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"Today we set in motion events that will require far more difficult and painful decisions starting just five months from now in what is likely to be a much worse economy. I am afraid that with this vote, for the second time in a decade, this state is being driven to another Gray Davis-sized fiscal crisis that this vote makes inevitable for exactly the same reasons: Lack of restraint in good times combined with a lack of discipline in bad times."
--- Senator Tom McClintock on August 21, 2007 during a Senate Floor debate on the day the state budget was sent to the governor |
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| September-15-08 |
Final Debate on the State Budget |
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Mr. President: According to the State Controller’s reports, last year, our tax structure produced $96 billion in actual revenues – a record year. We budgeted $103 billion and spent $107 billion. In short, our spending exceeded our revenue by $11 billion and exceeded our adopted budget by $4 billion. This year, if the economy gets no worse, we can expect to produce $97 billion in tax revenues. Claims that the revenues will be higher are based on accounting gimmicks that mask the numbers but do not change the underlying reality. This budget authorizes $104 billion and if last year was any indication, we can expect to spend at least $108 billion. So the next budget will see us $11 billion further behind than we are right now. |
| August-29-08 |
Debate on the State Budget |
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Last year, when some in this chamber assured us that the budget was not only balanced, but included the biggest budget reserve in the state's history, others of us issued an urgent warning that the budget was dangerously unbalanced and that we were fast running out of the time needed to implement reforms. The State Controller reports that during last year we received $96 billion in revenues – a new record -- but spent $107 billion. And now we're running out of money. |
| July-21-08 |
Statement to State Water Resources Control Board |
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Your board meets today to consider revoking permits that are necessary for proceeding with construction of the Auburn Dam. I'm sure there'll be a detailed legal discussion on both sides involving exactly what constitutes due diligence in overcoming the endless legal obstacles that have delayed this project since it was first authorized by Congress in 1965. |
| January-30-08 |
Global Warming Curriculum - SB 908 (Simitian) |
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I would gladly vote for this bill if there was a requirement that the curriculum on global warming be science-based and balanced. That discussion and examination is desperately needed not only in our schools but in the halls of government. |
| January-14-08 |
Houston I. Flournoy |
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Mr. President: I rise with sadness to note the passing of former State Assemblyman and former State Controller Houston I. Flournoy. Hugh Flournoy truly was a remarkable and rare public servant who never lusted for political positions except as a means to a higher end. Though he was disdainful of politics in general and political office in particular, he cared very deeply about this state and its people. |
| January-14-08 |
Playing Cuttlefish with the Budget |
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Abraham Lincoln finally had enough of Stephen Douglas' obfuscations when they met to debate in Charleston, Illinois. He said, "Judge Douglas is playing cuttlefish – a small species of fish that has no mode of defending himself when pursued except by throwing out a black fluid which makes the water so dark the enemy cannot see it, and thus it escapes." Lincoln's cuttlefish story came to mind during the governor's State of the State message when he blamed the state's massive budget deficit on formulae that lock in spending. |
| October-09-07 |
SB(2X) 2 – Perata - Water Bond |
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California's water shortage is real. The last major dam built in this state was the New Melones in 1979. In the intervening time, the population has grown from 23 million to 38 million people. California now stores less than one year's water consumption in the entire system, which is why the prospect of even a moderate drought has become ominous. |
| August-21-07 |
Speech by Senator McClintock Opposing SB 86 on Property Seizures, Senate Chambers |
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This bill is opposable on many grounds, but I want to focus on the provisions related to the state's practice of looting safe deposit boxes and retirement and college funds under the pretense that they are abandoned solely because their owners have set them aside for three years. The federal district court has issued an injunction ordering the state Controller to cease this practice. |
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| Capitol Office |
District Office |
State Capitol, Room 3070
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4019
Fax: (916) 324-7544
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223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 400
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
Phone: (805) 494-8808
Fax: (805) 494-8812
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