“Double Majority” Plan Designed to Make it Easier to Raise Taxes
Senator Loni Hancock has proposed an amendment to Proposition 13, SCA 15, that would allow an alternative method to raise state taxes. In a press release, the Senator calls the measure a "Double Majority" tax vote because it allows the legislature to put a tax on the ballot with a simple majority vote and then the people must pass the tax in a statewide election with a majority vote.
The press release states: "It does not make it easier to raise taxes by removing the two-thirds vote requirement. It simply creates a viable alternative to legislative gridlock."
Portantino Treatment May Soon Seem Tame
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino should stop complaining – and start counting his blessings. He’s lucky he’s not being treated more harshly by his Democratic colleagues than he already is.
Portantino was informed that his office budget would be cut – and that his staff might have to spend a month on unpaid leave in the fall. The assemblyman sees this as punishment for his vote against the budget passed by his own party. In response, legislative Democrats have accused Portantino of mismanaging his office expenses.
I don’t know why Portantino’s being punished. But I know this: his treatment should be considered a warning to present or future Democratic legislators who might stray from the party line.
A very gentle warning.
Because if Portantino thinks this is harsh, imagine how a wayward Democrat might be treated in 2013 if the party wins control of 2/3 of the legislature, as some analysts are now predicting.
Main Street Menace of the Week: Senate Bill 568 (Lowenthal)
While the legislature is in session, the National Federation of Independent Business/California will be profiling anti-small business bills and the adverse effect they would have on California’s job creators. This is the fifth column of the 2011 series.
Even though the Legislature is technically on summer recess, bad bills still linger in the Capitol halls. Senate Bill 568 is one of those bills and would prohibit food vendors from using polystyrene foam food service containers (known by the brand name Styrofoam) in their establishments, increasing their costs and lowering the quality of their food products. Is now really the time to add additional mandates to the job creators in our state?
Sorry Feds: Wrong Again – Medical Marijuana Does Indeed Have Valid Medical Uses
"The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, ‘Death to all those who would whimper and cry’
And dropping a barbell he points to the sky
Saying, ‘The sun’s not yellow it’s chicken’"