Permanent ban on Internet taxes nears

Paul Clinton

Rep. Chris Cox’s effort to permanently ban taxes on Internet access

cleared two key hurdles this week. The bill, which Cox co-authored

with Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Ore.), made its way to the House floor and

cleared a Senate committee.

Cox and Wyden are backing the Internet Non-Discrimination Act,

which would make permanent a temporary ban on access taxes set to

fall by the wayside at the end of the year.

On Wednesday, the House’s judiciary committee sent it to the House

floor for a vote. In the Senate, the proposal cleared the commerce,

science and transportation committee.

“Today, we are one step closer to permanently ensuring that

Americans are free from new taxes on their e-mail and Internet

access,” Cox said. “New taxes discriminating against Internet users

would be unfair to our economy and our society. It is time to

permanently ban them.”

Campbell urges governor to remove appointments

Assemblyman John Campbell and an Orange County state senator want

Gov. Gray Davis to remove two of his appointees to a building

industry commission. They have charged the two men with conflict of

interest.

Campbell, who represents Newport Beach, and state Sen. Dick

Ackerman (R-Fullerton) want Davis to remove Barry Broad and Sid

Cavanaugh, who now sit on the Building Standards Commission.

In a Tuesday statement, Campbell said the two men, as plumbers’

union officials, have a vested interest in the commission’s adoption

of new building and fire codes for California. The commission held a

hearing Wednesday on the issue.

“I am asking Gov. Davis to remove both of these individuals from

the commission,” Campbell said. “To allow them to remain on the

commission and participate in [Wednesday’s] hearing regarding

building codes threatens the public trust in state government.”

Broad is a lobbyist who has represented the plumbers’ union.

Cavanaugh is a special representative to the United Assn. of

Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry.

The Davis administration referred calls to the Department of State

and Consumer Services, which oversees the codes. However, the two men

remained in their posts Wednesday.

“We don’t have a comment right now,” agency spokesman Drew

Mendelson said about Campbell’s demand. “They’re participating in the

hearing.”

Campbell, the vice-chairman of the Budget Committee, also said he

would strike funding to the commission from Republican budget

proposals.

County Republicans grow by 1,600 in June

The Republican Party of Orange County is reporting a surge in new

supporters for June.

Of the about 4,000 voters who registered in June, some 1,600

checked the “R” box, while only 300 declared themselves Democrats.

“The Republican Party out-registered the Democrats by more than a

5-1 margin,” Chairman Tom Fuentes said. “This is significant because

we out-registered our proportion of overall registered Republicans to

Democrats in our community.”

In Orange County, Republicans outnumber Democrats by a 3-2 margin.

There are 634,872 (48.66%) elephants and 412,249 (31.6%) donkeys.

Fuentes attributed the surge to the continuing popularity of

President Bush, the grass-roots effort to recall Gov. Davis and the

legions of dedicated volunteers.