A SACRAMENTO SHAM!

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #418

As written by Columnist Dan Walters in the June 14, 2023 edition of the Orange County Register, Proposition 25 was passed by the voters in the 2010 California election. This provided that in any year in which a budget bill is not passed by the Legislature by midnight on June 15, the members of the Legislature cannot be reimbursed for any of their salary or travel or living expenses, even retroactively. And that continues for all reimbursements until a budget is passed into law. Okay, fine. But in the “small print,” Proposition 25 also provided that the legislative requirements to pass a budget would be lowered from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority. Thus the party in power would be able to pass whatever budgets it wanted without any effective dissent. Not good for the taxpayers!

But it gets worse because, as written by Columnist Susan Shelley in the May 28, 2023 edition of the Register, now – each year – both the state Senate and Assembly pass a mound of “blank bills” right before June 15 – literally blank except for having a bill number and one sentence which states that the bill is intended to relate to the budget. That’s it. Then these bills are formally introduced, “heard” and passed by the various committees, and sent to the floor they are voted on and passed by the Legislature and then sent to the Governor who signs them into law. And this results, first, in the members of the Legislature now being able to receive their salaries and reimbursements – which gets around the provisions of Prop 25 – and, second, these bills can later be “amended” by the Governor and legislative leaders – often in consultation with their prime constituents – without any public attention. No further hearings are required to amend a bill, so these often complicated and far-reaching “amendments” are quickly passed into law. This is a sham that favors numbers of special interest groups, but where “We the People” are being shortchanged if not defrauded! But do we care? Will we do anything about it? Those are the real questions!

Quote for the week: “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy . . . . Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President

Please listen to our radio show entitled All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray as we discuss timely ssues and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches. The series has concluded, but you can still hear any edition On Demand at https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/3883. And, by the way, these 2 Paragraphs columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty. In addition, my new book with the same title as my radio show is now available at Amazon.com., as is my wife Grace’s and my new novel centered about School Choice entitled 2030 KIDS: We are the Rising Heroes of the Planet. Please read and discuss them with your friends, and send in a review.