"Thirteen legislators -- four
Senate and nine Assembly members
-- have asked the state
controller to kill their
$3,110-a-year raise.
"The other 106 lawmakers and 11
of 12 constitutional officers
are taking the money, although
they officially have until Dec.
17 to turn it down."
Wonder if the No on 93
campaign is on to this one...
"The sweeter salaries take
effect at a time when the state
projects a $10 billion budget
deficit, but the pay hike was
approved five months ago by an
independent citizens commission
created by voters through
Proposition 112 in 1990.
"Besides [Abel] Maldonado,
legislators rejecting today's
raise are Assembly Republicans
Alan Nakanishi of Lodi,
Ted Gaines of Roseville,
Roger Niello of Fair Oaks
and Martin Garrick of
Solana Beach; Assembly Democrats
Nicole Parra of Hanford,
Mike Eng of
Monterey Park, Ed
Hernandez of
West Covina, Hector De
La Torre of
South Gate and Anthony
Portantino of
La Canada Flintridge; and
Sens. Lou Correa, D-La
Habra, Jeff Denham,
R-Atwater, and Mark Wyland,
R-Del Mar."
FREE SPENDING LEGISLATORS
"As leader of the California Assembly, Speaker
Fabian Nuņezhas
traveled the world in luxury, paying with
campaign funds for visits to some of the finest
hotels and restaurants and for purchases at high-end
retailers such as Louis Vuitton in
Paris.
"It is not clear how these activities have related
to legislative business, as state law requires,
because the
Los Angeles Democrat refuses to provide
details on tens of thousands of dollars in such
expenditures.
"The spending, listed in mandatory filings with the
state, includes $47,412 on United,
Lufthansa and Air France airlines this year;
$8,745 at the exclusive Hotel Arts in
Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a 'meeting' at
Cave L'Avant Garde, a wine seller in the Bordeaux
region of
France; a total of $2,562 for two 'office
expenses' at Vuitton, two years apart; and $1,795
for a 'meeting' at Le Grand Colbert, a venerable
Parisian restaurant.
"Nuņez also spent $2,934 at
Colosseum Travel in Rome, and paid $505 to
the European airline
Spanair.
"Other expenses are closer to home: a $1,715 meeting
at Asia de Cuba restaurant in
West Hollywood; a $317 purchase at upscale
Pavilion Salon Shoes in
Sacramento; a $2,428 meeting at 58 Degrees
and Holding, a
Sacramento wine bar and bistro; and $800
spent at Dollar Rent a Car in
Kihei, Hawaii.
"Asked in an interview about his foreign travel in
general, Nuņez said: 'For me, it's a question of:
Is my perspective on issues broad enough? Do I have
enough context when I make decisions? This is a big
state to run. You've got to know what you're doing.'"
Copyright 2007- Central Solano
Citizen/Taxpayer Group (CSCTG, TaxWatchers.org)
