Asm. Garrick Speech on Ronald Reagan's Legacy at Centennial Commission Bill Signing

Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick delivered a speech today about Ronald Reagan's enduring legacy, at the signing of his bill to create California's Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission to celebrate his 100th Birthday in 2011. You can watch his speech, or below is a transcript of his remarks:




GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:

Now I would like to bring out a great leader in the Assembly -- we're talking here about Assemblyman Garrick. Thank you very much. (Applause)

ASSEMBLY REPUBLICAN LEADER MARTIN GARRICK:

Thank you, Governor. And Mrs. Reagan, it's almost surreal for me to be here standing so close to you on this special day to honor one of my heroes. It's truly an honor to share this stage with you. And thank you to the people from the Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library for all that you do. This is a magnificent place. And to all of my friends and fellow Reaganites, I want to say it's been too long and we need to do this more often.

I spoke at a graduation ceremony last month for the Army-Navy Academy in my district. As I prepared to address the group of cadets and their families I thought about the first time I heard Ronald Reagan speak in person. It was at the Marlborough High School graduation in Los Angeles in 1974, the last year he was governor.

In the speech "the great communicator" spoke of the price of freedom in America. He spoke of the golden hope of mankind and he spoke of American exceptionalism in the face of socialism and communism. He reminded the graduating students that his generation had gone from a horse and buggy all the way to the moon. He also noted that he, then at the age of 63, had already lived 10 years longer than his life expectancy and that this was a source of great aggravation in certain circles.

Governor Reagan's speech left quite a mark on me as a young man, then only 21 years old and on the rest of the audience that day. Little did we know at that time just how much the great leader would achieve both for our state, our nation and in his lifetime. Six years after that speech I was fortunate enough to join with some of the faces I see today here in the crowd to work on the president's 1980 election in his White House Transition Team and in his administration.

Today I am deeply honored to be able to play a role in honoring Ronald Reagan's legacy as a Californian and an American. As you know, President Reagan was California's first movie start governor. He starred in 53 films during his career. Now, how many have you starred in, Governor? (Laughter) I think it's 30, isn't it? You've got some catching up to do, I think.

But he did more than just conquer Hollywood. He was the first and only person to serve as governor of California and president of the United States. He handed over the Horseshoe to Jerry Brown and the Oval Office he took back from Jimmy Carter. Even though his political opponents set a low bar he far exceeded any and all expectations.

President Reagan inherited a country stuck in stagnation and unleashed the greatest peacetime economic expansion in America's history. He dared to dream not only of a peaceful end to the Cold War but also of the destruction of the evil empire and he accomplished both.

Within a year of leaving office the Berlin Wall fell and Soviet communism crumbled. President Reagan restored pride and power to our military and he once again made our nation a beacon of hope, freedom and optimism for all of the world.

February 6th, 2011 will mark the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. Assembly Bill 1911, with the Governor's signature, creates California's Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission. It will celebrate and honor one of the most influential Californians and Americans in history. And in keeping with President Reagan's distrust of big government we made sure that his bill won't use any taxpayers' dollars and won't grow the bureaucracy.

Just as Ronald Reagan taught the next generation about the greatness of America, I look forward to helping to teach future generations about Ronald Reagan's character, his optimism, his ideals and his enduring legacy. This commission and the celebration of his 100th birthday will help us ensure President Reagan's proper role in history.

Thank you very much. (Applause) Now it's my pleasure to introduce Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth. (Applause)

Unger Brothers Star in Martin Garrick PSA on Kids in Hot Cars

Trent, Gavin, Seth Jr. and Coleman Unger all have starring roles in Assemblyman Garrick's Public Service Announcement reminding drivers not to leave kids in hot cars. Check it out - I'm not that unbiased, but think they may have a future in Hollywood!

Garrick Op-Ed: A new fiscal year, no budget and the Democrats want more taxes

Opinion: A new fiscal year, no budget and the Democrats want more taxes

By Martin Garrick | 07/01/10

Once again California starts a new fiscal year today without a state budget. But it didn’t have to be this way. Assembly Republicans have been reminding lawmakers for the past 100 days, since March 23, that the end of the fiscal year was fast approaching. We urged majority Democrats to begin working with us early, so we could have a bipartisan solution in place before the end of the fiscal year. They said no.

Unfortunately, there are signs that this year’s stalemate may be worse than most. Typically the Democrat-dominated conference committee patches together a plan that allows their leaders to symbolically unite. They then criticize Republicans for not supporting their partisan budget, and blame the two-thirds vote requirement for Sacramento’s dysfunction.

This year the Democrats are taking a different approach. The budget conference committee is at a stand still without any of the contentious issues yet resolved.

Instead, Assembly and Senate Democrat leaders are rigidly touting vastly different plans to tax, borrow and spend their way out of a $19.1 billion budget hole. Senate Democrats want to raise $5 billion in new taxes on kids, cars, alcohol and oil, and to shift responsibility and broader taxing authority to locals. Assembly Democrats remain committed to a complex and discredited borrowing scheme that would take out a 20 year mortgage from the bottle and can recycling fund to pay for this year’s overspending.

While it’s possible that all of this posturing is just for show to appease their core liberal constituencies, it’s also possible that there is something more dubious going on. There have been rumblings for over a month that Democrats are pursuing a strategy to shut down state government if Republicans won’t agree to tax increases. The latest budget developments give credence to this theory.

In a rather ominous sign, Assembly Democrats leaked to the media a memo from the Speaker in which he says that “it is critical that the Democrats hold firm and not engage in any negotiation until the governor shows signs of reciprocation.” The Speaker fumes that he wants the Governor and Republicans to withdraw plans to reduce state spending and cut programs California can’t afford. Yet, he appears unwilling to even work with his Democrat counterparts in the Senate to produce a viable plan, let alone come to the table and negotiate alternative spending reductions with Republicans.

With the new fiscal year upon us, it seems Democrat leaders are determined to drag out the process and inflict budget pain on Californians if Republicans will not feed their appetite for tax increases. Yet the people and the experts have already spoken on their competing schemes.

The tax and spend approach the Senate Democrats favor is the same one that voters rejected last May. The borrowing scheme the Assembly Democrats are staking their claim to was deemed unconstitutional by the Attorney General and rejected by the Treasurer.

Of the three budget plans on the table, only the Governor has provided a realistic roadmap to a responsible budget. Legislative Republicans remain united behind the Governor’s budget blueprint. Rather than writing a fourth or fifth plan, negotiations need to start immediately on the May Revise. It is the only plan introduced to date that sets priorities, reduces spending, and maintains last year’s education funding levels, without raising taxes.

It’s time for legislative Democrats to stop stalling and thwarting negotiations. It is irresponsible to take budget hostages in order to try to turn up the pressure for tax increases. Republicans have been eager to get to work on a responsible, no-tax budget for the last 100 days. How many more days will we have to wait until legislative Democrats are ready to come to the table and get serious? The real consequences for inaction mount every day from here forward.

California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million at casino ATMs over eight months

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issues an executive order requiring recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to meet basic subsistence needs. GOP legislators call for the cash to be returned.

By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times

June 25, 2010

California welfare recipients using state-issued debit cards withdrew more than $1.8 million in taxpayer cash on casino floors between October 2009 and last month, state officials said Thursday.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order requiring welfare recipients to promise they will use cash benefits only to "meet the basic subsistence needs" of their families. The order also gave the state Department of Social Services seven days to produce a plan to reduce other types of "waste, fraud and abuse" in the welfare program.

The moves came after The Times reported Wednesday that officials at the department failed to notice for years that welfare recipients could use the state-issued cards to withdraw taxpayer cash at more than half of the tribal casinos and state-licensed poker rooms in California. The state initiated the debit card program in 2002.

Casino withdrawals, which represented far less than 1% of total welfare spending during the eight months for which the department released data, averaged just over $227,392 a month.

Schwarzenegger has already ordered the vendor that runs the state welfare system's ATM network to prohibit the cards from working at casino machines. Republican lawmakers are now calling on the administration to track down the people who withdrew cash at gaming centers and recover the money.

"I'd say that $227,000 per month is an astounding waste of taxpayer dollars," said Seth Unger, spokesman for Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick of Solana Beach. "To me it is absolutely clear that the department failed in its duty to provide oversight. We should explore all options to get the money back."

The electronic benefit transfer cards allow welfare recipients to access two accounts: cash offered through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and an electronic version of food stamps, which comes with strict rules governing how the money can be spent.

The cash benefits, however, can be withdrawn and spent just about anywhere. A Times review of state records found that the cards work at ATMs in 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms.

Most of the ATMs impose a withdrawal limit of about $300 a day. The monthly cash grant for a family of three ranges up to $694, while families with more than 10 people can get as much as $1,469, documents from the Social Services Department show.

Some Assembly Republicans called Thursday for assurances that welfare recipients can't access ATMs at other "seedy" businesses. "If they're going to shut down … the casinos, why not also shut down the ATMs at liquor stores and bars?" Unger asked.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the point of the executive order was to force the department to examine the program for all manner of abuse, but did not specify any other kinds of businesses that might be weeded out of the network. "We're going to eliminate any waste, fraud and abuse that makes sense to eliminate," he said.

Democrats, who have been fighting to preserve the state's fraying social safety net in the face of a $19-billion budget gap, angrily rejected a Schwarzenegger proposal last month to eliminate the cash portion of welfare.

That was before anyone in Sacramento realized the money could be withdrawn by someone strolling from a poker game to a blackjack table.

Democratic leaders steered away from specifics while discussing calls for reform.

"We will conduct timely legislative oversight," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). "We want to make sure all families are spending the money on the children it's intended to serve."

jack.dolan@latimes.com

State Lawmakers Debate Golf and Rocks...

On June 21, the longest day of the year, the Legislature debated whether to change the state rock and named LAST week (already passed) "California Golf Week". Mind you, the Constitutional Deadline to pass a budget was June 15, the end of the Fiscal Year is June 30, and there's a $19.1 billion budget deficit... I talked to Fox 40 News for a story on what's going on in the Capitol.

 

Asm. Garrick SacBee Viewpoint: Cut spending to balance budget

Viewpoints: Cut spending to balance budget
Special to The Sacramento Bee

Published Thursday, Jun. 17, 2010


Another budget deadline has come and another has been missed. But it's not because there isn't a budget blueprint on the table that deserves the Legislature's attention. Instead of scrapping the governor's May Revise and devising schemes to raise taxes and maintain spending, legislative Democrats should get serious about addressing the overspending at the root of the budget crisis.

The governor released a responsible approach to closing a $19 billion budget hole more than a month ago that will reprioritize and reduce state spending, and finally slow the unsustainable growth of state government. The plan identifies state priorities: making sure K-12 education funding is not reduced, and reducing spending in health and welfare programs not mandated by the federal government, without raising taxes.

Lawmakers also must seize this opportunity to reform and fix many of the underlying causes of the state's perpetual fiscal crisis. This includes reforming a state pension system that has seen a 2,000 percent cost increase to the public over the past 10 years.

This reform alone could save $110 billion over the next 30 years. Pension reform is a critical issue that must be addressed in this year's budget discussions.

It's also time once and for all to place a strict spending cap in the state constitution, and strengthen the rainy-day fund to help keep the budget balanced even when revenues decline. Such a reform would ensure that we save sufficiently during the good times so we can better protect priorities like education and public safety during bad times.

Unfortunately, legislative Democrats have rejected these sensible approaches, and introduced vastly differing budget plans. They want to increase state spending and debt, and to raise taxes by billions of dollars on working Californians. Their primary motivation is to protect government jobs. The 38 million Californians who don't work for the government should matter just as much as the 350,000 state employees who do.

Assembly Democrats reject all but $1.2 billion of the governor's spending reductions needed to close the deficit.

Instead, they want to borrow $9 billion to give cash to welfare recipients and to increase government spending, and pay it back by increasing the cost of gasoline. With interest, this loan will cost taxpayers $21 billion over 20 years to pay for one-time spending this year.

Senate Democrats want to raise $5 billion in taxes on income, cars, kids, beer and wine, and job creators. Their idea of budget reform is to push state-mandated programs onto counties and cities, and then make it easier for special interests to pressure local voters to raise taxes on themselves.

At least 2.3 million people are out of work, and our economy is still reeling from a steep national recession. State tax revenues are down sharply in spite of historic tax hikes last year, and experts predict they'll remain at this reduced level for the foreseeable future.

Tax increases are not the answer. California has the highest sales and gas taxes, and second-highest income tax rates in the nation – and yet the multibillion-dollar deficits persist. Enough is enough.

It's time for Democrats in Sacramento to get serious about balancing the budget. First, all must acknowledge that raising taxes in the midst of a recession is off the table. Second, both parties must work to significantly reduce spending now if we are to balance the current-year budget. Third, Democrats need to work with us in supporting a long-term strategy to address pension and spending reform.

It would be irresponsible to use the budget process as a hammer to shut down the government to force higher taxes, as some legislative Democrats have suggested doing. Real people are affected by the decisions we make on the budget. Passing a budget is an important duty for lawmakers and should not be viewed as a political game.

The governor's no-new-taxes budget and Republican reforms are the best approach to solving California's short- and long-term budget challenges. Taxpayers and the unemployed are counting on Democrats to buck the status quo and the public employee unions, and join with Republicans in passing a budget that doesn't protect government jobs at the expense of hard-working and job-seeking Californians.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Enviros Want to Jack Car Taxes by $18 to Pay for Parks

The Sierra Club and enviros want to jack car taxes by $18 each, for all taxpayers, to pay for state parks. The car tax was just doubled... Parks should be funded in the budget - like they always have - and by people who visit them. I talked to ABC 7 for a GOP taxpayer perspective in this story.