2008 Huff Editorials
Defending Hard-Working Californians On Tax Freedom Day A “supreme” Victory For Ballot Box Integrity State Budget Fix Begins at “Zero” Ignoring Deficit, Democrats Want To Spend Even More This Year Reforming Education To Give Our Kids A Bright Future Teach entire story Closing Tax Loopholes Is Code For Raising Taxes On Working Californians Back To The Future: Still Overspending	Legislature, Governor Must Do Better To Get Deficit Under Control Raising Taxes Won’t Fix Bad Habits Republicans Will Stand Firm In Defending Taxpayers And Proposition 13 Preserving The Integrity Of The Vote Assembly Member Bob Huff Reacts To Governor’s State Of The State Address 2008 Legislative Forecast A Fast Moving Proposal To Extend Legislative Term Limits

Defending Hard-Working Californians On Tax Freedom Day

By Assembly Republican Caucus Chair Bob Huff and Assemblywoman Mimi Walters
Word count: 629

This week, Californians will celebrate Tax Freedom Day on April 30, the day when you and your family stop working for the government and finally start taking home a paycheck for yourselves.

Tax Freedom Day is the day when you will have earned enough money in the year to completely pay off your local, state and federal tax bills. In other words, if you look at your yearly income on a calendar, you have worked the first four months of the year just paying your taxes.

It should come as no surprise that we pay significantly more in taxes living here in California. In fact, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, Californians pay the fourth-highest tax burden in the entire country. We pay even more than high tax states like Minnesota and Massachusetts, which has long been known as “Taxachusetts.” Hard-working California families are clearly paying too much in taxes and deserve some relief from their state government.

Unfortunately, Sacramento Democrats apparently don’t think the fourth-highest tax burden in the nation is high enough. They have proposed more than $30 billion in higher taxes on Californians this year, citing our state’s budget problems as an excuse to soak working families.

If Democrats have their way, you could soon be paying higher car taxes, higher gas taxes, higher income taxes, and higher sales taxes, just to name a few. They are pushing new taxes on the music you purchase online, the plastic bags you use at the grocery store, the beer you drink, oil production, even a new global warming tax.

The liberal majority apparently believes tax relief for working families is a “loophole,” and has proposed cutting both the senior citizen and child dependent tax credits. With many struggling to stay in their homes with falling home values, Democrats want to make the problem even worse by taking away the home mortgage interest deduction.

Not only do Democrats want to pick your pockets to shake down billions in higher taxes so they can continue to ignore our budget problems and spend even more, they want to make it easier for politicians to raise your taxes. They have proposed several measures that will allow tax increases to be passed without a two-thirds vote, undermining the State Constitution. Enough is enough.

Republicans in the Legislature will stand firm this year in protecting the wallets of hard-working Californians from every attempt by Democrats to raise your taxes.

We know that our budget problems were not triggered by Californians paying too little in taxes. The problem is liberal politicians in Sacramento are spending too much of your money. Indeed, state revenues have grown a robust 32% in the past two years without new taxes, but unfortunately the state’s appetite for spending grew faster. You and your family should not be punished with billions of dollars in higher taxes because Democrats refuse to consider even the most modest of budget savings. It’s time we worked to cut wasteful spending and help government live within its means.

As California marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of Proposition 13, we have introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution 105 reaffirming the Legislature’s commitment to important taxpayer protections in the State Constitution. Proposition 13 has helped keep taxes lower by limiting how much politicians can impose in property taxes. The budget problem should not be used as an excuse to justify billions in higher taxes by repealing or weakening Proposition 13.

In the coming weeks, Republicans will fight hard to safeguard the people’s right to vote on each and every tax increase proposed by Democrats in the Legislature. Make no mistake, we will do whatever it takes to stop each and every tax increase pushed by the liberal spenders, and defend Californians from higher taxes and spending, period.

 

A “supreme” Victory For Ballot Box Integrity

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification when they cast a ballot. The Court ruled 6-3 in the name of integrity at the ballot box. Indiana and a few other states with voter ID laws now join several nations, including Mexico, in enacting statutes to discourage voter fraud by requiring ID to cast a ballot.

Last year I introduced a bill similar to Indiana’s law. My bill, AB 9, would have required voters present one of six valid forms of photo identification. Unfortunately, AB 9 was killed on a Democrat/Republican party-line vote in policy committee.

What is striking about the Supreme Court decision is that the majority opinion was written by liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote that voter fraud is real and could “affect the outcome of a close election” and states have a “valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.” I couldn’t agree with Justice Stevens more. When I ran for Diamond Bar City Council in 1995, I came in first place in votes, but after the recount, the number two and three candidates were tied for second place, with the final decision made by drawing one of their names out of a hat. Every vote counts!

It is a shame the words of Justice Stevens and his five colleagues did not echo through the corridors of the Capitol when my bill was heard last year. Instead, groups said AB 9 would “disenfranchise voters” and create hardships for individuals who don’t possess ID.
Yet, I would argue that voters will feel more disenfranchised if they know their vote is being diluted by the votes of felons, legal aliens, illegal aliens and others who are not legally entitled to vote.

Americans see the merits of voter ID. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that 77% of voters favor the idea of showing a drivers’ license or another form of photo ID prior to voting. Furthermore, The Commission on Federal Election Reform of 2005, a bi-partisan group headed by former President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State James Baker, included a recommendation to require voters to present a photo-ID card at the polls.

Because of our lack of safeguards at the ballot box, California remains vulnerable to voter fraud. However, I applaud the Supreme Court for upholding Indiana’s important statute and paving the way for other states to enact similar laws that won’t be challenged in the courts. California Democrat legislators, are you listening?

 

State Budget Fix Begins at “Zero”

California faces a $16 billion deficit this year and there is a lot of noise on how to fix it. Some have suggested eliminating the 2/3 threshold for passing taxes and eliminating Proposition 13. This is an unworkable, irresponsible solution to a problem of overspending in Sacramento. I believe a significant part of the answer to our budget woes lies in the methodology state departments currently employ in determining their expenditures for the next fiscal year.

The traditional way in which state agencies create their annual budget by adding amounts to their current expenditure level is a flawed approach. This method assumes the current year’s expenditure level is justifiable, when in fact the level may be too high or too low. It is never clear what level is justifiable using this traditional budgeting method. However, one thing is clear: The present system gives an incentive to spend all that is budgeted to justify, at a minimum, the same level as a base for the next year, even if the money was wasted.

This year, I introduced legislation to help fix this problem. AB 1838 would designate certain state departments to implement a zero-based budgeting method. This program would act as a launching pad to move all California departments toward a responsible budgeting strategy. Zero-based budgeting is a financial management strategy to help policy makers achieve a more cost-effective delivery of public services. Under zero-based budgeting, an agency’s budget starts at zero and adds the dollar amount the agency needs to carry out its operations and duties. It also includes an itemized justification for the amount requested to perform each activity and asks questions such as “What would happen if X Program were not provided at all?” or “Are there other less costly and more effective ways to achieving these objectives?”

Through this type of budgeting, state departments can conduct a detailed and concentrated study of activities that may be ineffective or costly and look at alternatives to correct inefficiencies. We can take a fresh look at which programs and departments are being over funded or under funded.

Another important thing zero-based budgeting does is to help root out government waste, fraud and abuse. Time and time again, examples of taxpayer funds being spent unwisely or illicitly come to light. However, these examples are usually cited by newspapers or outside taxpayer advocate groups. The scrutiny of zero-based budgeting forces government waste to be identified and discarded before it can be wasted.

AB 1838 is supported by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and is awaiting a hearing before the Assembly Budget Committee. Perhaps with our daunting budget problems, this will be the year my colleagues realize business as usual isn’t working, and it is time for reforms like zero-based budgeting.

 

Ignoring Deficit, Democrats Want To Spend Even More This Year

In a recent article, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez wrote about “$12 billion in spending cuts” he claims lawmakers have made since 2004, arguing why Democrats will refuse to vote for a budget that does not contain higher taxes this year. He went on at length about how “those $12 billion in cuts we’ve made were painful to the people who depended on [government] services.”

The only problem with this analysis is that it is not reality. California is facing severe budget problems today for one simple reason – Democrats have spent too much of our tax dollars for too long. Now we are being asked to pay the price for years of their irresponsible overspending.

Democrats need a reality check. California is not facing a $16 billion budget deficit today because lawmakers were heartless, budget-cutters in recent years. The truth is state spending went up 32 percent over the past four years as Democrats went on a spending spree creating bigger government.

Over the past 10 years, Democrats pushed to expand countless state programs, at a significant cost to taxpayers. Despite the fact that California has experienced significant budget instability in recent years, they have continually pushed for bigger government and it has led to more ongoing spending and made our deficit far worse.

For example, Democrats expanded a host of government health care programs run by the state, increasing spending by more than $192 million over the past decade, and these costs continue to grow by the day. At the same time we were implementing historic welfare reforms to help more Californians go from welfare to work, Democrats were working to undermine these reforms by proposing expanded eligibility and benefits at a cost of more than $517 million.

Even worse, Democrats recently passed a new law signed by the Governor that puts hard-working Californians on the hook for food stamps for convicted drug felons living in our state, at a cost of $540,000 every year.

With lawmakers facing some very tough budget choices this year to get our state back on track, you would expect that lawmakers would be focused on finding budget savings. Astonishingly, some in Sacramento are continuing to ignore our budget problems by proposing to increase spending even higher! Already this session, Democrats in the Assembly have passed legislation creating a new government-run health care scheme that would trigger billions in new spending.

On top of that, the Governor’s January budget plan contains several proposals to create new programs or expand existing ones. One measure would provide rate increases to taxpayer-funded family planning programs at a time when other health providers are seeing their rates cut, at a cost of $33.6 million. Another would throw $450 million at our lowest-performing schools in an effort to raise test scores, while classroom funding in nearly every other school in the state is being threatened.

Worse yet, at a time when vital services relied upon by the most vulnerable of Californians are on the budget chopping block, the Governor’s budget would provide health care to the children of illegal immigrants in our state, at a cost of $15.4 million.

One thing is certain – Californians should not have to pay one cent more in higher taxes because Sacramento Democrats refuse to stop overspending. We pay more than enough in taxes each year to meet our state’s critical needs. My Assembly Republican colleagues and I don’t believe you should be punished with higher taxes because Democrats can’t responsibly spend your tax dollars.

While these programs are well-intentioned, it’s clear that creating new programs or expanding current ones will push our state into financial ruin this year. The only responsible course is to reject new spending and new programs and work together to do what’s right. I am confident we can find realistic budget savings and help California live within its means again.

 

Reforming Education To Give Our Kids A Bright Future

Since being elected to the Legislature, education has been my top priority. I have worked with my colleagues to improve our schools so children throughout California will have the opportunity to succeed.

Over the years as a member of the Assembly Education Committee, I have fought hard to pass common-sense reforms that will improve our schools and put more money into the classroom, such as giving schools the freedom to contract with private firms for things like bus service and yard maintenance so they can save money. I was proud to write legislation that was signed into law by the Governor guaranteeing more dollars for public charter schools.

Even though California today faces severe budget problems, I believe we can still make positive changes in our schools without increasing the deficit. As a member of the Assembly Republican Education Reform Task Force, I have been working with my colleagues to develop fiscally-responsible reforms that will strengthen every school in our state without tax increases.

This week, we proposed responsible reforms that will result in more dollars in the classroom and less money spent on bureaucracy – without creating new programs or spending more money.

We are especially concerned that as local schools struggle to stretch every education dollar to their fullest during these tough budget times, they are forced to act with one hand tied behind their backs adhering to rigid requirements imposed by Sacramento.

One reform would suspend many of the costly, one-size-fits-all mandates imposed by the Legislature when the state does not provide full funding. Right now, districts have to spend too much on lesser priorities mandated by politicians, which takes away what they can spend on our kids. As the state struggles with our budget crisis, other reforms would let districts spend funds set aside for school maintenance or leftover funds from categorical block grants in other areas, so they can protect classroom dollars and invest in critical needs during this budget emergency.

Republicans want to give schools across California more funding flexibility, so they can meet their students’ unique needs. Currently, more than 30 percent of the education dollars they receive from Sacramento are locked into 62 categorical programs with rigid requirements. We want to give local schools more freedom in how they spend this money. Parents and teachers know far better how to educate our kids than Sacramento bureaucrats.

We also want to increase accountability and transparency in our schools, and empower parents to take a greater role in their children’s education. Our reforms would give parents a reading report card when their child graduates the 3rd grade, and make more readily available to them information about the performance of their neighborhood schools. This will let them judge whether local schools are getting the job done in preparing our kids for the future.

As we begin the work to put together next year’s education budget, Republicans will fight hard to get more money into the classroom where it belongs and ensure schools in suburban areas like ours receive their fair share of education dollars.

We know that how and where we spend our investment in our children’s future is just as important as how much money we spend overall. Working together to do what’s right for our children, I am confident that we make positive reforms for our schools and our students.

 

Teach entire story

Letter to the editor printed in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Did you know that Cesar Chavez was not a supporter of illegal immigration? Did you know that Cesar Chavez, whose name has become synonymous with La Raza and other radical elements, was philosophically quite similar to our modern day Minutemen? That's right! Chavez's opinions on illegal immigration were nearly the same as the Minutemen that have taken on the task of trying to protect our borders from illegal immigration.

Schools in California teach that Cesar Chavez spent a good portion of his life advocating for the rights of farm workers throughout California and the United States. While that's true, what the schools fail to mention is that Cesar Chavez was a vocal opponent of illegal immigration.

On the one hand, he was trying to raise the pay and benefits for farm workers in the United States, but on the other hand, there was a massive influx of illegal immigrants streaming across the southern border of the United States, thus undermining and more or less defeating everything he fought to achieve.

Evidence of Chavez's opposition to illegal immigration abounds in the historical record, such as in his testimony before Congress in 1979 when he blamed the federal government for failing to secure the border.

Ten years earlier, Chavez protested against illegal immigration at the Mexican border, reportedly accompanied by Senator Walter Mondale and Ralph Abernathy, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Chavez believed that illegal immigration would directly impact the prosperity of U.S. farm workers. He was right. Yet, his vision of the effects of illegal immigration didn't even begin to scratch the surface. I'm sure he would have never predicted the dramatic social and economic impact illegal immigration would have on America in general and California in particular.

Wouldn't it be nice if our schools would teach the entire story about Cesar Chavez and not sugarcoat the history lessons that are taught to our kids?

Assemblyman Bob Huff

Diamond Bar

Closing Tax Loopholes Is Code For Raising Taxes On Working Californians

In the past five years, the State’s revenues have grown a healthy 40%. Unfortunately, the general fund budgeted expenditures have grown by 44%. With a cooling economy resulting in a $16 billion budget deficit, some in Sacramento are now talking about closing so-called tax loopholes as one approach to balancing the budget. They argue that these “loopholes” only benefit the rich and should be eliminated.

What do they have in mind when they talk about closing loopholes? The Legislative Analyst’s Office has proposed reducing the tax credit claimed by parents with dependent children living at home under their care and eliminating the senior citizen tax credit, while Democrats have talked about cutting the state home mortgage interest tax deduction.

These are not tax giveaways to the wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but significant tax relief that allow working families like yours to keep more of your hard-earned tax dollars in your own pocket.

Whenever the politicians in Sacramento start using language like “closing tax loopholes,” California taxpayers should be warned to immediately grab hold of their wallets. Regardless of what they say, their intent is clear – they want to raise your taxes.

Consider the plan to reduce the dependent tax credit. If the credit was reduced from $294 to just $94, this would mean a $200 per child tax increase on middle-class families – a $2.4 billion tax increase over the next two years!

This is real money that parents could use to buy school supplies, make tuition payments, or afford music lessons for their kids. Seventy percent of the benefit of this tax credit goes to families making less than $100,000 per year, which those of us living in expensive Southern California know is hardly “wealthy.”

The proposal to eliminate the senior citizen tax credit is even more offensive, a $255 million tax increase on every senior in our state. Most seniors in our community live on a tight budget and forcing them to pay higher taxes would cause pain and hardship for many. Should we really ask seniors to shoulder the financial burden because Sacramento has spent irresponsibly for too long?

Every California homeowner would be significantly impacted if the home mortgage interest deduction is eliminated. This would mean hundreds and even thousands of dollars in higher state income taxes based on the interest you pay on your home, a whopping $5.3 billion tax increase. It would make the costs of housing much more expensive at a time when many are struggling to make their mortgage payments and stay in their homes.

Lawmakers have only just begun taking steps to address our state’s budget problems. Last month, Democrats and Republicans came together to pass $2.3 billion in budget savings in a special session of the Legislature to address our fiscal emergency, but that was only the first step. We must continue to act with urgency and not put off the hard work until the last minute.

We must cut wasteful spending now and make some tough budget choices to save California from bankruptcy. Raising taxes is an unacceptable choice that I will fight every step of the way. Working families and senior citizens should not be punished with thousands of dollars in higher taxes so the Legislature can continue to overspend even more. I will stand firm in protecting taxpayers from unnecessary tax increases and I hope my colleagues will join with me in rejecting higher taxes as a false budget choice.

Legislature, Governor Must Do Better To Get Deficit Under Control

Facing a $14.5 billion and rising budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger last month declared a fiscal emergency in California, calling the Legislature into a special session to consider responsible steps to get the deficit under control. Under the Governor’s emergency order, the Legislature has just 45 days, until February 24, to take action on a plan to find budget savings in this year’s state budget.

With the February 5th election behind us, lawmakers and the Governor must refocus and get serious about reducing wasteful spending and rejecting new programs we cannot afford. We must get our budget priorities straight, and not shy away from making the tough but necessary decisions required to get California back on track.

That’s why I was disappointed to see the Governor’s January budget proposal rely upon budget tricks and unrealistic proposals in laying out the state’s spending priorities for next year. One of the reasons our state has such severe financial problems today is because lawmakers have used gimmicks for years so they could ignore our growing deficit and keep overspending as if there were no problem.

As highlighted previously in these columns, on paper the Governor’s January budget looks like it makes 10 percent across-the-board cuts, but after accounting for gimmicks it only makes a 2.3 percent cut. While there is some merit to not picking winners and losers, using sleight-of-hand to make a 2.3 percent cut seem like 10 percent is neither helpful nor responsible.

It is also very troubling to see the Governor’s January budget include a number of phony budget proposals targeting vital programs relied upon by many Californians, sparking public outrage across the state.

One proposal would close 48 state parks across California, despite the fact that this would only save 3 percent of the Department of Parks and Recreation’s budget. Another would trigger the early release of more than 22,000 inmates from our prisons. Some dangerous inmates – including gang criminals, weapons traffickers and stalkers – could be set free to save just 3.3 percent in next year’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation budget.

Do we really need to close state parks or let dangerous criminals go free to achieve such modest budget savings? I’m sure that if we work together, we can find better, more responsible ways to find significant budget savings in every department without threatening public safety.

Our budget challenges are already being used as an excuse to propose higher taxes such as: repealing the state home mortgage interest deduction, a fee for firefighting within your home owners insurance, higher vehicle license fees and internet sales tax fees to name just a few. My Assembly Republican colleagues and I will stand firm in rejecting any attempt to punish you and your family with higher taxes to pay for the mistakes of Sacramento politicians.

The clock is ticking. Lawmakers have until February 23 to answer the Governor’s call to action and adopt necessary budget savings that will make a difference in addressing our massive budget deficit. Now is not the time for political games or unrealistic solutions that won’t address the problem. The people of California deserve better from their representatives during these difficult fiscal times for our state. I am hopeful that we can meet the deadline and get the job done so we can build a stronger California.

Assemblyman Huff is Chairman of the Assembly Republican Caucus. He represents portions of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Raising Taxes Won’t Fix Bad Habits

It doesn’t take a financial expert to know that if your family repeatedly spends more money than it makes, you will quickly accumulate a huge debt. Continued poor spending habits and irresponsible choices lead to maxed out credit cards and with no other options in sight, the debt collector comes knocking at the door. Even an increase in revenue won’t fix a longtime overspending problem – it will only feed the addiction.

Common-sense tells us that something would have to change for the family who lives this way. Unfortunately, common-sense does not seem to apply to Democrats in the State Legislature. They have been overspending for decades and now that we have a massive budget shortfall and it’s time to pay the bill, they want to hold taxpayers responsible.

After years of out-of-control overspending, California faces a $14.5 billion deficit for one reason: we’ve spent way too much money, for too many years. In fact, over the past four years, revenue has grown by 40 percent, yet spending has grown by 44 percent. Every year we continue spending more than we bring in.

In early January, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and called the Legislature into a special session to act promptly to find $3.3 billion in budget savings in the current budget year. The Legislature has just 45 days, or until February 23, to take action on a plan to trim the 2007-08 state budget and address our massive budget deficit.

Unfortunately, the majority still refuses to reign in their spending and wants to solve the problem by raising your taxes. Already this year, Democrats have proposed a $6 billion hike in the car tax and a $500 million tax increase on Internet purchases.

Out-of-touch with the thousands who are struggling to make their house payment each month, they have also suggested eliminating the state mortgage interest deduction, a $5.3 billion tax increase that will raise taxes on California homeowners by hundreds of dollars each year.

Even worse, some have suggested repealing Proposition 13, an important taxpayer protection that limits how much government can increase property tax bills each year. Doing so would force higher property taxes on thousands and cost many families to lose their homes altogether.

Taking more of your hard-earned money out of your wallet and putting it into the state’s hands will not fix years of bad spending habits. My Assembly Republican colleagues and I believe that you should not be punished for the repeated mistakes of Democrats in Sacramento. California has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

As difficult as the choices will be, this year the Legislature must cut wasteful spending and reassess our budget priorities. I believe that as a lawmaker, it is my duty to spend your tax dollars responsibly and take a hard look at what the state chooses to spend your money on. To address this budget disaster we must stop overspending, reject new programs we can’t afford and learn to live within our means.

The Legislature will have to cast a wide net to make a significant dent in our severe deficit, but I’m confident that working together, we will take California out of the red and into a brighter, healthier economic future.

Republicans Will Stand Firm In Defending Taxpayers And Proposition 13

With California facing a severe budget crisis, liberals in Sacramento have been working overtime trying to find ways to pick the pockets of hard-working taxpayers to find more money to pay for their irresponsible spending habits.

One liberal pundit has gone so far as to suggest that lawmakers repeal Proposition 13, arguing that we can no longer afford this vital taxpayer protection given our state’s $14.5 billion budget deficit. I couldn’t disagree more strongly.

What California cannot afford is more reckless spending in Sacramento. Our state is facing severe budget problems today not because we don’t bring in enough tax revenue every year, but because the politicians have overspent for years, ignoring our growing fiscal problems while running up a massive deficit.

The money you send to Sacramento each year in taxes is more than enough to fully fund our needs. Over the last four years, revenue went up 40 percent, at the same time we experienced a slowing economy and a downturn in the housing market. But lawmakers spent all that money and then some, increasing spending by a reckless 44 percent.

The Democrat-controlled Legislature’s mismanagement of state resources should not be used as an excuse by the big spenders in Sacramento to justify billions in higher taxes by repealing Proposition 13.

Before Proposition 13, there was no limit on how much government could impose in property taxes. With property values increasing significantly during the 1960s and 1970s, many saw their property tax bills go up by double-digits every year with the rising value of their homes. It was not uncommon to see many Caifornians, particularly those on fixed incomes, sell their homes because they could not afford to pay their property tax bill.

Proposition 13 was passed to help working families and seniors afford their tax bill and remain in their homes by restraining how much government could charge in property taxes. Sacramento can now charge just one percent of the assessed value of your house at the time you bought it, with annual increases limited to no more than 2 percent.

All homeowners benefit from Proposition 13. According to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the average homeowner who purchased his home in 2006 saved $9,000 in property taxes that year, while those who bought 30 years ago have saved $143,000 over the years – directly as a result of Proposition 13.

Local governments also benefit from Proposition 13. When you sell your house, the value of your former home is then reassessed to the new higher sales price, and taxes are levied based on that new higher figure. This means more tax revenue to pay for important services like police and fire. Here in Southern California, the assessed value of homes in Los Angeles County increased 9.3 percent last year, bringing in more tax dollars to cities and counties despite the housing slowdown.

Let’s be clear, this is not merely a “tax loophole” as the tax and spend Democrats
Are now spinning the discussion. Repealing Proposition 13 will mean tens of thousands of dollars in higher property taxes for every California homeowner and will cause many to teeter on the edge of losing their homes because they won’t be able to afford rising property taxes. It would hurt first-time homebuyers especially hard, as many are living paycheck to paycheck trying to afford their mortgage bills.

If you think today’s subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis is serious, imagine how many Californians will be on the brink of having their homes seized for failure to pay their property taxes if liberals have their way.

Republicans know the answer to our budget problems is not raising taxes, but cutting wasteful spending and taking responsible steps to live within our means. Making it easier to raise taxes won’t reduce the deficit, but will only encourage more unrestrained spending in Sacramento.

Rest assured, my Republican colleagues and I will fight hard to protect your wallets from irresponsible tax increases, and reject each and every attempt by Democrats to hurt Californians with higher taxes.

Back To The Future: Still Overspending

Time circuits on. Engine running. Flux capacitor ... fluxing. Great Scott! Clocking in at 88 miles per hour, California's Assembly members and senators have traveled back in time in their cushy state-subsidized DeLoreans to 2003, a year when the budget was approximately $13.4 billion in the red. That's right Future Boy - the Legislature just broke the budget time barrier and has only got 45 days to get it fixed.

Seriously, it has been more than four years since voters booted Gray Davis out of office for mismanaging the state's economy and little has changed. California now has a projected deficit of $14.5 billion. As Marty McFly would exclaim, "Whoa, this is heavy."

But alas - not all is doom and gloom. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger believes we can bring this monstrous deficit under control, without raising taxes, and I am inclined to agree. It can be done if we all work together, Republicans and Democrats.

During his state-of-the-state address last week, the governor renewed his call for comprehensive budget reform to bring spending under control. Republican lawmakers already have legislation in the works to do just that. In fact, one of the first things Assemblyman Ted Gaines did after being sworn into office last year was to introduce ACA 3, which would institute a state spending limit.

The governor is to be commended for declaring that our budget crisis is due to massive overspending. As your legislator, I stand with him ready to work toward a balanced budget - a budget that protects the pocketbooks of California's working families, because they deserve no less. It would be unfair to squeeze taxpayers for more money to pay for the reckless spending habits of the liberal majority party.

Some lawmakers claim the state has a revenue problem - that your taxes should be raised to plug the deficit hole. But don't be so gullible, McFly. The government collects enough of your hard-earned dough as it is. California's working families live under one of the highest tax burdens in the United States. Raising taxes would only stifle economic growth and delay the state's fiscal recovery.

Another thing the spending addicts try to do is appeal to your emotions. They cry out that Republicans want to "take the canes away from the blind," "kick people out of their wheelchairs" and "balance the budget on the backs of the poor." They advocate raising taxes on the wealthy and closing tax breaks for yacht owners (which incidentally would only generate $7 million).

If any of that sounds familiar, it is because it is the same old class-warfare rhetoric they employ every year. The real problem is that we already burden the top 10 percent income earners with 80 percent of the tax load. These are the guys who create jobs for the rest of us, but who can just as easily move to a neighboring state that will welcome them, their jobs and their tax dollars with open arms.

I am just as compassionate as the next person and have absolutely no desire to take away anyone's wheelchair. The fact is the state is spending a ton of money more than it is taking in, putting us into bankruptcy faster than you can say 1.21 gigawatts, and it has got to start living within its means. As the governor said in his address, "fiscal responsibility, like compassion, is a virtue, because it allows the necessary programs in the first place."

In the coming months, it is critical that my Democrat colleagues focus on the budget crisis and refrain from continued deficit spending. They should also cease and desist from passing legislation to require Einstein the dog to be neutered or to bring about the early release of Uncle "Jail Bird" Joey, like they tried to do in 2007. Because clearly, we have our work cut out for us.

We need to roll up our sleeves, repair the rift in the space-time continuum, and fix the broken budget system once and for all, while protecting working families from excessive taxation.

Let's send California back to the future - back to fiscal sanity. It is not an impossible feat. After all, it's like Doc always says: If we put our minds to it, we can accomplish anything.

Preserving The Integrity Of The Vote

You may be surprised at the following information: to vote in Mexico, a citizen must provide not only photo identification, but a thumbprint. This system has been praised by many and was credited with producing the first President from the opposition party.

In contrast, when voters head to their polling places here in California next month to cast ballots for the presidential primary, all they will have to do is verbally state their name. It’s disconcerting that, as a state which leads in production, technology and progressivism, we have failed to protect the inherent right of the governed to choose who governs.

It is also troubling that other nations have a far more sophisticated antifraud voting system than California. Our state lacks safeguards to ensure that the person casting a vote is actually the citizen who is entitled to do so.

Voter fraud is a real problem. The illegal immigrant who assassinated the Mexican presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, was registered to vote in San Pedro, California – twice. A couple from Fair Oaks, California was recently sentenced to 60 days in jail for illegally voting in a school district election.

Out of concern for the protection of our state’s election system, I authored Assembly Bill 9, which would have required voters to show picture identification at the polls. AB 9 was recently heard in the Assembly Elections Committee, where it was killed on a party-line vote.

Is AB 9’s failure surprising? No. Many scream, “disenfranchisement!” at the mention of requiring identification to vote. However, in the state of Indiana, where identification is now required to vote, a University of Missouri study found that voter turnout actually increased.

How can the simple act of requiring one of six forms of identification, to which every California citizen has access, disenfranchise those who have the right to vote? Or are Democrats simply more worried about disenfranchising those who don’t hold that right than they are about a fair, protected voting system?

Our most valued right is the right to choose those who govern us: even more valuable than boarding an airplane or purchasing alcohol, both of which require photo identification. We must fight to protect this right and the integrity of our elections.

Assembly Member Bob Huff Reacts To Governor’s State Of The State Address

In an annual ritual to outline his year’s priorities, the Governor delivered his “State of the State” to a joint meeting of the Legislature, Constitutional offices, and State Supreme Court. Referencing the State’s quick action to fight the wildfires and rapidly repair a destroyed section of freeway in Oakland, he also had to address the state’s fiscal meltdown which is no less a state disaster. While the Governor will reveal his budget vision on January 10th, rumored to include across the board cuts, the Governor restated his commitment to tackle the sticky budget deficit without raising taxes. If the Governor holds to his word, this will be a clear victory to the students of state government who have noted, as did the Governor himself, that we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.

While the Governor blamed the state’s fiscal woes on the autopilot spending which drives expenses an average of 7.3% higher each year, the fact is that during the Governor’s time in office, vast new spending has been signed into law. The General Fund revenues have climbed a brisk 41%. Unfortunately, the General Fund budget has grown even faster to a 44% increase. The negative fiscal impacts of the Greenhouse Gas bill, AB 32, are still unknown.

Certainly, the spending formulas which breed automatic budget growth are in dire need of reform. While sidetracked for a couple of years, the Governor has the ability to do what he initially set out to do during the recall election that swept him into office: blow up the boxes, stop the autopilot spending, and trim the bureaucracy. For true process reform, though, the Legislature must grant the Governor the authority to make mid-year cuts when our state faces a sharp economic downturn, as is the case now. This bipartisan reform has been successfully used by Governors in other states and it is ripe for California’s budget crisis.

Noting the constraints of our budget, and that our infrastructure needs continue to outpace our growth, the Governor made a proposal to utilize performance based infrastructure expansion. This will allow important projects to be built ahead of schedule through state partnerships with private businesses, eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy, increasing flexibility, and in some cases, saving money. Performance based infrastructure is already used in other states and countries and will enable California to stretch its infrastructure dollars further, allowing us to build more roads, schools and assist with levee repairs.

Assembly Republicans share the Governor’s commitment to improving our local schools, and I share the Governor’s commitment to education reform. The state’s deficit is a golden opportunity to show that we can reform education without increasing the deficit. How we spend money in our schools is more important than how much we spend.

The Governor has proposed education reforms that will make a difference in improving local schools, such as raising standards to ensure schools are making the grade, increasing transparency and accountability to taxpayers, and giving schools more flexibility and control.

California has one of the highest tax rates in the nation. I continue to be opposed to raising taxes to pay for the irresponsible spending habits of liberal Democrats that have caused serious and lasting financial problems for our state. I commend the Governor for his principled stand against new taxes, and stand ready to work with him and Democrats to reach bipartisan consensus on the tough but necessary cuts that must be made to eliminate the deficit and balance the budget. Should we not accomplish this, or collectively seize this opportunity for reform, the state will be facing a crisis which will, by comparison, make our recent devastating fires seem insignificant.

2008 Legislative Forecast

The Legislature will return to Sacramento this month for the 2008 Legislative Session. January is the time when legislators begin to refine their legislative proposals and introduce new legislation. My staff and I are still researching and putting the finishing touches on legislation before we begin to introduce bills. I have until February 22 to introduce legislation, so January and early February will be busy as decisions are made on what ideas to pursue in 2008.

It is shaping up to be another busy year. Water and health care will most likely continue to be hot topics for the Legislature in 2008 and Governor Schwarzenegger has indicated he wants to renew focus on education issues in the coming year. No agreement could be reached on water during a special session, but December 2007 bore witness to Assembly Democrats passing a massive government-run health care scheme on a party-line vote. I view the plan as the height of irresponsibility; billions of dollars in new taxes and spending are not prudent in light of the state’s fiscal woes.

Indeed, the Governor and the Legislature will be faced with the challenge of addressing the state's budget deficit, which is now expected to reach at least $14 billion. In fact, the Governor has declared a “fiscal emergency,” the first time since being granted the authority to do so in a 2004 ballot measure.

As most Californians are aware, budget adoption stalemate in July and August of last year morphed into a full-fledged budget meltdown by the end of 2007. Revenues coming into the state coffers plunged from previous and expected levels. The Governor’s expected fiscal emergency announcement would grant the Legislature 45 days to deal with the issue, with all other bills automatically held until a solution is reached.
Elections will also dominate the year, with the Presidential primary in February, state and local primary in June, and the General Election in November.

My office will be pushing an ambitious legislative package, a comprehensive set of bills dealing with issues as varied as illegal immigration, electoral reform, and the DUI code. I look forward to continuing the fight for good government in California in 2008.

A Fast Moving Proposal To Extend Legislative Term Limits

Up and down the state, California is home to some of the best roller coasters. There’s the Matterhorn at Disneyland, Colossus at Magic Mountain and GhostRider at Knott’s Berry Farm.

Here in Sacramento, we have some political roller coasters such as health care, water and prison overcrowding. Then there is the politicians’ favorite - term limits. This one makes me the most nauseous.

Currently, the law states that a member of the Legislature may serve a total of 14 years, consisting of no more than six years in the Assembly and eight in the Senate. Some legislators in Sacramento are nearing the end of their constitutionally allowed terms in each of their respective houses and don’t want to leave. They want to continue their fantastic ride and will fight to change term limits so they can stay.

There are two ways to change term limits. One way is for the Assembly and Senate to simply pass a bill with a 2/3 majority that will put a term limit extension on a ballot. The other is for people to bypass the Legislature and place their own proposition on a ballot through the initiative process.

While the Democrats were pushing hard for term limit extension, we Republicans wanted to get the redistricting process out of the hands of the Legislature, and into the hands of an unbiased, third party to draw fair lines. We believe that if politicians are out of the process of drawing their own district boundaries, the result would be better, more competitive districts. We worked hard to link redistricting reform with a term limit extension, but in the end, the Democrats consistently agreed only on groups they could control, which would effectively result in no real redistricting reform. Extending term limits without making the districts more fairly drawn just didn’t make sense to us Republicans, so the bipartisan deal fell apart.

The two Democrat leaders in the Legislature also struggled with language, and were unable to come to an agreement on a bill for changing term limits. So, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez decided to take the initiative route by himself in an attempt to put his own term limit proposition on the ballot.

Speaker Núñez led the effort to pursue signatures needed to qualify his term limit initiative, and while it looked like they might fall short of the signatures needed, just enough signatures were collected and verified to qualify his initiative for the February 2008 ballot. Speaker Núñez’s term limit initiative is now known as Proposition 93.

Between now and February 2008, Mr. Núñez has to convince 51% of California voters that he deserves more time in office by voting “yes” for Proposition 93.

I wish these legislators would pursue California’s serious issues with the same passion. Now that would be a roller coaster worth riding.

2007 Huff Editorials

• The True Meaning of Bipartisianship
• Second Grade STAR Testing is Funded for 2007-08 State Budget
• Parents Should Hold the Keys to the Education Handcuffs
• AB 16: Not Your Mother's HPV Bill
• Governor’s Veto Heard ‘Round the World

• No Trans Fat for You
• Prison Crisis: Countdown to DEFCON 1
• Reagan Reflections
• Schools Need to Return their Focus to Traditional Education
• State Budget Tug of War