Democrat Legislators Getting Paid to Protest…. I thought it was a boycott?

Not everyone participating in the Great American Boycott was going without pay. California State Legislators voted to cancel their regularly scheduled floor sessions so that they could participate in rallies. But according to legislative records, only seven Democrats asked not to receive their $306 per diem.

According to the Sacramento Bee:

Records show that seven Democratic lawmakers asked not to receive a per diem
payment for Monday: Sen. Gilbert Cedillo of Los Angeles; and Assembly members
Judy Chu of Monterey Park, Carol Liu of La Cañada Flintridge, Gloria
Negrete-McLeod of Chino, Lloyd Levine of Van Nuys, Dario Frommer of Los Angeles, and Nicole Parra, who worked in the Capitol on Monday afternoon but docked her
pay because she spent the morning driving to Sacramento from her Hanford
district.

While the outside of the Capitol was abuzz with protesters, the inside of the building was like a ghost town, haunted only by GOP legilsators and staffers. The 6th floor cafetera was closed and the basement resturant was offering minimal selections in honor of the boycott.

Republican legislators held a press conference to show their outrage at Democrats who chose to ignore the very important issues facing our state and spend a day partying and protesting; all on the taxpayers dime.

Here are some soundbites from Assembly members:

Audio File: 122kb - Assemblyman George Plescia (R - San Diego)
Audio File: 75kb - Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa (R - Biggs)
Audio File: 106kb - Assemblyman Bonnie Garcia (R - Cathedral City)

These Democrat legislators clearly don’t care about what Republicans have to say. I am not even sure that they care about what the taxpayers of California have to say. Let’s see if they care what voters have to say on election day.

(Hat tip to the Assembly Republican Caucus for the soundbites.)