A California Republican

Now, there are many things the California legisaltors do - and do well. They spend money, don’t pass budgets on time (or in some cases, at all), intrude on your right to live your life the way you want, make laws so convoluted you don’t know what to do, raise taxes and other things that benefit no one and cause many people problems.

One of the things California law makers do not do well is oversight. They have never met a program they didn’t like, specifically if that program spends money.

Now the lawmakers want oversight of federal stimulus funds, and want to “help” decide where it goes. They are also searching out pet projects that might need to be funded through the stimulus funds.

Legislators are also beginning to look at the stimulus funds, and whether there is a role for legislative oversight of the spending of the federal money. The subject was raised at a joint Utilities and Energy Committee hearing last week. Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, said she is looking at whether there is a role for the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to play in supervising the spending of the federal money.

I have no problem with them if they are going to go through the same application process as everyone else. However, that is not what’s going to happen. Instead, they are going to muck this whole thing up.

If you think that the money would go to projects, or go to needy projects, you have your head in the sand. The California legislature is incapable of overseeing a project that needs to move quickly, rapidly and fairly across the state as a whole. It is possible that some areas are more depressed than others - like the inland  valley - and so need more money. That’s not going to happen if the legislature gets oversight.

Let’s leave this the way it is. The federal stimulus package isn’t a good idea. It is a bad idea that won’t work the way it is intended to. However, let’s not make it worse by allowing the legislature oversight. They cannot do anything they have responsibility for now - like getting permanent water storage in place to avoid droughts. Let’s not give them something else to do.