Sen.
Gloria Romero was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury to testify in the FBI's investigation into Senate pro tem
Don Perata, reports the LA Times' Dan Morain and Evan Halper.
"Romero, a member of Perata's Democratic leadership team and one of his closest allies, said an FBI agent delivered a subpoena to her Capitol office requiring her to appear in July in Oakland, Perata's hometown. Romero said in an interview that she is being called to testify as a witness. She said she declined to be interviewed by FBI agents and asked that they issue the subpoena.
'
All along, I've thought this has been a fishing expedition,' Romero said of the investigation, which became public in 2004. "I asked them to be specific about their questions and to give me a subpoena…. I look forward to answering whatever questions they may have."
Agents have shown interest in legislation that Romero carried three years ago to raise taxes on alcohol by a nickel per drink — a direction that has puzzled Capitol denizens. Romero's bill stalled early in the process."
The Legislature continued their marathon floor sessions last night, with the Assembly passing dozens of Democratic bills. Among them was an increase in the minimum wage, and a landmark bill that could change the way Californians receive cable television.
"The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 passed off the Assembly floor today on a bipartisan 70-0 vote. AB 2897 streamlines an outdated piecemeal franchise process and allows greater access to cable television markets," according to a release from Speaker
Fabian Núñez, who is sponsoring the bill.
The Senate, meanwhile, passed a bill to help card clubs compete with the tribal casinos. "
SB 1198, which was amended slightly on May 23 after failing to pass early last month, would exclude raising the maximum wager at such casinos as Lucky Chances in Colma from the definition of illegal gambling expansion," writes Todd Brown in the Oakland Tribune.
"The bill, approved Tuesday on a 23-8 vote, now heads to the state Assembly."
As the Democratic gubernatorial primary enters its final days, the Angelides campaign launched its latest ad yesterday, unleashing the long-awaited attack linking Steve Westly to Arnold Schwarzenegger. You can watch the new ad, entitled "Twins"
here.
From our
Curb Your Enthusiasm Files,
Larry David will join Angelides on the campaign trail in Manhattan Beach today. And oh yeah,
Dianne Feinstein will be there too.
The Merc News's Kate Folmar takes a look at the
impact of the large number of absentee voters in the June election. "Campaigns reach out to absentee voters -- early and often -- not only because they make up a large portion of the electorate, but also because they are reliable.
"'It's a good investment, because you're pretty sure they're going to vote,' said San Jose State University political scientist
Terry Christensen. 'They went through the trouble of requesting a ballot if they're one-time absentees. Or they've got a ballot sitting on the kitchen table if they're permanent absentees.'"
George Skelton
compares and contrasts the two Democratic gubernatorial wanna-bes, and finds a lot of differences.
"Paramount on policy is the chasm between the two on taxes. This cannot be overstated, because the issue goes to the heart of what a government primarily does: tax and spend. Spending for schools, healthcare, law enforcement ….
Angelides would be a hair-trigger taxer on rich folks — couples making more than $500,000 a year — and big corporations. In fact, the candidate told me this week that moving to raise taxes on this well-heeled group — which he calculates has received $17 billion in "obscene" annual tax breaks from the Bush administration and Sacramento — would be among his first actions as governor.
He'd need the $5-billion tax hike, Angelides says, to truly balance the state budget without borrowing, fully fund schools under Proposition 98 and finance $930 million in other new projects. These include rolling back university and college fees to the levels they were before Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor, expanding student Cal Grants and providing healthcare for all poor kids.
By contrast, Westly would raise taxes only as a 'last resort.'"
The new issue of Capitol Weekly is out with legislative race previews galore, including set-ups on AD 28,
AD 67,
SD 8,
SD 20 and SD 10. Meanwhile, CW's Malcolm Maclachlan
talks to Pete McCloskey in the former Congressman's quest to dethrone
Richard Pombo.
Speaking of McCloskey, Stocton Record's Hank Shaw reports he
received a check from a man accused of having links with al-Qaeda. "A man federal authorities have investigated for financing al-Qaida and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad wrote Republican congressional candidate Paul N. "Pete" McCloskey a $2,100 check on Friday.
Neither
M. Yaqub Mirza nor an attorney who has represented him during the investigation returned calls from The Record on Wednesday asking why. But it could be because of McCloskey's friendship with the late Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat, his long history of supporting American Muslims or his persistent criticism of Israeli foreign policy."
Jordan Rau takes a look at
the Calderon clan, who hope to join the Bacas in having two brothers in the Legislature next year.
"This year, Ron hopes to shift from the Assembly to the state Senate, and Charles aims to be elected to his seat, which Tom held before Ron. Charles represented the area in the Assembly for most of the 1980s, before term limits."
Meanwhile, "In defiance of state law, the
Oakland school board voted tonight to grant diplomas to seniors who have not passed the state-required exit exam, in a 4-2 vote," reports Simone Sebastian in the Chron.
Take that!
"However, because the bankrupt district is under state control and the board has been stripped of decision-making powers, the resolution cannot be enforced unless approved by state-appointed Administrator
Randolph Ward."
Whoops. Would it help if they said "pretty please"?