Dave Cox Senate Report: March 2006

Audit of Rob Reiner's First Five Commission

Last week I asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to approve an audit of the California First Five Commission’s spending practices and contracting procedures.

The First Five Commission was created by Proposition 10, which was passed by the voters in 1998. It added a tax on cigarettes of 50 cents per pack and directed the funds to be used for anti-smoking programs, health care, child care and various other items.

Recent news reports revealed that the Commission awarded a no-bid contract to a public relations firm that over the life of the contract is expected to have a total value of $62 million. The Commission later awarded a contract expected to be worth $169.5 million through 2007 to an advertising firm that was “highly recommended” by the Commission’s Chairman Rob Reiner in a bidding process heavily weighted in favor of that firm. Moreover, these same firms working for the First 5 Commission, both of which had previously worked on the Proposition 10 campaign, were also being paid by the Proposition 82 campaign to qualify and pass the “Preschool for All” initiative on the June ballot.

Finally, news reports indicate that last year, the Commission spent $23 million on “Preschool for All” advertisements that ran from November to mid-January, making it one of the largest state-funded advertising campaigns ever in California. During this same time period, Mr. Reiner’s paid political consultants worked to qualify his Universal Pre-School for All Initiative. In January, the Chairman of the State Commission announced that his “Preschool for All,” ballot initiative had qualified for the June ballot as Proposition 82. This has raised allegations of self dealing and use of state resources for an initiative campaign.

I felt that this questionable use of taxpayer funds on a public relations program at the same time initiative petitions were being circulated violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the law that prohibits the use of public funds on political activities.

The request to audit the funds is based on similar circumstances that the committee acted on in the past to examine whether former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was accused of misusing public funds, and the Insurance Committees of both houses used when former Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush was accused of using public funds for personal and political purposes. I felt that this situation justified a similar inquiry. My hope is that the State Auditor will determine the facts and ensure that tax dollars are used in an appropriate manner.

My audit request is now bipartisan, as Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer has added his name. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee will decide on March 8th whether or not to approve this request.

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Flood Control Emergency

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been sounding the alarm about the safety of our levee system for over a year. The Department of Water Resources documented major deficiencies in a report submitted to the Legislature in January of 2005. It warned that a major earthquake could lead to a catastrophic levee failure, threatening the drinking water supply for 24 million Californians and possibly $30-40 million in crop damage to the state’s agriculture industry.

The Governor’s Strategic Growth Initiative proposed a major investment to address these problems. He has since taken another productive step by declaring a state of emergency for the state’s levee system. In his declaration, he identified 24 critical erosion sites that need immediate attention. Many of them are along the Sacramento River, but none are located in the First Senate District. It may be possible to speed the repairs of these critical sites using an expedited procedure allowed in emergency situations.

Each time we have a major storm event, the levee system deteriorates a little more. During this year’s New Year’s Day storm, the Governor declared local emergencies in 34 counties, many of them in the First Senate District.

The Governor also wrote to President Bush, requesting that he similarly declare a federal disaster in order for federal assistance to be sent to California in an expedited fashion.

I commend the Governor for this action. In this way, I believe that he will help focus all of us on the critical needs for flood control and water storage in our state, and to obtain the repairs that have been necessary in our levee system for a very long time.

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Cox Legislative Package

February marked the end of the period when Senators can introduce new legislation to be considered in the 2006 legislative session. I have introduced a number of bills for consideration. Let me highlight some of them:

SB 1378 - Under current law, it is not specifically against the law to operate a boat in excess of five miles per hour in the vicinity of a scuba dive flag. This bill would make such activity a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 or imprisonment of 5 days or less, or by both such fine and imprisonment. I think this bill will enhance safety for scuba divers in this state and I was frankly surprised that it was not already against the law.

SB 1431 - This bill would extend the ability of cities, counties and special districts in California to use the design-build method of contracting to construct infrastructure projects in local jurisdictions. My bill last year (SB 287) extended this authority to 30 counties, and SB 1431 will allow any county, city or special district to use design-build contracts. Design-build is a process where government agencies hire a single firm to design and build a structure or facility. Traditional building contracts have separate entities design and build the project. Design-build in some instances can speed up the construction process and thereby save the local agency money and deliver the project faster.

SB 1682 - Once again I have introduced a bill that would require voters to show proof of identity and residence prior to being allowed to vote in a polling place. With the continuing concern about voter registration fraud and the questions many voters have about the integrity of the process, I will attempt for the fourth time to have the Legislature pass this requirement. By simply asking voters to show their driver’s license or any other proof of identity, we can improve the confidence of everyone in our state that our election system is secure and reliable.

If you have questions about legislation I have introduced this year, feel free to log on to the Senate Website at www.senate.ca.gov and under the Legislation section enter my last name to see all of the bills I have authored. You can also perform subject searches and enter bill numbers if you know specifically what you are looking for. The site also has historical information on all legislation introduced in the last 10 years.

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New Committee Assignment

Senate President Pro tem Don Perata and Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman worked together to streamline the committee process in order to improve efficiency of how our house is operated. We had a situation where Senators were on too many committees, many of which met at similar times, which caused too many bills to be heard without having enough Senators present. I support their decision to reduce the number of Senators on each committee.

While I am disappointed that I will no longer serve on the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, I am pleased to announce that I have been added to the Senate Budget Committee, and will serve on the Subcommittee that deals with Health, Human Services, Labor and Veterans’ Affairs.

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Every Woman Counts

Every 24 minutes a woman in California is diagnosed with breast cancer. Each year, over 21,000 women are diagnosed and over 4,000 die from breast cancer. The good news is that the survival rate for those women diagnosed and treated early is 95 percent.

The California Department of Health Services Cancer Detection Programs “Every Woman Counts” offers free breast cancer screenings to all women 40 and older who are low income or uninsured. Women ages 50 and older who live in rural areas are being specifically targeted in the “Every Woman Counts” outreach program.

Women living anywhere in California can call the program’s toll free number: 1-800-511-2300 to see if they qualify. Qualified women will be referred to health care providers in their communities. More information is available by clicking on this link:
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/cdic/ccb/cds/breastcancer/breastcancer.htm

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Adopt-A-Highway Volunteers Needed

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 3 office is soliciting volunteers to help with its Adopt-A-Highway program in Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

The Adopt-A-Highway program was started in 1989 and more than 120,000 Californians have kept over 15,000 shoulder-miles of roadside clean statewide.

Participation can include one or more of the following activities:

• Removing litter (work frequency varies with location)
• Planting and establishing trees or wildflowers
• Removing graffiti
• Controlling vegetation

Adoptions usually span a two-mile stretch of roadside and permits are issued for five-year periods. Groups may apply for additional five-year permits. Volunteers work between 6 to 24 times per year, depending on the location and most work is done on weekends. Groups who want to participate in the program can be as small as one individual or as large as 100 persons.

If anyone is interested in volunteering for this program, please call (530) 741-4310 to start the process. For more information on the Adopt-A-Highway program, you can go to its website at:
http://adopt-a-highway.dot.ca.gov

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Personal Update

Some of you may know that I recently fractured my heel bone, and I wanted to let you all know that I am fine and continuing to work just as hard as ever. I had just finished having dinner with the Georgetown Republican Women’s Federation, and I thought I could take a shortcut to the parking lot. I stepped over a flower bed, but as it was nighttime, I didn’t see that there was a four foot drop to the parking lot. It was clumsy on my part, and while the doctors have told me that the recovery time will be about eight weeks, it hasn’t slowed me down a bit.

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Quotes of the Week

“The hand that rules the press… rules the country.” - Judge Learned Hand

“If you read a lot of books you’re considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you’re not considered well viewed.” - Lily Tomlin

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