There's nothing better for a governor than news of unexpected revenue, and Legislative Analyst
Liz Hill delivered the news yesterday that
Gov. Schwarzenegger will have
$2.6 billion more to spend when he revises his budget in May.
Despite the increased revenue and the gov's falling ratings, Hill
warns against going on a shopping spree with the new-found cash. Hill was apparently testing new material for an upcoming HBO comedy special.
The good numbers may have come in just in time to remedy some bad numbers for the governor -- his latest approval rating. Today's
Field Poll finds a 55-35 approval rating for the gov, down from 65-22 in September and below
Gray Davis's position at the same point in his governorship. Meanwhile, the poor little guys in the Legislature, with an approval rating of 34 percent, are at their highest approval rating since September 2002.
Rob Stutzman, sounding more and more like his boss every day, says "It's a great number." Sorry, Rob, the adjective we were looking for was "fantastic." "Terrific" would also have been accepted.
The governor's falling approval ratings come as he going to become increasingly dependent on the goodwill he has with voters. The slew of initiatives the governor wants to qualify for the November ballot will be hitting the streets in the next couple of weeks, and the Schwarzenegger name will be essential to getting those measures on the ballot.
Today,
the governor heads to Cal Expo to talk about spending controls. Later this week, look for the anti-pension privatization forces to gather at the Capitol for a pep rally.
Peter Schrag says
redistricting alone won't solve the problem. "Redistricting by a judges' commission will probably produce a few more competitive seats. But without campaign finance reform, majority rule in the Legislature, open primaries and other major changes, we'll get the legislatures that we had from the early 1990s until three years ago. Those districts also were drawn by judges. For anyone who wants to change the system, that's not much to get excited about."
Kevin who? The majority on
JLAC now
consider Kevin Shelley out of the picture, and the committee is instead focusing on how to run an administrative agency. Somebody tell that to
Tom McClintock. "Eighty-eight percent of this story is yet untold," McClintock said at yesterday's hearing. And that, apparently, is the way some Democrats like it. Assembly Republicans added their "outrage" in a post-hearing press release.
Insurance Commissioner
John Garamendi has
found his calling as an
Eliott Spitzer emulator? And will it work for him at the polls? We may get a clue later this week when another Field Poll tests Garamendi and all the other potential gubernatorial candidates in head-to-head match-ups with Schwarzenegger, and each other.
Just asking: Which
newly separated San Francisco Mayor's cell phone number was among those listed in
Paris Hilton's T-Mobile device, which was hacked over the weekend, and had its contents dispersed on the Internet?
From the Southland:Speaking of polls, who will vote March 8? That's the big question, with a
new poll showing
Antonio Villaraigosa with a 17-point lead over incumbent Hahn. The poll shows
Hahn, Bernard Parks and Bob Hertzberg all battling for that second spot in the run-off against Villaraigosa.
If you like a good fight, don't look to the OC district attorney race.
Todd Spitzer ducked out of the race against
Tony Rackauckas.
Problem and solution? As we read through
Rough and Tumble this morning, we came across these two headlines, and wondered it there wasn't some sort of way to solve two problems at once: "Crude up to $51 per barrel; Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk."