Changing course, Gov. Brown has signed into law protections for undocumented immigrants. His action, which is of historic proportions and the latest in a series of pro-immigrant legislation, resonated throughout the immigrant community.
From the Mercury-News' Sharon Noguchi and Patrick May: "Reversing his position from a year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a law that shields illegal immigrants arrested on suspicion of many crimes from being turned over to immigration authorities."
"Coming on the heels of Brown signing a bill allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, Brown's signature on the so-called Trust Act signaled a personal turnaround. It also highlighted the dramatic shift in Californians' views toward illegal immigration since voters in 1994 overwhelming approved Proposition 187, which barred illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits but was ultimately overturned in court..."
"The bill prohibits placing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds on jail inmates who are otherwise eligible for release. Brown said he now felt comfortable signing the bill because the Legislature had added several provisions to the Trust Act since he vetoed it last year that will allow those charged or convicted with serious and violent felonies to be held for ICE agents. Crimes added to the list that expose immigrants to deportation include child abuse, gang-related crimes, drug trafficking, weapon sales, using children to sell drugs and aggravated federal felonies."
Lake Tahoe, the jewel of the Sierra and the largest alpine lake in North America, is in the midst of a political battle between the bi-state agency that regulates it and environmentalists who see protections for the lake at risk.
From the NYTimes' Rick Lyman: "For more than four decades, California and Nevada have worked to control development around Lake Tahoe. But that compact came close to falling apart after legislators on the Nevada side chafed at the way environmental concerns dominated the discussion, especially after the economic downturn battered Nevada’s casino economy."
"Still, 12 years of negotiations resulted last December in a new development plan for the region that satisfied political leaders from both states and some environmental groups, providing a pathway for more construction in town centers around the lake, a few taller buildings and the possibility to expand some lakeside casinos, ski resorts and other facilities."
"But it did not satisfy the Sierra Club, which believes the plan will open the door to much more development than proponents claim. Joined by a few smaller environmental groups, like the Friends of the West Shore, the Sierra Club filed suit to overturn the deal." (Ed's Note: For Capitol Weekly's detailed coverage of the Lake Tahoe issue, click here and here.)
Polls show that most people are upset with the government shutdown, contemptuous of political leaders in both parties and fearful of the future. But one group is happy -- the tea party followers.
From the LAT's Cathleen Decker: "Their partisans in Washington have shut down the government and, as the debt ceiling deadline nears, have given much of the country a case of the shakes. But these are heady times for the tea party."
“It’s amazing how we can be completely irrelevant and shut down Congress at the same time,” one of the movement’s early organizers, Mark Meckler, chortled at a Saturday evening gathering at the weekend state Republican party convention in Anaheim. Minutes earlier, Tim Donnelly, a former Minuteman border watch leader who is the movement’s favored candidate for governor, rolled into the meeting to a standing ovation from nearly 200 tea party supporters. “And they say the tea party is dead?” he opened."
"Not quite. The movement may not have demonstrated electoral heft in California yet — Republicans hold no state offices and are outmanned in Sacramento and in Washington, and tea party members can claim only some of those seats."
Seems like yesterday, but it's been 10 years since Gov. Gray Davis was ousted from office in an unprecedented California recall election and Hollywood celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger
From News10's John Myers: "There were a lot of people who didn't think the recall had a chance when it launched in the mid-winter of 2003, but no one refused to engage on the issue more than the man on the hot seat. The governor refused multiple attempts by reporters to elicit a comment in the early weeks of the effort, perhaps assuming that this would be like the 31 failed previous gubernatorial recalls in California history books."
"But by the spring, with his approval ratings down to an abysmally low 24 percent, Davis began lashing out -- calling the backers of the effort to fire him "losers" and saying they wanted a do-over of the 2002 campaign. "
"Only once it qualified, on July 23, did he seem to really engage... just a little more than two months before voters went to the polls."
When it comes to government workers' pensions, the employer is going to be shouldering an increasing share of the costs.
From Calpensions' Ed Mendel: "A new CalPERS projection shows employer rates for the largest group of state workers increasing 27 percent over the next six years — but the focus is on the risk of how much things can change."
"As the giant pension fund begins to take a bigger bite of state and local government budgets, employers will get more information about rates and a kind of mixed message."
"The goal is make rates more predictable for employers, avoiding shocks and allowing time to adjust budgets, while also encouraging employers to think about risks that could change the rates. A new annual “actuarial valuation” for state and schools plans has added a “risk analysis” section. How rates can change is shown with several examples of different annual investment earnings and long-term earnings forecasts."