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Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 12/11/2009 02:35 PM Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 12/11/2009 02:35 PM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM
:

Dave Cox Senate Report: December 11, 2009

As the Legislature contemplates another challenging fiscal deficit in this year’s and next year’s budget, the Legislature is debating whether or not to accept money from the federal government. This summer, President Obama and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan introduced a new education grant program called “Race to the Top.” The grant consists of 4.35 billion dollars that all states can apply and compete for if they meet certain requirements laid out by administration officials.....

Currently, California is unable to compete for the much needed funds. To be eligible for the “Race to the Top” funds California must adopt comprehensive reforms to its education system. As much as the state could use a quick budget injection, it could use real education reform more. Of course education reform draws strong opposition from teacher’s unions.

A bipartisan effort in the Senate, led by Senators Wyland, Romero, Huff and Alquist, seeks to put kids first and politics aside. SB 1 (5X), will make California eligible to tap into the funds and very competitive to receive up to 700 million dollars in education funding. I was pleased to support this bill on the Senate Floor.

The bill is a big step in the right direction to stop the culture of failure in California’s school system. Its overarching goal is to improve the performance of the state’s worst schools and give those students a greater chance to succeed.

Teachers must be rewarded for their successes and held accountable for failure, just as students are with their grades. By allowing student performance data to evaluate teachers’ effectiveness the bill will give administrators an opportunity to reward successful instruction and a chance to mentor teachers that may be struggling. This will simply help parents, teachers and administrators empirically identify reasons for success or failure.

The First Senate District is home to some fantastic schools and many great teachers. But even in the 12 counties I represent, there is room for improvement in our educational outcomes.

Many of the state’s worst schools are in its poorest neighborhoods. Lifting the cap on charter schools will allow for future development of more schools in some of California’s most underserved communities. Introducing charter schools to these communities will provide parents with an opportunity to lift their kids from failing public schools and give the student a greater chance to succeed. In California, charter schools are already successfully serving the most disadvantaged students. In schools where more than 70 percent of students qualify for the free lunch program, 12 of the 15 top-performing schools (based on test scores) are charter schools.

Another attempt to exile children out of cycles of academic failure included in the bill is open enrollment. By no means should a family’s address predetermine the likelihood of academic success. Allowing parents and their children to choose the best school for their needs will give students another opportunity to succeed.

Instead of seeking a broad bipartisan education reform bill the Assembly Democrats have sought to weaken the reforms in the education system contained in SB 1 (5x) at the request of California’s teachers unions. Unlike the Senate, some in the Assembly would rather do the bare minimum to qualify for the “Race to the Top” dollars. The Governor has rejected these attempts because he wants California’s application for the dollars to be the best among the states that seek these funds, not a mediocre plea.

Proponents of the Senate bill not only want to receive the funding to help with the budget deficit but also see this as a great opportunity to reform the state’s education system. California schools are long over due for a healthy dose of accountability, parental empowerment, flexibility and competitiveness. The country will be watching to see if the Legislature sides with kids over politics as usual. Let’s hope it is the former.

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The Rest of the Story on Abstentions and Absences

Just in case you missed the story and the editorial by the Sacramento Bee this week regarding the voting records and practices of state legislators, I have provided a link to each of them below.

Front Page above the Fold Article: ‘Abstain’ tactic kills bills
Published: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009
http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/2375220.html

Editorial: ‘Taking a pass’ is not excusable
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/2380932.html

California Legislator Voting Record Database
Published: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009
http://www.sacbee.com/votingrecord/

While I applaud the effort by the Sacramento Bee to expose these issues, longtime radio personality Paul Harvey would have said, “And now for the rest of the story...”

The issues addressed by the Bee article and editorial are not new and they have been extensively covered by the San Francisco Chronicle in recent years. The coverage of this issue by the Chronicle included the following editorial on September 6, 2004:

Assembly ‘workers’

... We have repeatedly expressed our disgust at the way Assembly members have made a custom of ducking important votes. Under Assembly rules, a majority of members on a committee -- not just those who actually vote -- is required for passage.

Time after time, major bills are being defeated when a potentially decisive bloc of legislators "take a walk" when the roll is called. ...

Our own research has shown that the problem is not going away. Many significant bills -- notably on consumer protection, public health, environmental protection -- died this session in similar fashion. ...

One bright note in the study was the record of Assemblyman Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks. He voted every time he had the chance. We hope he is enjoying Labor Day; he earned this day off.

It should be no surprise that my favorite part of the Chronicle editorial is the last paragraph. It is interesting that the San Francisco Chronicle, after extensive reporting on vote records, would applaud my record of voting while the Sacramento Bee ignored the issue at the time and waited more than five years to cover the issue.

Santa Monica-based nonprofit Consumer Watchdog was cited in the Sacramento Bee article as having published a study on legislative abstentions five years ago. Consumer Watchdog is generally not an organization to praise Republicans for anything. The following link will take you to their release:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporateering/articles/?storyId=15351

Here is an interesting part of Consumer Watchdog’s analysis:

Republicans Go On Record, Democrats Avoid Accountability:

*

Among California Assembly members returning from the 2001-02 legislative session, the 15 members with the worst non-voting records are Democrats, and 12 of the 15 are members of the Mod Squad ("moderate" democrats) caucus.
*

The legislator with the highest non-voting rate on failed bills was Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood), who failed to vote 60% of the time.
*

Manny Diaz (D-San Jose) was second with a 49.5% nonvoting record.

In contrast, 12 of the best 15 voters on the 2001-02 session's failed bills, that returned to the Assembly this session, are Republicans. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) was the only legislator who voted on every bill, with a 0% non-voting record. Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) had the second-best non-voting record -- he failed to vote 4.3% of the time. The average Assembly nonvoting rate on failed bills was 25%. Democrats' average was 32%, while it was 13.5% for Republicans.

While I strongly believe that voting on measures is the most important duty of legislators and I take great pride in my record over the years with respect to being in committees and on the Assembly and Senate Floors to cast votes, I do want to point out that there are some other reasons that a legislator may abstain on a measure beyond those outlined by the Bee.

The Bee data base shows that I had the opportunity to cast 2,986 votes in 2009. This total is larger than the average legislator due to the fact that I serve on six committees, including the Senate Appropriations Committee where nearly every bill that has a fiscal impact is heard. I also serve on the Senate Health Committee to which a fairly high number of bills are referred. The data base lists 98 votes where I either abstained or was absent. Those 98 votes total approximately 3.3 percent of the total votes that I could have cast.

Twenty-three of those votes occurred on January 12, 2009. On that date, the Senate, in a procedural move, passed 23 bills and sent them to the Assembly. Those bills were measures that had no content other than an expression of intent to pass a budget. Here is what the analysis of one of these bills at the time looked like:

“This bill expresses the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2008.”

In legislative terms, they are known as “spot bills.” As these bills had no content at the time, and were likely to come back for a future vote in a form that I would not support, I opted to abstain on the bills at that time. All of the bills passed 29-1 with nearly every Republican abstaining and nearly every Democrat voting “aye.”

The people of the First Senate District sent me to the Capitol to vote and that is what I will continue to do in each of the committees on which I serve and on the Floor of the California State Senate.

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Local Legislative Hearings on Government Regulations

Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) and I will be hosting a series of legislative hearings on the impact of regulations on local businesses.

In the wake of a study released earlier this year that concluded that the cost of regulation on California businesses is nearly $500 billion annually, and with unemployment at record high levels, the overregulation of businesses is likely one primary cause of the state's lagging economy and high unemployment rates.

Two hearings will be held in December, with additional regional hearings to be held in January. The dates and times are as follows:

Sacramento
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
California State Capitol, Room 126
8:00am - 9:30am

Citrus Heights
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Citrus Heights City Council Chambers
8:00am - 9:30am

Roseville
Tuesday, January 12, 2009
Maidu Community Center
8:00am - 9:30am

Folsom
Wednesday, January 13, 2009
Folsom Lake College Community Room
8:00am - 9:30am

"Hearing from those who are impacted directly by the burdensome load of state and local regulation is necessary in finding out how policy makers can provide a better climate for these businesses to operate and put people back to work," said Assemblyman Niello.

Our economy will not recover and our current state budget deficit will not be resolved until businesses are once again prosperous and hiring new employees.

Employers are invited to offer their testimony of how they are being impacted by specific regulations at any of these hearings. Business owners or representatives should be able to talk specifically about regulations that are preventing their business from growing or allowing them to hire additional employees.

Businesses owners or representatives who wish to testify at the hearings should contact Assemblyman Niello's district office at (916) 349-1995 in advance of the hearings. State and local government elected representatives have also been invited to all of the hearings.

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Scholarship Opportunities

The California Association of Collectors will be awarding $6,000 in scholarships to three high school seniors who apply and write an essay on the topic of “The Importance of Establishing and Maintaining Good Credit During Your College Years.”

As the trade association for businesses that engage in collecting debt from creditors, the Association should be commended for offering to help students with their education and promoting good credit practices among students and all Californians.

The deadline for the scholarship application is February 1, 2010. The applications can be obtained by going to the California Association of Collectors website at: www.cacesf.org

In addition, hydrogen energy leader Proton Energy Systems announced today it is launching a $1 million scholarship program aimed at high school seniors across the nation. The Proton Energy Scholarship will recognize and award high school seniors who demonstrate outstanding achievement, excellence and promise in the field of science or technology, and who plan to pursue higher education in this field.

The scholarship program is supported and funded by Tom Sullivan, owner of Proton Energy and founder of the national chain Lumber Liquidators. The scholarship will award four-year undergraduate scholarship prizes with a total value of up to $100,000 each. Honorable Mentions, Proton Energy Achievers, will be awarded $500 prizes. Sullivan has committed $1 million to the Hydrogen Education Foundation (HEF), who is administering the scholarship program.

Proton Energy Scholarship applicants will be evaluated on academic performance, strength of application, commitment to further education in a science or technology related field, financial need and demonstrated leadership, work ethic and community involvement. Deadline for applications is February 10, 2010. Winners will be announced on April 15, 2010.

For more information on the Proton Energy Scholarship, application guidelines, and to apply, visit :
www.ProtonEnergyScholarship.org


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