If you blew off the budget negotiations for the long weekend ski trip, you have the bragging rights this morning. The only thing you really missed at the Capitol was Margaret Cho singing "Eat S@!+ and Die" at a gay marriage rally yesterday.
As for the rest? Well...
"With lawmakers still unable to deliver a budget after
three days of intense negotiations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
prepared to lay off 10,000 government workers and his administration said it
would halt the last 275 state-funded public works projects still in operation," write Jordan Rau and Eric Bailey in the Times.
"The projects, which cost $3.8 billion and include upgrades to 18 bridges and roads in Los Angeles County to protect
them from collapsing in earthquakes, had been allowed
to continue as others were suspended because the state
was running out of cash.
"The projects to be suspended today had been exempted
from a November stop order because of the significant
financial cost of canceling contracts, the expense
of resuming them or the public-health or public-safety ramifications. The list also includes work to
eliminate arsenic in the Central Valley town of Live
Oak and half-built highway construction projects.
"Schwarzenegger had delayed sending out pink slips since
Friday, hoping that lawmakers would soon approve a
budget. But they failed Monday to find a third GOP
vote in the state Senate to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass a budget -- a requirement that essentially gives the minority
Republicans veto power. A spokesman for Schwarzenegger
said layoff notices would go out today.
"Late Monday evening, both houses of the Legislature
adjourned and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) ordered senators back to the chamber at 10 a.m. today, saying they would stay until a budget passed.
"'Bring a toothbrush,' he said. 'I will not allow anyone to go home to resume their
lives or any kind of normal business.'"
Does anyone want to pitch in to buy a care package for Twitter King John Myers so we can all follow the action from home?
"In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, the Sacramento
Democrat asked his Republican colleagues for that last vote," writes the AP's Judy Lin.
"'One member,' Steinberg said. 'One more member to put the interest of the state ahead
of ideology and ahead of any parochial concern.'
"His address drew a pointed response from Republican
lawmakers, who blamed Democrats for years of overspending.
"'You're not going to go back to the people's pocketbooks to fuel that spending,' said Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula."
The most pointed comments of the Senate impromptu debate came from Sen. George Runner, who accused the Democrats of manufacturing an artificial budget crisis, reports Capitol Weekly. "You want this emergency," Runner said on the Senate floor, earning grumblings from unhappy Democrats.
The Chron's Matthew Yi and Wyatt Buchanan also stayed around for the action.
"'I was frustrated last night,' Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), said Sunday. 'I'm past that point today.'
"'There is no reason for this budget not to be done except
for the fact that a couple of individuals have elevated
their individual political careers above the state
of California,' she said. 'They are willing to let the state of California go
off a cliff because they are concerned about their
next primary.'"
"Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, agreed.
"'I don't understand why in the eyes of some who are holding
this up, how they don't see the precarious plight California faces without
this budget,' he said."
Speaking of Steinberg, Saturday's boiling point moment is on YouTube.
"Senate Republicans even drew criticism from their GOP
counterparts in the Assembly. Assemblyman Anthony Adams,
R-Hesperia (San Bernardino County), said he was angry at his GOP colleagues in the Senate,
calling them "recalcitrant."
"Adams said he plans to be one of three Republican votes
in the Assembly to approve the budget that includes
nearly $16 billion in cuts, $11 billion in borrowing from Wall Street, and more than
$14 billion in tax increases, which will likely be politically
hazardous for any GOP lawmaker."
But the eyes of the nation are watching California.
And here's a good summary of what they see, courtesy of the
New York Times.
"The state of California — its deficits ballooning, its lawmakers intransigent and its governor apparently bereft of allies or influence — appears headed off the fiscal rails."
Or at least onto the Crazy Train.
The Chron's John Wildermuth looks at the ballot measures that would be on a May 19 ballot to make the budget work.
"The biggest item on the ballot will be a plan that
allows the state to borrow $5 billion and repay it with future revenues from the
state lottery. When California voters authorized the
lottery in 1984, its sole purpose was to bring in extra money for
state schools.
"The new ballot measure would allow the state to use
the lottery "to provide funds for other public purposes" and borrow against future revenues.
"But 61 percent of likely voters opposed the lottery borrowing
in a poll last month by the Public Policy Institute
of California, showing how much work the governor has
to do to turn those numbers around.
"Other measures expected to be on the ballot for the
special election, which doesn't yet have a date, include revisions to 1998's Proposition 10, a measure by movie director Rob Reiner that put a 50-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes for new children's programs, and 2004's Proposition 63, which taxed the richest Californians to support new
mental health programs.
"There's also a future cap on state spending, which would
set a limit on budget increases and put any additional
money into a rainy-day fund for tough financial times. Another measure
would tinker with Proposition 98, which sets a minimum funding level for California
schools."
There's a list of the budget and trailer bills with text and analyses on AroundTheCapitol.com.
The big bill is ABX3 3/SBX3 3, which would raise several state taxes, and all eyes are on the elusive 27th vote. Over the weekend, attention shifted from Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) to Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria). With Mark Ridley-Thomas's seat empty pending a March special election, three Republicans have to vote for most of the bills, which require a two-thirds vote.
The Merc News's Edwin Garcia looks at Abel Maldonado's predicament.
"Abel Maldonado, a moderate Republican lawmaker known for his quiet demeanor, took his seat in the chamber of the California Senate late Saturday, threatening to oppose the tax increases pushed by Democrats to solve the state's $40 billion budget deficit.
"But hours later, after a colleague suddenly backed
out of the tax vote, Maldonado, who represents a gerrymandered
district stretching from Saratoga to Santa Maria, was
unexpectedly thrust into the uncomfortable position
of being the state's best hope at keeping cash-starved California from falling over a fiscal cliff.
"In the conservative Republican Caucus, Maldonado is
one of few legislators who have been able to cross
party lines and still get re-elected in his moderate district. This time, though,
the dilemma has become a higher-stakes gamble: Maldonado's political ambitions would require him to run statewide, where
a pro-tax vote would prove hugely problematic in a contested
Republican primary."
It's like Jeff Denham déjà vu.
Dan Walters also looks at the main target for the 27th vote.
"But Maldonado never closed the door completely, telling
The Bee on Sunday that "I'm very concerned with the tax package, (but) everything's fluid. … I don't want my state to go off the cliff, OK? I don't want that."
"As the immense budget deal boiled down to a single
Republican vote in the Senate on Sunday and Monday,
the question on everyone's mind was: "What does Maldo want?"
"Maldonado actually listed for reporters a series of
things that could motivate him, reforms ranging from
blocking legislative salary increases during budget
crises to creating an open primary election system
that would give moderates such as himself a better
chance of winning. "I think government reform is a priority. It could be
one, it could be two; at the end of the day, I want government to be reformed," he said.
"Maldonado's resolve will be tested as the Senate conducts a showdown
vote on the tax portion of the deal today and Democrats
continue to press him for the decisive vote."
Capitol Weekly raised hopes on Sunday for a way out
without Maldonado in a podcast with John Myers and in a subsequent news article.
"According to the state Constitution, approving the
budget requires a two-thirds vote of the membership of each house. In the
80-member Assembly, that typically means 54 votes, and in the Senate, 27 votes.
"But the membership of the Senate currently stands at
39, not 40, because of the departure of Mark Ridley-Thomas to the Los Angeles County board of supervisors.
"Two-thirds of 39 is 26, not 27. Could the vacancy mean the Senate only needs 26 votes to approve the budget?
"Article IV, Section 12 of the state Constitution says appropriations from
the General Fund - the budget - must be "passed in each house by roll call vote entered in the
Journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring."
"It seems straightforward. But the issue comes down
to a legal definition of
"membership."
"Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution says the "Senate has a membership of 40 Senators..."
"But if there is a vacancy, does that change the membership
for legal purposes?"
Apparently not. Legislative counsel has told lawmakers
that 27 votes are still required to pass a budget deal in
the Senate...
"The union representing nearly 95,000 state workers has reached a tentative deal with Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration that includes one unpaid furlough day off per month
instead of the two the governor had ordered," writes Jon Ortiz in the Bee.
"The deal also includes fewer paid holidays, changes
to how overtime is calculated, kicks in more for employees' health insurance premiums and limits layoffs.
"The pact between the governor and Service Employees
International Union Local 1000, the state's largest civil service employee union, was reached
early Saturday morning. Both sides wanted to finish
the bargaining before the Legislature voted on state
budget bills that include labor provisions.
"'The talks were grueling,' said Yvonne Walker, president of SEIU Local 1000.
"If the deal is ratified by the rank and file, SEIU
members would be subject to eight hours of flexibly
scheduled unpaid leave each month through the contract's expiration in June 2010. The union views the concession as a win, since Schwarzenegger
had started first- and third-Friday furloughs on Feb. 6."
The Chron's Carla Marinucci writes that Meg Whitman has a difficult row to hoe as as woman seeking the GOPs' nod for the state's top office.
"Though California Democrats were the first to elect
two female U.S. senators - Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein - and boast the nation's first female Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi,
Republicans have little to brag about.
"They have never chosen a woman as a gubernatorial candidate,
a U.S. Senate candidate - or even as party chair.
"And in the state Legislature, the picture is no better: California's Republican Senate contingent this year welcomed a
lone woman - ending an eight-year drought - and just four GOP assemblywomen join her.
"'California Republicans generally treat all females
like they're the party's women's auxiliary, said Garry South, the political consultant for San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom, who is also exploring a run for governor. 'They're fine to help out in the kitchen and answer campaign
phones, but don't try to run for statewide office or, God - the Father, of course - forbid, run the show.'
"'Unless they change their public face and their attitude,' he said, 'they'll never be competitive among women voters here.'"
Finally, we usually reserve this space for stupid criminals from Florida, but we have some good local ones this weekend. After the supreme embarassment of having their tourism promotion goals of the Tour of California dashed by bicycle theives, Sacramento's leaders are hoping their crack police force will recover the bikes before Friday's time trial in Solvang.
TMZ reports:
"The idiots who stole Lance Armstrong's bicycle better learn how to
runstrong and hidestrong, 'cause it looks like cops are hot on their
two-wheeled trails.
"The Sacramento PD told us the thieves that
jacked Lance's one-of-a-kind bike after a race this weekend -- along
with 3 other bikes belonging to his racing teammates -- were caught
yellow handed on multiple surveillance cameras.
"We're
told a combination of video evidence and witness information
has given
the fuzz enough ammo to put together a list of suspects.
"After his bike was stolen, Lance posted a photo of
it online and offered a reward for its return."