by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Nothing much unexpected happened when Arnold put his pen to the hundreds of bills waiting on his desk over the weekend. He approved increased fees on motorists, vetoed the DREAM Act and marriage equality. It's not like the legislature sent him any major pieces of legislation, though the DREAM Act and the marriage bill would have made national news if he signed them. LAT:

The governor's last signatures before Sunday's midnight deadline provided an anticlimactic end to a rather fallow year for the executive and the Legislature, some political observers said.

"It was a not particularly productive year," said Raphael J. Sonenshein, a political scientist at Cal State Fullerton.

He noted that the Republican governor and the Legislature have failed so far to reach agreement on what the leaders agreed were the two most pressing matters: healthcare reform and a comprehensive plan to upgrade the state's over-stressed water system.

The governor has called a special session on both matters, but no consensus has been reached.

Generally speaking the first year of a legislative cycle has a better chance of being productive, since many will be running for re-election in the second. They will be especially distracted next year with the term limits proposal, which will determine who runs in the second primary in June.

by jsw [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Today's Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed.

To subscribe by email, click
here and do what comes naturally.

by jsw [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Today's Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed.

To subscribe by email, click
here and do what comes naturally.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It is widely expected that Schwarzenegger will again veto Mark Leno's Gender Neutral Marriage Bill.  And if he does, he will claim that the bill violates the homophobic "will of the people," as expressed in the 2000 Proposition 22. 

Leno's intellectual response on the flip.

Mark Leno responded to this argument in an article in the SF Chronicle.  He said:

Civil rights for any group should never be put to a vote of the people. This is how we prevent the tyranny of the majority over the minority.

 Looking back through history:

In 1964, voters overwhelmingly overturned the state's Rumford Fair Housing Act, which banned racial discrimination in home sales and apartment rentals. In 1959, when the Legislature voted to allow interracial marriage in California, Leno said, it came in the face of a nationwide 1958 Gallup Poll that showed better than 90 percent of white voters were opposed to allowing blacks and whites to marry.

If only we had a Governor who was sophisticated enough to know that you don't put civil rights to a popular vote.  Leno for Governor 2010!

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The California Senate, by a party line 22 to 15 vote, has just given final passage to AB 43 (Leno), The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act that would restore marriage in California as "a legal contract between two persons," replacing the language installed by the legislature in 1977. The bill passed the Assembly in June by a 42 to 34 vote. It now goes to the Governor who has until October 14 to decide whether to sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.

AB 43 bill redefines marriage in California as a union between two persons, making it gender-neutral, and thereby permitting same-sex marriages in the state.

It does not require any clergy or religious official to solemnize any marriage in violation of his or her right to free exercise of religion.

This bill contains a legislative finding and declaration that it does not amend or modify Section 308.5 of the California Family Code, enacted by the initiative Proposition 22, passed by the voters in 2000, that declares only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hayley Leventhal
Reporter
California Progress Report

A bill to redefine “marriage” as a union between two gender-neutral persons passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee on July 10th. All that it needs to land on the Governor's desk is approval by the Senate Appropriations Committee and the full Senate. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), is the fifth time in six years that the California Legislature will tackle the same-sex marriage debate.

Assembly Bill 43, known as the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act,” will modify parts of the existing California Family Code to gender-neutral terms. For example, where existing law says marriage is between “a man and a woman,” Leno’s bill will change the law to reflect that marriage is between “two persons.” It passed the committee 3-2, along party lines, with three supporting votes from Democrats, and two opposing from Republicans.