| January 30, 2008 | Global Warming Curriculum - SB 908 (Simitian) |
| | I would gladly vote for this bill if there was a requirement that the curriculum on global warming be science-based and balanced. That discussion and examination is desperately needed not only in our schools but in the halls of government. |
| January 14, 2008 | Houston I. Flournoy |
| | Mr. President: I rise with sadness to note the passing of former State Assemblyman and former State Controller Houston I. Flournoy. Hugh Flournoy truly was a remarkable and rare public servant who never lusted for political positions except as a means to a higher end. Though he was disdainful of politics in general and political office in particular, he cared very deeply about this state and its people. |
| June 17, 2007 | What Now? |
| | As the Senate immigration bill faltered, Sen. Diane Feinstein complained that the status quo is de facto amnesty because the mass deportation of millions of illegal aliens is logistically, politically and socially impractical. Feinstein and her cohorts seem oblivious to the fact that it is precisely this attitude that discredits any of their promises that a new, tougher law will somehow be enforced once an amnesty is granted. Sorry: been there, done that. |
| June 4, 2007 | SB 1019 (Romero) Open Police Proceedings |
| | It is a fairly well established principle that public servants work for the public and the public has a right to know what they're doing with the authority the public has loaned to them. For this reason, we have the open records act and the open meetings act – to assure the sun can shine on all aspects of governmental business. There's one inexplicable exception: when it comes to those who exercise life or death control over people's lives – who literally have official sanction to hurt them, incarcerate them, even kill them to enforce our laws and protect the public. |
| May 14, 2007 | SB 37 – Electoral College |
| | This measure is flawed on a number of different levels. The first is that it attempts to use an interstate compact to do an end-run around the amendment process. But interstate compacts without Congressional approval are themselves forbidden under the United States Constitution in these explicit words: "No state shall, without the consent of Congress…enter into any agreement or compact with another state." If you want to amend the constitution – amend the constitution. There's a constitutional process for doing so. But don't use an illegal means that attempts to cut out of the decision ALL of the states in our union. |
| May 7, 2007 | Gil Ferguson R.I.P. |
| | I have known many upstanding and exemplary leaders in the state legislature during my 21 years here. The very finest of them passed away yesterday. For a decade on the Assembly floor, Gil Ferguson stood as an outspoken champion of simple principles of liberty and fairness, and did so with a gentle eloquence and good humor that commanded attention and respect. |
| April 11, 2007 | Senator Tom McClintock’s remarks to the Senate Education Committee in support his bill SB 268 |
| | This measure rescinds the in-state tuition subsidy for illegal immigrants attending state universities and community colleges that was granted by AB 540 in 2001. Under current law, California taxpayers provide non-residents of the state of California – including foreign nationals illegally in the United States – the same in-state tuition subsidy as legal California residents – as long as they have spent three years in and graduated from a California high school. To put it simply, an illegal immigrant pays around $7,000 per year to attend the University of California. An American citizen from Nevada pays $24,000. |
| April 27, 2006 | Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 (SCR 113) |
| | Listening to Senator Alarcon talk about the views of the American Founders on immigration caught my attention and my interest. I am quite familiar with the writings of Benjamin Franklin on the subject and Senator Alarcon may be very surprised to learn that there was no more ardent or vigorous critic of illegal immigration than Benjamin Franklin.
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| April 6, 2006 | More on the Use of Conference Committees - Debate on SB 1130 |
| | Mr. President: When we met on January 12th to defer the Senate's traditional constitutional role in the deliberation over state bonds in favor of a single conference committee, I warned in vain that no good would come of it. |
| April 6, 2006 | Bernard Siegan |
| | Mr. President: I rise to ask that when the Senate adjourns today it does so in memory of Bernard H. Siegan, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, and one of the leading constitutional scholars in the field of property rights of our generation.
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| January 24, 2006 | Transportation Committee Hearing |
| | I want to begin by applauding the administration for finally focusing the government's attention on our long-neglected public works.
I have often lamented the climacteric that befell our state in 1974 with the election of Gov. Jerry Brown and the introduction of a radical and retrograde ideology. He called it his "era of limits." It was punctuated with such new age nonsense as the mantra "small is beautiful." I think it can best be described as the naïve notion that if we stopped building things, people would stop coming. |
| January 12, 2006 | On the Use of Conference Committees - Debate on AB147 |
| | One of the saddest milestones in the deterioration of the state legislature is the use of conference committees (comprised of just 6 out of 120 legislators) to adopt legislation from scratch – bypassing the entire constitutional legislative process. This is occurring with increasing frequency involving the most important issues coming before the session -- precisely those issues that deserve the most vigorous participation by the entire membership. |
| October 3, 2005 | Press Conference on AB 1747 |
| | I am here to urge the governor – in the strongest possible terms – to veto AB 1747. |
| August 31, 2005 | Remarks Against SB 861 - Enactment of Breed-Specific Dog Ordinances for Mandatory Spaying and Neutering and Breeding Restrictions |
| | Proponents of this measure have said this is a matter of local control. The reality is that local officials can be just as despotic as state officials and Senate Bill 861, at its core, is a despotic bill. There are two types of laws. One type of law holds individuals accountable for their own actions. In such a society, the irresponsible, reckless one percent who endanger others are held accountable for those actions, and we have laws that punish them. |
| April 6, 2005 | Senate Education Committee - SB 349 |
| | This measure rescinds the in-state tuition subsidy for illegal immigrants attending state universities and community colleges that was granted by AB 540 in 2001. |
| February 13, 2005 | What Ails California? |
| | To know what California can be, it's important to remember what it once was. A generation ago, California's highways were the envy of the world. We had one of the finest school systems in the country and one of the finest university systems in the world. Electricity was so cheap that there was serious discussion of abandoning electricity meters. The state water project promised abundant water supplies to complete the greening of California. Afforble housing abounded at all income levels. California was indeed the Golden State - a land of opportunity and plenty far surpassing every other state in the nation. |
| May 7, 2003 | SB 962 - Unemployment Insurance Fraud |
| | When Nancy Murphy, from whom you will hear in a minute, called the Employment Development Department (EDD) to report the obvious fraud committed against Flexline, she was told that the Department "only" loses $51 million annually to this type of fraudulent claim and that isn't enough to warrant additional safeguards.
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| May 28, 2002 | BRAC - Senate Floor Remarks on SB 1428 (McClintock). The measure sets up a Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Commission to identify, downsize or eliminate obsolete bureaucracies. |
| | This measure is modeled after the federal military base realignment and closure commission which successfully closed 90 obsolete military bases, saving some $20 billion per year. SB 1428 applies the same mechanism to a similar problem: how to identify, downsize, or eliminate obsolete state bureaucracies. |
| October 9, 2001 | National Right to Work Committee. A speech by Senator Tom McClintock. |
| | I am very honored to be here today to salute the National Right to Work Committee and to personally thank each of you for making its efforts possible. For over a decade I have served on the labor committees of the Assembly and Senate of this state. I have seen first-hand the oppressive legislation and the overbearing tactics of the opposition over many years. |
| September 19, 2001 | The Home Front. A speech by Senator Tom McClintock. |
| | We had planned to gather here for a political event, to discuss the pressing issues facing state government. But now there is a far greater issue facing civilization. |
| September 10, 2001 | "Predatory" Lending. Senate Floor Debate Remarks by Senator Tom McClintock. |
| | One of the most common observations down through
history is how remarkably prosperous are free societies. What is the mechanics of that prosperity?
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| August 23, 2001 | Senate Floor Debate on the Confirmation of Governor's Appointments. Senator Tom McClintock - Senate Floor Remarks |
| | We do have a role in the constitutional process of
scrutinizing the appointments of the executive. |
| June 9, 2001 | Freedom and Firearms |
| | A Speech by Senator Tom McClintock
Western
Conservative Conference, Los Angeles |
| June 6, 2001 | SB 52 -- Two modern views of government that begin from entirely different premises |
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| May 18, 2001 | Closing the Era of Limits |
| | We have a new century gaping before us with promise and potential that dwarfs the last. It is time that we stopped hiding from it, and instead reached out for it. And all that we lack is the political will to do so. |
