hands of political appointees of the governor.
Pavley said some version of the administration's proposals could be acceptable.
She said she would support an escape clause in the event of "a severe, unforeseen crisis," but would not accept a provision that delays enforcement "just because some businesses prefer not to do anything."
Pavley also said creation of a new state agency to enforce the law, rather than the Air Resources Board, has merit — as long as its governing board includes scientific experts whose appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.
"It's a big enough issue that a broad, umbrella board is a good idea," she said.
Pavley acknowledged that sending the bill to Schwarzenegger next month could give the governor a high-profile opportunity to burnish his environmental credentials during a political campaign, but said lawmakers who are sincerely concerned about the issue have a political motivation to act now.
"If he happens to win in November, he might not be as amenable to the policy next year," she said.
"As of today, I have 42 co-authors, and not one has said we'd better hold off," Pavley said.
Nuñez vowed that in the coming three weeks, lawmakers will focus on "getting things done. ¿ Political ideology comes second to progress."
At the same time, he acknowledged that Democrats do have a political objective for after the end of the legislative session.
"We're in a Democratic state with a Republican governor," he said. "For sure, Democrats want to get that top job back."
How about $25 per hour plus benefits?
What pathetic cheapskates.
The governator should up the ante to $15 per hour. How could the "poor" resist and how could the democrats oppose?
$25 per hour or a veto
Heads up, Nevada etc etc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1613161/posts
It's a Major Mistake(Tom McClintock(R-CA) on the minimum wage.)
Los Angeles Times ^ | April 11, 2006 | Tom McClintock
Posted on 04/11/2006 9:53:06 AM PDT by kellynla
THE MOST important thing for any poor person trying to improve his or her condition is, of course, a job. It is the entry-level job that accords impoverished workers — even those with no skills, no references and no employment record — the invaluable opportunity to succeed and to prosper. It is literally the first rung up the ladder of success.
If that is true, then the most vicious governmental policy would be one that eliminates entry-level jobs, making it harder for the poor to get a foothold in life. Yet that is precisely what the state of California is preparing to do. Legislation is now moving through the Legislature that would in effect declare that anyone whose labor is worth less than $7.75 an hour will be denied entry-level employment.
The proposal is couched in the soothing and smarmy rhetoric of leftist populism. It is described as a modest proposal to raise the minimum wage by $1 over the next two years, increasing annual wages of minimum-wage earners to a paltry $16,000. "It will help the lowest-paid workers in California to improve their purchasing power and reduce their needs for public assistance," according to one proponent
(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)
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