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Dateline Sacramento (11/05/2009)

Dateline Sacramento
News with a View from the California Capitol
November 5, 2009
Maine Citizens Vote to Uphold the Traditional Definition of Marriage
On Tuesday, at the one-year anniversary of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, Maine citizens joined California and 29 other states by voting to protect the traditional definition of marriage. Maine’s Question 1, which sought to repeal a new law permitting same-sex marriages, passed by 53 to 47 percent. Voter turnout was unexpectedly high, as voters rejected the same-sex marriage law.
Maine’s legislature voted in May to allow homosexuals to marry each other, but a citizens’ petition campaign led to a delay in the law's implementation as signatures were gathered for the popular referendum. That referendum became Question 1.
The passage of Question 1 is another setback for gay-rights and homosexual marriage advocates and makes Maine the third state in which residents reversed their government's decision to permit same-sex marriages. Last year voters in California rejected a decision by the California Supreme Court which legalized same-sex marriages, and Hawaii voters reversed a same-sex marriage law passed by their Legislature.
Same-sex marriage has yet to win a popular vote in any state. When the issue is put before the voters, one-man, one-woman marriage wins every time.
The states that grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples – Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Vermont – have done so via legislative vote or judicial fiat. Similarly, New Hampshire will grant such marriages beginning in January 2010 after a vote by its Legislature.
Due to the creation of the Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Clinton, the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages and gives authority to states for their own laws specific to marriage’s definition. 
All 31 states that have attempted to protect the traditional definition of marriage have been successful. The Wall Street Journal outlines the current status of marriage state-by-state.
The Maine victory for traditional marriage is especially meaningful, as homosexual marriage activists gave tremendous financial support and volunteer help from across the country, outspending traditional marriage support 2-1. The vote confirms the will of the people state by state, as although cultures may vary significantly between California and Maine, a common point of agreement is the meaning and purpose of marriage for children, families, and societies.  
Pure Religion
Pure religion follows God’s heart in caring for widows and orphans. (James 1:27) The problem of parentless children results in millions of children struggling without a nurturing home to shelter and cushion them from a broken and hurting world. In the United States, more than 500,000 children live in foster care; of that number, one-quarter are legal orphans awaiting a “forever family” to provide security and a support system to weather the storms of life.
This weekend, in conjunction with National Orphan Sunday, Cry of the Orphan is hosting a live simulcast event to serve as a voice for the 140 million orphans worldwide. Cry of the Orphan, sponsored by Focus on the Family, Show Hope, and Hope for Orphans, shares a deep burden for orphans. While not everyone can adopt a child or become a foster parent, there is a role for compassionate, concerned citizens and churches in advocating for these children. The simulcast, at 4:00 p.m. EST, will be available through a Web-based video stream, a satellite feed, and on many radio stations.
Nationwide, 127,000 children in foster care are available to be adopted, but only 18 percent of those are adopted annually. Children, on average, wait over two years before being adopted. While you may not be called by God to adopt a waiting child, you can pray for a waiting child, become a court-appointed advocate for an abused or neglected child, cook dinner or mow a lawn for a busy foster parent, or provide basic supplies for an 18-year-old “aging out” of the foster-care system with little support. Explore your part in helping these vulnerable children by consulting the resources below.
Most people consider an international adoption or a domestic adoption when they think of adopting. More recently, a third type of adoption – embryo adoption – has raised awareness about the sanctity of life and has resulted in the saving of hundreds of preborn lives. 
Known as “snowflakes,” these children are the result of embryos created through in vitro fertilization and placed in frozen storage. Since the first “test-tube baby” two decades ago, hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos have accumulated nationwide. What to do with these embryos, a matter of intense debate, defines the life issue of the preborn. While many advocate utilizing these embryos for stem-cell research – a process which kills the embryos – while others say these embryos can be donated to millions of infertile couples, enabling the preborn to realize their potential as precious and priceless life.
Hannah, the first “snowflake child,” was born December 31, 1998. According to the group that has pioneered embryo adoption, an estimated 3,000 “snowflakes” have now been born. According to Hannah’s mom, “God’s plan was well in place for these embryos, and that was a plan of adoption instead of destruction. And that’s His plan for mankind – a plan of adoption instead of destruction.” 
For more information: 
Water Deal Reached, Headed to Governor and the 2010 November Ballot
Historically, when the California Legislature adjourns for the year, the state Capitol building is relatively quiet as legislators return to their districts and leave the Capitol to its staff and tourists. However, last year, the Legislature was forced to return to Sacramento after the fall elections because of a $26 billion deficit. This year is no different, as California’s ongoing fiscal struggles have required legislators to remain at the Capitol to address numerous fiscal and social problems.   
The Legislature’s failure to resolve California’s water delivery situation required legislators and lobbyists to once again populate the Capitol corridors. Despite legislative declarations and efforts to address California’s water crisis before the end of the 2009 legislative session, agreement between the myriad of diverse interest groups and elected representatives was beyond reach. Rising unemployment and continued court-ordered restrictions and diversions on water flow forced Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders to intensify their efforts to overhaul the state’s water management system.
After months of meetings and hearings, Senate and Assembly leaders informed members of their respective legislative bodies that they would be required to return to Sacramento to consider the approval of a potential water deal. In sessions of “marathon” length this past Tuesday – with both the Assembly and Senate meeting throughout the night and adjourning just before dawn – a five-bill package to overhaul California’s water system was finally approved. The five bills would do the following:
1.    SBX7 1 – Creates a new governing structure to manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the primary source of water for 23 million Californians). 
2.    SBX7 2 – Enacts the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010, which includes an $11 billion bond to be placed before California voters in November 2010.
3.    SBX7 6 – Creates a statewide groundwater monitoring system.
4.    SBX7 7 – Establishes a statewide water conservation program that would reduce water consumption by 20 percent by 2010.
5.    SBX7 8 – Appropriates $546 million for integrated regional water management, flood control and management, and natural community conservation and planning.
Upon passage of the five measures, Governor Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders immediately lauded their own accomplishments. Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), the Senate Pro Tem, declared that the “legislature has been able to accomplish something no other Legislature has been able to accomplish in decades.”
However, a $10 million earmark (also known as “pork”) for a Sacramento non-water related project sponsored by Steinberg almost jeopardized the package. Realizing the pork provision could derail the water deal, Steinberg immediately removed the earmark.
Over the past few weeks, there were many other factors that could have derailed the water deal. As negotiators and staff released information regarding the specifics of a potential water deal, water agencies, local governments, environmentalists, property owners and families immediately raised concerns. Nonetheless, the measure were approved with several concerns unresolved (e.g., the construction of a peripheral canal), because legislators agreed to increase the bond by $1 billion for Los Angeles to fund its conservation and monitoring program.
In the coming year, legislators and interest groups will continue their efforts to modify the approved water deal. Unions and environmental groups who are adamantly opposed the construction on a “dam” or peripheral canal will potentially oppose the proposed 2010 water bond. Further, they will continue to lobby the Legislature to require increased regulation of property owners’ water rights, two provisions removed from the final water package. Delta legislators, who are concerned with the make-up and authority of the governance board, likewise will attempt to resolve their issues.
Legislators have now returned to their districts and will attempt to spend the next two months preparing for another contentious year in the Capitol. A projected $20 billion budget deficit and pension crisis are two issues Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are already preparing to face. The water bills will be sent to Governor Schwarzenegger for his signature, and according to Schwarzenegger, the $11 billion water bond will be placed on the November 2010 ballot.
Local Links
RICHMOND – Gang rape highlights need for parent involvement --The gang rape of a teenage girl outside a Richmond High School dance last month has become a national outrage, as well it should -- raising questions about the culpability of bystanders who watched and did nothing for more than two hours. It has forced the immediate community to consider its role and responsibility for this tragedy and has also led to finger-pointing. Read more in the Merced Sun Star.
SAN JOSE – Supreme Court to Review Jessica’s Law –If not for his poor driving, S.P. might have escaped the web of Jessica's Law, California's controversial bid to keep convicted sex offenders from living near parks, schools and other places where children gather. But when he was arrested in San Jose for driving in the wrong direction and with an open container of alcohol in his car, parole agents checked his residence and told S.P. that he was in violation of the “safe zone” laws, and must relocate. He was living with his mother, and her house was closer to a child-care center than the 2,000 feet prescribed in the 2006 voter-approved measure. Read more in the San Jose Mercury News.
PALO ALTO – Since May, four students at Henry Gunn High School have committed suicide at a nearby railroad crossing. Classmates have begun writing notes of affirmation and posting encouraging blogs in an attempt to restore hope to the student body. Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
SACRAMENTO – A California college student government president says he is feeling the wrath of peers and school administration as he faces a recall election. Opponents are upset that he allowed a pro-life display on campus during the school's Constitution Day. Read more at WorldnetDaily.
Truth Project Opportunities
RIVERSIDE – California Family Council continues to expand its offerings of the acclaimed Truth Project group leader training seminars. Training in biblical worldview is a prerequisite to living out authentic Christianity in today’s postmodern culture, with its subjective claims of truth. 
The next Truth Project group leader training seminar:
Saturday, November 14, 2009
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Host Church: Neighborhood Church of Anderson and Cottonwood (Shasta County)
4684 Rhonda Rd., Anderson, CA 96007
 
Saturday, November 21, 2009
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Host Church: Calvary Chapel, Paso Robles (Central Coast)
1615 Commerce Way #A, Paso Robles, 93446-3614
 
For more information on attending or hosting a seminar, call the California Family Council at 951.354.8362 and ask for Trudy. Register online for seminars at: www.californiafamily.org.
 
 
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