Adams and five other Republican legislators have drawn criticism after breaking with their party in February to vote for a state budget plan that included billions in tax increases as part of a plan to resolve a projected deficit of $42 billion by the end of 2010.
The plan included $12.5 billion in tax and fee increases, along with $14.9 billion in spending cuts.
Adams’ vote in favor of the budget plan sparked the effort to remove him from office, said Mike Schroeder, former chairman of the California Republican Party and one of the recall campaign’s organizers, who have started a website, www. RecallAdams.org.
When Adams voted for tax increases, he broke a “no new taxes” pledge that he had signed before his election in 2006, Schroeder said.
“If you want to have the ability to have weasel room on your pledge, then put it on the pledge,” Schroeder said. “Say, ‘Unless I change my mind.’”
Adams’ district includes La Crescenta and Montrose, along with Claremont, La Verne, Glendora, San Dimas, Monrovia, Bradbury and Arcadia. He also represents the San Bernardino County communities of Apple Valley, Hesperia, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, San Bernardino, Highland and Mentone.
He argued that his decision helped keep the state from going broke and potentially failing to provide important public services.
“The state of California could not afford to shut down vital services, lay off police officers, teachers, nurses, all to make some political point,” he said. “And I thought it was important that, in order to keep the state solvent, principle had to trump politics.”
The plan would not have passed without every lawmaker who supported it, so Adams and other Republican legislators used their votes as leverage to shrink the size of the state’s budget from $104 billion to $95.5 billion, he said.
