Aug 31, 2011
8/25/2011
By Alice Alecu
SACRAMENTO (August, 25, 2011) – Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) today issued the following statement in response to Governor Brown’s release of a “job creation” plan which is based on making the single sales tax factor mandatory for all businesses in California.
“The Governor is right about one thing,” said Nielsen. “We do need an economic stability in this state to have businesses build confidence and invest here. And the way towards that stability is not through raising taxes.”
Nielsen said that the Governor’s plan, if implemented, will be raising taxes by $1.4 billion on businesses, then turn around and provide businesses with tax breaks. “If the Governor truly believes, as I do, that tax relief will lead to job creation then he should provide the tax breaks without having to raise any taxes.”
He explained that although mandatory single sales factor would eliminate a disincentive from moving out of state capital and labor into California, California’s overall corporate taxation rate is higher compared to other states, meaning that very few businesses will do so.
“The truth of a matter is that this so-called ‘job plan’ the Governor presented today does nothing to create any new jobs or to stimulate the economy. If anything it will take us a step backwards.”
Nielsen criticized the Democrats for giving lip service about the importance of job creation, yet they have blocked virtually every one of the Assembly Republicans’ reforms that would lead to job creation.
“Over the years, the Legislature has created an economic climate that punishes businesses and drives jobs away,” said Nielsen. “What we need is real reform. To get people working again, the Legislature must take action to make our economy more competitive for jobs by passing reforms to reduce the high costs and burdens that are driving those jobs away. State agency reform is the first step toward that, and not more taxation of California hard-working families.”
In order for the Governor to be able to pass this new plan presented today, he would still need the votes of four Republicans. Nielsen stated that he thinks it’s even less likely to receive these votes now than it was in the beginning of the year.
Assemblyman Nielsen represents the Second Assembly District, which includes: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama and Yolo counties
Aug 31, 2011
A watered-down version of a long-standing state program that preserved land for agriculture was signed into law Friday, July 22, by California Gov. Jerry Brown.
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, authored the new bill resurrecting the Williamson Act. The bill was co-authored in the California State Senate by Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, among others.
The California Farm Bureau also worked hard to get the legislation passed and signed into law, Nielsen noted.
Nielsen and LaMalfa currently represent South Shasta County in their respective Assembly and Senate districts, although redistricting triggered by the 2010 U.S. Census may change that.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger virtually eliminated the $40 million per year Williamson Act in 2009 by slashing its budget statewide to $1,000.
Quick to comment on the enactment of his bill, Nielsen praised the governor and legislature for passing a law that brings victory to local government and farmers.
“This will provide peace of mind and hope for the future to our hard-working California farm families and their employees,” Nielsen wrote in a release issued late Thursday, July 28.
PNP comment: I don’t recall seeing this and it is old news now, but decided to re post it. — Editor Liz Bowen
Aug 31, 2011
REVISED
News Alert!
Town Hall meeting
With
Government officials
including
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey
Labor Day evening
Sept. 5, 2011
6 p.m.
Siskiyou Golden Fair Grounds
On the Mall
BRING LAWN chairs to sit
All users of water are invited to attend.
Public comment period
Question and Answer period
For more information contact the
Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Dept. at 530-842-8300
Aug 31, 2011
Published August 29, 2011
| Associated Press
Front page of Fox News
FORT BRAGG, Calif. – A well-respected California community leader who was gunned down after finding a remote illegal marijuana operation was a two-term mayor whose fundraising and goodwill helped build firehouses and a first-class high school football stadium.
The city of Fort Bragg was reeling Monday after the death of longtime Councilman Jere Melo, a forest land manager who was fatally shot Saturday while he and a co-worker were walking through a rugged area of timber land just outside town.
A manhunt continued for the suspected gunman.
Melo was in his 15th year on the City Council and had dedicated most of his life improving Fort Bragg.
“He was always the first one there, and the last one to go,” current Mayor Dave Turner told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “No one put in as much as Jere did, and I don’t think they ever will.”
City Manager Linda Ruffing told the newspaper, “Jere was just loved and respected by so many people.”
Fort Bragg officials met on Sunday to discuss how to handle the grief among city staff.
Melo, who spent five decades in the timber business, was most recently working for Campbell Timber Management in Fort Bragg.
On Saturday, he and a co-worker were patrolling forestland for a suspected marijuana grow along the Noyo River when he was shot and killed, authorities said.
Melo’s co-worker managed to escape and called for help on his cell phone.
Deputies suspect the gunman was Aaron Bassler, a transient in his mid-30s with a history of run-ins with the law, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said.
Bassler was last seen with a firearm and should be considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.
PNP comment: Our condolences go out to relatives and friends of Jere Melo, who was a native of Siskiyou County. This is truly a sad state of affairs. The Mexican Cartels should not be growing marijuana in the United States of America. — Editor Liz Bowen
Aug 30, 2011
A referendum has been filed to overturn the new congressional districts created by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, the attorney general’s office reported today.
The effort joins one already under way to undo the maps the commission drew for state Senate districts.
Filing the referendum with the attorney general is the first step in the process that ultimately requires the collection of 504,760 valid voter signatures within about three months to halt implementation of the maps until voters decide their fate on the June 2012 ballot. If the referendum qualifies for the ballot, the state Supreme Court would draw new maps or decide which maps to use in the upcoming political races.
The measure was filed by Julie Vandermost, an Orange County development and environmental consultant, and Charles Bell, a prominent Sacramento lawyer for Republican causes. Neither could be immediately reached for comment.
Categories: Congress, Redistricting
Aug 30, 2011
LAS VEGAS — Gov. Jerry Brown, who is considering what tax increases to propose to voters in November 2012, acknowledged this morning that polls are generally unfavorable but said voters might approve sales and income taxes.
“Sales and income could pass under certain circumstances,” he told The Bee. “It could. And it couldn’t.”
Brown said that such a measure would require broad-based support.
“That means business, that means agriculture, that means labor, that means no significant body to jump up and down and stigmatize it,” the Democratic governor said before speaking this afternoon at a green energy summit in Las Vegas.
Brown has been considering a November 2012 ballot measure since he abandoned his bid this summer for temporary tax extensions in a budget deal. Labor leaders who could fund such a campaign believe they must settle on a plan within about two months.
Brown said he might not use any of the $5 million or so left over from his gubernatorial campaign to fund the effort.
But he suggested he could be useful anyway. His public approval rating, he said, looks “awfully good,” though he said approval ratings “come and they go.” In June, the Field Poll put his public approval rating at 46 percent.
“We’re in a period of turbulence and discontent,” Brown said, “and that’s perilous for politicians.”
PNP comment: Uugggggghhhhhhh, oh no! — Editor Liz Bowen
Contact
Subscribe
No Comments 
