Bob Monagan Remembering Jack Veneman

(Editor’s Note: The following says volumes about both men. The introductory comments are by Gabrielle Morris who interviewed Monagan for his 1982 oral history.)

Robert Monagan kindly agreed to inclusion of the following brief remarks he made at the memorial service for former Assemblyman John Veneman, held on April 13, 1982, at the Congregational Church in Modesto.    Read more »

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Bob Monagan, Former Assembly Speaker, Dead at 88

Former Assembly Speaker Robert Monagan died January 7 of natural causes at a Sacramento nursing home. He was 88.

The courtly and moderate Republican was GOP leader of the Assembly from 1965 until becoming speaker in January 1969, succeeding Democrat Jess Unruh. Monagan held the speakership until January 1971.

The former mayor of Tracy, Monagan was first elected to the Assembly in 1960, representing the 12th District, whose voter registration was two-thirds Democratic.    Read more »

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Meg Whitman Sighting

The former eBay CEO must be running for something. Accompanied by her political consultant, Jeff Randle, she was walking toward the Capitol at 9:30 am, January 6. 

Whitman, 52, recently resigned from the boards of eBay, Proctor & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation, ginning up chatter about her seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2010.    Read more »

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The New CIA Director

Leon Panetta, former Democratic congressman from Monterey and President Clinton’s chief of staff, has been tapped by President-elect Obama to run the Central Intelligence Agency, two anonymous Democratic officials said January 5.

While Panetta has no hands-on experience in the so-called intelligence world, he has a reputation as a good manager gleaned form both his two-and-a-half year stint as White House chief of staff and, prior to that, head of Clinton’s Office of Management and Budget.    Read more »

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How To Destroy the Majority Vote Budget

Democrats know that should their majority vote budget get signed into law, it’s going to be challenged in court and probably on the ballot. 

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has already announced it will sue. 

They’ll need to take a look at the state constitution first. 

A good starting point is Article XIII A, a section of the constitution that should be familiar to the group since its namesake helped add it to the constitution as 1978’s Proposition 13.     Read more »

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Tax Me, Please. Enough is Enough!

A Special Guest Editorial to California’s Capitol

By Gus Turdlock 

The hole is just getting bigger, now get rid of your shovels.   It’s time to get on with it. 

I pay a lot of money to the state each month in personal income taxes.  But I’m willing to pay more, assuming everyone joins me, to end this monumental standoff in the state Capitol.     Read more »

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Air Board Approves AB32 Scoping Plan

Ignoring criticism from economic experts and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the California Air Resources Board has unanimously adopted a plan to create the country’s most aggressive assault on greenhouse gas emissions.

(Editor’s Note: See post below for more information.)    Read more »

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AB 32 Scoping Plan “Biased” and “Incomplete,” Outside Reviewers Say

The state’s economic analysis justifying a multi-billion plan to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 12 years is “flawed,” “biased,” as well as underestimates costs and overstates savings, according to six economists who critiqued the proposal. 

A separate assessment by the Legislative Analyst published Nov. 17, concluded that the California Air Resources Board’s AB 32 Scoping Plan contains an “inconsistent” and “incomplete” evaluation of costs and savings and fails to prove that by 2020 implementing the plan would create a slight economic benefit for the state.     Read more »

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Your Tax Dollars At Work

News Item: State of California Faces $28 billion Revenue Shortfall Absent Corrective Action, Legislative Analyst reports. 

Lawmakers came to Sacramento December 4, took their oaths of office, followed by celebratory lunches or gatherings then blew town. 

But they did take action: They introduced 90-some bills, resolutions and constitutional amendments. 

In the Senate, it’s new leader, Darrell Steinberg, placed the first measure across the desk of the upper house’s 2009-2010 session: A spot bill declaring the Legislature’s intent to offer universal health care for California’s kids.     Read more »

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SALT II It Ain’t But…

Recently, California’s Capitol had the privilege of moderating a panel comprised of GOP Assemblyman Roger Niello of Sacramento and Assemblyman Jared Huffman, a San Rafael Democrat.*

Since it was the 67th Annual Conference of the California Water Association a fair amount of time was spent discussing water – or the state’s lack thereof – and assessing the cut of Huffman’s jib given his appointment as the new chair of the lower house’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.    Read more »

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