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Publisher’s Message: Gas Tax Repeal Proponents Challenge Biased Title and Summary from AG Becerra

Feature Article: 2018 Governor’s Race Develops: Cox and Allen Are Running

UPCOMING GOP EVENTS

View more details for events on the Calendar of Upcoming Events or view the Monthly Calendar of Events.

Gas Tax Repeal Proponents Challenge Biased Title and Summary from AG Becerra

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has released a negative and misleading title and summary for the initiative to repeal the gas tax, causing proponents to challenge his language in Superior Court.

Initiated by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), the ballot measure seeks to repeal SB 1 by Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) that is projected to raise $52.4 billion over 10 years from a tax increase on gas and diesel, a new vehicle registration fee, and a new fee for zero-emission vehicles.

The Attorney General’s title for the measure consisted of the following language:

Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding by Repealing Revenues Dedicated for Those Purposes.

Here is the title that was proposed by proponents of the initiative:

Repeals Recent Legislation That Created New Gas Tax, Diesel Tax, Vehicle Registration Fee, and Zero-Emission Vehicle Fee.

Click here to view a comparison of the title and summary submitted by the Attorney General and proponents.

The law firm Enterprise Counsel Group of Irvine was retained to file the lawsuit (Travis Allen vs. Xavier Becerra) that charged Attorney General Becerra created a title and summary that “impermissibly misleads the electorate…by omitting the words “tax” and “fee” from the title and by stating that an office that does not yet exist will be eliminated. The complaint states Becerra’s title and summary does not provide the “chief purposes and points of the proposed measure,” and other requirements for title and summary as stated in the Election Code. A hearing date has been requested for mid-August. Click here to read the Complaint.

Best regards,
Luis Buhler, Publisher BayAreaGOP.com

2018 Governor’s Race Develops: Cox and Allen Are Running

Several recent developments have left businessman John Cox and state Assemblyman Travis Allen as the most prominent Republicans in the race for governor of California.  Governor Jerry Brown will be termed out at the end of 2018.

Cox announced his candidacy in March, after significant groundwork last year.  Allen declared in June.  At the end of June San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, likely the most prominent Republican elected official in the state, announced that he would stick with his campaign pledge in San Diego and not run for governor.

A few days later former Assemblyman David Hadley entered the race, only to withdraw a couple of weeks later, citing the need to consolidate the field to insure a Republican reaches the 2018 general election. 

Republicans hope for a single GOP candidate facing a large Democratic field in order to put a Republican in the top two on the November 2018 ballot.  

Both John Cox and Travis Allen seek to be that Republican.

John Cox is a businessman who was born, raised and educated in Chicago.  He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in Accounting and Political Science, followed by a law degree while attending night school at ITT/Chicago Kent College of Law.  Over the years he built several businesses, including law and accounting firms, an investment advisory firm, and a venture capital firm. Over the past 35 years he has built these businesses up to over $200 million in assets.

Cox has served on a local school board and on several non-profit boards in Illinois, including the USO, American Cancer Society, and United Charities.  He ran for Congress in 2000, U.S. Senate in 2002, and started to run for U.S. President in 2006.  He moved to the San Diego area about nine years ago.  He is the father of four daughters.

John Cox’s most significant proposal is the Neighborhood Legislature Initiative.  In an effort to remove “the corrupting influence of special interest money”, he has proposed that each Assembly district be divided into about 100 neighborhood districts of 5000 people.  Each neighborhood would elect a neighborhood representative, presumably in an inexpensive campaign, and these representatives would pick one of themselves to go to Sacramento.  More details are available at neighborhoodlegislature.com.

Learn more about Cox’s governor campaign at johncoxforgovernor.com.

Travis Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cal State Long Beach, and also studied at Cal State Los Angeles. He is a long time resident of Huntington Beach, where he has lived and surfed for almost 20 years.  He worked as a manager of securities firms before starting his own financial planning company.  

After seeing the damage done by “Sacramento’s overregulation and big government policies” and people leaving the state, Travis Allen supported efforts to elect more business friendly candidates to office.  He has also supported various community causes, including helping homeless people with Orange County Rescue Mission and supporting a number of pro-Israel charities.

In November, 2012 Travis Allen won his Assembly seat in a surprise win by defeating another Republican who had held local office and had most of the endorsements.  Allen won 55.7% of the vote in Orange County’s AD72, which contains much of Garden Grove and Huntington Beach.  It has substantial Vietnamese, Latino, and white communities. 

After the Democrats in the Legislature passed the gas tax increase, Travis Allen authored the initiative measure to repeal the tax increase.  Signatures are now being collected.  Find out more about the initiative at nocagastax.com.  Since Allen has been running for governor, the initiative has been a key issue in his campaign.

Information about Travis Allen’s campaign is available at jointravisallen.com.

GOP IN THE NEWS

A recall election for state Sen. Josh Newman could happen this fall after court freezes new rules

By John Myers
Los Angeles Times
August 14, 2017

An embattled state senator could face a recall election as soon as this fall after an appeals court on Monday delayed enforcement of a law crafted by Democrats to slow down the process.

The new law was written with hopes of delaying a recall election for state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) until next year, but his opponents have wanted a special election this year. They targeted the freshman lawmaker after his vote in favor of gas and vehicle taxes as part of a $52-billion transportation plan.

The new law, written by legislative Democrats and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, added significant new steps to certifying a recall election. Newman’s opponents challenged the law in court last month, arguing that there is no legal justification for the new law to apply retroactively to pending recall efforts like the one against the senator.

Read More

Ling-Ling Chang to run in SD 29 Recall Election

Ling-Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar) today announced she would be a candidate in the 29th State Senate District election should the recall against Senator Josh Newman qualify for the ballot.

A former Assemblywoman, city councilwoman and water board member, Chang lost to Newman by less than 1% in 2016 and is best positioned to replace Newman should voters recall him.

Chang noted, “During my two years in the legislature I helped stop $32 billion in tax hikes, improved the state’s jobs climate and fought hard to protect the middle class.”

“By contrast, Josh Newman voted to raise gas and car taxes by $52 billion and increased the cost of living for the average SD 29 family by $300 a year, said Chang.

“Senator Newman also voted to increase the tax on diesel fuel, which will make our food more expensive and supported a government take over of health care that would cost at least $300 billion and give government control over how often we see our doctors.”

“I’m running for State Senate and support the recall because we can’t afford three more years of Josh Newman,” concluded Chang.

Chang also released a long list of endorsements highlighted by U.S. Representative, Ed Royce; Senate Republican Leader, Pat Bates, former state Senator Bob Huff and the bulk of the Republican legislators who represent the three counties in SD 29.

Recall proponents have submitted over 100,000 signatures of voters who support the recall of Josh Newman. They need 63,500 verified signatures to qualify the recall election for the ballot.

Democrats and Republicans see different solutions to California housing crisis

By Steven Greenhut
CalWatchdog.com
July 26, 2017

Before the recent legislative recess, California Democratic leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown announced their intention to tackle one of the state’s biggest crises: housing affordability. It’s the rare instance where virtually everyone in the Capitol at least is in agreement about the scope of the problem, even though there’s far less agreement on solutions.

Real-estate prices have gotten so high that they stretch family budgets and are a root cause of California’s highest-in-the-nation poverty rates, based on the Census Bureau’s new cost-of-living-adjusted poverty measure.

The situation is so acute it’s drawn the attention of the national media. “A full-fledged housing crisis has gripped California, marked by a severe lack of affordable homes and apartments for middle-class families,” according to a recent New York Times article. Median home prices have hit a “staggering $500,000, twice the national cost.”

Read More

Union bill will drive up counties’ costs of providing services

By Steven Greenhut
California Policy Center
July 25, 2017

Municipal governments exist to provide essential services, such as law enforcement, firefighting, parks and recreation, street repairs and programs for the poor and homeless. But as pension, health-care and other compensation costs soar for workers and retirees alike, local governments are struggling to fulfill these basic functions.

There’s even a term to describe that situation. “Service insolvency” is when localities have enough money to pay their bills, but not enough left over to provide adequate public service. These governments are not insolvent per se, but there’s little they can afford beyond paying the salaries and benefits of their workers.

As a city manager quoted in a newspaper article once quipped, California cities have become pension providers that offer a few public services on the side. It’s a sad state of affairs when local governments exist to do little more than pay the people who work for them.

Read More

Fake Achievement: The Rising High School Graduation Rate

Lance Izumi
Heritage.org
July 20, 2017

Over the past several years, the U.S. high school graduation rate has climbed significantly. That increase, however, is not necessarily due to better performance by our nation’s public schools or to higher achievement by our students. Rather, across America, states and local school districts are lowering the bar for earning a high school diploma, which—lo and behold—raises the graduation rate.

According to the latest data, an all-time high of more than eight out of 10 U.S. high school students graduated four years after starting the ninth grade. Yet that rate is deceiving. States have been lowering their bars for graduation for years.

Read More

The White House Internship Program Applications Due September 8

The White House Internship Program (WHIP) website and application are now live!  The White House Internship Program selection process is highly competitive. Applicants are encouraged to submit a thorough application that illustrates their qualifications, character, and commitment to public service.  Those who want to apply to be part of the WHIP Spring 2018 Class, which will run from January 10 – April 27, 2018, can find more information and complete the application at this link.

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Publisher’s Message: Democrat Legislative Leadership Sidesteps Transparency Requirements

Feature Article: Democrats Hijack State Budget to Restrict Voters’ Right To Recall

Sign Up for Newsletter

LIST OF UPCOMING GOP EVENTS

View more details for events on the Calendar of Upcoming Events or view the Monthly Calendar of Events.

GOP IN THE NEWS

A recall election for state Sen. Josh Newman could happen this fall after court freezes new rules

By John Myers
Los Angeles Times
August 14, 2017

An embattled state senator could face a recall election as soon as this fall after an appeals court on Monday delayed enforcement of a law crafted by Democrats to slow down the process.

The new law was written with hopes of delaying a recall election for state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) until next year, but his opponents have wanted a special election this year. They targeted the freshman lawmaker after his vote in favor of gas and vehicle taxes as part of a $52-billion transportation plan.

The new law, written by legislative Democrats and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, added significant new steps to certifying a recall election. Newman’s opponents challenged the law in court last month, arguing that there is no legal justification for the new law to apply retroactively to pending recall efforts like the one against the senator.

Read More

2018 Governor’s Race Develops: Cox and Allen Are Running

Assemblyman David Hadley helped narrow the field of Republican candidates when he recently withdrew from the race for Governor California. Read about the two most prominent Republicans candidates that remain. Go To Article

MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Gas Tax Repeal Proponents Challenge Biased Title and Summary from AG Becerra

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has released a negative and misleading title and summary for the initiative to repeal the gas tax, causing proponents to challenge his language in Superior Court.

Initiated by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), the ballot measure seeks to repeal SB 1 by Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) that is projected to raise $52.4 billion over 10 years from a tax increase on gas and diesel, a new vehicle registration fee, and a new fee for zero-emission vehicles.

The Attorney General’s title for the measure consisted of the following language:

Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding by Repealing Revenues Dedicated for Those Purposes.

Here is the title that was proposed by proponents of the initiative:

Repeals Recent Legislation That Created New Gas Tax, Diesel Tax, Vehicle Registration Fee, and Zero-Emission Vehicle Fee.

Click here to view a comparison of the title and summary submitted by the Attorney General and proponents.

The law firm Enterprise Counsel Group of Irvine was retained to file the lawsuit (Travis Allen vs. Xavier Becerra) that charged Attorney General Becerra created a title and summary that “impermissibly misleads the electorate…by omitting the words “tax” and “fee” from the title and by stating that an office that does not yet exist will be eliminated. The complaint states Becerra’s title and summary does not provide the “chief purposes and points of the proposed measure,” and other requirements for title and summary as stated in the Election Code. A hearing date has been requested for mid-August. Click here to read the Complaint.

Best regards,
Luis Buhler, Publisher BayAreaGOP.com

2018 Governor’s Race Develops: Cox and Allen Are Running

Several recent developments have left businessman John Cox and state Assemblyman Travis Allen as the most prominent Republicans in the race for governor of California.  Governor Jerry Brown will be termed out at the end of 2018.

Cox announced his candidacy in March, after significant groundwork last year.  Allen declared in June.  At the end of June San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, likely the most prominent Republican elected official in the state, announced that he would stick with his campaign pledge in San Diego and not run for governor.

A few days later former Assemblyman David Hadley entered the race, only to withdraw a couple of weeks later, citing the need to consolidate the field to insure a Republican reaches the 2018 general election. 

Republicans hope for a single GOP candidate facing a large Democratic field in order to put a Republican in the top two on the November 2018 ballot.  

Both John Cox and Travis Allen seek to be that Republican.

John Cox is a businessman who was born, raised and educated in Chicago.  He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in Accounting and Political Science, followed by a law degree while attending night school at ITT/Chicago Kent College of Law.  Over the years he built several businesses, including law and accounting firms, an investment advisory firm, and a venture capital firm. Over the past 35 years he has built these businesses up to over $200 million in assets.

Cox has served on a local school board and on several non-profit boards in Illinois, including the USO, American Cancer Society, and United Charities.  He ran for Congress in 2000, U.S. Senate in 2002, and started to run for U.S. President in 2006.  He moved to the San Diego area about nine years ago.  He is the father of four daughters.

John Cox’s most significant proposal is the Neighborhood Legislature Initiative.  In an effort to remove “the corrupting influence of special interest money”, he has proposed that each Assembly district be divided into about 100 neighborhood districts of 5000 people.  Each neighborhood would elect a neighborhood representative, presumably in an inexpensive campaign, and these representatives would pick one of themselves to go to Sacramento.  More details are available at neighborhoodlegislature.com.

Learn more about Cox’s governor campaign at johncoxforgovernor.com.

Travis Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cal State Long Beach, and also studied at Cal State Los Angeles. He is a long time resident of Huntington Beach, where he has lived and surfed for almost 20 years.  He worked as a manager of securities firms before starting his own financial planning company.  

After seeing the damage done by “Sacramento’s overregulation and big government policies” and people leaving the state, Travis Allen supported efforts to elect more business friendly candidates to office.  He has also supported various community causes, including helping homeless people with Orange County Rescue Mission and supporting a number of pro-Israel charities.

In November, 2012 Travis Allen won his Assembly seat in a surprise win by defeating another Republican who had held local office and had most of the endorsements.  Allen won 55.7% of the vote in Orange County’s AD72, which contains much of Garden Grove and Huntington Beach.  It has substantial Vietnamese, Latino, and white communities. 

After the Democrats in the Legislature passed the gas tax increase, Travis Allen authored the initiative measure to repeal the tax increase.  Signatures are now being collected.  Find out more about the initiative at nocagastax.com.  Since Allen has been running for governor, the initiative has been a key issue in his campaign.

Information about Travis Allen’s campaign is available at jointravisallen.com.

The White House Internship Program Applications Due September 8

The White House Internship Program (WHIP) website and application are now live!  The White House Internship Program selection process is highly competitive. Applicants are encouraged to submit a thorough application that illustrates their qualifications, character, and commitment to public service.  Those who want to apply to be part of the WHIP Spring 2018 Class, which will run from January 10 – April 27, 2018, can find more information and complete the application at this link.

GOP IN THE NEWS (cont.)

Ling-Ling Chang to run in SD 29 Recall Election

Ling-Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar) today announced she would be a candidate in the 29th State Senate District election should the recall against Senator Josh Newman qualify for the ballot.

A former Assemblywoman, city councilwoman and water board member, Chang lost to Newman by less than 1% in 2016 and is best positioned to replace Newman should voters recall him.

Chang noted, “During my two years in the legislature I helped stop $32 billion in tax hikes, improved the state’s jobs climate and fought hard to protect the middle class.”

“By contrast, Josh Newman voted to raise gas and car taxes by $52 billion and increased the cost of living for the average SD 29 family by $300 a year, said Chang.

“Senator Newman also voted to increase the tax on diesel fuel, which will make our food more expensive and supported a government take over of health care that would cost at least $300 billion and give government control over how often we see our doctors.”

“I’m running for State Senate and support the recall because we can’t afford three more years of Josh Newman,” concluded Chang.

Chang also released a long list of endorsements highlighted by U.S. Representative, Ed Royce; Senate Republican Leader, Pat Bates, former state Senator Bob Huff and the bulk of the Republican legislators who represent the three counties in SD 29.

Recall proponents have submitted over 100,000 signatures of voters who support the recall of Josh Newman. They need 63,500 verified signatures to qualify the recall election for the ballot.

Democrats and Republicans see different solutions to California housing crisis

By Steven Greenhut
CalWatchdog.com
July 26, 2017

Before the recent legislative recess, California Democratic leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown announced their intention to tackle one of the state’s biggest crises: housing affordability. It’s the rare instance where virtually everyone in the Capitol at least is in agreement about the scope of the problem, even though there’s far less agreement on solutions.

Real-estate prices have gotten so high that they stretch family budgets and are a root cause of California’s highest-in-the-nation poverty rates, based on the Census Bureau’s new cost-of-living-adjusted poverty measure.

The situation is so acute it’s drawn the attention of the national media. “A full-fledged housing crisis has gripped California, marked by a severe lack of affordable homes and apartments for middle-class families,” according to a recent New York Times article. Median home prices have hit a “staggering $500,000, twice the national cost.”

Read More

Union bill will drive up counties’ costs of providing services

By Steven Greenhut
California Policy Center
July 25, 2017

Municipal governments exist to provide essential services, such as law enforcement, firefighting, parks and recreation, street repairs and programs for the poor and homeless. But as pension, health-care and other compensation costs soar for workers and retirees alike, local governments are struggling to fulfill these basic functions.

There’s even a term to describe that situation. “Service insolvency” is when localities have enough money to pay their bills, but not enough left over to provide adequate public service. These governments are not insolvent per se, but there’s little they can afford beyond paying the salaries and benefits of their workers.

As a city manager quoted in a newspaper article once quipped, California cities have become pension providers that offer a few public services on the side. It’s a sad state of affairs when local governments exist to do little more than pay the people who work for them.

Read More

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