The CotoBuzz Journal, Community Journalism

The corps of lobbyists is California's third house – Registered lobbyists outnumber lawmakers in Sacramento 8-to-1, then there are the government funded unregistered lobbyists!

In January,, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the state's massive budget deficit a "rock upon our chest" and said the crisis must be resolved before other policy issues are addressed. "The truth is that California is in a state of emergency. Addressing this emergency is the first and greatest thing we must do for the people," the governor said in his State of the State address before a joint session of the Legislature. "The $42 billion deficit is a rock upon our chest and we cannot breathe until we get it off."

Top Five Lobby Spenders:

In February 4, 2009 the Sacramento Bee said that Cal's deficit, as big as it is, not the worst “The immensity of California's budget crisis is shown in a new 50-state fiscal survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures, indicating that California's income-outgo gap is nearly a third of the current state budget deficits for entire nation.”

Last month, the San Francisco Chronicle in the piece titled Size of California's New Budget Gap Hinges on Special Election state that

“ California will face a $12 billion budget deficit in fiscal year 2009-2010 if voters reject measures on the May 19 special election ballot that would shift money from special funds for mental health services and early childhood health care and education and permit the state to borrow against future lottery revenue.”

1. The Service Employees International Union spent $10.9 million over a two-year period.

2. The Western States Petroleum Association, which represents oil and gas companies, spent $10.5 million

3. The California Teachers Association ($7.9 million)

4. The Bromine Science and Environmental Forum ($6.5 million)

5. The California Hospital Association ($5.9 million)

And that even if the measures are approved, the state will face a budget deficit of at least $6 billion because state revenue is falling about $8 billion short of expectations, according to Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. Taylor's estimates project that the state will have to tap into its $2 billion reserve fund to bring the deficit down to $6 billion for FY 2009-2010”

Then Anthony York in the Capitol Weekly piece published Thursday, February 12, 2009 titled Interest groups’ lobbying tally tops $500 million reports that "California labor unions, business associations and other interest groups spent more than $558 million – about $764,000 a day – to influence California government during the 2007-08 legislative session, according to state records analyzed by Capitol Weekly."

And just this past Sunday, Sacramento Bee’s Shane Goldmacher in the piece titled Lobbyists Spend Millions -- and Rarely Lose in Legislature, report that “special interests spent a record $553 million lobbying California state government in the past two years.” and goes on to document what the expenditure was well worth.

"A Bee analysis of this past two-year session found the 10 highest-spending employers of private lobbyists shelled out a total of more than $70 million working the halls of state government. They rarely lost.

In the past two decades, the amount spent on lobbying in California has increased with each two-year legislative session, rising from $193 million in 1989-90 to more than $550 million last session, state records show.

The number of groups hiring professional advocates has also grown, from 682 in 1975 to 2,365 at the start of the 2007-08 session.

With term limits capping how long legislators can serve in the statehouse, the lobby corps is largely the keeper of the Capitol's institutional knowledge.

The corps of lobbyists truly is California's third house – and a bigger one at that. Registered lobbyists outnumber lawmakers in Sacramento 8-to-1. That ratio allows the richest interests the luxury of swarming the Legislature for key policy battles.

The real power of the biggest interests is in blocking bills, wielding a de facto veto especially when no moneyed group is lobbying on the other side."

But wait, there is more! The California bureaucracy is littered with organizations such as the California Law Revision Commission, a government funded group of unregistered lobbyists doing the work the legislature is paid to do, and should do.

In the past, we have argued that taxpayers deserve efficient government, and by helping to identify and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracies, such as the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC), the Community Association Institute (CAI), the California Real Estate Commission and others would make government more cost effective and responsive.

Analogous to the G-20, where members represent 80% of the global output, the BRCI-20, A Bureaucracy Realignment and Closure Initiative (BRCI), would shut down 80% of the total number of California commissions. If these bureaucracies were eliminated today, taxpayers would not miss a bit - but would certainly have an impact on the budget!

If you think that $500 million tab for Lobbyist is just too much, you just do not know the price tag for the government funded un-registered lobbyists.

Can Chuck DeVore save the day? In explaining why he is running for the United States Senate in 2010, Assemblyman DeVore writes:

“In 2010, we will change that because I love America and its founding principles.

My politics and my public career testify to my belief in those principles.

I believe our natural rights are inherent to our humanity, not a grant from government.

I believe the role of government is limited to securing our rights from external danger and internal lawlessness.

I believe that when government exceeds this mandate, our liberty is at risk.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore

All we need now is for Assemblyman Chuck DeVore to adopt the BRCI-20 initiative, and we are in business!

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