"Top Republican lawmakers on Tuesday
called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a 'fiscal crisis' to deal with California's looming budget problem, but administration officials said such a move would be premature," reports Judy Lin in the Bee.
"Sen.
Bob Dutton, a Republican from Rancho Cucamonga who refused to vote for the current budget because it spent too much, said the governor should use a special authority voters assigned him during the last budget crisis to tackle a budget deficit forecast to be nearly $10 billion.
"Under Proposition 58 passed in 2004, the governor could declare a fiscal emergency if he determines revenue is "substantially below" what was anticipated in the budget and summon the Legislature into special session.
"'If we don't do something now ... to deal with this crisis, we could find ourselves right back where we were five years ago,' Dutton said following a Senate budget committee hearing in the Capitol on Tuesday.
"The administration's Department of Finance cautioned that it was too soon to make such a call.
Propositions 57 and 58 "set up a procedure for midyear budget corrections. Under the provision, Schwarzenegger must propose legislation to fix the problem. If the Legislature doesn't approve a solution within 45 days it is barred from acting on other business or adjourning."
"A Sacramento judge Tuesday
denied a third tribal lawsuit seeking to block four Feb. 5 ballot referendums on Indian casino gambling expansions," writes the Bee's Peter Hecht.
"Superior Court Judge
Lloyd Connelly rejected a lawsuit by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians that challenged the legality of the referendums, Propositions 94-97.
With the news, political consultants everywhere, who are all banking on a long, expensive campaign, breathed a collective sigh of relief when.
"In a suit against Secretary of State
Debra Bowen, Agua Caliente's tribal chairman,
Richard Milanovich, argued that the measures should be banned from the ballot because the few paragraphs in the referendum petitions didn't provide the full text of agreements of gambling compacts Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed with the tribes."
"The compacts -- which are being challenged in the referendums -- would allow four of California's wealthiest tribes to add a total of up to 17,000 new slot machines. The tribes include Agua Caliente, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation."
"
Los Angeles was the loser and San Diego was among the winners yesterday as the California Transportation Commission
approved guidelines for allocating $2 billion in transportation bonds," reports the U-T's Ed Mendel.
"A full-blown power struggle has erupted over part of a $19.9 billion transportation bond approved by voters in November 2006 that provides money to improve freight corridors, particularly around ports.
"The commission of governor's appointees voted 8-1 for a split that could give the San Diego area up to $400 million, despite opposition from Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, who was not satisfied with about four times that much for his area."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday
signaled a controversial push to engage private companies in the building and management of state and local public works projects, proposing a strategy widely employed in Canada, Europe and elsewhere," writes the LAT's Michael Rothfeld.
"In such partnerships, which could take a variety of forms, private companies could finance, build and manage roads, schools, waste-water treatment plants, ports, levees, hospitals and other projects. The companies would rent the facilities to the government or collect fees from users.
"Though public-private partnerships have been undertaken in some other states and occasionally in California, such as in the construction of San Diego's South Bay Expressway, state law does not explicitly authorize or set rules for such deals.
"Until now, Schwarzenegger's piecemeal efforts to involve the private sector in state government generally have been opposed by lawmakers and labor unions. But the governor is considering an ambitious proposal that would institutionalize private-sector deals, and would need legislative approval for it."
Anyone taking bets on that one?
"A state appeals court
has overruled Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of parole for a man who has spent more than 22 years in prison for aiding in an East Oakland murder," reports Bob Egelko in the Chron.
"In a ruling by Justice
Peter Siggins, Schwarzenegger's former legal affairs adviser, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco found no evidence to support the governor's decision last year that Curtis Lee would be dangerous if paroled. Rather than ordering Lee's release, however, the court voted 2-1 to send his case back to Schwarzenegger for reconsideration.
"Lee's case is one of an increasing number in which appellate courts have disputed Schwarzenegger's assessments of prisoners, mostly convicted murderers, who are serving sentences of up to life in prison but are eligible for parole."
"State Controller
John Chiang yesterday
directed his office to audit the state stem cell institute to ensure that all necessary oversight and procedures are in place as millions of taxpayers dollars begin to roll out," writes Terri Somers in the Union-Tribune.
It will be the third review of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's finances, which have been studied by an independent auditor, as required by law, and then were reviewed at the request of the state Legislature. Those were general audits that looked at everything from routine expenses to travel and salaries.
"The controller's audit will specifically look at the grant process: how grants are allocated, whether the institute provides adequate oversight once grants are awarded and the performance milestones in place.
"'It is imperative that the research financing move forward in an ethical and transparent manner,' Chiang said yesterday during a stem cell institute committee meeting.
"Chiang said he has no reason to believe anything is wrong at the institute, but that it is crucial to assure taxpayers their 'generous investment in stem cell research' is being handled in a transparent and above-board way, spokeswoman Hallye Jordan said."
And, just in time for the holidays, looks like
US troops are getting some help where they need it most.
"The Army is retrofitting 1 million uniforms to bolster pants that have been tearing during the rigors of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Soldiers in Iraq began reporting "
crotch durability problems" with their combat uniforms in July 2005, according to the Army. Jumping into Humvees, hopping from helicopters and scrambling after insurgents have popped inseams on the baggy pants."
Good to see our men and women in combat have the proper, er, equipment.