Greetings from the Kern County Republican Party!

by Zack Scrivner
Kern County Republican Party, Chair

National Healthcare Debate Rages Across the Country

Members of Congress have returned home to their districts for the August recess, and many of them are getting an ear full from angry and fearful constituents at town hall meetings on the health care “reforms” proposed by the Democrats in the House and Senate. Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress tried desperately to pass their health care agenda before the recess, knowing full well that Congressional support for the plans would weaken once the members returned home to face voters who are skeptical of Washington’s ability to responsibly and effectively reform the American health care system. However, even the Democrats’ best political strategists likely did not anticipate the uproar that the healthcare debate has unleashed in towns across the country. Kevin McCarthy, Bakersfield’s Republican congressman and Chief Deputy Whip, discusses the issue in his op-ed, “Health care: Cure shouldn't be worse than problem!”

State Legislature – What’s good, what’s bad, and what’s next

Late last month, the California State Legislature finally passed amendments to the 2009-2010 fiscal-year budget, in an attempt to close a $26 billion deficit. Republican lawmakers successfully fought for no new taxes, and secured about $15 billion in real budget cuts. In addition, the Republicans were able to force reforms to reduce fraud and abuse in health and human services, which included background checks and fingerprinting for the In-Home Support Services providers, who are often family members of disabled beneficiaries, and also fought for enhanced enforcement of work requirements for welfare recipients. Bakersfield Assemblymember Jean Fuller, and her Republican colleagues, also succeeded in derailing a budget provision passed by the State Senate that would have allowed the state to take nearly $1 billion in Highway Users Tax Accounts (gas tax) funds from local governments. This would have been a $9.6 million loss in road safety and maintenance funding to the City of Bakersfield over two years. Unfortunately, this budget will be a short-term solution to the state’s chronic fiscal problems. Gimmicks, such as pushing payday for state workers back one day, from June 30th to July 1st, into the next fiscal year, only kicks the can down the road. In addition, the state will borrow $1.8 billion in local property tax funds through Proposition 1A, and this will require repayment within three years.

Revenues are expected to continue to drop, with the state’s sagging economy, and this will necessitate more budget revisions in the coming months. Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg has plans to sue the Governor over his line-item vetoes, amounting to about $850 million. If the line-item vetoes are invalidated, and the Legislative Counsel’s opinion asserts that the Governor exceeded his authority, the state will be facing an even larger deficit. In addition, the state budget deal included a $1 billion unallocated cut to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and legislation still needs to be enacted to establish policy reforms in the areas of parole, custody, program credits and other areas, obscuring the budget picture even further.

With another looming budget crisis on the horizon, pressure continues to mount for the legislature to address the state-wide water crisis that has crippled much of California’s farming industry, with the Central Valley suffering the worst. Assemblymember Jean Fuller serves as the Vice Chair of the Assembly Water Committee, and chairs the Assembly Republican Working Group on Water. She discusses the urgent need to address California’s water crisis in her op-ed, "Water Supply Must Be Priority."

The news from Washington and Sacramento may seem largely negative. With our nation in the midst of recession and facing threatening tax hikes, businesses are struggling to make profits and keep people employed. Our local governments and schools, dependent upon the private sector economy for their revenues, are making cutbacks, furloughs and layoffs. In the long run these cutbacks are good, reducing the size and cost of government. And it’s great to see the voters of our country becoming more engaged than ever before, as evidenced by the taxpayer TEA Party demonstrations and the huge crowds at the healthcare town hall meetings. We, the voters, are rising up, declaring that we will not be complacent, we will not sit back and simply accept the failure that Washington and Sacramento dishes out. We’re fed up with the tax-and-spend politicians in Washington and Sacramento, politicians that cripple us with debt, and refuse to tackle the glaring problems facing our nation and state, burdening future generations to sort out the mess. As Kern County Republicans, let’s act on this opportunity to bring people into our party with our message of personal responsibility, limited government and protection of our God-given freedom that is, above all else, the promise of America.