Assembly Republicans

A move to install Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) as leader of the Assembly Republicans has fizzled, according to several GOP lawmakers. Assemblyman Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) on Monday described the effort to oust Assembly GOP Leader Ross Johnson as "very much short-lived to say the least." Wright's bid surfaced about two weeks ago. Lawmakers who asked not to be identified cited complaints about the leadership style of Johnson and his top lieutenants.

Wisconsin's Republican-controlled Assembly early Friday approved a controversial bill to strip most government workers of their rights to collectively bargain, but the measure remains stalled because Democrats in the state Senate remain out of state to prevent a vote in that chamber. The 51-17 vote came after 60 solid hours of debate; shortly after 1 a.m. Republicans abruptly cut off Democrats and quickly tallied enough votes for the measure to pass, then closed the roll. Twenty-eight Democrats, two Republicans and an independent were not able to cast their vote.

They routinely are called "ideologues," "obstructionists" and "cavemen," and on occasion "ignoramuses" or even "orangutans." Gov. Pete Wilson said last week that former Gov. George Deukmejian had warned him about them, "but not adequately." A former top aide to Deukmejian contends that most would have a tough time holding a job in the "real world." Wilson advisers deride many as "politically paranoid" and some as "intellectually dishonest." They are the Assembly Republicans.

State Sen. Leland Yee (D- San Francisco) and Assemblywoman Connie Conway (R-Tulare) are among the casualties of the protracted state budget crisis. Yee was stripped of his post as assistant president pro tem by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento) this week. Yee subsequently issued an open letter to Steinberg saying the move was retribution for Yee's failure to vote in favor of the budget. "I am more than willing to relinquish this title if that is the price for voting my conscience on the state budget and standing up against severe cuts to education, social services and healthcare," Yee wrote.

When Assembly Republican Leader Dave Cox stopped at a sheriff's station in his district last week for an unannounced check of the state's sex offender registry, he walked away feeling as if he had given more information than he had received. Before he could sit down at a computer and scroll through the database of more than 80,000 convicted sex offenders, Cox had to hand over identification and fill out paperwork asking for his address, driver's license number and signature.

Gov. Pete Wilson pleaded with Assembly Republicans on Monday to act responsibly and stop blocking his budget proposal, declaring it is the best offer they will get. "The smart thing for them to do is to have a little courage and if they have to hold their nose (while voting), do so and get busy," the Republican governor told reporters after meeting privately for more than two hours with the intractable GOP caucus.

Putting pressure on Gov. Pete Wilson and Republican legislators to increase the income tax, Senate Democrats on Thursday narrowly passed tax-the-rich legislation that would hit corporations and wealthier wage-earners with bigger tax bites. At the same time, as the governor and legislators scrambled to try to resolve the state's $14.3-billion budget deficit, Assembly Republicans handed Wilson a list of demands for more budget cuts.

Following disappointing results at the polls, Assembly Republicans on Thursday chose a new leader to help them take on a bigger Democratic majority in the legislative battles that lie ahead. By a unanimous vote, the GOP Assembly members picked from their ranks second-term Assemblyman Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, who pledged to work with Gov. Pete Wilson and Senate Republicans. There were no other candidates.

Assembly Republicans, who were drubbed in this week's election, on Thursday selected a former Riverside County prosecutor and one of the few Latino Republican officeholders as their new leader. Rod Pacheco, 40, replaces Assemblyman Bill Leonard of San Bernardino. Leonard announced that he was stepping down after majority Democrats added five lower-house seats in Tuesday's balloting, a significant setback for Republicans, who had expected modest gains.

Deepening a Capitol rift, Republicans in the Assembly have decided to back free-market changes to the state's healthcare system but are refusing to embrace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambition to resolve all of its shortcomings. The group plans to unveil a package of proposals today that would encourage even the poorest Californians to save money for medical care, while eliminating the state's requirement that insurers pay for certain minimum services.

A unified band of Assembly Republicans on Monday blocked a labor contract for 95,000 state government workers that would have restored half of the monthly pay cut they absorbed in recent months as the state scrambled to bridge a $42-billion budget deficit.

Robert T. Monagan, a centrist Republican from the San Joaquin Valley who became speaker of the California Assembly in 1969 and worked with Democrats to professionalize the Legislature and pass major reforms, including the California Environmental Quality Act, died Wednesday at a Sacramento nursing facility. He was 88. He died of natural causes, according to his wife, Ione. Monagan ended a 10-year dry spell for the state GOP when he rose to the speakership, succeeding Jesse M.

Assembly Republicans, criticizing the state's top judge for rulings on same-sex marriage and parole for murderers, tried Friday to block a $5-billion plan to upgrade California courthouses. The move failed as Democrats, who hold a majority, passed the measure 43 to 16, without any Republican votes. Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), who abstained, cited state Chief Justice Ronald M. George's May opinion sanctioning same-sex marriage and another this month curbing the state's power to deny parole to murderers.

Yacht buyers will continue to benefit from a loophole that allows them to avoid sales tax on their boats, after Republicans in the Assembly blocked an effort to close it Tuesday. The vote came hours after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked state agencies to consider freezing hiring for nonessential workers and to make reductions in their travel and public outreach budgets to save $100 million.

Deepening a Capitol rift, Republicans in the Assembly have decided to back free-market changes to the state's healthcare system but are refusing to embrace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambition to resolve all of its shortcomings. The group plans to unveil a package of proposals today that would encourage even the poorest Californians to save money for medical care, while eliminating the state's requirement that insurers pay for certain minimum services.

Former Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy of Monrovia had his own style of eloquence, and he never was more profound than when heading out the door in August. Standing on the Assembly floor, the termed-out, rough-hewn conservative, speaking at characteristic high volume, declared to his colleagues: "I'm not a lawmaker. I'm a Republican assemblyman." It was meant as a joke. But it was also close to the bitter truth.

Demonstrating that he is still no follower of party orthodoxy despite his leadership position, Republican Assembly Speaker Brian Setencich let loose with a condemnation Monday of "intolerant" religious conservatives as well as unnamed GOP leaders who he said use fear tactics against moderate Republicans.

Seizing a post they've coveted for a quarter century, Assembly Republicans on Thursday ousted Speaker Brian Setencich and replaced him with Orange County's Curt Pringle, a staunch conservative backed by the statewide GOP hierarchy. Pringle's election was greeted by cheers from Republicans, who stood, applauded and called out, "Go, Curt!" Across the aisle, Democrats sat glumly.

THE RETURN of California Republicans, from being shut out of statewide office to solidifying their hold on the governor's mansion, is one of the most remarkable political stories of the last decade. There would be no story at all, however, but for the singular persona of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Republicans in the state Assembly ousted their leader Thursday, replacing San Diegan George Plescia, whom the governor's chief of staff had compared to a startled deer, with a fiscal conservative from the Central Valley. After meeting for more than four hours, Assembly Republicans unanimously chose Michael Villines of Clovis to lead their 32-member caucus.