"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday proposed a temporary 1.5-cent sales tax increase and new levies on everything
from sporting events to alcohol, as well as deep cuts in education and social services,
to help close an estimated $24.2 billion state budget deficit through June 2010," write Kevin Yamamura and Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"In a move that would especially hit the Sacramento
region, Schwarzenegger also proposed that state workers
take one monthly unpaid day off and lose two of their
13 paid holidays.
"The Republican governor now enters the most challenging
budget negotiations of his five-year tenure. His plan relies on GOP legislators voting
for $4.7 billion in taxes less palatable than those they rejected
this summer during a record 85-day budget stalemate. It also asks Democrats to accept
a $4.5 billion round of cuts in education and social services.
"Even then, the plan falls $2 billion short of closing the entire projected $11.2 billion gap through June 2009, said Department of Finance Director Michael Genest."
We turn to the LAT's Evan Halper and Jordan Rau for the deets:
"The linchpin of the plan is the sales tax increase
-- 1 1/2 cents on the dollar -- that could raise $10.8 billion through fiscal 2009-10. In Los Angeles County, where voters Tuesday appear
to have passed a separate half-cent sales tax hike to fund transit projects, the rate
would shoot up to 10.25%. The statewide sales tax rate is now 7.25%.
"The plan also calls for extending the sales tax to
appliance and furniture repairs, vehicle repairs, golf
fees, veterinarian services, amusement parks and sporting
events. Schwarzenegger proposed a 9.9% tax on the extraction of oil within the state, the
expansion of sales tax to some services and a 5-cent-per-drink tax on alcohol. His plan also includes a $12 increase in annual vehicle registration fees."
You know you're getting old when you're thankfull the tax is on alcohol and not coffee.
The Chron's Matthew Yi writes: "On Thursday, the governor's proposal was immediately criticized by groups whose programs would be cut as well as by Republican lawmakers who steadfastly refuse to raise taxes."
Really? There wasn't a big kumbaya moment after Tuesday's election? Shocking!
"'If our only solution is raising taxes when we're in one of the worst economic downturns ... we're crazy,' said Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis (Fresno County)."
Well, that's if you define "only" as 50% of the solution, Mr. Villines...just sayin'.
"State lawmakers have a limited time to consider Schwarzenegger's proposal and negotiate a compromise. The legislative
session officially ends Nov. 30, but the work must be done by Nov. 23 because the Legislative Council, which writes the
technical language of bills, needs time to change its
computer systems in preparation for newly elected lawmakers
to take office on Dec. 1.
"Legislative leaders and the governor are expected to
try to strike a deal and bring it to the Legislature
for a vote, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said Thursday.
"'We'll do a blitzkrieg and see what we can accomplish,' he added."
We always love those German World War II references when talking about budget cuts. Meanwhile, get the latest budget news on the new California Budget Blog.
The Bee's Dale Kasler looks at fans and foes of the governor's tax proposals, while Dan Walters has an I told you so moment, but doesn't have high hopes for the budget fix.
"[The governor's] prescription of a roughly 50-50 split between new taxes and spending cuts is probably
a rational one – keeping in mind that the deficit is likely to grow
as the economy worsens.
"But will the Legislature, which has been fully complicit
in the fiscal irresponsibility to date, finally elevate
rationality over ideological gamesmanship? "We are in a profession here where getting elected sometimes
is more important than doing what is right," he said – which could have been a commentary on his own record.
And then he added as he called the Legislature back
for a lame duck session. "That's just the way it works in politics … . I think that after the election, there is more will
there, and therefore we have a much better shot of
getting things done."
"Well, maybe. But the initial reactions from legislators
and budget interests were not encouraging. It sounded
very much like the same old ideological claptrap that
has made California a fiscal basket case."
"State workers on Thursday blasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to furlough them one day a month and drop two paid holidays from their calendar," report Jon Ortiz in the Bee.
Call it a gift for incoming Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, whose district is full of state workers.
"'I'll be firing off letters and e-mails to legislators that say, 'Hell no,' ' said Jon Marshack, a scientist employed by the state for 27 years. 'And I can tell you that everyone I work with is very,
very angry.'
"Schwarzenegger's plan needs legislative approval before the government
could furlough most of its 240,000 employees one day each month, eliminate the Columbus
Day holiday, combine the Lincoln and Washington birthdays
into Presidents Day, end holiday overtime pay and stop
counting a worker's time off for vacation or illness toward weekly overtime.
"Union representatives said they're poised for battle at the Capitol and in the courts.
Nearly all of the state's 19 employee bargaining units are in contract talks."
The Merc News's Edwin Garcia offers this closer to his article. "Said Shaun Bowler, a political-science professor at University of California-Riverside: 'This is just not a good time to be governor.'"
Well, there is this option.
Let Governor Garamendi fix it?
"Opponents of Proposition 8 conceded defeat Thursday in their campaign to block
the ban on same-sex marriage in California, pinning their hopes on a legal challenge
to the statewide initiative," report Bob Egelko and John Wildermuth in the Times.
"The estimated 3 million votes yet to be counted across the state are
not enough to close the 500,000-vote, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent lead the "Yes" side now holds, officials from the No on 8 campaign said.
"'While we think the margin will close, we are convinced
we will not be able to overcome the small deficit we
are in and that Proposition 8 will pass,' Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California,
said in a telephone news conference.
"But attorneys for several gay rights groups have challenged
the Prop. 8 victory, filing legal papers calling on the state
Supreme Court to reject the same-sex marriage ban as an overreaching use of the public's initiative power."
"More than a thousand gay-rights activists gathered Thursday afternoon outside the Mormon temple in Westwood to protest the role Mormons played in
passing Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California," report Jessica Garrison and Joanna Lin in the Times.
"It was the latest in an escalating campaign directed
against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its role in marshaling millions of dollars
in contributions from its members for the successful
campaign to take away same-sex marriage rights.
"Members of the Mormon church, who were strongly urged
by church leaders to contribute to the Proposition
8 campaign, had an undeniable role in the measure's victory. Opponents of Proposition 8 have accused the church of discriminating against
homosexuals, but the backlash against the denomination
has also sparked accusations of discrimination."
Meanwhile, the ballots are still being counted across the state, and a handful of races remain undecided. Capitol Weekly reports one of those races is the 10th Assembly District race between Alyson Huber and Jack Seiglock.
"As of Thursday, Democrat Alyson Huber trailed Republican
Jack Sieglock by 1,035 votes. But there are thousands of uncounted ballots
still remaining in the four counties that make up the
district – Amador, El Dorado, San Joaquin and Sacramento.
“
There are still thousands of votes left to be counted,” Huber said in a statement. "When the first votes were
tallied we were down by over 4,000 votes, but as the night progressed we were able to
cut that margin to 1,000.
I knew this was going to be a tight race and our confidence
remains high. According to the County Registrars there
are still thousands of absentee votes and provisional
ballots yet to be counted - including some 20,000 in Sacramento County.”
The LAT's Michael Rothfeld catches an interesting gubernatorial appointment.
"California has often been tagged as the "nanny state" for passing laws that some people say interfere with
citizens' lives. But now it has earned the label for a whole
different reason, thanks to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"The Republican governor announced this week that he
had appointed a nanny -- his own children's nanny, in fact -- as a part-time state regulator on the Board of Guide Dogs for
the Blind.
"Lindsay Ann Schnaidt, 32, a Democrat from Hermosa Beach who has worked for
the Schwarzenegger family for seven years, will be
paid $100 a day when the board meets, several times a year.
"'She expressed an interest in serving the people of
California like many other Californians do,' said Schwarzenegger's spokesman, Aaron McLear. 'The governor wants those interested in serving to have
that opportunity.'"
Well, then, we're waiting for our appointment...
And finally, from our Political Animal Files, AP reports, "The election for mayor of Rabbit Hash, Ky. went to the dogs, again.
"Lucy Lou was elected mayor on Tuesday. The border collie beat out another dog, Toby, and a cat, Travis to take the position vacated when Junior Cochran died two days before his 13th birthday.All told, 10 dogs, one cat, one possum, one donkey and one person vied for the top spot in the Boone County community along the Ohio River."
The dejected possum is reportedly contemplating a run for California state controller.