Filed under: Politics, Local News, USC, Local
California State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has a mess on her hands, and she's taking it out on Nicole Parra.Parra, a moderate Democrat in the left-leaning Assembly, told Speaker Bass in July she wouldn't support the state budget until the Assembly passed water bond legislation, ensuring water supplies for the agriculture-dependent Central Valley. (Full disclosure: I interned in Parra's district office in summer 2006, having lived in the area for 18 years.)
The state budget is now 50 days late, as legislators argue over how to close a $15.2 billion deficit. As is the norm, Republicans want to cut spending, and Democrats want to raise taxes. Nobody wants to compromise.But when Parra followed through Sunday on her threat, abstaining on a state budget vote which failed by nine votes (a two-thirds majority is required), Bass flexed her own political muscle: She evicted Parra from the State Capitol, to an office across the street. She gave Parra's office a few hours to pack.
Parra said she had expected some retribution for bucking her party. But typically, an unruly lawmaker is sent to a smaller, cramped office space, not kicked out of the building entirely. Parra is now the only state legislator without an office in the Capitol.
Because she isn't running for re-election in November, having served the maximum three terms in the Assembly, Parra's punishment can't last for too long.
But Parra has always put the needs of her district and the Central Valley ahead of her own political interests. Water supply is a serious concern for farming communities (and the world they feed), and it always takes political muscle to get the job done. Parra's principled stand was clearly one of those moments when she decided to stand up and fight on the issue.
I can't say I agree with her ultimatum. We need a budget passed, and we need it now. But it makes me proud to see her courage in the face of immense political pressure. (Parra has previously all but endorsed a worthy Republican to take her seat, also infuriating party colleagues.)
The larger issue is about the principle of party discipline. Party leaders want legislators to do their bidding on almost every vote, but legislators need some freedom to vote according to their own integrity and their own district. The sad fact is, this is enforced successfully by restricting party funds and leadership positions to those who "follow the rules." Voters deserve better.
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In a fantastic op-ed, the Fresno Bee recommends Bass spend more time trying to get the other party to agree on a budget. "Bass should toss the entire Assembly out of the Capitol if she wants to punish people who have failed Californians," the Bee writes.
"But if Republicans can vote against the budget because of their opposition to tax increases, Parra surely can abstain on the budget because she thinks her constituents deserve a solution to the water crisis.
"Bass' reaction to Parra revealed more about her weaknesses as speaker than it did about the Hanford Democrat not being a team player."
