Newsletter - July 2018

As we look at the condition of the once Golden State, many rational people are asking why so much bizarre and budget blowing legislation is being passed by the legislature in Sacramento.

Here is a possible answer.  The left got control of the schools quite a few years ago.  Therefore, many things are not being taught.  Let’s start off with accurate history, government, geography, analytical thinking skills, mathematics and science.  So much that is being taught is incomplete, inaccurate and biased.  Of course, many of today’s teachers received their education at colleges where the left view of life was the only view and anything even leaning conservative was discarded.  No wonder so many people want their children in well run charter schools or are home schooling their children.

Many Californians have left or are planning to leave the state.  Many of these are people who have lived in the state their entire lives.  They earned their living here and raised their families.  They have now found that living here has become too difficult economically and culturally.

The truly sad thing about the situation in California today is the incredible ignorance of so many voters about what is really going on in the state legislature.  Legislation is being passed that does only one thing:  limit the freedom of people in California and take their money.  Of course, the elite class continues to live very well.  They do not have to deal with the daily problems of the working class.

Here are five freedom limiting laws passed by this current Legislature.

1. Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 1668 (Laura Friedman – Assembly # 43) and Senate Bill 606 (Robert Herzberg – Senate #18).  The laws will go into effect in January 2019. The two bills establish an indoor, per-person water use goal of 55 gallons per day until 2025. The limit decreases to 52.5 gallons until 2030 and 50 gallons beginning in 2030.  It will be the responsibility of water agencies to work with users to meet the goals.  The laws also mandate that the state create incentives for water suppliers to recycle water and require urban and agricultural water suppliers to set annual water budgets. Question:  How many more bureaucrats will have to be hired to make sure the law is obeyed. Oh, by the way:  Didn’t the state continue to remove reservoirs and send water to the ocean?
2. Assembly Bill 424 eliminates a policy, implemented only last year, that gave school administrators authority to decide whether employees with concealed carry permits should be allowed to bring their firearms onto campus.  Now firearms will be banned.  New restrictions on buying ammunition are beginning to take effect.   While background checks will not be required until next year, customers must now purchase their ammunition through a licensed vendor.  That means even if you order your ammunition online, you must ship it to a vendor and pick it up in person.
3. Assembly Bill 19 establishes the initial stage of a “free College” program, waiving the first year of fees for any first-time student who enrolls full-time at one of California’s 114 community colleges.  Doing that however, depends on the state setting aside enough money in its 2018-19 budget to cover the fee waivers. Question:  Does the state of California have the money to pay for college tuition?  We already appear to have major challenges just dealing with our homeless population.
4. Undoubtedly, the most controversial law of 2018 is Senate Bill 54 which makes California a “sanctuary state.”  This law limits the ability of state and local police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement in arresting illegal foreign persons who have broken laws beyond entering the country illegally.  Officers cannot inquire about a person’s immigration status or detain them on a hold request from the federal government, unless they have been convicted of one of more than 800 crimes. 
5. In 2017 the legislature passed the gas tax.  A new report shows that the gas tax will cost California families at least $779.28 more per year.  The increases average $405 per year for fuel and $250 per year for vehicle registration.  The gas tax was sold as a way to fix our roads. However, there are provisions in the law for more bike and walking paths.  The tax money also goes into the general fund.  That means the money can be directed to other projects besides roads.

Let us remember that our legislature never rests when thinking of ways to get more money from the taxpayers.  California supposedly has a $16 Billion reserve.  That sounds like a great figure if we pay no attention to the condition of PERS and STERS. 

Since the start of 2018 the California Tax Foundation has identified 91 bills that lawmakers will consider that would increase taxes and fees by more than $272 Billion annually.  Here are some of the bills up for consideration:

• AB 2486 (McCarty/Gallagher) requires manufacturers or wholesalers that sell or distribute certain medications to pay a new tax that cumulatively would total $100 Million per year.
• SB 993 (Hertzberg) is a $49 Billion sales tax on services.  This bill imposes a sale tax on services purchased by some businesses.  For example, if you see an attorney there will be a tax.

A ruling class definitely does not want an educated, informed populace.  Of course, it is the obligation of a citizen to stay informed and ferret out the truth.  If the average California tax payer does not start paying attention and get involved in the political life of the state, California,

in spite of its resources and hard working people, will become a failed state.