"California voters are initially favorable toward six ballot propositions that were part of the recent budget deal between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature, even if they don't like the deal itself, a new Field Poll shows," reports John Marelius in the U-T.
"Schwarzenegger and the Legislature approved an agreement
last month to close a $42 billion deficit and called a May 19 special election for propositions needed to fully
implement the deal.
"The election comes as California voters are in a very
pessimistic mood about the direction of the state and
the performance of the governor and lawmakers.
"Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo stressed that voter opinions about the ballot measures,
Propositions 1A through 1F, could change significantly as voters learn more
about the measures. For purposes of the poll, voters
were read a summary of the official ballot wording.
"'Voters don't have a lot of knowledge about the specifics of the
budget packages that they're going to be voting on,' DiCamillo said. '(The ballot wording) is a fairly vague description in most cases. I don't think voters have filled in the blanks yet.'"
Here are the numbers:
Prop 1A (rainy day budget stabilization fund)
Yes: 57%
No: 21%
Prop 1B (education funding)
Yes: 53%
No: 30%
Prop 1C (lottery modernization)
Yes: 47%
No: 39%
Prop 1D (children's services funding/Prop 10)
Yes: 54%
No: 24%
Prop 1E (mental health funding/Prop 63)
Yes: 57%
No: 23%
Prop 1F (elected officials' salaries)
Yes: 77%
No: 13%
Dan Walters attributes the strong numbers on the legislatively crafted ballot titles.
The U-T's John Marelius reports the ballot language for the spending limit measure is being challenged in court.
"An unlikely coalition of the conservative Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the liberal Health Access California on Monday filed suit claiming that the official ballot language for Proposition 1A on the May 19 special election ballot is misleading.There is no mention of the tax increases in the ballot language that, in a departure from standard procedure, was crafted by the Legislature rather than the Attorney General's office."
Meanwhile, only 18% of Californians believe the state is heading in the right direction, while 73% believe the state is on the wrong track.
And, the job approvals (approve-disapprove):
Legislature: 18%-72%
Governor: 38%-54%
From the Jobs We Want files: "The head of an upstart group that aims to recruit California
Republicans to run for statewide offices earned $900,000 in salary and benefits in the 2007-2008 election cycle, angering some Republicans who wondered Monday if
the cash is being well-spent," reports the Bee's Andrew McIntosh.
"Duf Sundheim, former California Republican Party chairman, collected
the money while launching California Republicans Aligned
for Tomorrow, according to reports that the 527 political group has filed with the Internal Revenue
Service.
"Details of Sundheim's pay package, including salary, medical and automobile
expenses that topped $43,000 a month, were first discussed on Republican blogs
over the weekend.
"Jon Fleischman, a former vice chairman of the state GOP who also
blogs about Republican Party politics, was among those
who criticized Sundheim's six-figure pay package and questioned CRAFT's results.
"'Most party chairmen do their time, do their service
and move on,' he said of Sundheim. 'It would appear from these filings that the sole purpose
of CRAFT is to pay Sundheim's salary. It's a very large sum. It would be nice if that money
were donated to the party.'"
"California corrections officials say the state will no longer spend the estimated $10 million a year it costs to lock up undocumented immigrants
with prior convictions who reenter the country illegally after being deported," writes Michael Rothfeld in the Times.
"The stance refers to immigrants who had committed crimes
in California and finished serving their terms.
"In the past, the state kept them on parole after deportation
and incarcerated them for four to eight months for
violating their parole by reentering the country illegally.
But California is facing an order from a panel of federal
judges to reduce the population of its overcrowded
prisons.
"In a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday and in a news conference Monday, California
corrections chief Matt Cate said the federal government
should prosecute illegal immigrants who return to the
country after deportation because that is a crime under
federal law.
"Now, when illegal immigrants are released from state
prison and given to federal authorities for deportation,
they will automatically be discharged from parole."
"Just days before a historic state Supreme Court hearing
on Proposition 8, the Legislature approved a resolution Monday declaring that voters
alone did not have the right to adopt the gay-marriage ban," reports Susan Ferriss in the Bee.
"The nonbinding resolution contends that Proposition
8 – which defines marriage as between only a man and a
woman – was an improper revision of the state constitution.
Sweeping revisions can only be adopted, the resolution
says, if they originate in the Legislature, gain two-thirds approval in that body and then win approval
by voters.
"The resolution also states that Proposition 8, which voters approved in November, oversteps the
authority of the courts to enforce equal protection
and prevent government discrimination."
"Sean Penn, fresh from his Academy Award win as best actor in
"Milk," will headline today with state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, activist Cleve Jones and friends and family of the late San Francisco supervisor
to push for Harvey Milk Day in California," writes Carla Marinucci in the Chron.
"The 11 a.m. event at the Tosca Cafe - starring Penn, who also has been a Chronicle foreign
correspondent - is aimed to lobby for Senate Bill 572, a measure that closely mirrors one vetoed by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger last year.
"The bill designates May 22 as "a day of special significance in California," in which public schools would be encouraged "to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on Harvey
Milk's life and his contributions to the state," according to the news release.
"But with the huge hole in the state budget and increased
calls to cut back current paid state holidays, supporters
also note that the legislation doesn't call for state workers or school employees to get
a day off work."
What do you get the governor who has everything? Patrick McGreevy has the answers, gleaned from the governor's gift report.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year received more than $32,000 in gifts, including a Mongolian shield, a bronze bust of a California condor, a replica of a high-speed train, antique dumbbells and lots of wine and cigars.
"In a disclosure report filed annually by elected officials,
the jet-setting governor said the gift-givers included Prince Karim Aga Khan (a clock), Mexican President Felipe Calderon (cigars), Chilean Ambassador Mariano Fernandez (a book) and film director Chris Columbus (wine).
"The most expensive gift was a $1,600 watch given by Eyal Lalo, the chief executive of Invicta Watch Co. of America.
Schwarzenegger had to write a $1,210 check for that one, to abide by the state's $390 limit, according to Aaron McLear, a spokesman for
the governor.
"The Mongolian shield, valued at $380, was provided by Manhattan Beach businessman Chris Robins. The condor bust from National Heritage Collectors
Society founder David Spellerberg was valued at $1,200; Schwarzenegger had to pay $810 to keep that one within the gift limit.
"The antique dumbbells came from a former aide to the
governor, while the train replica came from the head
of the French railroad.
"Schwarzenegger received $110 in wine from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a food
basket worth $70 from Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and steaks worth $369 from the vice chairman of Net Jets, a private aviation
company."
Meanwhile, it's election day in LA-LA land.
"Voters will also decide whether to give Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa a second term, and 33 other cities in Los Angeles County will sort though
candidates and issues in the spring primary election," reports the LAT's Maeve Reston.
"Most of the attention, however, has focused on the
city of Los Angeles, where voters will cast ballots
for two contested school board seats, five ballot measures
and eight City Council races -- though only the Westside seat being vacated by city
attorney candidate Jack Weiss is viewed as competitive.
"Proponents of the solar proposal known as Measure B
-- who argue that the measure would create jobs while
generating enough solar energy to power 100,000 households, are leading a voter turnout drive in campaign's final hours, hoping that the surge in new voter interest
in last year's presidential election will bolster their chances.
"The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has
joined with environmental groups and the mayor in support
of the measure, plans to help get out the vote.
"The measure's opponents say it will lead to higher electrical rates
and favor the Department of Water and Power employees' union over construction trade workers."
Voters will also go to the polls in San Jose to decide whether to recall councilmember Madison Nguyen. Denis Theriault reports "Nguyen faces a recall vote that arose from last year's "Little Saigon" controversy, in which she and other council members opposed using that popular name to designate an official Vietnamese business district in central San Jose."
"Carly
Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and high-profile
Republican, underwent surgery at Stanford University Hospital Monday
for breast cancer, her chief of staff said Monday evening," reports the Merc's Sandra Gonzales.
"Fiorina was diagnosed with breast cancer Feb. 20, the day before she appeared at a GOP convention in
Sacramento.
"'The
surgery went very well. Her prognosis is excellent
and she expects to
make a full recovery,' Deborah Bowker said in a phone interview with
the Mercury News. 'She remains enthusiastically committed to a full
range of activities and looks forward to her future
choices with great
optimism.'
"Fiorina is considering a challenge to U.S, Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010."
And finally, Capitol Weekly isn't the only one that's gotten into the act of Twittering lately. Many politicians have taken to it, including our Secretary of State, Debra Bowen. We found this particular Tweet from the SOS yesterday particularly amusing:
"Never got my vote-by-mail ballot for L.A. election, so I will be casting a provisional ballot. Most decisions on issues made long ago."
How do you neglect to send the head of state elections a ballot?