“There’s no dam guarantee!”
-- Senator Jeff Denham on why he voted against the water package

Excerpt from Dan Walters column, November 4, 2009:

The package utters sweeping declarations about achieving wonderful things and creates a new governmental infrastructure of non-elected officials who may, or may not, make those key decisions many years in the future, depending on who succeeds Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor and whom that next governor appoints to the interlocking new water agencies.

It also includes a big bond issue – how big was still being negotiated late Tuesday – to buy support from myriad water stakeholders with taxpayers' money, regardless of whether any new water storage and conveyance facilities actually materialize.

Excerpt from Senate Bill 2 (7x), as passed November 4, 2009:

(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the sum of three billion dollars ($3,000,000,000) is hereby continuously appropriated from the fund, without regard to fiscal years, to the commission for public benefits associated with water storage projects that improve the operation of the state water system, are cost effective, and provide a net improvement in ecosystem and water quality conditions, in accordance with this chapter. Funds authorized for, or made available to, the commission pursuant to this chapter shall be available and expended only for the purposes provided in this chapter, and shall not be subject to appropriation or transfer by the Legislature or the Governor for any other purpose. (c) Projects shall be selected by the commission through a competitive public process that ranks potential projects based on the expected return for public investment as measured by the magnitude of the public benefits provided, pursuant to criteria established under this chapter.

An excerpt from Denham’s Senate Floor in opposition to AB 14XXX – the early release prison plan.

Denham’s Senate Floor speech in opposition to the main Budget Revision bill – AB1xxxx.