Legislature OKs budget with quirk
SACRAMENTO — Democrats looking to preserve their supermajority in the Legislature approved a state budget Thursday that includes an unusual provision to help one of their own keep his Senate seat, a move that prompted strong opposition from Republicans who accused the majority party of interfering with the will of voters.
The $125 billion state budget has an accompanying bill that calls for immediate changes to election laws that would affect a recall effort under way in Orange County against state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton. The budget bills now head to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.
Newman won office last fall after a tight race against a Republican opponent, giving the Democrats supermajority control in both houses of the Legislature, which means they can pass taxes without GOP cooperation. But after he voted in April to help fellow Democrats pass gas taxes and vehicle fees to fund road repairs, a group of Republicans launched a recall process to oust him from office.
To counter that move, Democrats added language to one of the budget bills to increase the time it takes to qualify a recall for the ballot, by, among other things, allowing people who sign a petition 30 days to remove their names.
Without the changes, petitioners were hoping to see Newman face a recall election this year.
“This is a bastardization of the legislative process,” state Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula (Riverside County), said Thursday during Senate debate.
Republican Joel Anderson of Alpine (San Diego County) added: “This doesn’t empower people, it strips them of the voice they have.”
Democratic lawmakers argued that they were stepping in on the behalf of voters who are being duped into believing that the recall petition is a repeal of gas taxes and vehicle fees — not a recall of Newman.
“Never in the history of the recall process have we seen such deception, so brash and brazen and obviously coordinated and so specifically dishonest,” said state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles.
Attorneys for Newman filed complaints with the state attorney general, secretary of state and district attorneys in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties asking for an investigation into allegations that voters were being misled. The complaint names the California Republican Party, Reform California and its principal officer, Carl DeMaio, and includes pictures of recall events in which the slogan was “Stop the Car Tax.”
DeMaio said Newman’s complaints are part of a bullying campaign targeting voters who are rightfully using the recall process to challenge a lawmaker over his controversial vote. He said it’s “shameful” that Democrats are protecting Newman through a secretive budget process that was made public just days before it was voted on. DeMaio said that if Brown signs the recall changes into law, he will file a lawsuit to overturn it.
Republicans said the changes would make it impossible to use the recall process to remove someone from the Assembly, where members serve two-year terms, because of the added timelines.
“They made a significant mistake with their vote,” DeMaio said Thursday.
Newman eked out a surprising win in November, beating Republican Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang of Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County) by fewer than 2,500 votes, to give Democrats two-thirds of the Senate seats, a supermajority. The Assembly also picked up a supermajority in November.
Newman said the attempt to remove him is a clear move by Republicans to destroy the Democrats’ supermajority.
“That is clearly what they are doing, and the gas tax is a pretext,” Newman said.
Republicans said the political move put a dark cloud over a budget that included other substantial changes, such as gutting the Board of Equalization and new oversight of University of California President Janet Napolitano’s office. Democrats defended the $125.1 billion budget and the 16 accompanying bills voted on Thursday, saying the package shows lawmakers are taking a deeper look at how to run the state more efficiently.
“This is a budget that does things for people, not to people,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County). “With this budget we keep our promises to students, patients and voters, build on our reserves, and continue California’s progressive momentum.”
The $125 billion general fund budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is the largest in state history, increasing from the current year’s $122.3 billion budget. The state’s general fund pays for basic state services such as education, prisons and social-service programs.
The main budget bill, AB97, passed the Senate 28-10 with one Republican voting in favor, state Sen. Anthony Cannella of Ceres (Stanislaus County). AB97 passed the Assembly 59-20, with four Republicans supporting it — Assemblywoman Catharine Baker of San Ramon, Assemblyman Brian Maienschein of San Diego, Assemblyman Rocky Chávez of Oceanside (San Diego County) and Assemblyman Marc Steinorth of Rancho Cucamonga (San Bernardino County).
The budget bills approved Thursday by the Legislature include:
A plan to spend $2.8 billion in new money that will be generated from increased gas taxes starting in November and higher vehicle fees that begin in January. The money will go toward building new roads and improving public transit.
An expansion of who will qualify for the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit by extending eligibility to people who are self-employed and raising the income limit from $14,000 to $22,300 a year. The state will also spend $2 million on outreach to increase the number of people who apply for the benefit.
$20 million on small housing units for the homeless, with $10 million of that slated for San Francisco.
A requirement that California State University trustees adopt a policy to offer enrollment at a campus with space to students who qualify but are not able to enroll at the campus that’s full.
A spending plan for new tobacco taxes approved under Proposition 56 in November. The revenue will go toward increasing payments by up to $325 million for doctors and up to $140 million for dentists who see Medi-Cal patients.
The addition of $1.8 billion for the state’s budget reserve, bringing the total this year to $8.5 billion.
A redirecting of money it previously gave to UC campuses so that it gets sent instead to Napolitano’s office. In return, the state will require Napolitano’s office to no longer charge campuses fees for administrative services. The move gives lawmakers oversight of Napolitano’s budget, a change that was recommended by the state’s auditor.
Changes to the Board of Equalization, the state’s tax collector, which will see most of its authority and staff stripped away and given to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Lawmakers said the agency is troubled and that a major reorganization is needed, but Republicans said they opposed to the changes being jammed into a budget with little review.