Jerry Brown Tag

California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom will officially become governor on Jan. 7th. On his way out of office, our current governor is leaving in his trademark "Moonbeam" style. For openers, Jerry Brown blamed rural Californians for not wanting higher taxes to help fight climate change.

Chuck Todd, host of MSNBC’s "Meet the Press," asked about how California’s new gas tax hurts rural residents who need cars because they don’t have access to public transportation. He cited an article from CityLab, which said the gas tax "punishes people for not having access to transit options," but Brown bowled right over Todd’s research and blamed rural Californians for not being on board with his agenda.

California is dead to me...a smoldering ruin of a once prosperous state. I spent a glorious Thanksgiving week in Michigan, enjoying my first snowfall in many years and escaping coverage of the wildfire disaster.  Before leaving, I went through my jewelry collection and packed sentimental favorites and valuable items in the event that San Diego was hit with a fire during my vacation. While I was organizing my case, my anger at the choices made by both federal and state politicians and bureaucrats that led to the loss of life was heating up as hot as any of those flames. And instead of meaningful change, Governor Jerry Brown's solution to this is to let the utilities charge us for the fire settlements likely to stem from this disaster.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a measure allowing utilities to bill their customers to pay for future legal settlements stemming from devastating 2017 wildfires.

Governor Jerry Brown has just signed a sweeping reform bill that makes California the first state in the nation to abolish bail for suspects awaiting trial.

An overhaul of the state's bail system has been in the works for years, and became an inevitability earlier this year when a California appellate court declared the state's cash bail system unconstitutional. The new law goes into effect in October 2019.

Despite the fact the drought is officially over in the Golden State, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two bills that will force water districts and municipalities to permanently adopt aggressive water rationing levels.

The two bills will set water-efficiency goals for water suppliers throughout the state. The governor said the measures will help California be better prepared for future droughts and the effects of climate change.

As Professor Jacobson recently noted, California Governor Jerry Brown occasionally has moments of sanity and clarity. In what can only be described as a Thanksgiving miracle, it is being reported that Brown is endeavoring to tackle the looming employee pension crisis by reforming the pension benefits for current government employees.

Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers.

Late in October, California Governor Jerry Brown threatened to sue the administration of President Donald Trump for implementation of environmental policies focused more on real pollutants (e.g., heavy metals) and less on contrived ones (e.g., carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion. I noted Brown would be taking a European "climate change" tour that would include a stop at the Vatican. His presentation at the seat of the Catholic Church focused on climate, alright...the political one.

The last time we checked on Crazy California, many of its taxpayers were rebelling against the legislature-created gas tax and were mounting a recall challenge against one of the Democrats who made that hike possible. During a speech in Orange County earlier this month, and in response to taxpayers angered by the massive increase and those who are supporting the recall of State Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, Governor Jerry Brown had this to say (hat tip, conservative pundit Kira Davis):

“The freeloaders — I’ve had enough of them,” Brown said, adding that the approved tax and fee hikes bring those charges to the level they were 30 years ago if adjusted for inflation. “They have a president that doesn’t tell the truth and they’re following suit.”

California Governor Jerry Brown has adopted an interesting approach to requesting fiscal assistance from President Donald Trump. Legal Insurrection readers will recall that our governor formally requested emergency funding for the storm damage that occurred in the state, which included deterioration of the Oroville Dam that led to a public evacuation of the surrounding area. Brown is also struggling to find monies for his legacy project, the California high speed train, after the Trump administration halted a grant slated for its construction. Brown traveled to Washington, D.C.to a address these matters directly with various members of the Trump administration. A sensible approach to take in this sitation might have been to politely focus on areas of agreement with the President.