Recess is over, and the Legislature has four more weeks to take care of prisons, water policy, and whatever else may suddenly appear on the Legislature's plate at the 11th hour.
Here's the breakdown from Darrell Steinberg's office:
"There are 550 Assembly bills to act on in the Senate.
"Monday’s Appropriations hearing has a full day of work with over 100 bills on file. There will probably be one more hearing before the committee takes up the suspense file.
"August 28th is the last day for fiscal committees to report bills to the floor."
Get it? Got it? Good.
Jim Sanders sets the scene. " California lawmakers will launch a four-week sprint Monday to act on hundreds of issues that could affect nearly every California family on subjects ranging from pet sterilization to water conservation.
"Ending its annual summer recess, the Legislature will return to the Capitol with big plans and high hopes but little money to spend after patching a $24 billion budget gap before adjourning three weeks ago.
"Now that we have a little bit of breathing room, it's time to focus on other major priorities in California – and to get something done,"
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said of the 19 working days before this year's session ends.
One of the most complex and daunting issues facing lawmakers is to devise a long-range plan for overhauling the state's aging water system to ensure reliable supply and enforceable conservation for decades to come.
"We've been making great progress toward that end," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said of reaching consensus on water policy. "I don't want to lose it by waiting for another legislative year."
The LAT's Patrick McGreevey reports, "Fresh off their summer recess, California lawmakers
will begin this
week trying to salvage a legislative year marked by little
more than
financial crises and partisan bickering.
"Their
agenda includes upgrading California's water system, crafting a bigger
move to renewable energy and reducing crowding in prisons.
But
Democrats' and Republicans' starkly different ideas about how to meet
those goals -- along with lingering budget issues -- could undermine
their ability to get big things done.
"Senate President Pro Tem
Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he hopes to "build on some
positive achievements instead of just trying to hold
off disaster." But
with so much unfinished business, some involving partisan
disputes that
have festered for years, Steinberg and other leaders
are already
talking about not completing work on key parts of their
agenda until
2010."
The Chron's Wyatt Buchanan and Richard Proctor report, "Another issue guaranteed to polarize the Legislature is state prisons. Lawmakers have to agree to how they will implement a budget cut of $1.2 billion, and they will have to respond to the order by a panel of three federal judges to reduce the state's prison population by 40,000 inmates over the next two years. While that order is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the court gave the state just 45 days to come up with a plan.
"The Legislature was on the cusp of an agreement to reduce the prison population by 27,000 as part of last month's budget deal, but it fell apart after Republicans objected. Every day that goes by costs the state $3 million in savings not realized, or about $100 million a month, according to prison officials."
Dale Kasler reports the governor would still like pension reform to be on the table.
"Reviving an idea he floated during budget negotiations in June, Schwarzenegger wants legislation creating a two-tier system that would deliver lower benefits to newly hired public employees – not only state workers but firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other local-government employees.
"Along with proposed cutbacks in retiree health benefits, Schwarzenegger says, the plan would save $90 billion over the next 30 years.
"The Republican governor says the state's pension system faces tens of billions of dollars in unfunded obligations and is increasingly unaffordable."
But as everyone goes back to work ,at least they can still ride BART. Rachel Gordon reports "BART management and union leaders reached a tentative contract agreement Sunday evening, averting a threatened strike that would have crippled this morning's commute.
"The two sides announced the deal less than six hours before train operators and station agents had planned to walk out and shut down the regional commuter rail system.
"It's the greatest thing for the Bay Area. It's what everybody wanted," said James Fang, vice president of BART's Board of Directors.
The deal was brokered after intense negotiations at the bargaining table and heavy lobbying by Bay Area elected officials and outside labor leaders."
Meanwhile, the LA city budget may be on the verge of unravelling. The LAT's Phil Willon and David Zanhiser report, "Nearly three months after he signed off on a plan to
eliminate a
$530-million shortfall, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa still
has not won enough concessions from city workers to
avert deep cutbacks
that could hit L.A.'s police hardest.
"The City Council left last week for a summer recess
even though solutions to the budget crisis threaten
to unravel.
"Contract talks with public safety employees have grown
acrimonious,
with Villaraigosa denouncing a publicity campaign by
the firefighters'
union against more cuts. A proposal to give early retirement
to 2,400
civilian workers -- slashing $200 million each year from the payroll --
has run into problems over how the city would pay for
it."
Steve Harmon wonders if there's life beyond Gavin and Jerry.
"Democrats
are playing a parlor game as they map out the possibilities
in the
governor's race, asking such delicious questions as: If Lt. Gov. John
Garamendi loses in his bid for the 10th Congressional seat, will he
jump back into the governor's race?
"Or, will U.S. Rep. Loretta
Sanchez, D-Los Angeles, join the race as a Latina alternative
to Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who pulled out earlier? Or, will
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, finally make the leap,
eschewing the seniority and leadership roles she has
in the august
chambers of the Senate?"
Meanwhile, WIllie Brown and Garamendi are betting on who the next Lite Gov might be if Garamendi
heads off to Congress.
Carla Marinucci reports, "Garamendi, while cautioning that the election is far from over -- and could still go to a runoff -- said believes that if he comes out a winner, as he hopes, Schwarzenegger will play it safe and "appoint a placeholder.''
Brown's picks : Bob Hertzberg or Steve Westly.
And finally, if you still need that vacation, but just can't afford it, try San Diego. AP reports, "While many of Southern California's luxury hotels are battling a severe slump in business by offering extra services and more amenities, the Rancho Bernardo Inn is luring guests with the exact opposite -- no frills and barely any basics.
"Called the "Survivor Package," the hotel's deeply discounted promotion lets patrons trim its standard $219-per-night rate on a sliding scale of deprivation, lowering charges with each amenity stripped from the room.
"The most basic version: a room for $19 with no bed, toilet paper, towels, air-conditioning or "honor bar," and only a single light bulb in the bathroom for safety. The next level up adds in a bed -- sans sheets -- for $39 a night. For a bed plus toiletries and toilet paper, the rate is $59."
Twenty bucks for toilet paper?