"A coalition of strange bedfellows already is getting together to fight against Proposition 1A, the state spending-cap proposal that is the long-sought centerpiece of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget-reform effort," writes the Chron's John Wildermuth.
"Opposition to the measure on the May 19 ballot is emerging both from the Democrat-leaning left, which argues that the cap will hamstring
already strapped social-service budgets, and Republicans and conservatives
on the right, who complain that the cap opens the way
to higher taxes.
"'We don't refer to it as a spending cap,' said Jon Coupal, president of the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. 'We refer to it as phony budget reform.'
"Added Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a
nonprofit health care reform group: 'The spending cap would keep us from ever meeting unserved
needs.'"
Well, that settles that.
Meanwhile, Kevin Yamamura reports that labor hasn't decided what to do on the May 19 ballot measures.
"Campaign veterans believe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and legislative leaders can only succeed in persuading
voters to pass six budget-related ballot measures if unions remain on the sidelines.
"Labor groups will hold internal meetings over the next
month to decide how to proceed.
"'That's the multimillion- dollar question,' said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who now directs the
Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University
of Southern California.
"'Initiatives like this only pass when there isn't much money spent against them,' he said. 'And the only people who have that kind of money and
that kind of motivation are unions. If they decide
to sit this one out, it probably passes.'
"Schwarzenegger hopes the special election will be nothing
like the one four years ago, when he suffered multiple
defeats at the hands of labor groups.
"One immediate difference is that the powerful California
Teachers Association has backed Proposition 1B to ensure that schools receive $9 billion in future years, one of the six proposals
that Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are selling
as part of an overall "budget reform" package."
And, oh yeah, Proposition 1B's passage is linked to the fate of the spending limit proposal. If Proposition 1A doesn't pass, Proposition 1B automatically fails.
Dan Walters looks at the sacrifice Darrell Steinberg made in the budget to his Proposition 63 mental health program.
"Steinberg, albeit reluctantly, had to ask his colleagues to partially undo what had been his proudest achievement, an ironic twist to the fiscal crisis and an echo of that four-decade-old unfulfilled promise."
In case you missed it, on Friday, the state reported that unemployment has reached 10.1%, the highest since June 1983.
The LAT's Michael Rothfeld probes the expense claims of several administration
officials, and finds some interesting tidbits.
"John Cruz, the appointments secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
lives hundreds of miles from the state Capitol, where
his staff scrutinizes candidates for California's many boards and commissions.
"When Cruz works there, he goes by plane. He has charged
taxpayers for his flights and for hotel bills of up
to $382 a night on regular trips between his Orange County
home and Sacramento, records show.
"Carrie Lopez, director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, charged
taxpayers to fly from Sacramento, where she works,
to Los Angeles, where she lives, to attend a Justin
Timberlake concert with her daughter. She listed the
trip on her expense report as a meeting with the energy
company that paid for the concert tickets. Lopez also
billed the state for meals on days she received those
meals for free from corporations, according to state
records.
"Rosario Marin, head of the State and Consumer Services Agency, blamed
a miscommunication for her failure to repay $582 the state spent to fly her to Washington in July to
speak at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars, an appearance for which she received $1,000. She reimbursed the state for the airfare after The
Times inquired about the trip last month.
"Over the last two years, as California has slashed services and scrambled to pay bills, top administration officials have made free use of government expense accounts with little oversight and, in some cases, no documentation, The Times has found."
"Together, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars on state-funded trips between Sacramento and the areas where they live, justifying the travel as necessary for state business. Some built weekend trips around one short meeting, and some charged the state to attend events with no apparent connection to their jobs."
"A year after the state Supreme Court entertained arguments
on extending marriage to gay couples, many of the same lawyers will be back before the same
justices this week arguing why California's voter-appproved ban on same-sex marriage should stand or fall," reports the AP's Lisa Leff.
"The passage of Proposition 8 last November changed the state constitution to prohibit
gay marriage and trumped the high court's decision as few months earlier to legalize it. But
the ballot measure was appealed and the justices on
Thursday are getting the final word on whether marriage
is an institution that must accommodate two women or
two men.
"The debate will be framed by not only the gay and lesbian
couples who see their struggle as the modern equivalent
of prohibitions on interracial marriage, but the 7 million citizens who rejected that comparison in an
$83 million election.
"The stakes are high — for the 18,000 couples who married while same-sex weddings were legal, for gay marriage opponents
who object on religious grounds and for others who
are deeply divided on the issue. And whatever the court
decides is likely to have ramifications not only for
millions of Californians but also for other states
grappling over gay marriage."
Aurelio Rojas looks a the very different attorneys that will be arguing the case. "Kenneth Starr and Shannon Minter, lead attorneys in the California Supreme Court case that will decide the fate of same-sex marriage in the state, are as different as the competing sides they represent."
"Starr, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, is best known for leading the inquiry into President Bill Clinton's affair with a White House intern.
"Since then, the former federal judge and U.S. solicitor
general has dedicated himself to conservative causes,
including writing briefs for the Mormon church in a
previous gay marriage case in California.
"Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian
Rights in San Francisco, is a transsexual who spent
his first 35 years as a female. He was a lead counsel in the state
Supreme Court case decided last May that allowed same-sex couples to marry, a ruling that was reversed in
November when voters approved Proposition 8."
Meanwhile, even with the budget deal behind us, John and Ken are still up to their antics.
"Like almost all of his GOP colleagues, Assemblyman
Jeff Miller voted against this month's legislation to temporarily raise taxes to help solve
the state's budget problems.
"The Corona lawmaker, though, nevertheless finds himself
in political hot water.
"Miller's alleged crime is that he and other Republicans didn't oust Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, who
negotiated the deal. Now KFI's John and Ken have launched a "fatwa" to recall Miller, allegedly selecting him at random
from several GOP freshmen.
"Miller said he's not worried or mad. 'From time to time, I've had threats of recall and always taken them seriously.
But you can't let it distract you,' Miller, a former Corona councilman, said last week.
"Miller is the second Inland lawmaker to face a budget-related recall threat. Unlike Miller, though, Assemblyman
Anthony Adams is in trouble because he voted for the tax increase,
along with Villines and four other Republicans."
Greg Lucas sits down with state Treasurer Bill Lockyer to discuss the state's budget morass. "It used to be we’d make the final closing bits and pieces arrangements in the middle of the night but never rewrote the state constitution in the middle of the night.
Frankly, I think this is just the beginning of serious budget holdups in the future. If you’re willing to rewrite the constitution to get a needed vote, the antes will only keep going up.
"In terms of getting the job done you have to give the legislative leaders a pretty good grade for that. Although I would say there were too many concessions to Republicans."
George Skelton looks at the new Assembly Accountability and Administrative
Review Committee.
"Legislators have a special motivation to probe costly
programs. Hardly anyone expects the recent deficit-reduction plan to hold up. They're anticipating that hard times will continue and tax
revenue will keep slipping below projections. So they'll be forced to make more spending cuts.
"During the maiden meeting of the Assembly committee,
it learned about one striking example of inefficiency
and incoordination. The Legislature over the years
has ordered up more than 2,800 reports from state agencies that still haven't been delivered. Some are "in the mail." Some have been ignored. Some no longer make sense,
if they ever did.
"'This is a snapshot of state government at work and
some of its inefficiencies,' observed freshman Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills).
"In truth, many report requests are sops to lawmakers
whose bills have been killed and who, as a consolation,
are allowed to order up a study.
"The committee told the agencies to compile lists of
useful and wasteful reports -- and report back for orders.
"I suppose it's a start."
And from our "Ouch" Files, thanks to Kevin Rodrick over at LA Observed for pointing out the latest sales pitch from the New York Times to boost subscriptions in the LA area. "The New York Times' latest ad pitch to gather up defecting L.A. Times readers shows stories out of here on the Lakers, Eli Broad, William Bratton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and other locals with the line: 'Put yourself in the center of the conversation. Save 50% on home delivery of the best journalism in Los Angeles: The New York Times.'"
And finally, from our Good F*&%ing Luck With That Files, the LA County Board of Supervisors "is scheduled to issue a proclamation by Supervisor Michael Antonovich making the first week in March No Cussing Week," AP's John Rogers reports.
"That would mean no blue language from the Mojave desert, where it gets hot as $&# in the summer, to the Pacific Ocean, where on a winter's day it can get colder and nastier than %$#!
"Not that 15-year-old Hatch expects complete compliance. When his No Cussing Club meets at South Pasadena High School on Wednesdays it's not unusual for a nonmember to throw open the door and fire off a torrent of four-letter words. He's also been the target of organized harassment by pro-cussers.
"And Antonovich's county motion carries no penalties."
Well, thank F*%&ing goodness for that...