"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
is likely to call for state spending cuts beyond those he proposed in January when he presents a revised budget to the Legislature next week, administration officials said Tuesday," write Judy Lin and Clea Benson in the Bee.
"Growing expenses and the housing market's drag on the economy are putting pressure on California's finances, said Department of Finance spokesman
H.D. Palmer. The governor and his staff are meeting this week to make tough choices on how to curtail the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Palmer said.
"'The governor has talked about cutting the rate of growth in spending,' Palmer said. 'In order to do that, we're going to have to take action on the spending side of the budget.'"
And in
Secret Death Chamber news, "Democratic lawmakers
accused Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of hiding from the public his plans to build a new execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison in a legislative hearing Tuesday in which the governor's top prison official admitted the controversial project would cost twice as much as first estimated," reports Mark Martin in the Chron.
"While a Schwarzenegger spokesman and corrections secretary
Jim Tilton said the administration wanted to quickly build a new execution chamber to meet a federal judge's concerns,
lawmakers suggested a deliberate attempt to keep the project secret. Corrections officials originally estimated a new lethal injection facility would cost $399,000, just under the amount that would have required legislative approval.
"Tilton said Tuesday that the project -- which was halted last month after lawmakers learned about it as construction was nearing completion -- would cost $800,000 and the administration would not continue its work until lawmakers agreed to fund it.
"'There was an attempt to bypass the Legislature,' state Sen.
Michael Machado, D-Linden (San Joaquin County) said. '... They were taken aback over the cost of this and I think they got caught. What's really disturbing about this is it shows that government isn't working, and transparency is not there.'"
Dan Walters writes that the
title and summary for the term limits measure is deliberately confusing to voters. "An initiative measure must be submitted to the attorney general for an official 'title and summary' that goes onto the ballot. In this case, Brown's summary reads: 'Reduces the total amount of time a person may serve in the state Legislature from 14 years to 12 years. Provides a transition period to allow current members to serve a total of 12 consecutive years in the house in which they are currently serving.'"
"Someone reading that summary might conclude that the measure tightens up term limits, rather than loosening them. U.S. Term Limits, the national pro-term limits organization, pointed out Tuesday that Brown's summary virtually plagiarizes the campaign organization's self-serving description."
"This is not mere semantics. When the Public Policy Institute of California conducted a poll in March on the issue, it described the current law and asked poll respondents whether they'd support or oppose "a change in term limits that would allow members to serve up to 12 years of total legislative service in either house." The response was overwhelmingly (66 percent) negative. But when the Field Poll asked its respondents about the measure, stressing the reduction in total service from 14 to 12 years, there was a positive (54 percent) response.
"The bottom line: Rather than make the logical case for softening term limits, the campaign wants to trick voters into thinking that they are tightening up limits.
Jerry Brown is abetting that strategy."
From our
Illegally Blond Files, Paris "Hilton's defense team
has launched a last-ditch effort to keep her out of jail after a Los Angeles traffic court judge made international headlines by sentencing the socialite to 45 days in county jail for repeatedly driving while her license was suspended," report Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton in the Times.
"Her attorneys have filed a notice of appeal at the courthouse. Though the document does not lay out the grounds for the appeal, her attorney, Howard L. Weitzman, has said the sentence was far too harsh given Hilton's misdeeds.
"
Her camp is also turning to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, circulating a petition seeking a pardon for Hilton, who must report to the Century Women's Correctional Facility in Lynwood by June 5th.
"But legal experts said both efforts face an uphill battle.
"'I don't think the Founding Fathers had Paris Hilton's driving conviction in mind when they enacted the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Constitution,' said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson."
Well, tell that to
Cameron Diaz who is
ready for Paris to go to the Pokey. "Cameron is reported by "Entertainment Tonight" as saying: "She made her bad choices, she's going to have to deal with it, that's her journey. She just has to get plastered all over the world. There were 10 helicopters above her house, which I live not too far from. I was like, 'Could you please keep it down.'
We all suffer when Paris suffers."
Amen.
Speaking of health care, the Union-Tribune reports on yesterday's
rally at the Capitol to push for single-payer health care. "About 2,000 nurses, school employees and firefighters rallied outside the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to try to put single-payer back on the health care reform table.
"The plan, contained in legislation by state Sen.
Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, would eliminate insurance companies from the California health care system and provide universal coverage paid for by the government.
"Backers say it would save money by eliminating the paper work and the profits that are now consumed by insurers and HMOs.
"Schwarzenegger, however, vetoed a single-payer bill last year."
Meanwhile, firefighters in Los Angeles
continue to battle a blaze at Griffith Park. "Firefighters made progress early Wednesday against a wildfire blazing over Dante's View in the brush-covered hills behind the city's iconic Griffith Observatory.
Animals at the nearby Los Angeles Zoo were moved indoors, and dozens of homes were evacuated."
Lloyd Levine press release to follow... "
Gil Ferguson, a highly decorated former Marine who fought in three wars, served 10 years in the state Assembly representing an Orange County district and was once dubbed one of 'the cavemen of Sacramento' because of his unwavering conservative views,
died Sunday at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach from complications of leukemia. He was 84.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered flags flown at half-staff and in a statement called the former Republican lawmaker "a champion for the people of our state."
"Speaking from the floor of the state Senate on Monday, Sen.
Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) said Ferguson 'approached the issues facing our state with the same rock-solid integrity with which he served the Marines.'"
"'Courage of conviction and an abiding belief in the founding principles of his country are what truly defined him.'"
Somewhere up there, Gil is calling for a Republican caucus.