California Senate Republicans Oust Leader -- Budget Pushed Further Into Question (San Francisco Sentinel)

By Kevin Yamamura and Jim Sanders
San Francisco Sentinel
February 18, 2009

Senate Republicans ousted their leader early this morning as other lawmakers continued searching for one more GOP vote in the upper house to break the state’s budget deadlock.

In a contentious meeting that lasted through the midnight hour, Senate Republicans removed Sen. Dave Cogdill as leader and replaced him with Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, who opposes the budget deal Cogdill negotiated for his caucus because it contains new taxes.

The move sparked confusion in the upper house, but Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg insisted it would not change the budget dynamic. He said Cogdill, R-Modesto, and Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, remain committed to the pending budget package of cuts, taxes and borrowing.

Steinberg, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will continue seeking one more GOP vote later today from Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, or Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria.

“We’re going to maintain our focus towards solving the problem of getting one vote regardless of who the leader is,” Steinberg said. “Leadership doesn’t change the fact that there is no other idea put forward that would take $41 billion out of a budget deficit. And so, for me, it doesn’t change anything.”

The Senate’s first vote on a bill to raise various taxes for at least two years remained in limbo with 23 senators voting in favor, 12 against and four not voting. The tax vote took place about 1 a.m. today, shortly after Senate Republicans ousted Cogdill.

Three Republicans — Ashburn, Cogdill and Cox — and one Democrat, Sen. Lou Correa, abstained. Steinberg, however, said he believed Ashburn, Cogdill and Correa would support the tax bill once legislative leaders secured a final Republican vote. Steinberg kept the Senate in lockdown through the night, prohibiting any member from leaving the Capitol in an attempt to squeeze out one more vote.

Senate Republicans convened about 10 p.m. in Cogdill’s office, where members voted to remove him from leadership. Four of the 15 Senate GOP members objected to the maneuver and boycotted the selection of the new leader, according to Maldonado. Those included Maldonado, Cox, Cogdill and Ashburn, all four of whom walked out of the meeting before it ended.

After a series of caucus votes among the 11 remaining members, Hollingsworth emerged as the new leader. The Murrieta Republican said it was too early to tell whether the change would force legislative leaders and Schwarzenegger to begin budget talks anew, though he emphasized that he still opposes new tax hikes.

“I think it’s pretty clear, the statement I’ve made in the last few days, is that I don’t want see a tax increase passed,” Hollingsworth said. “I think the majority of my caucus doesn’t want to see a tax increase passed in this particular package. But we’ll see what happens in the next few minutes, the next few hours, the next few days.”

Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, who was named as the caucus’ elections chair, said he hoped the change in leadership would “let California know where we stand on this $14.3 billion tax increase. We believe that tax increases are harmful to the people, the hardworking California families.”

But Maldonado said he disagreed with the change in the midst of budget negotiations.

“I just can’t believe that in the middle of the night we would oust our leader,” he said. “I didn’t support Dave Cogdill for leader, but I didn’t vote to vote him out today. It’s the wrong time to make a change in this process.”

Cogdill faced criticism throughout the weekend after negotiating a budget deal with other legislative leaders and Schwarzenegger but failing to secure enough votes in his caucus. Some members, including Maldonado, criticized his leadership skills, but others acknowledged that few members could control such a splintered caucus.

“I certainly wish the new leader all the best,” Cogdill said before Hollingsworth was chosen. “It’s an extremely difficult job.”

Stakes rose as the state began sending layoff notices to 20,000 state workers and braced for a shutdown of 374 construction projects valued at $5.58 billion if no budget is passed by today.

Pulling the plug on projects ranging from highway to prison to flood-control work would affect an estimated 91,800 jobs in a state plagued by recession and rising unemployment.

“We’re in a highly unusual and frightening position, and actually, close to panic time,” said Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara.

Maldonado sounded optimistic Tuesday afternoon.

“I know all the ramifications,” he said. “I’m getting briefed on layoffs. … I think we’re close.”

Steinberg has ordered senators to remain at the Capitol, without going home or conducting other business, until the 17-month spending plan is adopted.

Preparing for the worst, senators came to work Tuesday with spare clothes, toiletries and toothbrushes.

But Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, joked that a little bad breath might actually be helpful, providing new incentive to reach agreement.

On a more serious note, DeSaulnier applauded the lockdown.

“I think it’s best for us to be here until we get it done,” he said.

The Assembly is not barred from leaving the Capitol while waiting for the Senate to adopt the package of several dozen bills. Schwarzenegger flew home to Los Angeles late Tuesday with plans to resume negotiations this morning.

Passage requires a two-thirds majority of the Legislature, meaning every Democrat and at least three Republicans in each house, a margin that appears certain in the Assembly but one GOP senator short in the Senate.

The proposal supported by Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders calls for $14.3 billion in temporary tax increases, $15.1 billion in spending cuts and $11.4 billion in borrowing.

The plan would cover the current fiscal year, and the next one, ending July 1, 2010.

Nearly every Californian would be affected by temporary increases in the state’s vehicle license fee and higher gasoline, sales and personal income taxes proposed in the budget package.

Hoping to stimulate the state’s economy, the plan calls for accelerating some public works projects and giving tax breaks to some businesses.

In Senate debate, Republicans and Democrats were deeply split Tuesday on whether raising taxes would save the state from fiscal calamity or backfire by draining the economy.

“If we do not pass this budget and this tax increase today, the California dream will turn into the California nightmare,” said Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach.

But Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, argued that Californians already pay their fair share.

“We think our taxpayers are vulnerable,” he said. “We don’t want to put them at risk.”

Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, noted that the plan includes numerous ways to stimulate the economy. He suggested the GOP was exaggerating potential harm to taxpayers.

“This kind of reminds me of the story of Chicken Little — the sky is falling,” he said.

Cox countered with a children’s story in which a camel’s back was broken by an impossibly heavy load created over time by adding one strand of straw after another.

He likened the load to taxes.

“Our concern is the straws that are about to be added to the camel,” he said.

Republican senators called it ironic that President Barack Obama wants to stimulate the economy by adding money to taxpayers’ pocketbooks while the state’s proposal would take some away.

Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, said Democrats aren’t overjoyed by the proposal. “But is it a reasonable and pragmatic compromise?” she asked. “I think it is.”

Cox said lawmakers should focus on a short-term fix, such as budget cuts, that does not raise taxes but allows the state to keep paying its bills.

He has not said publicly what changes might win his budget vote.

Kevin Bassett, Cox’s chief of staff, did not discuss details but said the senator wants the tax package reduced and wants Democrats to reconsider their decision not to loosen workplace rules regarding overtime and flexible schedules.

By contrast, Maldonado wants to change state elections and legislative pay.

“We want to reform the way California government operates,” he said.

Specifically, Maldonado is seeking an open primary system for state elections; a prohibition on paying legislators if the budget is late; a ban on legislative pay hikes and per diem increases when the state has a budget deficit; and removal of pork spending in the package of budget bills.