It's time for everyone to go back to work today, except for the state controller who is recovering after suffering a heart attack.
"State Controller John Chiang has been released from a Texas hospital after being
diagnosed as having suffered a mild heart attack, his spokesman said Friday,"
"Chiang, 46, was hospitalized with chest pains Dec. 26 in Fort Worth, where he was visiting his brother.
Tests revealed that the controller had suffered a mild
heart attack, but he showed "excellent response" to treatment and was discharged Thursday, said Jacob Roper, a spokesman for Chiang.
"The controller flew to his Los Angeles home Friday.
Doctors told Chiang to rest, which he plans to do while
remaining "actively engaged" in dealing with the state's money crunch, Roper said."
For those of you who need to track endless reams of new legislation, after a server meltdown, Around The Capitol is back with free bill tracking and a new California codes search engine. Your feedback is encouraged.
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura reports on the governor's shift of focus in the budget negotiations. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he has a price.
"If he is going to give up the no-new-taxes stance on which he staked his 2006 re-election campaign, he says, Democrats must agree to shove aside environmental rules for 11 highway projects and let private investors and builders play a larger role in state construction.
"Schwarzenegger has long believed that higher taxes damage the economy; he said in 2006 it would be the "worst thing" to do.
"Now, facing a $40 billion budget deficit over the next 18 months, he says he is willing to bend if the state can offset the impact of raising taxes by making regulations friendlier to businesses.
Democrats say the Republican governor is holding up the budget over a stimulus package they consider largely irrelevant to closing the state's massive deficit.
"Economic stimulus is extremely important, and we need to get Californians back to work," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said Wednesday. "However, economic stimulus proposals will not address the (cash) situation that the state controller has indicated we will be facing in February. So it is our belief the governor should sign the proposal we put forward to address the immediate cash crisis."
In a column that has only required the change of year, Dan Walters isn't optimistic about a productive 2009 for the Legislature.
"It's safe to say that the budget and the $40 billion deficit projected over the next 18 months will remain the Capitol's preoccupation – or, more likely, its obsession. No matter what the
governor and lawmakers do, even if they do it very
quickly, the state will run out of money in a few weeks
and probably be forced to turn off its check-writing machines.
"And what of non-budgetary bills? It's almost obscene to even think about doing any other
business as long as the state faces fiscal Armageddon.
A year from now, we may look back on 2008 as the good old days."
The Bee's Peter Hecht looks at Jerry Brown's actions on the Proposition 8 litigation.
"After initially indicating his office would defend
the "will of the people" in the Nov. 4 election, Brown filed a 91-page legal brief Dec. 19 arguing that Proposition 8 violated an "inalienable right of liberty."
"His intervention is hailed in heroic terms by Proposition
8 opponents – even though Brown also rejected the opponents' core legal argument challenging the initiative.
"'I think Jerry Brown becomes an historic figure in this,' said Rick Jacobs, chair of the Courage Campaign, which supports gay
marriage. 'He has shown that the attorney general can and will
stand up for the rights of the minority in this state.'
"'I think he is Madisonian. He opposes the tyranny of
the majority.'
"Yet gay marriage opponents say Brown is abandoning
his statutory role as attorney general by refusing
to represent the majority of voters who approved Proposition
8 as an amendment to the state constitution.
"'It is wrong for politicians to elevate their own views
of what the law should be over what the constitution
says the law actually is,' wrote Frank Schubert, director of the Yes on 8 campaign. 'Doing so is not only illegal. It undermines the legitimacy
of government itself.'
"Brown's legal brief argues that the attorney general's obligation to "uphold the whole of the Constitution" supersedes his role in defending a voter-passed initiative."
"Frustrated that years of financing studies and demonstration
projects have not translated into widespread improvement
in medicine, California philanthropic foundations and
think tanks are shedding their traditionally detached stances to
crusade for healthcare reform in the state Capitol and in Congress," reports Jordan Rau in the Times.
"Several of the biggest foundations have established
offices in Sacramento and staffed them with experienced
former advisors to lawmakers, with the aim of educating
legislators to embrace their ideas.
"The approach is a notable change in the foundation
world, which in the past has maintained an academic
distance from the political arena. It is also a delicate
endeavor because such nonprofits are barred under Internal
Revenue Service rules from lobbying or engaging in
partisan politics. With billions of dollars at their
disposal, the foundations are seeking to become bigger
players."
Rau looks at efforts by the California Endowment, which
has hired Daniel Zingale,
New
America Foundation and the California Health Care Foundation.
"More students have applied to attend a University of California campus next year than any year in UC's history," writes the Bee's Robert Faturechi.
"The count is preliminary, UC officials said, but will
likely amount to a record number of rejection letters
sent to high school seniors and aspiring transfer students.
"'It looks like there will be fewer open spots than last
year,' UC spokesman Ricardo Vasquez said.
"About 127,000 students applied to attend at least one of UC's nine undergraduate campuses during the fall 2009 term – a 5 percent increase over last year.
"During sound economic times, that would be more students
than UC campuses have room to admit. Only 77,521 of the 121,005 undergraduates who applied for 2008 – a UC record at the time – were accepted."
"California's highest court is poised to be the next battleground
in the debate over benefits for illegal immigrants
as the justices have agreed to hear arguments on the constitutionality
of a state law allowing undocumented students to pay
in-state tuition at public colleges and universities," writes Anna Gorman in the Times.
"The decision could affect hundreds of illegal immigrant
students who attend community colleges, Cal State and
UC campuses and who say they would not be able to afford
a higher education if required to pay out-of-state tuition, which can cost more than triple the
amount that residents pay.
"But the outcome could have a broader effect -- at least nine other states, including Oklahoma, New
York and Texas, have similar laws providing the reduced
fees to illegal immigrants. Although a court decision
would not be legally binding in other states, politicians
around the country are looking at California as a litmus
test for future legal challenges.
"The state Supreme Court accepted the case late last
month and will probably hear arguments later this year."
And here's our Roundup Safety Tip for the day: Snacking and armed robery just don't mix. AP reports, "Just hours into the new year, Sacramento police responded to a burglary call at the Food Stop market at 2101 Natomas Crossing Road and found an unusual clue, said Sgt. Norm Leong.
"A window had been broken, and among the items stolen apparently was a bag of popcorn: a trail of kernels led police from the market to a nearby apartment complex - all the way up to a doorstep, Leong said.
"The trail continued inside the apartment, where police found 21-year-old Tyree Brown. He was on probation, so officers could legally search him. Officers found him in possession of items police believe were stolen from Food Stop, Leong said.
"Officers arrested Brown on suspicion of possessing stolen property."