Last week, Governor Jerry Brown unveiled his May revisions to the state budget proposal he rolled out in January. Buried deep among billions of dollars in proposed new spending are millions of dollars for the state to provide criminal defense for illegal immigrants in California who are facing deportation to their home country by our own federal government.
Governor Jerry Brown has the power to appoint a new California Attorney General if Kamala Harris wins the U.S. Senate race on Tuesday.
If passed by the voters, Prop. 50 would amend the state constitution to allow either chamber of the legislature, by a two-thirds vote, to suspend a member of that body without pay or benefits.
California senators have proposed a $2 billion legislative package aimed at providing the state’s homeless population with permanent housing.
A couple of weeks ago a freshman Republican member of the State Assembly said to me: “You were right, this place is controlled lock, stock and barrel by the unions.”
The California state legislature, which has relatively free rein to conduct much of its business without being scrutinized by the public, may soon have to face rules demanding greater transparency. Unlike other agencies of the state government, the Associated Press notes, which fall under the narrow umbrella of the California Public Records Act, the legislature has been constrained by the more lenient Legislative Open Records Act, which permits many of its actions to be shrouded in secrecy.
