The top search in my stats for months now has been “Kamala Harris sucks”, or variations thereof. I get a lot of hits on an old blog in which I chastised the current senator and former California Attorney General for letting former CPUC president Michael Peevey off the hook for inappropriate relations with various utility companies.
Coincidentally, the second biggest search I’ve had lately is about a bill being proposed by Southern California legislator Chris Holden that would allow PG&E to make customers pay the fines for wildfires that have been found to be the result of poor maintenance of PG&E infrastructure.
Holden only filed his proposal a month or so ago, but I’m watching for it. Which brings me to a new online source I’ve found that everybody should know about, the Calfornia Legislative Information site:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml
It’s easy to use – even if the bill has not received a number yet, all you need is the name of the legislator who proposed it, or you can try using key words for a search.
This morning I wanted to check the status of a bill proposed in 2017 that would have exempted school teachers from paying income tax. I would tell you what I think of such a proposal but it would be moot – when I checked the bill status website I found it had “died” earlier this year. Without a whimper, apparently.
That bill had been mentioned on the tv news, as was Holden’s recent proposal. I try to keep my notebook handy when I’m watching the news, these blurbs run by like skittering mice and disappear just as quickly. The media seldom follows legislation, by the time they report something, it’s over.
I believe early intervention in legislation is essential – that is, pay attention, and write to your legislators right away to let them know how you feel about this stuff. I’m going to guess the bill that would have let teachers skip on paying taxes went down because some legislators knew their constituents weren’t going to stand for it.
Of course, that was before the recent election, which has led to Democrats thinking they own the planet. Get ready for some reeeealllly outrageous behavior in Sacramento – think “Philadelphia, NFC Championship 2018″.
In 2019 I hope you will resolve to pay attention and get involved. No more bitching after it’s over.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
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