The Brown administration is officially poised to declare that California is in a state of drought, a move that has been expected.
From the LAT's Anthony York: “It’s coming,” Brown said of a formal proclamation when asked during a press conference at Fresno City Hall. “Just be patient.”
"A recent survey of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains found the state’s water reserves are at just 20% of normal levels. Other measures have declared 2013 to be the driest year in California history."
The Legislature's nonpartisan fiscal adviser says Gov. Brown's budget blueprint generally is sound, but faults the governor on diverting $250 million to the bullet-train project and for not dealing with problems with the teachers' pension fund.
From the LAT's Chris Megerian: "Gov. Jerry Brown's new budget proposal would continue to improve California's finances, but his plans for financing bullet train construction and a lack of new money for the cash-strapped teacher pension system are troublesome, the Legislative Analyst's Office said Monday."
"A report from the office, which provides nonpartisan budget advice to lawmakers, said Brown's $155-billion spending blueprint correctly emphasizes paying down debt incurred during state budget crises."
Rep. George Miller, a Bay Area Democrat and significant player in Congress for decades, announced he is retiring after a 40-year career in the House.
From the Chronicle's Carolyn Lochhead: "Miller said he ran for Congress 40 years ago to end the Vietnam War and pass universal health care. So when the the Affordable Care Act was enacted, “that was mission accomplished for me,” Miller said Monday in announcing his retirement at his Richmond district office."
"Now, in a nod to the gridlock in Washington, Miller said that “there are venues outside of Congress that are more exciting to me.” He singled out education reform as an area in which he’s particularly interested."
For a look at some of Miller's memorable speeches, here are some videos, courtesy of Josh Richman in the Political Blotter.
Negotiations between the state and the feds over the federal order that California reduce its prison inmate population appear to haven been unsuccessful, and a federal order to settle the issue is looming.
From the Bee's Denny Walsh and Sam Stanton: "A panel of three federal judges indicated Monday that it expects negotiations aimed at settling California’s prison overcrowding issue to fail and that a final order in the long-running matter will come within 30 days."
"The judges issued an order Monday that extends the April deadline for California to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity. That order was issued in 2009 and gave the state two years to pare the number of inmates to the required level, but the deadline has been extended by the judges."
The BART strike inspired GOP-backed legislation to bar public transit workers' strikes, but the measure was quickly shot down in the Legislature by Democrats.
From News10's John Myers: "Legislation inspired by 2013's Bay Area subway strike was rejected Monday by Democrats in the state Capitol, with no consensus on whether public transit workers should be banned from walking off the job."
"The bill, authored by the Republican leader in the state Senate, was defeated on a party-line vote after a brief committee hearing."
"The GOP senator began floating the idea during the BART impasse, and the idea gained some bipartisan support at the time. But Democrats on the state Senate's Public Employment and Retirement Committee seemed persuaded by union opponents who called it too drastic an action to take."