Of course, in California, Republican-authored bills almost never see the light of day.
California needs a part-time legislature. Also, the pay for legislators should be lowered drastically. Texas pays its legislators $7,200 per year. Needless to say, if you can't hold a real job in the real world, you can't afford to have a seat in the Texas legislature.
09/22/2006 GAAS:657:06 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In Weekly Radio Address, Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Veto of $700 Million in Fees, Billions in Government Mandates
Reaffirming his belief that Californians are best served by holding the line on taxes and fees in order to stimulate economic growth, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have cost the people of California $700 million in fees and a universal health care measure that would have made health care less affordable and cost billions in government mandates.
“I vetoed a series of bills that would have imposed more than $700 million in new fees and taxes on Californians,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger in his weekly radio address. “The people in our state are best served by actions that stimulate economic growth. That means putting more money back into the people’s pockets and improving our state’s business climate so we can create more jobs and make the right investments in our infrastructure.”’
Within the first hour of taking his oath of office, the Governor reversed the car tax increase and returned $4 billion to the people. Since then, he has fought every effort to raise taxes including efforts to gut California’s landmark Prop. 13 which protects homeowners from losing their homes to skyrocketing property taxes and opposed efforts to make it easier for the legislature to raise taxes.
Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed the following seven bills with fees totaling more than $700 million:
SB 927 by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) imposes a fee on containers that are discharged at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. ($414 million) Click here for veto message.
SB 1225 by Senator Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) allows counties with abandoned vehicle abatement service authorities to impose additional surcharges. ($18 million) Click here for veto message.
AB 770 by Assemblymember Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) would impose a biennial association fee on common interest development associations to fund the Office of the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson. ($24 million) Click here for veto message.
AB 799 by Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) authorizes the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco to place a measure on the ballot to impose a vehicle license fee (VLF) on vehicles registered in San Francisco. ($75 million) Click here for veto message.
AB 2444 by Assemblymember Johan Klehs (D-San Leandro) authorizes a Bay Area county transportation agency to levy a fee on vehicles. The fee may be levied at an amount of up to $5 per vehicle. ($55 million) Click here for veto message.
AB 2681 by Assemblymember Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) allows counties to increase the annual registration surcharges that fund abandoned vehicle abatement programs, and increases the fine imposed for "fix-it" tickets. Click here for veto message.
AB 2838 by Assemblymember Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) allows the Coastal Environmental Motor Vehicle Mitigation Account (Account) established under the State Coastal Conservancy Fund of 1984 to request that DMV collect a fee of up to six dollars upon a vehicle's new or renewed registration for vehicles registered in participating counties after at least five coastal counties elect to participate in the Coastal Environmental Motor Vehicle Mitigation Program. ($115 million) Click here for veto message.
Transpiration? Watch your taxpayer dollars evaporate into thin air?