"Although lawmakers continue to argue over how to resolve the state's fiscal crisis, they already have endorsed $6 billion in spending cuts that provide a painful preview of what is likely to be in store for Californians," report Jordan Rau and Evan Halper in the Times.
"The proposed cuts would mean that money for the state's university systems would decrease. Transportation
and schools would take a hit. Funds for regional centers
that help treat developmental disabilities in babies
and toddlers would decline. Cash to help the elderly,
blind and disabled keep up with rising food costs would
be slashed.
"None of these cuts has been enacted. But the fact that
they were included in the fiscal plan that Democrats
passed last month -- and have been separately backed by Republicans -- ensures that they will be at the top of the list when
lawmakers finally decide how to bridge a budget gap
projected to exceed $40 billion within a year and a half.
"The $11.2 billion that California would receive from Washington to help wipe out the deficit under a stimulus package expected to be pushed through the House this week would do little to offset these cuts. The federal funds, which would address only a quarter of the state's overall problem, are more likely to be used elsewhere."
The Bee's Steve Weigand reports the state may be issuing IOUs as early as next week.
"Chiang has said he won't write $3.7 billion worth of checks for those and other state programs if legislators and the governor haven't reached a deal by next Sunday to close the budget gap.
"The controller said he must conserve what little cash the state has to be able to make constitutionally required payments to schools and interest payments to state bondholders.
"'This is a very painful decision,' Chiang said. 'It pains me to pull this trigger, but it is an action that is critically necessary.'
"The state's cash situation is somewhat analogous to your family emptying its checking account, drawing down the savings account to cover checks, and only having enough left to pay either the mortgage or the utility bill.
"For the second time in five years, the state Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is set
to go broke – big time broke," reports Andrew McIntosh in the Bee.
"The fund that pays benefits of up to $450 a week to the jobless sank into the red for the first
time in its 60-year history in 2004. California borrowed $214 million from the federal government to continue paying
benefits.
"With surging unemployment in California driving more
people to its rolls, the fund now pays out up to $34 million a day in benefits to the state's unemployed.
"This week – possibly even by today – the fund will run out of money, and then will have
to rely on a $1.84 billion federal government loan to pay benefits through
March.
"Proposals to fix unemployment insurance – a benefit whose history dates to the Great Depression
of the 1930s – have so far gained little traction. Yet experts argue
that without a serious overhaul, California's fund is careening toward a $2.4 billion deficit this year and a $4.9 billion shortfall by 2010."
"As part of his solution to fix California's bleeding budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed eliminating or merging a host of state
boards and commissions in a scaled-down version of his unsuccessful plan in 2005 to streamline the state's bureaucracy," writes the Chron's Wyatt Buchanan.
"The governor wants to create a Department of Energy
to consolidate large state regulatory agencies, streamline
information technology functions and dump a board overseeing
landfills that has been widely criticized as a well-paid soft landing spot for politicians, including,
most recently, former state Sen. Carole Migden of San Francisco.
(If that happens, Steve Lopez would be devastated ...)
"Officials in Schwarzenegger's administration said the proposed changes would save
$126 million the first year they are implemented and eliminate
371 jobs and 80 board positions. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger continues
to appoint people to high-paying jobs, including to the waste-management board he wants to eliminate.
"Much of his plan for reducing bureaucracy, which administration
officials say will be expanded, targets professional
boards and commissions in the Department of Consumer
Affairs that are funded by licensing fees and not the
general fund.
"Critics of the governor's plan say some of the proposed changes are poorly
conceived and would do nothing to close the $42 billion gap in the state's general fund budget (which includes $2 billion in reserves) through June 2010."
George Skelton isn't so convinced by the plan.
Dan Walters gives John and Ken some red meat, writing that increases in public pension costs could lead to demands from voters to reconsider benefits.
"One wonders how long taxpayers, many of whom are seeing reductions in their incomes and watching their 401(k) pension funds wither, will tolerate new taxes or reductions in other spending to prop up public pensions that are much more generous than their own."
The Chron's Bob Egelko reviews the arguments on both sides of the case challenging
the constitutionality of Proposition 8 .
"In thousands of pages, the combatants in the Proposition
8 fight have made their case to the state Supreme Court.
"On one side: the people's right to amend their Constitution and define marriage.
On the other side: the courts' duty to protect minorities, such as gays and lesbians,
from the tyranny of the majority.
"The briefs are all in, from sponsors and opponents
of the ballot measure banning same-sex marriage and their far-flung allies - organizations as mainstream as the AFL-CIO and the California Catholic Conference and as unconventional
as the Church of the Messiah and a No on 8 group called Love, Honor, Cherish.
"The next step is a court hearing, perhaps by the first
week of March in San Francisco. A ruling, due 90 days later, should be the last word on the validity
of the Nov. 4 initiative and the 18,000 same-sex weddings performed before it passed, at least until
the losing side puts the issue on the ballot again."
"President Obama, in his first major environmental act
since taking office, will order the Environmental Protection Agency today
to move swiftly on a request by California and other states to set the nation's toughest vehicle emissions standards," write Zachary Coile and Robert Selna in the Chron.
"Obama plans to make the announcement at a White House
ceremony, according to congressional sources briefed
on the plan. The move signals a sharp break with the
Bush administration, which rejected California's request to enforce its rules limiting greenhouse
gases from cars and trucks.
"While Obama's order only requires the EPA to reconsider California's request, all sides expect the agency will approve
it. His new EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, must finish a formal review before making the decision,
but environmentalists were already cheering the likely
outcome."
"UC-eligible seniors who are rejected at other campuses
will likely be offered a spot at Merced, forcing many with their hearts set on a four-year UC education to take a second look," reports Robert Faturechi in the Bee.
"According to numbers released last week, UC Merced
took in just 9,065 freshman applications for fall 2009, slightly fewer than last year and less than half
as many as UC Riverside, previously the least popular
UC campus.
"'The biggest challenge is getting folks here and explaining
who we are,' said Kevin Browne, associate vice chancellor for enrollment.
'We just want a chance to tell our story. If you want
to go surfing every morning, we're not the best choice but I'm not sure that's the best filter for your college selection process.'"
LA Observed's Kevin Roderick speculates that a new round of layoffs at the LA Times could begin as early as today.
"The Los Angeles Times staffers I've heard from seem pretty convinced there will be a new round of newsroom bloodletting next week, with many fearing the firing starts Monday ... The Times surveyed its reader panel last year about killing the Business section or the California section. Sounds like the time may have come for more desperation moves. Earlier this week, the Times pressroom was officially notified that new cuts were coming."
And it's good to know California isn't the only state with a rash of silly laws.
"Minnesota law requires all bathtubs have feet. It is
also illegal to sleep naked, tease a skunk or cross
state lines with a duck on your head.
They may sound absurd, but these are actual laws on
the books in Minnesota. Well, mostly.
"Strange
laws like these are widely circulated around the Internet,
said
Michelle Timmons, state revisor of statutes, and each
must be taken
with a grain of salt. Especially the duck one.
"'We researched and researched on that one,' Timmons said. 'That must be an odd interpretation of (a law) on the books.'"
Something about poultry in motion, we're sure...