CALIFORNIA: Republicans about to become an afterthought in Capitol

Contra Costa Times ^ | 12/17/11 | Steven Harmon, Bay Area News Group

[SmithL]

Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has decided to take his tax hike initiative directly to the voters, will Republicans have a role to play in the Legislature in 2012?

Or will they be relegated to little more than a cranky but irrelevant presence in the Capitol, holding fast to their anti-tax ideology but with little to show for it?

Increasingly marginalized with dwindling statewide registration numbers, Republicans have already lost leverage on the budget and may soon lose it on taxes if new district lines leave them short of a simple one-third minority.

Perhaps the Republicans' last chance to have a legislative impact was in talks with the governor last spring, but that blew up in their faces when they wouldn't budge on allowing a temporary tax extension to go before voters.

"They're taking a stand on principle, but the price of principle is exclusion from decision-making," said Jack Pitney, an ex-GOP Congressional operative who now teaches government and political science at Claremont McKenna College. "For the time being Republicans have very little influence in the Capitol."

The state GOP has been partially incapacitated this year after voters approved a ballot measure in November 2010 allowing budgets to be passed by a majority -- rather than a two-thirds -- vote. That allowed Democrats to approve this year's budget -- on time for a change -- without a single Republican vote.

Republicans, however, still have the power to block taxes because Democrats don't have a two-thirds majority in either house. California law requires supermajority in the Legislature to pass taxes

But even that point of leverage for Republicans may become obsolete if the newly drawn legislative districts hold and provide Democrats the opening to capture four Senate and Assembly seats -enough for the magical two-thirds majority -as many political observers predict.

[SmithL]

I left.

[Vaduz]

Wonder if Jerry Brown can name any states that have taxed themselves out of debt?.

[NormsRevenge]

What happened to the Purple pockets?

Is this state doomed to another 20 years of dark winters due to the green effect?

not looking good.

[NormsRevenge]

not to forget Pete Wilson signed off on a monstrosity of a redistricting package in a couple decades ago,, we never recovered.. Gray and EnRon times then descended and the Saga of aRnie then ensued.. and then.. Moonbeam returns.. The Sequel or is it his Pre-Sequel.. The Tax Man Cometh.. It’s the DEmocratic Way, yaknow. Ya take a herd of voters , trick ‘em, lie to ‘em, cajole ‘em before ya know it, Socialist utopia.. on yur dime.