CFRW Capitol Update

◼ cfrw.org: Budget Battle Wages On

The main budget bill was passed out of the legislature last Friday in compliance with Prop 25 so that legislators will still receive their paychecks. But the budget is not actually solved yet, with many trailer bills still needing to be passed before the Governor can sign the budget.... Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said this week that he plans to send the rest of the budget to Governor Brown by June 30th. Basically what Steinberg and legislative Democrats plan to do to balance the budget is use fund shifting and one time gimmicks to cover the remaining deficit. Just like last year and the year before that and the year before that and so on. Where is a budget we can be proud of?

California Democrats Out of Touch

It is time that California voters wake up and realize that their representatives are largely out of touch. This week journalist George Skelton (of the VERY liberal L.A. Times) wrote a column highlighting the lack of urgency from legislative Democrats on REAL pension reform. Effective pension reform would help balance our state budget for years to come, but Democrats refuse to acknowledge the real problems that face our state. Click ◼ HERE to read Mr. Skelton’s column. Another basic blunder of Democrats in office is their lack of confidence in California and our citizens. Assembly Speaker John Perez said in a press conference that there is no point in training California’s unemployed workers if there are no jobs to be had. Why the lack of faith in California’s economy and California’s employable workforce? Watch this video ◼ HERE and see for yourself.



Prop 29 Officially Fails!

Almost three weeks after the primary we can finally say that Prop 29, the cigarette tax increase, has officially failed! The CFRW opposed Prop 29 because we did not want another unchecked, power-hungry state board to be created as the proposition would have done. It is apparent that Californians do not approve of tax increases, as they have voted down the last 8 tax increase propositions on our ballots. This does not look good for Governor Brown’s tax increase on the November ballot. But it is good news for California Taxpayers! Thank you for educating voters leading up to the election on Prop 29. We will need intense voter outreach and education as November gets closer!

Republican Women Unite!

If you know of a California Republican Women running for office, we want to know! Please email our CFRW Advocate at advocate@cfrw.org the name of the candidate, the office they are running for, their local RWF club and their campaign website if applicable. Thank you and let’s work together to WIN in NOVEMBER!

RNC Convention in Tampa, FL!

If you are a delegate, alternate delegate, or just attending the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida and you would like to share a room with other California Republican Women attending, please email our CFRW Advocate at advocate@cfrw.org so that we can all connect. Thanks!

President's Message
Dear CFRW Members:

Now is the time to begin really focusing on membership and getting women involved in the Federation. We have the best candidate running for President and many will want to be part of his rise to the White House. When a woman comes into volunteer invite her to join the Federation. One way to get our cause out is for all of us to purchase "a baseball mitt", either new or from a second hand store and paint 2012 on it. Put the mitts in the back window of your car. This will be the most subtle of all bumper stickers ever.

Mark down October 19-21, 2012 on your calendars as we begin putting together the largest "Boots on the Road Pep Rally" to be held in Fresno. More to follow each week in our Capital Update. We are going to have the biggest rally to excite for the "Super Bowl, World Series" on November 6, 2012 this state has ever seen.

ONE TEAM, ONE PURPOSE ONE GOAL: "MITT ROMNEY PRESIDENT"
Carol Hadley, CFRW President

Nearly 800,000 CA ballots left to count in largest counties

◼ Preliminary election results may be in, but some races won't be called until officials can count provisional ballots and mail-in votes that were dropped off at polling places Tuesday. - Sacramento Bee

A Bee survey showed nearly 800,000 uncounted votes in just nine of the state's 58 counties:
Los Angeles County..........................162,008
San Diego County.............................135,000
Orange County.................................113,119
Riverside County................................49,200
San Bernardino County......................29,800
Santa Clara County................86,600-96,600
Alameda County.................................61,100
Sacramento........................................84,000
San Francisco County........................31,000

These votes could determine a handful of tight legislative, congressional and local races and the fate of Proposition 29 to raise the cigarette tax $1 a pack.

Prop 29: Dollar-a-pack cigarette tax measure falls behind

◼ A ballot measure that would increase state taxes on cigarettes by a dollar a pack fell behind early Wednesday, the secretary of state's office said. - SF Chronicle

Proposition 29, which would raise $810 million a year for cancer research and smoking cessation programs, trailed by 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent. All precincts were reporting, but mail-in ballots that arrived on election day and other votes remained to be counted.

LA Times: Tobacco taxes are great, but Proposition 29 stinks

◼ Proposition 29 includes a deal breaker. Raising money for California: Good. Discouraging smoking via a harsh tax: Great. Sequestering the money for a limited purpose: Bad. Really bad. - Michael Hiltzik/LA Times

Yes, our freeways and surface streets are crumbling. But the next time your front wheel hits an enormous pothole, you can remember with pride that California is the world leader in one form of highway maintenance: paving the road to hell with good intentions.

The June 5 election will give the state's voters another opportunity in this vein. The vehicle is Proposition 29, which would jack up the state tax on cigarettes by $1 a pack, generating some $800 million a year mostly for cancer research, with some going to related health and anti-smoking programs.

The weighing of intention vs. result here is fairly straightforward. Raising $800 million a year for the state: Good. Discouraging smoking via a harsh tax: Great. Sequestering the money for a limited purpose: Bad. Really bad.

But it doesn't serve the voters one bit. The benefits of driving up the cost of smoking to keep kids off cigarettes are obvious, but the structure of Proposition 29 is poisonous to the health of the body politic. It just hooks the voters on cheap non-solutions to our problems in the same way that Philip Morris hooks kids on tobacco. The first step to quitting the ballot-box addiction is to say no to wretched measures like this one.

◼ Most tobacco money California collects doesn't go to prevent or stop smoking, study says - Sacramento Bee

Between 1998 and 2010, just 6 percent of the money collected from a massive lawsuit settlement and from cigarette taxes went to tobacco interdiction and education programs, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week, far below federal spending guidelines for effectively curbing tobacco use.

No on Prop 28 launches new web ad today - exposes the scam!