Assemblyman Voepel close
Last week, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association announced its 2017 Legislative Report Card grades. Two local officials received very high grades.
State Sen. Jeff Stone (R-28 District) earned a 100 percent rating from HJTA. Assemblyman Randy Voepel (R-71 District) received a 98.4 percent rating.
Stone was one of only 10 legislators — five senators and five assembly members — out of 120 to receive the perfect rating. Of the five senators, four, including Stone, were from Southern California. In 2016, HJTA gave Stone a 95.8 percent grade.
Voepel’s abstention during a committee vote on Assembly Bill 1189, which authorizes the Riverside County Transportation Commission to impose a 1-percent tax, an increase of ½ percent for transportation projects, cost him a perfect rating, according to David Wolfe of HJTA.
Voepel opposed the bill on the Assembly floor. This year was his first in the Legislature so he did not have a 2016 rating.
“Are we troubled or worried about Randy?” asked Wolfe. “No! San Diego County and Temecula have a lot of limited-government conservatives.”
The HJTA scored a total of 22 bills in 2017. Stone voted on the side of HJTA each time he had an opportunity to do so.
“It is an honor working with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association — an organization that puts the interests of everyday taxpayers ahead of special interests — to fight for lower and fairer taxes here in California,” Stone said in a press release.
“Every vote I cast in Sacramento is done with the best interests of my constituents, and I’m proud to associate myself with a non-partisan organization that puts taxpayers first,” he added.
