"Democratic Treasurer
Phil Angelides has begun to tap labor unions for campaign contributions as he tries to bounce back from a costly primary and raise the money he'll need to compete with GOP Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in what could be the most expensive campaign for governor in the state's history."
"In the past month, Angelides has received the maximum $22,300 contributions from the laborers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, the prison guards union, the iron workers union, the electrical workers union and public employee unions."
"Schwarzenegger, too, has seen money come in from some of his core business supporters, including PepsiCo, Oracle USA, Pfizer, Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile, Applied Materials, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the California Business Properties Association, Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. and a host of individuals, including
Reed Hastings of Netflix and
John Chambers of Cisco Systems."
The 2006 gubernatorial election is the first in which contributions are limited to $22,300, requiring each candidate to obtain far more donors than in previous campaigns for governor.
Of course, the limited individual contributions are not the only funds expected in this year's race.
"There are other ways to put big money into the race for governor. In recent weeks, the state Republican Party has collected contributions of $2 million from Stockton developer
Alex Spanos, $1.5 million from
Jerry Perenchio of Univision, and $1 million from Texas oilman
T. Boone Pickens. The party used that cash for to pay for a statewide TV advertising campaign attacking Angelides."
"Angelides was particularly helped in the primary by televisions ads produced by an independent committee financed by
Angelo Tsakopoulos, a longtime friend and business partner. By the end of the primary, the committee had raised better than $10 million, with $8.7 million coming from the Tsakopoulos family."
AP's Don Thompson looks at the current
salary negotiations between CCPOA and the governor, and the implications for the election. "Guards - several hundred of whom earn more than $100,000 a year in salary and overtime - received a 5.2 percent raise as their contract expired Saturday, on top of 5 percent raises in July 2005, January 2005, and July 2004, and a 6.8 percent raise in July 2003. Their raises are tied to the pay formula for California Highway Patrol officers.
The first bargaining session for a new contract collapsed within minutes earlier this month. A second try is set for Monday.
The Chron's David Lazarus
looks at the car buyer's "bill of rights," which took effect Saturday. "People involved in both sides of the negotiations for the Car Buyer's Bill of Rights acknowledge that the lobbying was fierce, and that much of the deal-making occurred during a marathon bargaining session orchestrated by Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles."
"'This is a classic example of compromise legislation,' said
Peter Welch, president of the California Motor Car Dealers Association, which represents about 1,400 car dealers statewide. '
Everyone had to give. Everyone had to swallow something.'"
"
Sunne Wright McPeak, secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, announced Monday she is
resigning to work for a new organization charged with expanding high-speed Internet service to under-served communities," reports Edwin Garcia in the Merc News.
"McPeak, a Pleasanton resident, will be the first president and chief executive of the California Emerging Technology Fund, a San Francisco-based organization created with $60 million from the state-approved merger of four telecommunications firms."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has tapped the state's chief labor negotiator as the
new director of the Department of Personnel Administration."
"
David Gilb, chief of labor relations the past two years, will succeed
Michael Navarro, who retired Friday after 34 years of state service. Gilb also will replace Navarro on the board of the $205 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System."
"California voters will decide in November
whether oil companies should pay for a program that advances clean energy and alternative-fuel vehicles," reports Erin Sherbert in the Stockton Record.
"An initiative on the November ballot would tax oil producers 1.5 percent to 6 percent, depending on the price of oil."
"The tax is estimated to generate $4billion over 10 years, money that would pay for research and development of renewable energy sources, including solar and wind power, as well as alternative-fuel vehicles, said
Julie Buckner, spokeswoman for the California Clean Energy initiative."
"But Californians Against Higher Taxes already has raised $10million to fight the initiative, said
Scott Macdonald, communications director for the No on the Oil Tax Initiative campaign. Many oil and energy companies have contributed large sums of money toward the campaign, according to finance reports."
State Sen.
Deborah Ortiz has started accepting her daily per diem from the Senate for the first time, to help her pay down her campaign debt, reports Kevin Yamamura.
"Ortiz began collecting per diem on June 5, one day before the primary. For years, she made a point of not accepting the payments because she lives in Sacramento, while colleagues justify taking the money to pay for travel.
Ortiz said she had run up a debt in her campaign account during her losing bid for secretary of state. 'After I exhausted those funds from the campaign . . . I made a judgment call to do it,' Ortiz said."
Finally, if you're disappointed about the lack of drama surrounding this year's state budget, we can vicariously get our fix from New Jersey, which has shut down its state government. And, if you think our "shutdowns" were interesting, we ain't got nothing on New Jersey, which
ordered all casinos to close at 8 a.m. this morning.
The AP reports "Atlantic City’s 12 casinos — from the three Trumps to the Tropicana — shut down their gambling floors Wednesday morning for the first time ever, their hand forced by a stalemate over the state budget."
We can guess that the Donald is one unhappy camper.
"The casinos’ hotels, which attract millions of gamblers and vacationers every year, will remain open because they don’t require state involvement in their day-to-day operations, but
no gambling will be allowed because the state casino inspectors who keep tabs on the money are off the job until lawmakers approve the budget. State parks and beaches will also close because of the lack of staff."
"Minutes before the 8 a.m. deadline Wednesday, gamblers were still at the slot machines with their cups of coins."
"'What else can you do down here besides gamble?' said
Janice Sidwa, 60, who was in the midst of a four-day trip to the city fix from New Jersey."