Bob Huff
From Ballotpedia
| Bob Huff | ||
 | ||
| California State Senate District 29 | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2008-Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| December 2012 | ||
| Years in position | 4 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $95,290.56/year | |
| Per diem | $141.86/day for each day in session | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| First elected | 2008 | |
| Next election | November 6, 2012 | |
| Term limits | 2 terms | |
| Prior offices | ||
| California State Assembly | ||
| 2005-2010 | ||
| Mayor, City of Diamond Bar | ||
| 1997, 2001 | ||
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | Westmont College | |
| Personal | ||
| Place of birth | Calexico, CA | |
| Profession | Business Owner | |
| Religion | Protestant | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Personal website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
Contents |
Huff was elected to the state senate in November 2008. Prior to joining the senate, he served for four years in the California State Assembly from 2004-2008. He was a member of the Diamond Bar City Council from 1995-2004 and served two terms as mayor of Diamond Bar.
Huff has a B.A. in Psychology from Westmont College.
He is married to Mei Mei Huff and they have four children.
Huff is running for re-election in 2012.
Issues
Taxes
Sen. Tony Strickland blasted Democrats in June 2011 for not committing the recently discovered $6.6 billion additional state tax revenues to public safety and education. Public safety and education groups are the two in the state claiming to be hit the hardest with cuts. Strickland said it does not appear the money was spent wisely.
“Democrats would like to claim that this budget is about public safety and education,” Strickland said. “Let’s be clear: You can make no mistake that this budget is not about protecting public safety or education. If you extend these taxes, it’s going to mean more people out of work at a time when people can least afford it. If you vote for this, it will actually be a full year of tax increases even if people in September vote it down.”
In 2011, Republicans blocked the passage of a tax bill requiring a two-thirds vote (AB X1 18).
Immediately following the failed tax vote, Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg brought up a bill (SB 1X 23) that housed his local taxation bill (SB 653) and would allow local governments to bring local tax opportunities to a vote.
“I believe that it is another club to use over Republicans and our constituencies, saying, if you don’t do this bridge tax, if you don’t raise the taxes of people that have already said no, then we are going to have all these different taxes,” said Republican Sen. Bob Huff.
However Steinberg and other Democrats said they planned to allow local governments to fund their own public programs, especially if Republicans and voters rejected the tax extensions in 2011. Senate Bill 653 was a bargaining tool to get Republicans to go along with Jerry Brown’s tax extensions.
Under SB 653, local governments could pass local taxes increases on not just goods and services, but also on income taxes. In the course of the 2011 session, Democrats said they would create a local car tax, additional business taxes, property taxes and many different excise taxes on cigarettes, liquor, soda and even locally sold medical marijuana.[1]
Spending transparency
Huff is a sponsor of Senate Bill 719 which would require each state department and agency to publish a website that provides details on expenditures in a searchable format. He says, "Transparency is an essential component of democracy and allows taxpayers to hold public officials accountable for their actions. More public scrutiny will help reduce impropriety in dealing with taxpayer dollars - be it perceived or real."[2]
Legislative scorecard
Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score. [3],[4]
On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Huff ranked as a 9. [5]
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Huff has been appointed to these committees:
- Subcommittee on Education
- Education Committee, California Senate, Vice Chair
- Subcommittee on Sustainable School Facilities
- Governance and Finance Committee, California Senate, Vice Chair
- Rules Committee, California Legislature
- Transportation and Housing Committee, California Senate
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Huff served on these committees:
- Transportation and Housing (Vice Chair)[6]
- Education (Vice Chair)[7]
- Public Safety[8]
- Natural Resources and Water[9]
- Joint Legislative Budget Committee, California Legislature
Elections
2012
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2012
Huff is running for re-election in the 2012 election for California State Senate District 29. He is running against Greg Diamond (D) in the primary on June 5, 2012. The general election takes place on November 6, 2012. [10]
2008
In 2008 Huff was elected to the California State Senate, District 29. He finished with 178,155 votes and was followed by Joseph Lyons with 127,536 votes and Jill Stone with 21,983 votes.[11] Huff raised $963,990 for his campaign fund.
| California State Senate, District 29 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
 Bob Huff (R)
| 178,155 | |||
| Joseph Lyons (D) | 127,536 | |||
| Jill Stone (L) | 21,983 | |||
Campaign donors
2010 (Off-cycle)
| California State Senate 2010 election - Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Top contributors to Bob Huff's campaign in 2010 | |
| Peace Officers Research Association Of California | $12,900 |
| Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers | $10,950 |
| Unitedhealthcare | $7,800 |
| Altria | $7,800 |
| Pechanga Band Of Luiseno Mission Indians | $7,800 |
| Total Raised in 2010 | $426,313 |
2008
In 2008 Huff raised $963,990 in campaign donations. Four of his top donors are listed below.[12]
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Eli Lilly & Co. | $8,200 |
| Farmers Insurance Group | $8,190 |
| California Steel Industries | $7,200 |
| Jeffrey S. Burum Enterprises | $7,200 |
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Bob + Huff + California + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
29th district profile
California Senate District 29 includes parts of three counties. It includes the San Gabriel Foothills and both sides of the hill ranges separating Orange and Los Angeles Counties.
Over half of the district's population resides in Los Angeles County ranging from La Crescenta-Montrose to Diamond Bar and the Foothill cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Claremont. The district also includes Walnut and La Habra Heights and the unincorporated areas of Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights.
The cities of Chino and Chino Hills in San Bernardino County are part of the district.
The rest of the district is in Orange County, including all of Brea, Yorba Linda, La Habra, and Placentia, and part of Anaheim, in the Anaheim Foothills stretching toward Riverside County.[13]
See also
External links
- Official campaign website
- Bob Huff's personal website
- Official website of State Senator Bob Huff
- Legislative profile of Bob Huff on Project Vote Smart
- Biographical profile of Bob Huff on Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 1998
- Vote California profile of Bob Huff
- List of Senate bills sponsored by Huff
- Bob Huff's Facebook account
References
- ↑ "Bridge Tax Fails; Local Tax Passes," CalWatchdog.org June 13, 2010
- ↑ Chino Hills News, "Bob Huff announced Taxpayer Transparency Act, April 16, 2009
- ↑ Capitol Weekly, "Capitol Weekly's Legislative Scorecard", December 17, 2009
- ↑ Fox and Hounds Daily, "Random Thoughts on the Political Scene", December 18, 2009
- ↑ Capitol Weekly", Downloadable 2009 Capitol Weekly State Legislative Scorecard
- ↑ Members of the Senate Transportation and Housing committee
- ↑ Senate Education committee membership list
- ↑ Senate Public Safety committee membership list
- ↑ Senate Natural Resources and Water committee membership
- ↑ California Secretary of State, Official candidate list
- ↑ California State Senate official election results
- ↑ Campaign donors
- ↑ Overview of Senate District 29
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by - | California State Senate District 29 2008–present | Succeeded by NA |
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