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Contributor
Ray
Haynes
Mr.
Haynes is an Assembly member representing Riverside and
Temecula.
He serves on the Appropriations and Budget Committees. [go to
Assembly Member Haynes
website at California Assembly][go to Haynes index]
 Those “Girlie-Men” In
Sacramento
Liberals
kowtowing to their special interest masters...
[Ray
Haynes] 7/27/04
The Governor
showed up at the Ontario Mills Mall in Ontario, California,
and referred
to John Burton and Fabian Nunez as “girlie-men.” He
said that they did not have the “guts” to stand up
in front of the people of the state of California and be honest
about their intentions in the budget discussions. For those of
us who were worried that the Governor might be making too many
concessions to the tax-and-spend crowd, this sudden turn of events
was heartening.
First, the Governor
can actually make fun of himself, stealing the “girlie-man” line from the old Saturday Night
Live routine of Hans and Franz who always wanted to “pump
you up” and if you didn’t like it, they would “hurt
you with their little pinkie.” The Governor actually got
the whole state to sit up and listen to the nuances of the budget.
Second, it got the
Democrats attention. People involved in politics always know
when a point has been scored in a political
debate. The Governor’s “girlie-men” comment
got the Democrats howling like that famous soccer announcer.
It was a real score.
Finally, the success
of the Democrats in any budget negotiations is directly reflected
in how well they protect their contributors.
The Governor and the Republicans wanted to repeal two of the
most egregious of the Davis laws—AB 1419, which prohibited
school districts from hiring private contractors to perform certain
non-teaching functions, like transportation and food service
at schools, and SB 796, which allows lawyers to sue employers
for any technical violation of the Labor Code.
AB 1419 was long
a dream of the public employee unions. Bus service, food service,
janitorial services, and the like, which
do not involve actual teaching of students can, in many cases,
be provided by private companies for a lot less than it costs
for the school district to hire the employees and pay the benefits.
If the school district hires the employees, however, the public
employee union gets the dues from that employee, which it then
uses to contribute to Democrat politicians. The fact that it
costs a lot more is irrelevant to them. Who cares if the district
could hire 40 more teachers or buy 10,000 more textbooks with
the savings from the private janitorial company? That company
won’t make the union more powerful. That is the most important
thing to the union. If AB 1419 was repealed, each school district
could decide whether they wanted to hire a private company or
not, instead of Sacramento politicians. The unions would have
none of that.
SB 796 granted to
trial lawyers the right to sue employers for any little violation
of the Labor Code, even if no employee
complained or suffered any injury. So—if your company posted
all those stupid notices in the employee lunchroom in the wrong
place, posted the elevator permit wrong, or left a door open
too long, some plaintiff lawyer could sue your boss, and keep
all the money. Interestingly enough someone could sue the Legislature
for about $28 million for all the violations that currently exist
under this Labor Code in the Capitol right now, even though no
one has died or been hurt working in this building in years.
The law doesn’t even protect the employer if he or she
fixes the problem when it is discovered. Why? Because the lawyers
couldn’t make money if employers were let off the hook
by correcting the problems, according to the author of the bill,
Senator Joe Dunn.
The Governor and
the Republicans wanted to repeal these laws. The Democrats
wanted to protect their trial lawyer and union
masters. The Governor got angry. I say it’s about time.
These “girlie-men” may have finally found someone
who will stand up to them and their special interest masters. CRO
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