Lawmakers are on the brink of closing a tax loophole in the landmark Proposition 13 and they have unlikely allies in the move.
Melanie Mason reports in the Los Angeles Times: “For decades, tinkering with Proposition 13 has been politically taboo, even for Democrats, especially in an election year. But the blessing from business groups, combined with the Jarvis association's implicit nod, could persuade some moderate Democrats and Republicans, whose votes are needed to pass the measure, to sign on.”
“The bill, which cleared the Assembly Revenue and Taxation panel Tuesday, will need two-thirds approval in the Legislature.”
In his revised budget, Gov. Jerry Brown resisted most calls for increased spending – excluding the areas he sees fit.
David Siders and Jim Miller report in the Sacramento Bee: “The governor maintained one of the most controversial features of his January budget proposal – using money polluters pay to offset carbon emissions to prop up California’s high-speed rail project. Brown proposes using $250 million in cap-and-trade revenue to help finance the $68 billion rail project, while dedicating one-third of the fund’s revenue to the project in future years.”
“Some environmentalists have said money should be used for other projects, while the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has raised legal questions about the funding shift.”
Brown also continued to make his case for the construction of delta tunnels.
John Howard reports in Capitol Weekly: “Brown said during a state budget briefing that the huge public works project – easily, the largest in the nation’s history — “is an economic necessity that I’ve laid out, not because I want a legacy but because it appears absolutely imperative for the economic well-being of the people of California into the future.”
During his stop in Los Angeles, Brown warned of the dramatic and costly effects of climate change.
Michael Finnegan reports in the Los Angeles Times: “Brown’s remarks came a day after the release of two studies finding that a slow-motion and irreversible collapse of a massive cluster of glaciers in Antarctica has begun and could cause sea levels to rise worldwide by four feet within 200 years.”
“"If that happens, the Los Angeles airport's going to be underwater," Brown told reporters at a presentation of his revised state budget proposal in Los Angeles. "So is the San Francisco airport."
The formula funding California's public safety realignment needs an overhaul, according to the nonpartisan analysts’ office.
Jim Miller reports in the Sacramento Bee: “There have been two temporary realignment formulas since lawmakers approved the 2011 law that made counties responsible for lower-level felony offenders. The first formula covered the program's first year and the second formula is in effect through June. The Brown administration is scheduled to present a new allocation formula for the fiscal year that begins July 1.”
“Lawmakers should insist on a formula that is better than the current one because it "impacts the success or failure of the realignment of felony offenders," the Legislative Analyst's Office wrote.”
Despite Brown’s veto to similar legislation last fall, lawmakers are again pushing a bill to allow condoms be distributed in prisons.
Jennifer Chaussee reports for Reuters: “Opponents of the proposal have predicted prisoners in the overcrowded system could use condoms to store contraband rather than for safe sex, while backers say it could help cut down on high rates of sexually transmitted diseases among inmates.”