Doing the right thing for battered women, FINALLY

By LOIS HENRY, Californian columnist

Oct. 15, 2009

Well, the California State Senate finally got off its butt and passed bill SBX3-13, which restored some funding to the state's battered women's shelters, on a 38-0 vote.

Now, it heads to the Governor's desk.

All the funding had been cut by the Governor earlier and a bill to restore at least some of the money failed last month because State Sen. Roy Ashburn, along with most of his GOP colleagues, refused to vote for any measures that needed a two-thirds majority as part of their "leverage" strategy.

The bill, which Ashburn had co-authored, only needed one Republican vote to pass, but Ashburn refused.

Six shelters in the state closed and Kern's were barely keeping the doors open. I was appalled, and still am.

Apparently, Ashburn withheld his vote to get the Democratic majority to honor some promises made to him earlier, though he refused to specify those promises.

I'm told now, however, that a bill to provide tax breaks to homebuyers will have Ashburn's name attached to it. And yes, Ashburn voted for the shelter money.

Jeeze, really? That was so NOT worth the potential cost to women and children with no where to go for shelter!

Sometimes, the world is just too ugly to comprehend.