Or undoing.
This report talked about the power of the "moderate bloc" of legislators in the state capitol. "Moderate Democrat" is not always in my vocabulary, unless they prove it and vote for a Republican Presidential or state candidate.
So far, I have met some moderate Democrats who fit that description, and I look forward to working with more of them. I even found Facebook Community pages showcasing Democrats against Hillary, Barack Obama, illegal immigration, as well as Democrats who support natural marriage, school choice, and unborn children.
The SacBee article first described a weakened Democratic majority unable to accomplish much:
dominate the California Assembly labored to pass a watered-down measure
expanding the state’s unpaid family leave policy.
from business-friendly moderates in their party. Senate Bill 406 had been a
major target for the California Chamber of Commerce, which placed the measure
on its list of “job killer” legislation. Earlier, it had been weakened in the
Assembly to reduce the number of businesses to which it would apply.
Sometimes, the Chamber of Commerce gets its right. Sometimes.
Pictures of frantic Democratic lawmakers fill the next two paragraphs, begging for their colleagues to move on their legislation. For once, legislators are working with each other rather than tagging special interest groups and union lobbyists to move bills.
legislation underscores the influence of moderate Assembly Democrats – a
loosely formed group elected with the help of corporate interests. Their mark
was most indelible on the just-completed session, where time after time they
thwarted liberal legislation, from climate change to minimum wage.
Climate change has turned into corporate alarmism, a trumped-up fraud to move Big Green into mainstream.
the new ‘Cool Dem,’ ” Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, said Saturday.
destined to pass the Senate.
shut it down there,’ ” Mitchell said. “There really was that confidence. I
don’t know that I heard that as consistently in past years.”
Assemblymembers know that they can face intra-party challenges as well as opposing party fights. They have to reach out to all voters in more concerted efforts to win.
One of the "moderate Dems" explained who they are, what they are doing, and why?
with the powerful moderate bloc, said much of the defiance came down to members
unwilling to relinquish their oversight authority to a state commission he
dismissed as “unelected bureaucrats.”
about the oil producers,” Gray said. “I think the real story is people having
independent voices and standing up for their districts.”
![]("https://whalen.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/donkey.gif") |
"An independent voice. . .standing up for their districts." Marks of what the Citizens Redistricting Commission accomplished.
climate-related bill by Democratic Sen. Fran Pavley that sought to extend the
state’s greenhouse gas emissions limit to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
advance minimum wage legislation, inviting the fury of labor groups and some of
their allies in the Legislature. Senate Bill 3, another “job killer,”
originally proposed to hike the state’s minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2016 and
$13 in 2017 and then index it to inflation starting in 2019. Last year, a
similar proposal died in an Assembly committee.
D-San Diego, said the state should look into regional minimum wages that vary
across the state.
From dumb to dumber. Give me a break. So glad that Speaker Toni is taking off, never to be seen again.
among advocates that the lower house might resurrect a pair of tobacco-related
bills when members huddled in caucus. Senators want to raise the legal smoking
age to 21 and to regulate proliferating e-cigarettes as the state does tobacco
products. Both measures cleared the Senate before running aground in the
Assembly.
This dynamic reminds me of the United States Congress. The US Senate pushes more Big Government legislation, only to find it gets killed in the US House. Bills like reinstating the crony Ex-Im bank, or amnesty, all perish in the more populist House, since representatives at the state and federal level face the wrath of the voters every two years.
in her caucus, Atkins largely downplayed their clout during a somber news
conference announcing the SB 350 defeat, offering that “this feels like a
typical legislative session to me.”
Absolutely,” Atkins said “That happens when I walk out my front door and my
neighbor wants their sidewalk fixed.”
unofficial leadership and members. They do, however, derive financial support
from many of the same sources. Moderate Democrats raised 15 percent of their
contributions from labor, compared with the 19.4 percent for other Assembly
Democrats, according to a campaign finance analysis from January 2013 to June.
And the moderates took in 9.1 percent from energy and natural resource
interests like oil companies, compared with 6 percent for other Democrats. The
group has expanded in recent years, as the shift to a top-two primary system
has given business donors a new avenue to influence a Legislature controlled by
Democrats.
Senator Jim Beall of San Jose suggested more than the two-year term as a factor in killing certain bills:
Assembly members must stand for re-election every two years instead of four.
Less conspicuous are the self-imposed corporate fundraising restrictions on senators
before they take up the budget, and during the last month of session. “The
blackout period for the Senate helped us focus on policy and legislation”
instead of attending the flurry of late fundraisers.
Assembly,” Beall said, adding, “When you have the fundraisers, that distracts
you quite a bit.”
Another view:
Roundtable, attributed the year’s dynamic in the Assembly to the state’s uneven
economic rebound.
districts that still have higher unemployment, a much higher poverty rate – and
they are voting their districts, their constituents,” he said.
How about that? People who live in California would like to be able to stay here, and much of the state senate's legislative priorities have not factored that in – at all.
Final Reflection
I agree with Dan Walters' assessment about the moderating influence of redistricting on state legislators. They have to pay more attention to their districts and constituents rather than lobbyists and partisan interests in Sacramento.
Moderate Democrats, pro-business, working class representatives in the Inland Empire, may be easy seats to flip in the near future. Republicans who can tailor a message to focus on these bread and butter issues, with candidates who reflect the district, can win.
Californians in general should focus more on what the state legislature is doing, and recognize that their jobs are on the chopping block. With enough pressure, they can start voting the way we want them to, or voters can mobilize to throw them out.