2008 Legislative Forecast

The Legislature will return to Sacramento this month for the 2008 Legislative Session. January is the time when legislators begin to refine their legislative proposals and introduce new legislation. My staff and I are still researching and putting the finishing touches on legislation before we begin to introduce bills. I have until February 22 to introduce legislation, so January and early February will be busy as decisions are made on what ideas to pursue in 2008.

It is shaping up to be another busy year. Water and health care will most likely continue to be hot topics for the Legislature in 2008 and Governor Schwarzenegger has indicated he wants to renew focus on education issues in the coming year. No agreement could be reached on water during a special session, but December 2007 bore witness to Assembly Democrats passing a massive government-run health care scheme on a party-line vote. I view the plan as the height of irresponsibility; billions of dollars in new taxes and spending are not prudent in light of the state’s fiscal woes.

Indeed, the Governor and the Legislature will be faced with the challenge of addressing the state's budget deficit, which is now expected to reach at least $14 billion. In fact, the Governor has declared a “fiscal emergency,” the first time since being granted the authority to do so in a 2004 ballot measure.

As most Californians are aware, budget adoption stalemate in July and August of last year morphed into a full-fledged budget meltdown by the end of 2007. Revenues coming into the state coffers plunged from previous and expected levels. The Governor’s expected fiscal emergency announcement would grant the Legislature 45 days to deal with the issue, with all other bills automatically held until a solution is reached.
Elections will also dominate the year, with the Presidential primary in February, state and local primary in June, and the General Election in November.

My office will be pushing an ambitious legislative package, a comprehensive set of bills dealing with issues as varied as illegal immigration, electoral reform, and the DUI code. I look forward to continuing the fight for good government in California in 2008.