On June 25 the Legislature of New York State voted to allow same sex marriage in that state. In so doing, it became the sixth state to allow such marriages. It is only the third state in the nation in which same sex marriage was legalized by a vote of the state legislators. Vermont was the first state to approve same sex marriage in this way. And Vermont has the distinction of having its legislators say " we really mean it". The Governor of Vermont vetoed their marriage bill, but then the legislature overturned his veto by voting for same sex marriage again. New Hampshire was the second state to legalize marriage by a vote of the legislature.

State Capitol

Earlier in June the California Legislature passed a budget for state fiscal year 2011 - 2012. That fiscal year goes from July 1, 2011 through June 30. 2012. The Governor immediately vetoed that budget saying it was unbalanced and had too many gimmicks.

The legislature approved a second version of the budget on June 28 and the Governor is expected to sign this budget legislation.

The budget makes deep cuts to several state programs. For example, $150 million was cut from the budgets of both the University of California and the California State University. Cuts to those systems were made earlier this year as well. With the new budget bill, each system faces a total loss of $650 million. The University of California has indicated it will probably raise fees to cover these losses. That will be tough on students. Fees had already increased over 100% just since 2003.

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Boyce Hinman

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I advise you to consult attorney, or financial adviser, before acting on the information provided in this article.

On June 10 the Center For Medicaid (part of the US Department of Health and Human Services) issued an advisory letter that would allow states to offer certain protections to the same sex spouses, or domestic partners, of people who are Medicaid recipients.

Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California) is a government program to help certain people on limited income pay their medical bills. It can provide help in paying doctor and hospital bills, paying for medicine, and even paying for nursing home care, if needed.

The protections offered by the letter are in three areas.

1. Estate recovery after the death of a Medi-Cal recipient.

2. Liens imposed on the property of a Medi-Cal recipient.

3. Transfer of assets by a Medi-Cal recipient.

Governor Brown

Sadly, Governor Brown has vetoed SB 104. This bill would have made it easier for farm workers to vote to be represented by labor unions in negotiations on labor contracts.

This bill would have created a new way in which farm workers could approve a union to act as their exclusive bargaining agent. SB 104 would have permitted agricultural employees to select their labor representatives by submitting a petition to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board

accompanied by representation cards signed by a majority of the bargaining unit. The bargaining unit would be made up of the employees at a particular employer.

Under the current system labor unions must solicit members at the work place. Often this is difficult. Employers can discourage solicitations in those circumstances.

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Boyce Hinman

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Statue of Liberty

The United States has often been called a nation of immigrants. Consider the following:

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010, the population of the United states stood at 308,745,538.

The Census Bureau says that less than 1 % (.9%) of those Americans are Native Americans.

So 99% of our families came from somewhere else. We are a nation of immigrants.

And yet, now that we are here, we don't want anyone else to come.

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Boyce Hinman

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