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SACRAMENTO – Late Wednesday, the California Chamber of Commerce and three former governors filed a “friend of the court” brief supporting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ability to control spending by reducing or eliminating appropriations through the veto power.
The California Taxpayers' Association and the California Business Roundtable also signed onto the brief.
The brief was filed in response to a legal challenge brought against the governor in the wake of last year’s budget crisis.
At issue is whether the Legislature may through a single bill make selective and multi-item appropriations but deprive the governor of his constitutional ability to control spending by selectively reducing or eliminating appropriations through the power to line-item veto. In July, Gov. Schwarzenegger was faced with the need to veto certain appropriations in order to cut spending.
CalChamber argues in its brief:
Legislative attempts to circumvent the Governor’s veto authority are not new, and the courts have rejected these ploys.
The supreme executive power of the state is vested in the Governor. The Governor is responsible for the administration of state government for the benefit of its citizens. One of the most important functions of a governor is to control state spending. The line item-veto is an essential tool in carrying out that function.
Under the guise of a fiscal crisis, the petitioners have invented a theory out of whole cloth to deprive governors of the authority that has been conferred on them by the California Constitution since 1922.
Neutering a governor during a fiscal crisis is irresponsible, particularly when such action is not supported by logic, reason or law. Checks and balances are what keep democratic governments functioning through the good times and bad.
If by simple wordsmithing the legislative branch can create an omnibus spending bill limiting the governor’s oversight only to a veto of the entire bill, then the budgetary process is reduced to a game of “chicken” daring a governor to bring state government to a halt through a veto.
The novel and legally unsupportable theory which petitioners advance is not limited to the current fiscal crisis.
If the petitioners prevail in their theory, absent a constitutional amendment, there will be no constraints on the Legislature to pass multi-item appropriations on a majority basis on the theory they are not appropriations subjects to a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and, for the same reason, are outside a governor’s line-item veto authority.
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The lawsuits, filed in San Diego Superior Court, seek to recover more than $3 million.
"These cases will send a powerful signal that small business owners must be on the alert," Brown said. "These rip-off artists sent official-looking documents through the mail for the sole purpose of duping small business owners into paying them money - for no value in return."
The three cases are separate scams, each following a similar theme. The defendants mailed to small businesses solicitations that appeared to be government documents featuring an official-looking seal, an official-sounding name, citations to the Corporations Code and a "reply by" date. The forms claimed that the business was in danger of losing its corporate or limited liability status if payment was not made within a short period of time.
In the first case, Anthony Williams operated Compliance Annual Minutes Board that mailed to California businesses official-looking forms demanding that the recipient complete the form and return it with payment of an "Annual Fee" of $150 or risk loss of corporate status. Williams claimed that in exchange for payment, he would provide corporate minutes. Instead, he prepared generic fictitious minutes for the business owners who paid his fee.
The next case involved George Alan Miller, Rebecca Miller, Arghisti Keshishyan and Kristina Keshishyan who together operated two corporations and one limited liability company: Annual Review Board, Inc., Business Filings Division and Corpfilers.com, LLC. Miller and his co-conspirators mailed solicitations to California limited liability companies and corporations, demanding that the recipients complete the form and return it with payment or risk penalties, fines and suspension. The payment amounts varied from $195 to $239, but all mailers were designed to be official-looking government documents that misled the recipients into sending money.
In the third case, Maria Jones operated Corporate Filings Division and Corporate Compliance Filings, Inc., which mailed official-looking forms entitled "Annual Minutes Disclosure Statement" to California businesses, implying that the recipient business was required to complete the form and return it with payment of an "Annual Fee" of $175 or risk loss of corporate status. In exchange for payment, Jones agreed to provide corporate minutes. The information she solicited, however, was inadequate for legitimate corporate minutes, and she instead provided fictitious minutes.
All defendants are accused of violating:
Business and Professions Code section 17533.6 (Deceptive Solicitation Statute);
Civil Code section 1716 (Phony Billing Statute);
Business and Professions Code section 17500 (False Advertising Statute);
Unfair business practices within the meaning of Business and Professions Code section 17200.
In all three cases, the Attorney General's Office seeks civil penalties, injunction and other equitable remedies and costs.
Since 2004, the Attorney General's Office has received more than 5,000 complaints against a growing number of individuals who mailed solicitations made to look like governmental forms to small businesses in California. The Thursday announcement adds to the five cases the office has already successfully handled since these scams were brought to the office's attention.
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The event will be held at Moore Family Winery, 11990 Bottle Rock Road, Kelseyville, on the way to Cobb.
A reception and music with David Neft will start at 5:30 p.m.
At 6:30 p.m. there will be a light surf and turf dinner featuring mouth-watering mini plates catered by Chic Le Chef. The menu includes Caesar Salad in martini glasses, shrimp cocktail shooter in a bloody Mary sauce, filet on crostini with caramelized onion and sage cream, shrimp scampi on a skewer, steak pinwheels, mini stuffed red potato, wild mushroom tarts, creamed spinach tarts and for dessert and assorted petite desserts.
The cost is $22 per person.
Please RSVP to the Lake County Chamber of Commerce at 707-263-5092 by Oct. 9 before 5 p.m. or register online at www.lakecochamber.com .
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The store has moved to 8040 Highway 29 near the intersection of Soda Bay Road and Kit's Corner.
Stop by and see their new bigger store.
Store hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Furry Tails can be reached at telephone 707-277-8PAW, online at www.furrytailspetshop.com/ or look for the store on Facebook.
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