During 2012, battles over "gay" rights, education, and the state budget crisis dominated the headlines coming out of The Golden State.
Prop. 8 heard by courts
The year 2012 was a year filled with challenges for pro-family Californians and fiscal conservatives who have tremendous battles to fight in the year ahead.
California pro-family groups celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear the Proposition 8 case at the close of the year. The California marriage law, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, lingered in the courts through 2012.
In February, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court decision that said Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Greg Quinlan, president of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, said he's worried that the U.S. Supreme Court will override the majority vote and the Constitution in order to advance the gay agenda.
"We're seeing over and over again that there are places where the Constitution doesn't matter," says Quinlan. "The will of the people doesn't matter, majority vote doesn't matter. So I am concerned about the direction we are headed."
Gay-to-straight therapy
California's governor also signed into law a bill that bans minors from receiving gay-to-straight therapy. SB 1172 goes into effect January 2013, and would prevent counselors from offering therapy that would set minors free from a gay lifestyle.
A federal judge upheld SB 1172 while another federal judge ruled against it ( related article). The law is currently being challenged by pro-family groups.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, stated: "It will cause a significant and irreparable harm to our clients who are counselors, parents, and particularly those who are minors who are receiving this counsel and who benefit from this counsel."
Pro-LGBT teaching in schools
California pro-family groups also lost another attempt to invalidate a state law that requires the teachings of the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in public schools. The coalition that sought to overturn SB 48 with a counter initiative failed to place the item on the statewide ballot for 2014.
In another 2012 battle, The Class Act would have required that only accurate social sciences be taught in public schools. Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said: "The fact that we were so close on both tries, tells us there are indeed many people throughout California who understand the importance of protecting California's children in public schools."
Gov. Jerry Brown and taxes
In the political realm, California voters passed Governor Jerry Brown's tax initiative that raises state sales and income taxes to solve the state's budget deficit. Brown promised voters that the taxes would generate revenue and would funnel money to education.
Following the passage of Proposition 30, the state legislature's budget analyst announced that despite the measure, there is still a deficit in this year's budget. He added that the state's fiscal outlook will be brighter only if lawmakers refuse extra spending and if the state's economy starts to quickly improve.
"This is not going to solve the state's budget problem -- it is actually simply going to be a band aid on a cancer -- the cancer is massive amounts of overspending, said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com. "They will not cut the waste of the unions or the bureaucrats, and instead, those Democrats are going to push for more spending."
Thomasson asserts that Democrats will surely ask for more tax hikes. The governor told voters that if they didn't pass Proposition 30, he would be forced to make deep cuts to public education.
'One-party tyranny'
State Democrats also won supermajority of the state Legislature, taking control of both houses. The change marks the first time in over a century where Democrats dominate the state government. The status gives Democrats the ability to pass taxes and measures without Republican opposition, and makes them virtually veto-proof.
James Lacy, publisher of the California Political Review, believes the state government will continue to expand.
"The reality of the situation is that government has grown every single year that Jerry Brown has been in office and he has had the opportunity to exercise his own leadership," Lacy told OneNewsNow.
"California government is going to continue to grow and they are going to do everything that they can to stop populism, to stop the tea party, to stop people that have strong views on social issues from having any fair opportunity to put their issues on the California ballot as a way to circumvent the liberal Democratic Legislature. We are in a state right now of one-party tyranny."
State Democrats said they will look to reform healthcare, public services, and may implement additional tax hikes in the future.