A group of moderate California Republicans that wants the party to rebrand itself as both pro-business and pro-environment and show a willingness to work with Democrats on some issues is back in the news this week. Led by Assemblyman Chad Mayes (pictured), R-Yucca Valley, and supported by former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the New Way California group announced the launching of a website devoted to transforming the state GOP.

“There isn’t an overnight fix,” former Assembly GOP Leader Kristin Olsen of Modesto, a New Way board member, told the Sacramento Bee. “This is a slow journey that requires us to get out into communities.”

New Way officials cited the recent news that the GOP had fallen to third in state political registration behind Democrats and decline-to-state voters as evidence of the need for a new approach.

But Mayes, Olsen and their allies may have an even more uphill challenge than they think. A prototypical “New Way California” deal that Mayes cut last year when he was Assembly GOP leader arguably hasn’t yielded any dividends. He helped Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown round up eight Republican state lawmakers so an extension of the state’s cap-and-trade program until 2030 could receive the two-thirds support it needed – in keeping with Mayes’ thesis about the party needing to alter its direction.

But Mayes’ move triggered a firestorm among Republican activists who cited a state Legislative Analyst’s Office letter from March 2017 forecasting that cap-and-trade could lead to a 63-cents-per-gallon increase in gas prices by 2021. He was deposed as Assembly GOP leader within weeks after cutting the deal with Brown.

Meanwhile, the big concession Mayes secured in return for lining up Republican votes for cap-and-trade flopped with voters. That concession: the Legislature’s vote to place what would become Proposition 70 on the June 5 primary election ballot. The complex measure could have given state GOP lawmakers a chance to kill new funding for the embattled state bullet-train project in 2024 by requiring that the use of cap-and-trade pollution emission fees be approved with two-thirds votes of both the Assembly and the Senate.

Gov. Brown joined the state Chamber of Commerce in backing the ballot measure. But after it was savaged by other Democrats as a stealth effort to protect polluters, Proposition 70 lost 65 percent to 35 percent.

Recall showed anger over approval of higher fuel taxes

Further undercutting Mayes’ push for a rebranded GOP was another June 5 development: the recall of state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, by a 59 percent to 41 percent landslide. The recall effort was triggered by Newman’s vote last year for a 10-year, $52 billion increase in vehicle fuel taxes and fees to fund road and transit projects and improvements.

This is widely seen by political analysts as evidence that the California Republicans’ most traditional policy position – a sharp opposition to higher taxes – continues to be potent.

This is also evident in the ease with which a Republican-led effort to repeal the tax hikes gathered enough signatures to make the November ballot.

Some Democrats depict the campaign as benefitting from a coincidental rise in gasoline prices during signature gathering in the winter and spring. But Republicans point to a recent poll showing a majority of state voters are ready to scrap the tax hike and say Californians are as inclined as ever to oppose higher taxes that affect everyone – as opposed to Proposition 55, the successful 2016 ballot measure that renewed “temporary” income tax hikes on the very wealthy.

CA sales tax dips, tax burden rises

Good morning! It’s Friday. Let’s get down to business. 

“Four years ago, voters approved Proposition 30, which raised the income tax significantly on the wealthiest Californians and raised the sales tax a tiny bit on everyone,” Capital Public Radio recently recalled. “That quarter-of-a-cent increase equated to paying an additional $0.01 on a $4 coffee; $1 on a $400 television; and $100 on a $40,000 car.” 

But on Election Day 2016, that changed. “Voters extended Proposition 30’s income tax increases in [November’s] presidential election with Proposition 55 — but that initiative allowed the Prop. 30 sales tax hike to expire.”

The shift means California’s sales tax is the state’s only tax to be decreased this year, from 7.5 percent to 7.25 percent.

As the U-T reported, “Some local jurisdictions tack on their own assessments, so residents in certain areas will still pay more than the statewide rate.” In certain parts of the state, like the San Francisco Bay Area, voters allowed substantial increases. 

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• Health Care: “As Washington grapples with health care policy again, the head of the 185,000-member National Nurses United is turning her attention to a seemingly unlikely advocate for a single-payer system. ‘The one I’m counting on the most is Trump,’ RoseAnn DeMoro said. DeMoro, who serves as executive director of both the Oakland-based National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association, told POLITICO California on Thursday that she is ‘disgusted’ with Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and believes that the president-elect may actually get action.” Politico has more. 

• Minimum wage: “San Diego is cracking down on several restaurants that city officials say are adding surcharges in misleading and illegal ways to help cover increased labor costs from the minimum wage hike that took effect Jan. 1.” The San Diego Union-Tribune has more. 

• Budget: “But recent events in California and the nation suggest the fiscal proposal Brown unveils next week could be his most circumspect to date, even after voters in November approved billions of dollars in additional taxes,” reports the Los Angeles Times. 

• Obamacare: “House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has written to Gov. Jerry Brown and the leaders of other states soliciting their input for replacing Obamacare.” The Sacramento Bee has more. 

Legislature:

• Back on Monday. 

Gov. Brown:

• On vacation in Hawaii until Sunday, according to The Sacramento Bee. 

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Californians voted in ways that would be expected for such a strongly Democratic-leaning electorate, except on the issue of the death penalty. That isn’t too surprising, either, given that Californians — despite their left-of-center tilt — have long been supportive of tough-on-crime measures and have consistently supported the death penalty.

Voters rejected, by 54 percent to 46 percent, Proposition 62, which would have repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without parole for murderers. They approved, with nearly 51 percent of the vote, the alternative Proposition 66. That measure streamlines the appeals process so the state can more quickly execute death row inmates.

Despite such “toughness,” voters overwhelmingly approved Gov. Jerry Brown’s sentencing-reform measure (Proposition 57) that would allow early release for some felons. There have been some increases in crime rates following the passage in 2014 of Proposition 47 (reducing some drug felonies to misdemeanors), but California voters remain committed to reducing some types of prison sentences.

On Election Day, voters also were strongly supportive of tax and spending measures. They approved, 54 percent to 46 percent, Proposition 51, which authorizes $9 billion in general-obligation bonds to modernize K-12 public schools. State bond measures are not direct tax increases, but they do increase the debt secured by the state’s general fund. That means legislators will have to allocate money to pay the service on the debt. They create pressure for tax hikes, or for spending cuts in other areas.

Voters also approved Proposition 55 by a hefty margin (62 percent to 38 percent), which will extend by 12 years the “temporary” personal-income tax increases included in the tax-raising Proposition 30 from 2012. The increases are applied on earnings of more than $250,000 for single filers and more than $500,000 for joint filers. Voters also agreed to boost the cigarette tax by $2 a pack — and other tobacco and nicotine products by equivalent amounts — by approving Proposition 56.

In a fairly close tally (51 percent to 49 percent), voters rejected Proposition 53, which was opposed by the business community and labor unions and would have subjected major infrastructure projects ($2 billion or more) to a statewide vote if they used revenue bonds. Such bonds are funded by revenues from the project (i.e., tolls) rather than general tax revenues. A variety of local tax increases also passed. California voters have moved a long way from the days of the 1970s-era tax revolt.

On social issues, Californians voted Tuesday in a reliably liberal way, as well. They supported, 63 percent to 37 percent, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s measure (Proposition 63) requiring background checks to purchase ammunition. They rejected an effort, by 8 percentage points, to require actors in adult films to wear condoms. They upheld a controversial new law (Proposition 67) banning grocery stores from handing out those single-use plastic bags and turned back an effort by the plastic-bag industry (Proposition 65) to redirect any bag fees from grocery stores to a state environmental fund. The latter was designed as payback to grocers and grocery unions for their role in the legislative deal that led to the plastic bag ban.

In another victory for liberal activists, voters approved — by an overwhelming 72 percent to 28 percent margin — Proposition 58, which overturns the state’s ban on bilingual education in public schools. That’s an educational program in which immigrant kids are taught largely in their native language. It was largely banned in 1998 by Proposition 227, whose supporters were concerned that native Spanish speakers were not learning English quickly enough. Prop. 58 did not get much attention this year, and its ballot designation suggested that a vote for 58 was a vote for preserving English proficiency.

Voters did, however, OK a significant political-reform measure by a wide margin (64 percent to 36 percent). Proposition 54 requires that the final version of any bill in the state Legislature be available in print for 72 hours, thus eliminating those controversial gut-and-amend bills in which new language is inserted at the last minute without public or media scrutiny. The measure also gives the public expanded rights to record the Legislature.

California voters also joined voters in Massachusetts, Nevada and (probably, based on close results) Maine in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Several other states approved medical marijuana – something that’s been legal in California since Proposition 215 passed in 1996. Given California’s immense size, this vote (Proposition 64) is viewed as a massive boost to an already-emerging marijuana industry – and to similar votes in other states in coming elections.

Voters approved Proposition 52, which extends a Medi-Cal hospital fee program that allows the state to collect federal reimbursements. It was backed by most of the state’s political establishment. Also passed was Proposition 59, which was an advisory vote asking whether state officials should support a constitutional amendment overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which invalidated certain limits on campaign spending. This was a largely meaningless initiative, but it garnered 52 percent of the vote.

Finally, voters rejected, 54 percent to 46 percent, a measure (Proposition 61) that would have capped the prices state agencies pay for prescription drugs. Opponents ran an aggressive campaign that no doubt contributed to its failure.

None of this was particular surprising, which is a surprise in and of itself. As the rest of the country defied the predictions, California went along with flow.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.