Sponsors of Proposition 63's So-Called "Millionaires' Tax"

In November 2004, Californians approved Proposition 63, imposing a new tax to expand mental-health services. Two years later, it is now clear that voters were either misled or misinformed about how the tax would work -- it impacts tens of thousands of Californians who were told they would not be affected. Fairness calls for court review and, if needed, a referendum.

California's Congressional Delegation

Taxpaying Americans are funding the post-Congress pensions of such fallen legislators as Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Dan Rostenkowski, James Traficant, and Bob Ney. None of these felons deserve a cent of taxpayer money to fund their pensions. Congress should adopt legislation that disqualifies a congressman convicted of any serious crime, while in office, from collecting any taxpayer-funded portion of their federal pension.

California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE)

Working through an organization called California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), unions have weighed in on nearly every power-plant project since the new millennium, threatening to tangle every one in endless environmental red tape and legal fees unless the developers agree to sign Project Labor Agreements -- a strategy commonly known as "greenmail." This self-interested strategy has delayed and blocked the availability of cleaner, cheaper energy in California.

University of California Labor Institute

When he signed the state budget on June 30, 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to veto $6 million, inserted by legislative Democrats, for a Labor Institute at the University of California. The UC Labor Institute, dubbed the "union think tank," now enjoys a fresh $6 million in taxpayer dollars to harass California businesses, concoct bogus studies, conduct union activism, and engage in partisan politics. Unions have every right to do all of that, of course, and may even call their institute a think tank. But unions themselves, not California taxpayers, should pay the bill.

California Senate Rules Committee

California’s Public Contract Code requires that the Department of General Services engage in a fair and competitive bidding process for all public contracts. But for the state’s newest construction project, the $6.8 million State Capitol security fence, those rules were bypassed at the behest of one or more state legislators on the Senate Rules Committee. This under-the-table and illegal ploy misused taxpayer dollars to benefit well-connected unions.

California law prohibits the use of public funds or resources to advocate the passage or defeat of a ballot initiative. At a recent "informational hearing" on Proposition 75, the paycheck protection initiative, California state Senator Richard Alarcon flagrantly disregarded that prohibition, broke the rules, and misused taxpayer resources.

On July 11, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto authority to eliminate $3.8 million in direct taxpayer funding for the University of California Institute for Labor and Employment, a California taxpayer-supported "union think tank" that advances the political agenda of labor unions. The Pacific Research Institute, Associated Builders and Contractors of California, and the Manhattan Institute have waged a multi-year campaign to educate the public about the true agenda of this organization and to end its taxpayer funding, which has totaled more than $22 million since its inception in 2000 to produce biased, pro-union propaganda.

California taxpayers have spent almost $25 million in the past five years on the University of California Institute for Labor and Employment (ILE). This front group for the California Labor Federation and other trade unions helps to organize union members and it subsidizes phony "studies" supporting the unions' legislative agenda. With the state facing multi-billion-dollar budget deficits, state legislators should stop spending taxpayer funds on the ILE, a group that should be funded, if at all, by labor unions.

California's Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) is consuming larger shares of the state budget and burdening taxpayers with billion-dollar bailouts. A proposed modernization plan would provide greater fiscal stability and let employees control their retirement plans.

Three November ballot propositions, 63, 67, and 72, would effectively raise taxes on California business owners and discourage new hiring at a time when job growth is sluggish. California voters again have an opportunity to apply the common sense that the Legislature often lacks and defeat job-killing ballot Propositions 63, 67, and 72.

The undeserved 25-percent pension hikes for some so-called state "safety employees," including milk testers, billboard inspectors, and DMV employees that test new drivers, will cost California taxpayers $216 million. The blatant purchasing of this legislative perk by the California Union of Safety Employees illustrates the dynamic of taxpayer fleecing: benefits go to well-organized, concentrated interest groups while dispersed taxpayers foot the bill.

Point-of-use water submeters are devices capable of reducing water bills for millions of California renters and conserving water to boot. They are not available in California because of state regulations that are out of step with the rest of the country and deserving of the California Golden Fleece Award.

California's prevailing-wage laws, which impact more affordable-housing development projects as of January 1, drive up construction costs, thereby locking out many low-income families from the American Dream of home ownership. These laws, which hurt the poor, are deserving of the California Golden Fleece Award.

The California Workers' Compensation Program receives PRI’s California Golden Fleece Award again despite the recent passage of legislation to reform California’s workers’ compensation system. Skyrocketing system costs remain a major obstacle to job creation and economic growth in the state. PRI has outlined ideas for fixing this program.

While California laments a bad economy and massive budget deficit, organized labor is celebrating recent legislative victories that include paid family leave, changes in overtime rules, and a living-wage law. Bills high on labor’s agenda this year such as “play or pay” health care and extending unemployment benefits are moving through the Legislature.

The California Workers' Compensation Program receives PRI’s California Golden Fleece Award for creating a program which overly rewards doctors and encourages litigation and excessive filing of minor claims.

The California Victim Compensation Program receives PRI’s California Golden Fleece Award for making victims of crime unknowing victims of the program’s mismanagement.

California governor Gray Davis receives the first California Golden Fleece Award for leading the state to the fiscal abyss by failing to cut waste from the state budget.