"The California Citizens Compensation Commission is scheduled Tuesday to consider a proposal by its chairman to cut elected officials' salaries by 10 percent to help deal with a $15.2 billion state budget deficit," reports the AP's Steve Lawrence.
"But a legal opinion the commission requested could
limit those affected by the cut to the 80 members of the Assembly and half of the 40 state senators.
"The opinion by attorneys for the Department of Personnel
Administration says the commission has the authority
to cut officials' salaries, but it can't do it in the middle of an official's term.
"That would prevent the commission from cutting the
salaries of the eight statewide elected officials,
the four members of the tax-collecting Board of Equalization and 20 members of the state Senate this year. Their terms
don't end until 2010.
"But the commission could impose a pay cut starting
in December on Assembly members and the 20 senators who will be elected or re-elected in November. Their terms start Dec. 1.
"The commission's chairman, Los Angeles insurance broker Charles Murray, says the commission should approve a pay cut Tuesday
to conform with the 10 percent budget cut Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants
to impose on most state operations.
"'This is the only area that would appear to be not covered
by his request to balance the budget,' Murray said. 'We just want to do our job.'"
From our Shameless Self Promotion Files, we turn to this Los Angeles TImes op-ed on the state's presidential and legislative primary season.
"The notion of giving California a bigger say in the
presidential
nominating primaries was just a sales pitch. The real
reason that Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger teamed up with Democratic legislative
leaders
last year to move up the primary was to allow Democrats
to qualify an
initiative that would have changed the state's term-limits law. If
Proposition 93 had passed, termed-out legislators, among them
then-Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Senate Pro Tem President Don
Perata, would have been able to extend their careers
in the Legislature.
Well, the term-limits initiative went down to defeat.
Schwarzenegger's decision to peel off the state's presidential primary
from the June 3 primary has now come back to haunt him. Part of the
deal was that Democrats would pair a redistricting-reform plan, a goal
long sought by the governor, with the term-limits measure."
But at least we got to spend an extra $100 million for an extra election that produced a record-low turnout!
"A developer and major campaign contributor who wants
to build homes on what is now the Verdugo Hills Golf
Course has arranged state legislation that would stymie an
effort by the city of Los Angeles to block the project ," reports Patrick McGreevy in the Times.
"The legislation was written by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) in collaboration with a company that has an agreement
with the property's owner to develop the site.
"The company, MWH Development Corp., wants to construct
229 homes to replace the 63-acre golf course in Tujunga, which is not in Fuentes' Assembly district. The firm is headed by San Fernando
Valley developer Mark Handel, who said former Los Angeles Building Commission President
Scott Z. Adler is a partnerin the project.
"Handel, Adler and other business associates backing
the bill have given more than $16,000 to Fuentes' political campaigns in the last two years -- much of it three months before the bill was rewritten
-- sparking criticism that Fuentes customized legislation
for his donors.
"'An Assembly person should not be writing exceptions
to the city law to benefit donors, friends or any other
person,' said Kathay Feng, president of California Common Cause.
"The bill has outraged members of the City Council and
the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who have
voted to oppose the legislation and have asked their
Sacramento lobbyists to try to kill the measure."
George Sketon writes that, with Darrell Steinberg and Karen Bass ascending to leadership, there's a chance the dam could break on dealing with California's water problem.
If he can't get agreement on a comprehensive bond, "...here's one thing the governor could do: Agree to sign a bill appropriating $600 million in already-authorized bond money for various water projects, including
delta repairs. Perata passed such a bill last year
and Schwarzenegger vetoed it, holding the measure hostage
for the comprehensive bond bill that died. Perata is
pushing similar legislation this year.
"The governor also could agree to sign an Assembly bill
that would require Californians to cut water use 20% by 2020.
"That would constitute at least minimum progress while
lawmakers are focused on budget balancing.
"Then next year, Bass says, water "will be a high priority."
"We've heard that before. But listening to Bass say it
-- with Steinberg waiting in the wings -- the promise doesn't seem so far-fetched."
Dan Walters also talks water this morning. "Make no mistake. Like California's chronic budget crisis, the state's looming water crisis is the product of head-in-the-sand decisions by voters and those they elect to office, not some natural calamity beyond our control.
"We haven't made a major positive decision on water in this state for four-plus decades; instead, we saw voter rejection of a peripheral canal in 1982 after a very misleading political campaign, followed by sweeping declarations of good intentions by political figures that amounted to nothing.
"Had a peripheral canal been constructed to carry water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, it would have solved many of the problems inherent in relying on the Delta as a water source, particularly deteriorating water quality that has depleted fish populations and led to judicial orders to reduce water exports from the estuary."
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura profiles Schwarzenegger advisor David Crane.
"David Crane, the man behind Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to balance the budget with lottery profits,
works in a modest Capitol office with few luxuries
beyond a window overlooking the park and an electric
teapot.
"It belies the fact that Crane is wealthy enough to
retire on some faraway beach.
"Crane, 54, left behind a lucrative 25-year career at the global investment firm Babcock & Brown in 2003 to work in Sacramento. His fortune is so well known
that the thick public forms disclosing his personal
finances have acquired a reputation of their own.
"A lifelong Democrat, Crane remained at Babcock & Brown beyond the 10 years he once envisioned, helping the firm grow from
a four-man operation to an international company. He left
in 2003 to work for Schwarzenegger.
"'The last thing I thought I would be doing is working
for a Republican candidate for governor,' Crane said. 'But I knew when I first met him that I was aligned
with him. I could've told you back when I got to know the governor back
in 1979, that guy was going to be in politics.'
"As the governor's economic and jobs adviser, Crane helps shape Schwarzenegger's fiscal policy, dating back to the recall campaign
when he wrote much of the governor's economic platform. He also is charged with attracting
employers to California, a task that has led to clashes
with local officials around the state.
"He has drawn attention in recent weeks for his role
in devising a plan to use future lottery profits to
obtain upfront money from investors."
The LAT's Marc Lifsher gives a status report of mortage industry reform in California.
"As the worst foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression
drags down
the California economy, the Legislature is making only
limited progress
this year on proposals for sweeping changes in the
home mortgage
industry.
"Amid fanfare this winter, lawmakers held televised
news conferences and introduced an unprecedented number
of bills that
would more heavily regulate mortgage bankers, brokers
and servicers and
tighten lax lending practices that put unqualified
people into houses
they couldn't afford.
"Some legislation has been approved by the Assembly
or the Senate, but
other bills have run into a buzz saw of opposition
from lobbyists.
Bankers, mortgage brokers and Realtors are a powerful
combination in
Sacramento, and their clout may yet stall or substantially
modify many
of these proposals."
Meanwhile, problems on the housing front seem to have
worsened.
Last week, it was reported that the numbers of mortgage
delinquencies
and foreclosures are at record levels nationally. The
percentage of all
mortgages at least 30 days past due rose to 6.35% in the first quarter
from 5.82% in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the Mortgage
Bankers Assn.
Such stark numbers have increased some lawmakers' sense of urgency and raised the political stakes in
Sacramento.
"I
think we're addressing the core issues that caused the mortgage
meltdown," said Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), the author of a key
bill and chairman of the Banking and Finance Committee.
A major
showdown between the battling interest groups is expected
June 18 when
the state Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee
will hear at
least 10 mortgage-related bills that have won approval from the
Assembly."
The Bee's Jim Sanders looks at the debate over
AB 1819, which would allow high school students to pre-register to vote. "'Students learn about U.S. government, history and economics
in high school, so it's a perfect time to seek their commitment to active
participation in elections, supporters say.
"'It's an excellent complement to teaching the importance
of citizen involvement,' said Assemblyman Curren Price, the Inglewood Democrat who proposed the measure.
"The bill passed the Assembly and was sent to the Senate
last month on a party-line vote, 45-31, with no GOP support.
"Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, criticized the bill as a Democratic power
play.
"For all their sweet-tongue talk about doing what's right for the country, that's baloney," Adams said.
"'The truth is, when you're young you tend to think like a liberal,' he said. 'As you get older and wiser … you tend to become more conservative.'"
So, let's ban people from voting until their 65!
The Merc News's Ken McLaughlin profiles Paul Fong, who captured the Democratic nomination in AD22.
"Now, at age 55, Fong, who is accustomed to working his political
magic behind the scenes, has stepped onto the main
stage.
"Last week, he won a hard-fought primary battle for the state's 22nd Assembly District seat being vacated by the termed-out Sally Lieber. Fong captured 38 percent of the vote in a field that included Santa
Clara Councilman Dominic Caserta, Sunnyvale Councilman Kris Wang and Anna Song, a Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee.
"The primary win in the Democratic stronghold district
makes Fong a virtual shoo-in in November against his Republican challenger: Brent Oya, a 27-year-old bank manager with no political experience.
"With the blessing of local Asian-American political leaders Norm Mineta and Mike Honda, Fong has successfully mentored about three dozen
successful Asian-American candidates as they've gained seats on South Bay school boards, city councils
and water boards. His successes have included Margaret Abe-Koga, vice mayor of Mountain View, and former Cupertino
Mayor Michael Chang."
"Fong, a former Marine reservist, likes to compare the
club he formed in 1996 - the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic
Club - to the Army's Delta Force. Like commandos, he said, the club's members swoop into the campaigns of Asian-Americans "to help out, or even rescue those" that seem to be failing."
The U-T's Jane Clifford reports that the slowing economy economy may literally mean death for thousands of household pets.
"Rising costs for fuel, groceries and health care along with the housing crunch leave four-legged family members with cheaper food, fewer physicals and, sometimes, just out in the cold – on the side of the road or in backyards and houses their owners have left or lost.
"'We are up 1,700 animals more than this time last year,' said Dawn Danielson, director of the county's Department of Animal Services, which serves San Diego, six other cities and unincorporated areas. 'There had been a steady decline over five years, and this is the first year we now have an increase. We attribute that to a lot of people losing their homes.'
"Rescue groups and humane societies take pets, and they relieve the shelters by using member networks to place adoptable animals in foster, if not permanent, homes.
"Rescue groups and humane societies, too, are seeing increasing numbers of animals coming in but fewer going out to adoptive homes, as well as fewer contributions from donors whose generosity keeps them going.
"We expect overall here, and at shelters throughout the country, to see a decrease in adoptions,” said Simran Noon, spokeswoman for the San Diego Humane Society."
And finally, from our Death By Trousersnake Files, we turn to Thailand for our most embarassing death story of the day .
"A body of a 40-year-old man with a cobra carcass in his head was found
on a roadside here Sunday morning.
"A
preliminary autopsy also found that Wiroj Banlen, 40, was wearing a
condom although he was putting on his trousers. No
semen was found
inside the condom.
"His body was found on the side of a dirt road in Tambon
Lamsai of Ayutthaya's Wangnoi district at 7 am.
"He was bitten several times by the snake on his right
leg and on his cheeks."