As expected, both houses
approved a state budget yesterday. "The main budget bill,
SB 77, passed with more than the two-thirds majority needed,
clearing the Senate 33-4 and the Assembly 65-13. All of the 'no' votes came from Republicans."
If you're sending the budget bill out to your clients, don't forget
SB 80. It makes the changes to SB 77 that were negotiated by the governor and legislative leaders.
The Bee
reports: "'We don't solve everyone's problems here, but we do the best that we can to find common ground,' said Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. 'We think that Democrats have done more than meet our Republican friends halfway. ... Let this be the beginning of our working together again to try and find solutions for the problems that California faces.'"
Like the problem that may cost him the speakership in about two years...
"'You are using borrowed money from last year to repay borrowed money,' said Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, who voted against the budget. '
That gets you precisely nowhere.'"
Actually, it gets you out of town.
The largest hiccup in the budget's passage came when
lawmakers balked at a trailer bill approving funds to partially fund the
governor's hydrogen highway plan. "Lawmakers raised questions about one spending item– $6.5 million for leasing 12 hydrogen-powered vehicles for the state fleet, three hydrogen fueling stations and hydrogen technology research – at a time when other programs are being cut." After the urgency clause was dropped from the bill, it squeaked by.
Noting that all of the opposition came from Republicans, Democratic Flack and self-described "California Channel fan"
Roger Salazar notes: “Why couldn’t McCarthy convince all of his caucus to vote for the budget? That 41 percent disapproval by elected Republicans mirrors the Governor’s overall disapproval rating found in the PPIC and Field Polls. This is the one time Republicans are in sync with Californians.”
Cute.
Moving On... From the
Merc News: "With a budget approved, it's time for Schwarzenegger to call off the election and work with the Legislature on bipartisan reforms rather than barreling forward with three initiatives, said Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata, one of the Capitol's two most powerful Democrats."
Which of course raises the question,
how do you "call off" a special election?The subject has been the
Capitol rumor du jour for the last two jours. Rumors have circulated about letters from the governor's legal team, opinions from the Secretary of State and Leg Counsel and the Attorney General's office about how and who may have the authority to cancel a special election.
The Union-Tribune
reports: "
Perata said an opinion from the state attorney general this week concludes that the governor can cancel the special election."
Our sources say other government officials have informed the governor that the
Legislature can postpone the election by passing a piece of legislation, with an urgency clause, signed by the governor. Of course, then somebody would sue, and you'd have the strange scenario of the attorney general representing the governor, begging the courts to allow him to cancel his own election.
The governor's legal affairs secretary,
Peter Siggins, is also of the opinion that legislation would be needed.
"'
There is absolutely no possibility of canceling the election," said
[Margita] Thompson, the governor's press secretary. 'We need those reforms in place in order to formulate the next budget.'"
Way to stay the course, Margita!
Of course, the easier way may be to some kind of compromise. That would involve the Legislature placing new measures on the ballot and the governor "orphaning" the measures currently on the ballot. John Myers
writes in his blog. "So, what's the timeline for actually trying to seek a compromise on budget reforms (or redistricting, for that matter)? Nunez says he still intends to adjourn for a monthlong summer recess next Friday... arguing that the Legislature has until mid-August to place something on the November ballot.
Of course, Schwarzenegger has said he thinks the deadline is around the beginning of August. And neither of those dates would actually make the deadline for the main ballot pamphlet to be published..."
Playing second fiddle to the budget was the news that the
Senate passed a deal on the construction of the new span of the Bay Bridge. "The bill ratifies a deal struck last month between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, to
increase the toll on all state-owned Bay Area bridges to $4, starting in 2007, and provide $630 million in state money for the project."
The Senate also
approved the compromise user car bill that avoided a costly ballot showdown. "'This is a good balance between curbing the excess of those . . . not operating with good business practices without unfairly restricting the ability of good operators to do what they do,' [former car dealer and Senator
John Campbell] said."
The Bee
checks up on Proposition 63, which raised taxes on high income earners to expand mental health programs. "[T]he new tax on people with incomes over $1 million that voters approved in November, an
additional $750 million a year for mental health services is flowing into state coffers.
"'I think people understand the magnitude of the need, but I don't know that people yet understand the magnitude of the amount of investment we're talking about,' [measure author and commission chairman
Darrell] Steinberg said. '
It's not just $750 million once. It's every year. If we leverage it, we will create a larger investment that will enable the state to help more people.'"
Dan Walters argues that
Joe Dunn's investigation of the California National Guard is
focused on the wrong improprieties. "[T]he legislator, Orange County Democrat Joe Dunn, appears to be bypassing the reports of cronyism, cover-ups of misconduct, financial irregularities and other serious matters and concentrating, instead, on what may be
nothing more than Guard officers watching television accounts of an anti-war demonstration near the Capitol."
We thought only reporters watched TV at work.
It didn't take a legislative investigation to
can Jill Brown yesterday, the warden of San Quentin who was appointed amid great fanfare last year. "The inspector general's office, which acts as an independent corrections watchdog, investigated allegations that Brown had threatened disciplinary action against a doctor who spoke with attorneys about problems with health care delivery at the prison."
As expected, opponents of the Mega Millions lottery game
went to court yesterday. "The suit, filed in state Superior Court in Sacramento on Wednesday, seeks an injunction to stop the California Lottery from participating in Mega Millions or spending state tax funds in promoting the game.
It charges that state lottery officials acted 'contrary to the express will of voters' who approved the California lottery act - but not a multistate game."
Kimberly Kindy asks the questions: What ever happened to those
investigations into the speaker and the governor for misusing state funds? And while we're asking, what ever happened to that
JLAC investigation into Kevin Shelley?