"A wealthy Riverside County Indian tribe
launched television ads statewide today that urge lawmakers to allow five Southern California casinos to triple the number of slot machines they operate," reports Nancy Vogel in the Times.
"The ads were paid for by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which owns a casino, resort and spa along Interstate 10 near Cabazon.
"The ads promote pending legislation that would allow five tribes, including the Morongo, to add a total of 22,500 slot machines to the 10,000 they now have. The Morongo casino could jump from 2,000 to 7,500 slots and rival the biggest gambling hall in the United States, the tribally owned Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.
"In return for the right to expand, the tribes would give the state up to 25% of the additional revenue. The agreements were negotiated last year by the tribes and the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"The Senate passed the compacts last week. Assembly leaders say they will not vote on the compacts for a month or more.
Many Assembly Democrats say they are troubled by labor and oversight provisions in the agreements."
"The
politics of crime infused the 18th annual 'Victims March on the Capitol' on Monday, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imploring the several hundred people gathered on the west steps to 'send a message to the legislators' to pass his $10.9 billion prison expansion plan.
"Republican Assemblyman
Todd Spitzer of Orange also took to the podium to ask the families of murder victims who made up the bulk of the crowd, many of them hoisting posters depicting the faces of their slain loved ones, to "storm the Capitol" and "sit down" in the offices of the Democratic legislative leaders to oppose a sentencing commission and demand tougher laws.
"Both Schwarzenegger and Spitzer waded into territory contrary to the positions of the group sponsoring the rally, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The union firmly opposes the thrust of the governor's corrections plan and is an ardent supporter of the type of sentencing commission that attracted Spitzer's strident criticism."
The experience of telling large groups things they don't want to hear will benefit the governor today as he
addresses the California Medical Association in Sacramento in a lunchtime address. Schwarzenegger has called for doctors to pay a 2 percent divident tax on health care profits to help pay for his ambitious health care proposal. Physicians are opposed to the provision.
"Responding to recent actions taken by the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners, a state Senate committee
approved a bill Monday to reduce the panel's autonomy and add public representation," writes Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"The chiropractic board has been under fire ever since a March 1 meeting at which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointees took over the panel and ignored protocols in firing its executive director, ejecting a deputy attorney general and making policy decisions critics say were improper.
"As approved Monday by the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development, Senate Bill 801 by Sen.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, would place the chiropractic board under the Department of Consumer Affairs' jurisdiction.
"The proposal would add two new public board members, require that all of the governor's chiropractic appointees undergo Senate confirmation and enable the Legislature and governor to amend the state Chiropractic Act in the future. A nearly identical proposal, Assembly Bill 1137 by Assemblyman
Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, will be heard today in committee."
The Fresno Bee gives us the update on CCPOA's
Mike Jimenez's grizzly protest. Or make that,
Grizzly Adams protest. "Mike Jimenez, a Fresno resident and president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, is looking a bit unkempt these days.
His hair is long. His beard is scraggly.
It's quite a change from the well-groomed picture of him on the association's Web site.
In a recent meeting with The Bee's Editorial Board, Jimenez said he will not shave or get a haircut until the powerful union, which represents the prison system's guards, gets a new contract with the state.
So far, it's been nine months. And counting."
From our
How Many Lawmakers Does It Take Files, "an Assembly committee
approved a bill Monday that would make California the first state in the nation to ban the sale of incandescent lightbulbs.
"The proposal would ban incandescent bulbs between 25 watts and 150 watts by 2012. The bill's author, Assemblyman
Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, says a move to compact fluorescent bulbs, which last up to 10 times longer, would result in an energy savings and reduce carbon emissions.
"Lighting represents about 2 percent of the state's electricity consumption, and switching out every incandescent lightbulb with a compact fluorescent variety would drop that figure to 0.5 percent, Levine said.
"Critics of AB722 argue that fluorescent bulbs are more expensive, don't fit all light fixtures and offer inferior light quality."
"Two Orange County assemblymen
are sponsoring bills seeking to avert episodes of voter intimidation such as the one that allegedly occurred in last fall's election.
"
Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) is carrying legislation that would require county registrars to give candidates written copies of laws prohibiting voter intimidation at the time they take out papers to run.
"A bill by
Van Tran (R-Garden Grove) would make voter intimidation a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.
"Solorio's bill will be heard on the Assembly floor Thursday; Tran's bill is in committee."
"In an effort to stem potential mass foreclosures of homes financed with controversial subprime loans, a state Assembly committee on Monday
approved a bill intended to create a pool of money for homeowners to refinance their mortgages," reports Matthew Yi in the Chron.
"'We're not trying to bail out lenders and speculators,' said Assemblyman
Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County). 'The idea is to assist first-time homeowners who may face foreclosure due to bad loan products.'
"The bill, AB1538, would create a fund by tapping into the housing bond that voters approved in November, floating bonds in the future and asking banks that have large numbers of subprime customers who face foreclosures to pitch in, Lieu said."
Anf finally, a case in Dallas, Texas took a turn for the absurd when
a donkey was called to testify.
"The first witness in a lawsuit Wednesday between two neighbors was
Buddy the donkey, who walked to the bench and stared at the jury, the picture of a gentle, well-mannered creature and not the loud, aggressive animal he had been accused of being.
"The donkey was at the center of a dispute between oilman John Cantrell and attorney Gregory Shamoun that began after Cantrell complained about a storage shed Shamoun was building in his backyard in Dallas.
He said Shamoun retaliated by bringing Buddy from his ranch in Midlothian and putting him in the backyard.
Cantrell complained of donkey noise and manure piles."
Hard to know who the ass is in this case.