Charles Calderon
Charles Calderon (b. March 12, 1950) is a former Democratic member of the California State Assembly, representing District 58 from 2006 to 2012. He previously represented District 58 from 1980 to 1982. He served as state Assembly majority floor leader from 2011 to 2012. He also served in the California State Senate from 1990 to 1998.
Biography
Calderon's professional experience includes working as assistant general counsel for the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, partner at Nossamn, Guthner, Knox & Elliot, LLP, consultant with the California Secretary of State, and prosecutor in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.[1]
Committee assignments
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Calderon served on these committees:
- Appropriations Committee, California General Assembly
- Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee, California General Assembly
- Banking and Finance Committee, California General Assembly
- Insurance Committee, California General Assembly
- Revenue and Taxation Committee, California General Assembly
- Rules Committee, California Legislature
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Calderon served on these committees:
- Select Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
- Appropriations Committee, California General Assembly
- Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee, California General Assembly
- Insurance Committee, California General Assembly
- Revenue and Taxation Committee, California General Assembly (Chair)
Issues
Political courage test
Calderon did not provide answers to the California State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test. The test informs voters how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected.[2]
Ballot initiatives
Calderon was the sponsor of California Assembly Constitutional Amendment 21 (2010). This legislation would have required that any statewide ballot propositions proposed through the state's ballot initiative process would require a 2/3rds vote to pass, rather than a majority vote.
Porn tax
In 2008, Calderon sponsored a bill that would have imposed a tax on California's "adult entertainment" business. Calderon's bill would have imposed a 25% tax on pornographic movies, strip club fees, pay-per-view films, sex toys and similar products. Since California's porn industry was thought to have annual sales of about $4 billion, the tax, if it had been enacted, would have generated about $665 million in tax revenue a year (assuming that sales of sex products did not decline).[3][4]
In defense of his bill, Calderon said that adult entertainment creates an impact on society such as the costs incurred when law enforcement officials are called to strip clubs and when county health care systems incur costs associated with the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Calderon also said that addiction to online sexual content has cost some men their jobs, leading to poverty and the use of food stamps and the state Medicaid program. As a result, Calderon saw that tax as a way for the adult entertainment industry to pay its fair share of these societal costs.[4]
Sponsored legislation
Calderon's sponsored legislation includes:
- AB 104 - Income taxes: pensions
- AB 689 - Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law
- AB 819 - Intellectual property piracy
For details and a full listing of sponsored bills, see the House site.
Elections
2014
- See also: State executive official elections, 2014
Calderon explored bids for California Secretary of State and State Treasurer of California in the 2014 elections.[5][6] He filed a "Statement of Intention" for both races but ultimately chose not file for either office in the primary election.[7]
2012
Calderon was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits.
2010
Calderon won re-election to the 58th District seat in 2010. He had no opposition in the June 8 primary. He defeated Republican Garrett M. May in the November 2 general election.[8]
| California State Assembly, District 58 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
 Charles Calderon (D)
|
61,375 | |||
| Garrett M. May (R) | 27,771 | |||
2008
In 2008, Calderon was re-elected to the California State Assembly District 58. Calderon (D) finished with 85,086 votes while his opponent Carlos Getino (R) finished with 35,867 votes.[9]
| California State Assembly District 58 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Charles Calderon (D)
|
85,086 | |||
| Carlos Getino (R) | 35,867 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
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.[10][11]
On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Calderon ranked as a 69.[12]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Calderon and his wife, Lisa, have three children.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Charles + Calderon + California + Legislature
See also
- California State Legislature
- California State Assembly
- California Assembly Committees
- California state legislative districts
External links
- Legislative profile of Charles Calderon on Project Vote Smart
- Biographical profile of Charles Calderon on Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 1998
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed December 9, 2014
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Issue Positions," accessed December 9, 2014
- ↑ Don't Mess With Taxes, "Porn tax proposed in California," May 29, 2008
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New York Times, "Sex sells, so legislator urges state to tax it," May 26, 2008
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance:Statement of Intention," accessed November 27, 2012
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "State Sen. Leland Yee to run for California secretary of state," November 26, 2012
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Voter Guide: Voluntary Campaign Spending Limits for Candidates for Statewide Elective Office," accessed March 28, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
- ↑ 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, "2009 Capitol Weekly State Legislative Scorecard (Archived)," accessed March 13, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
California State Assembly District 2006–present |
Succeeded by Cristina Garcia (D) |
