John Moorlach: “Who’s Your Daddy?” bills

October 4, 2017 By John Moorlach Leave a Comment
When assembling the 2017 top 20 worst bills going to the governor’s desk, there were some 15 that were “Who’s Your Daddy?” bills. I could only include a sampling (see MOORLACH UPDATE — 2017 Top 20 Veto Worthy Bills — ).
Nearly two years ago, I provided an extensive analysis of how the public employee unions run Sacramento (see MOORLACH UPDATE — Blame the Unions — ).  
One of my biggest concerns in this posting was reiterated recently (see MOORLACH UPDATE — What Pension Crisis? — ). “The unions will say it wasn’t our fault. We didn’t vote for it. You guys [the elected officials] voted for it,” said Sen. Moorlach in an interview Monday.
 
Now that they have the supermajority in the Capitol, public employee unions have free rein in California. They are adding incrementally to their power by implementing law changes that will benefit them. I know that to the victor go the spoils. But, in a government structure, decreasing the tools management has is a strategic mistake. And, it will become apparent in an economic downturn, when cost savings need to be pursued in order to save current positions in an agency.
 
Greed blinds. And, as I’ve said on numerous occasions, when money talks the truth is silent.
 
One bill this year really showed the imbalance. It begged the question, “Who’s Your Daddy?” Major League Baseball fans will remember this chant and the accompanying clap routine.  In fact, it even became a segment of a TBS MLB Post Season show.
The bill that set this chant in my brain this session was AB1250, which would greatly increase the cost to counties of personal-service contracts, sharply reducing help given to citizens, especially the poor. We introduced the consequences of the bill to you in this posting: MOORLACH UPDATE — Who’s Your Daddy? — . I provided the fun when I asked this very question in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee meeting.
 
The home team provided an editorial, with Orange County voicing its opposition. I provided my own editorial, on the premise that AB1250 was not being relegated to a two-year bill status and may be resurrected and show up at the last minute on the Senate Floor (it didn’t) in MOORLACH UPDATE: Who Runs Our Government?
 
When a budget trailer bill included an imposition on Tesla, a manufacturer with some 14,000 employees in the Fremont area, I had to ask again.
 
By the final night of session, one Democrat Senator made Bingo cards. The squares were words that may be spoken on the floor. This is one way to while away the hours as this annual exercise drones on past midnight. I heard one square stated, “Sen. Moorlach says ‘Who’s Your Daddy?'” The chant had sunk in.
The OC Register provides the details of the union-assisting bills in my editorial submission.
A common union tactic is to twist something. The headline of a recent post did just that. As Sacramento is brimming with current and retired state employees, the headline was inflammatory, when not factually accurate.  So, I decided to provide a clarification. The good news?  It was printed.
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