Dem Assemblymember Kicked Out of Capitol
BUDGET DAY PLUS 48 — Politics is not for the faint of heart.
Less than 12 hours after not voting for, or against, the budget proposed by her fellow Democrats, Assemblymember Nicole Parra (D-Hanford) has been told to pack her bags and move her office out of the Capitol.
That's out of the building and across the street to the building that houses staffers, the Legislative Office Building.
Parra was the only Democrat in attendance (one was absent) on Sunday who did not vote for the budget proposal, which went down in defeat after failing to garner the necessary two-thirds vote. A couple of weeks ago, she told her hometown newspaper that, due to the needs of the 30th Assembly district, she couldn't vote for any budget if there wasn't also a water bond proposal to place on the November ballot. And Sunday night, she simply didn't vote.
The three-term Democrat has had a rough go if it with her party in recent times. Most notably, there were frosty reactions when some thought she was actually suggesting that voters in her district elect a Republican to succeed her this fall. Democrats have spent lots of time… and money… to keep Parra in office, in a district that's one of the only real competitive seats in the Assembly.
The official word… not much. Sources in the Assembly Democratic Caucus confirmed the action, but would only otherwise call it an "internal caucus matter."
Nonetheless, this is one of the more unusual punishments doled out in Capitol history. Lawmakers have been relegated in times past to small Capitol offices, or even had their locks changed for a temporary period for stepping out of line. But getting booted out of the building? That's a new one.
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John Myers is Sacramento Bureau Chief for KQED's The California Report, heard on public radio stations around the state. More about John...
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