Dave Cox Senate Report: November 2007

2008 Election Dates

As you probably know, California will have three statewide elections next year. February 5th will be a statewide presidential primary, June 3rd is the regular primary election for state and local offices, and November 4th is the presidential general election. Since California has statewide initiative and referendum provisions in its constitution, any initiative or referendum that is qualified is eligible to be voted upon at any of these elections.

There will be seven statewide measures on the February 5, 2008 ballot. The ones that will capture the most attention will be Proposition 93, a term limit reform measure, and four referenda on tribal gaming compacts recently approved by the Legislature and the Governor (Propostions 94 through 97).

Proposition 93 will reduce the total amount of time that members of the Legislature can serve from 14 to 12 years, allow those 12 years to be served in one house, but extend the terms of some current members of the Senate and Assembly that have already reached their 14 year term limit.

The tribal gaming compacts allow four southern California tribes to expand their current casinos by adding 5,000 or 7,500 slot machines, depending on the compact.

State law prohibits members of the Legislature from advocating support or opposition to ballot measures using state resources. Thus, I cannot discuss my positions on these measures in our newsletter, but I can answer specific questions from my constituents on these measures in any public forum. I simply wish the readers of this newsletter to know that there is an election coming up (we have never had a primary in February before) and what issues will be considered at that election.

For information about the February 5, 2008 election you can go on-line to: http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/

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Prison Population Cap

California’s prisons currently hold over 173,000 convicted felons in a system designed to house only about 100,000. Because of this situation, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been under scrutiny by two federal judges who are overseeing cases brought by legal advocates involving the general health and mental health of prisoners within our prisons.

These two judges, at the request of the legal advocates, recently convened a three-judge panel as called for in federal law when these advocates filed a motion to place a limit, or a cap, on the number of prisoners housed within the California prison system.

According to the Department of Corrections, a ruling granting the request for a population cap could result in the release of between 35,000 to 40,000 prisoners. The prisoners released would be those who are not in prison for what are designated as violent or serious felonies. The number of people in prison who fit this non-violent/non-serious category covers 30 percent, or a little fewer than 52,000 inmates. Violent offenses include murder, rape, and the entire array of sex crimes, arson, robbery, kidnapping, extortion and burglary of an inhabited dwelling. These prisoners would not be considered for early release.

Serious felonies include any offense committed while in prison, assault with a deadly weapon, any felony where the defendant used a weapon, selling cocaine, PCP or heroin, grand theft and carjacking. These offenders would not be considered for early release.

Thus, prisoners released if an order for a prison cap were imposed could include those convicted of crimes such as possession or trafficking of anything other than cocaine, PCP or heroin, fraud, larceny, battery, embezzlement, petty theft, second degree burglary, sale of stolen property, parole or probation violations, and weapons violations.

Because current laws require felons to be returned to the county from which they came when they are released from prison, the Department has released estimates of how many prisoners may be released to each county based on the 35,000 to 40,000 assumption of total numbers of prisoners released. 35,000 would be 20% of the current prison population and 40,000 represent 23% of the current population. Los Angeles County of course would see the largest number: 11,000 to 13,000 prisoners. The 12 counties in the First Senate District could see the following number of felons released into our communities under the 20% and the 23% scenario:

We must of course remember that this is only a possibility. The three judge panel must formally rule before a population cap will be imposed. But that ruling could be made soon after a hearing is scheduled in February of 2008. Both the Senate and Assembly Republican Caucus filed motions to intervene in the action before the court, and have lawyers arguing along with the Schwarzenegger Administration that this release would be a serious threat to public safety.

The Legislature has passed a $7.4 billion bond measure to start the process of building more space to house more prisoners within the system, and to better rehabilitate those who are already there and will be released after their sentences have been served. But this may not be enough for a panel of three federal judges who have already put the system under tight controls.

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Unemployment Insurance Delays

My offices have received a number of complaints recently about delays in the Employment Development Department (EDD) answering their phone lines where people can file Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims. The Department recently sent out an explanation of this delay and a suggestion of how to avoid it.

The first problem is simply the size of the program. Last year the EDD filed over 2 million UI claims and paid out more than $4.6 billion in benefits. The phone delay occurs every year in the fall and winter when UI claims increase due to the seasonal jump in unemployment. The state UI program is funded by the federal government, and does not include funding for changes in administrative costs from month to month. Thus, if claims suddenly spike, the EDD cannot shift resources to accommodate it. EDD admits its phone system is outdated, and it is in the process of being upgraded.

The EDD suggests that Californians file for Unemployment benefits online. This can be done at the EDD website at this address: www.edd.ca.gov/eapply4ui
This is the easiest and fastest way to apply for UI, and it can be done 24 hours a day.

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Cox Staff Baby Parade

We are proud to announce the arrival of two new members of the Cox Team:

On December 7th, at 1:54 a.m, Jack Walter Basset was born to Chief of Staff Kevin Bassett and his wife Susan. Jack weighed 8 pounds, six ounces.

On December 12th, at 12:22 a.m. Makenzie Reagan Olmstead was born to District Representative Rob Olmstead and his wife Vanessa. Makenzie weighed six pounds, five ounces. Vanessa is a former Cox staffer and now works for Assemblymember Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks).

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Merry Christmas

Best wishes and Christmas greetings to everyone in the First Senate District.

My staff and I extend our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year!

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Quotes of the Week

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worthwhile.”
- Herm Albright (writer)

“If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?”
- Steven Wright (comedian)

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