So much for celebrating the water package. Dan Smith looks to the next round of budget blood-letting.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated Monday that California's budget will fall out of balance by $5 billion to $7 billion this fiscal year, on top of a $7.4 billion gap already projected for 2010-11.
If true, state leaders would confront at least a $12.4 billion to $14.4 billion problem when Schwarzenegger releases his budget in January. California currently has an $84.6 billion general fund budget.
He emphasized deep spending cuts as a budget solution but did not mention tax increases. Schwarzenegger and legislators agreed to cuts to education and social services, as well as temporary tax hikes, in two budget deals earlier this year.
"We are not out of the woods yet. ... The key thing is, we have to go and still make cuts and still rein in the spending," Schwarzenegger said. "It will be tougher because I think the low-hanging fruits and the medium-hanging fruits are all gone. I think that now we are going to the high-hanging fruits, and very tough decisions still have to be made."
It's true. Scott Gerber's gone rogue. But as far as Jerry Brown is concerned, it's now case closed.
"State Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown's office closed its inquiry into the
unauthorized tape recording of his and some staff members'
conversations with reporters, saying the tapings were
done only by a
rogue lieutenant who quit after his actions were revealed.
The findings, released Monday evening, follow former
communications
director Scott Gerber's acknowledgment that he secretly taped
interviews with reporters from The Times, the San Francisco
Chronicle
and the Associated Press that were conducted with Brown
and other
justice officials.
"Interview topics included Brown's political outlook, his solicitation
of charitable donations from companies with business
before his office
and his actions in the Anna Nicole Smith drug case."
All the biggies, we se...
Brown and the attorneys on his staff, according to
the report, were unaware Gerber was making the tapes.
"That's the luxury you have!" Brown said to a Times reporter who asked
about the fundraising. "I can tell you're a nice middle-class kid,
you're not in the ghetto. Do you know they have murders
in this state?
. . . This is life and death! I think you ought to
be aware of that."
In an interview with the Associated Press, Brown responded
to
comparisons between his potential run for governor
and Hillary
Clinton's bid for the White House by listing all the reasons
he is more
interesting than she.
"She doesn't have the scope," Brown said. "She didn't work with Mother
Teresa. She didn't spend six months working in a Zen Buddhism
[monastery]. She didn't take Linda Ronstadt to Africa. She didn't have
her own astronaut. I had Rusty Schweickart, an astronaut.
I put him on
the state energy commission."
And she didn't have a chimp named Bubbles! Oh wait. Wrong guy...
Can we please get this quote machine into the governor's office, stat?
Meanwhile, the governor officialls placed the water bond on the November ballot.
Garance Burke reports, "Framed
by a shrinking mountain reservoir, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed a
far-reaching water bond measure Monday intended to rebuild
California's
crumbling water system and fund new dams to save up
the precious
resource for dry years.
"Yet at a time when several Western
states are preparing to tear down dams rather than
build new ones, the
governor acknowledged he will face hurdles in persuading
Californians
to vote next November for the $11 billion measure, which was passed
last week by the state Legislature.
"In recent months, officials
in Oregon, Washington and even California have agreed
to spend millions
to dismantle colossal dams built decades ago in order
to protect native
fish species, following legal tussles over water between
the federal
government, environmentalists, Indian tribes and farmers."
Looks like it's game on. Ed Mendel looks at the latest effort to change the state's pension system.
"
"An initiative filed last week would cut pensions for new state and local government hires, but allow local voters to lift the cap.
The initiative sponsors said they will poll voters to see if the pension cuts imposed by the initiative, filed in two versions, should be altered by a majority or a two-thirds vote.
"The local option emerged from meetings with groups of city managers in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, said Marcia Fritz, president of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.
“You can change anything, but you have to have voter approval,” Fritz said. “It’s getting back to square one and getting the voters involved … that removes those closed-door sessions.”
And finally, it looks like miniskirts are still OK in Brazil.
"A woman expelled for wearing a mini-dress that caused a near riot at a Brazilian college and made her an Internet sensation said all she wants is to go back to school. Well, she got her way.
"Geisy Arruda, a 20-year-old tourism student, can return to the classroom after Bandeirante University reversed its decision to expel her following a flood of negative reaction in a nation known for tiny bikinis, beaches and Carnival."
Well, thank goodness for that.