"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his latest attempt to
pressure lawmakers into breaking the state's budget impasse, on Wednesday said he will not sign any bills until the Legislature
agrees on a budget, which is more than a month overdue," writes Matthew Yi and John Wildermuth in the Chron.
"'Nothing in this building is more important than a responsible
budget,' Schwarzenegger said at an afternoon news conference
in the Capitol. 'I know this means some good bills will fail.'
"One bill that is likely to die is AB3034, which seeks to change the high-speed rail bond on the November ballot. The bill, designed
to make the ballot measure more appealing to voters,
must be approved by the Legislature and signed by the
governor by the end of next week in order for the changes
to be made.
"Thirteen Senate bills await Schwarzenegger's signature, and a spokesman for the governor said
authors of the legislation will be given the opportunity
to take them off his desk to avoid a veto.
"The governor's pronouncement was his second controversial act in
as many weeks in an effort to nudge legislators to
break a logjam over how to bridge a $17.2 billion budget gap for this fiscal year, which began
July 1.
"Despite the governor's argument that lawmakers should negotiate a budget before working on any more bills, both houses of the Legislature will go ahead today with their scheduled floor sessions and hear more bills, said spokespeople for the leaders of the Assembly and the Senate."
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura and Jim Sanders report:
"...Schwarzenegger's no-signature threat likely will have little practical effect because lawmakers know there are ways to skirt his
idle pen.
"The governor said he will veto bills before they become
law after 12 days without his signature. But legislators can simply
withhold bills from the governor until Aug. 18, the start of a six-week window in which the 12-day rule does not apply. That likely buys lawmakers
cover from a veto until Sept. 30."
The U-T's Ed Mendel reports: "Schwarzenegger said the state has a 'cash crisis looming.' But [Controller John] Chiang disagrees, announcing yesterday that more revenue and less spending are pushing back the deadline for getting a short-term loan.
"The state needs a routine loan, at last estimate $8 billion, to provide cash while tax revenue arrives
in spurts, with most coming toward the end of the fiscal
year.
"If there is no budget, the state must get a more expensive
type of loan that could add at least $100 million to borrowing costs. Chiang had thought that
he would have to commit to a loan next week.
"The controller said yesterday that improved finances
allow him to push back a decision for 'several weeks.'"
Capitol Weekly looks at the symbolic state of budget negotiations.
"As metaphors for budget negotiations go, this one is not good.
"Traditionally, as budget talks enter their final stage,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger summons lawmakers to his
famous smoking tent, located in the courtyard outside
the governor’s office.
"But the smoking tent is gone.
"Look into the governor’s courtyard, and all you’ll see is a concrete slab. Even the Astroturf that had been laid down underneath the tent has been removed. So what gives? Has the governor finally had enough schmoozing? Given up the habit? Removed the tent as the sign of a new, personal fiscal austerity?
"Nope. The tent has been moved at the request of the
Department of General Services, which is making some
repairs to the Capitol roof. The repairs have been
going on for months, closing the passageway between
the sixth floor annex and the fourth floor of the old
Capitol.
"So, do lawmakers miss the tent? And has the demise
of the smoking tent lessened the prospects of a budget
deal?
“'Now that the smoke is gone, we just need to get rid
of the mirrors and we might get a budget deal,' said Assembly
Republican Leader Mike Villines, R-Fresno, who himself was never a fan
of the tent, or
the cigar smoke inside it.
"The absence of the tent has not stopped Schwarzenegger from huddling with top advisers in his courtyard. It’s just that now, anyone in the Capitol with a view of the courtyard can chart the progress of budget negotiations (Web cam, anyone?).
"Tuesday afternoon, for example, the governor and
Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy were puffing away on stogies
as they were being briefed by Legislative Secretary
Chris Kahn and senior adviser Ana Matosantos.
"In order to get out of the hot afternoon sun, the governor
has set up a few chairs toward the outer edge of the
courtyard, in a shaded area. But from our vantage point,
it was questionable at best whether or not Kennedy
and Schwarzenegger were enjoying their cigars within
the confines of California law."
While the governor still has a place to smoke, the Capitol has another loss from the budget impasse.
"The Capitol elevator operators, a beloved and longtime
fixture of the state's legislative hub, were among those who went down with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's layoffs last week," writes Daniel Zarchy in the Bee.
"The operators, eight in all, were let go as part of
the governor's executive order to save cash by laying off 10,133 part-time and temporary state workers until the Legislature
settles on a budget.
"'I've even told them I'd work for free, because it makes me happy,' said Helen Jenkins, who has worked as a Capitol elevator
operator since 1983. 'I've never ever in my life seen (a budget) like this. I've never seen it where due to the budget the governor
has to lay someone off. Now I know why they call him
the Terminator.'
"The only elevator left with an operator is reserved
for state senators.
"According to Department of General Services spokesman
Eric Lamoureux, the agency that manages Capitol building operations,
the Senate rehired one operator for the members' private elevator, tapping into its own pot of money."
"The largest state employees union filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court alleging that the state mishandled its termination of some temporary and part-time employees last week, potentially costing hundreds of thousands of dollars," reports Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"The state is still processing some exit paychecks due
last week for employees and will be forced to pay them
additional compensation because it did not immediately
provide them their final wages.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order
last Thursday that terminated 10,133 workers.
"Because the state terminated the workers rather than
suspending them, it was required to issue checks for
all salary and vacation pay immediately. The state's Labor Code allows for a delay in such payments but
requires that employers pay one additional day of compensation
for every day the final check is late.
"Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents 95,000 state workers, filed its suit on behalf of taxpayers,
charging that the state should have issued full checks
to all 10,133 workers last week when it laid them off. The union
believes thousands of workers have yet to receive their
paychecks and that the delay could force the state
to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties
alone."
"As a legislative committee reviewed the Air Resources Board’s plan to reduce greenhouse gasses, a deal was announced on a new bill that will implement a key piece of the plan, and give the state a voice in limiting urban sprawl," reports Capitol Weekly.
"A broad coalition, including environmentalists, builders
and local governments, crowded into a Capitol hearing
room Wednesday to announce an agreement on a bill,
SB 375 by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. It would give new regional councils, and
the state Air Resources Board, new authority over local
land-use and transportation planning decisions.
"The goal, say stakeholders, is to create new, “smart-growth” developments that combine infill housing and transportation
hubs to reduce the need to drive automobiles.
"'SB 375 would become the vehicle to implement the land use portion of AB 32,' said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. 'It would carry out the draft scoping plan for the land-use sector.'
"The amended SB 375 is expected to be heard in Assembly Appropriations
Thursday."
George Skelton looks at the prospects of Dianne Feinstein running
for governor.
"'I think she'll definitely think long and hard about it,' says Bill Carrick, the senator's longtime political strategist. 'She's extremely interested.'
"But Feinstein also says, 'I love the work in the Senate.'
"And based on history, you'd have to figure the odds are against her running.
She's comfortable and effective in the Senate. She's on a path to chairing the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Her last two reelection races have been cakewalks.
And in two years she'll be 77, not the usual age when one starts hustling for a
new job."
But if she did?
"'Let me tell you something,' Carrick says. 'Everybody would snap to if she were governor. Her photo-ops would be bill signings. She's a tough task master who gets things done.'
"She'd be the strongest candidate and probably the strongest
governor.
"Another window of opportunity is opening for Feinstein.
It's wide and undoubtedly her last."
"Long Beach businessman Randal Hernandez has become the fourth member of the state community colleges board to step down in the year since the panel angered Republican lawmakers by endorsing legislation giving illegal immigrants access to student financial aid."
"Just two days before his reappointment was to be heard
by the Senate Rules Committee, and having been warned
by Republicans that his appointment was in trouble,
Hernandez notified Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday
that he was withdrawing his application to serve another
term.
"Sen. Jim Battin (R-La Quinta), vice chairman of the committee, confirmed Wednesday
that he had told Hernandez that he and other Republican
lawmakers had concerns about the college board's unanimous vote in 2007 to endorse provisions of the proposed state "Dream Act."
"'I told him he probably would have some issues with
my caucus,' Battin said."
"Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), another member of the committee and Republican Caucus,
said the concerns remain from last year, when Senate
Republicans blocked confirmation of the governor's appointment of Colleges Board President Katherine Albiani and board members Rose Castillo-Guilbault and John Koeberer. Commissioners must be confirmed within a year of
their appointment."
"California forestry officials Wednesday rejected an emergency petition to protect coho salmon in coastal streams, even though federal fisheries regulators said it would help the imperiled fish," reports the Bee's Matt Weiser.
"The petition before the state Board of Forestry comes
as California salmon are at historic lows, requiring
regulators to suspend all salmon fishing on the coast
this year – a first.
"The request came from California Trout, the Sierra
Club and the Environmental Protection Information Center.
It targeted coho salmon in coastal streams between
Santa Cruz and Humboldt counties.
"For several years, the National Marine Fisheries Service
has cautioned the board that its forestry rules not
only are inadequate to protect salmon, but actually
threaten fish. That's because, among other things, state logging rules
allow too much erosion into spawning habitat."
And if you think you had a tough time at your summer internship, check out the story of Jacob Barr.
Barr "had his lower leg amputated Monday after a tiger attacked him Sunday on his first day of work," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
"The tiger, named Tony, was shot by the owners during the attack.
"Sandra Smith, 58, one of Wesa's owners, said Monday the attack was a 'freak accident.'"
