Kevin Yamamura says all you budget watchers out there might as well get comfortable. We're going to be here a while.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency and demanded swift action to eliminate nearly half of the state's $19.9 billion deficit by March.
"But the Legislature, divided as ever along partisan lines in an election year, doesn't inspire much confidence that it will solve the budget anytime soon.
For starters, California should have enough cash to pay its bills until July. That means lawmakers and Schwarzenegger can negotiate all spring without the immediate specter of embarrassing IOUs.
"While lawmakers were able to reach a difficult compromise last February to impose tax hikes and spending cuts, the repercussions of that agreement have encouraged both parties to hold their ground this time.
"I predict that this will go long," said Joe Mathews, Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation. "I think Democrats will be under intense pressure not to cave in and hit their constituencies this time. And Republicans, after what happened with the February 2009 budget, are not going to want to raise taxes."
Then again, Matthews had the Cowboys and Chargers in the Super Bowl, so make of it what you will...
Jack Chang digests the latest Field Poll and finds that Californians are grumpy and depressed.
"A majority of Californians saw their financial situations worsen over the past year, and most don't think it'll get much better over the next 12 months, according to the latest results from the Field Poll. Economic pessimism has hit a sustained, record high statewide, the poll found, as the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression drags into its third year."
Michael Rothfeld reports the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce today whether or not it will hear California's appeal in a landmark prison overcrowding case. "A panel of three federal judges based in San Francisco has ordered that the state house 40,000 fewer inmates within two years to reduce overcrowding, but that decision is on hold pending the state’s appeal to the high court in Washington. The lower court judges are overseeing two lawsuits launched by inmates who contended that overcrowding hampered their right to adequate medical and mental healthcare in prison."
From our How Do You Spell Momentum Files, the North County Times reports Steve Poizner has locked up the endorsement of former Gov. George Deukmejian.
The LAT's Duke Helfand reports on new state regulations for health-care providers. "Seeking to reduce the long waits many people endure
to see a doctor,
California regulators are implementing new rules that specify how
quickly patients in health maintenance organizations
must be seen.
"The
regulations by the California Department of Managed
Health Care, in the
works for much of the last decade, will require that patients be
treated by HMO doctors within 10 business days of requesting an
appointment, and by specialists within 15. Patients seeking urgent care that does not require
prior authorization must be seen within 48 hours.
"Telephone
calls to doctors' offices will have to be returned
within 30 minutes,
and physicians or other health professionals will have
to be available
24 hours a day."
The Merc's Will Oremus previews the race to replace Ira Ruskin.
"Six candidates, all Democrats, have filed papers to run for the seat. Three have dropped out, leaving two experienced local politicians and one first-time candidate.
Interestingly, two of the candidates who
dropped out have endorsed the upstart, setting up what
could be a
competitive primary election in June. Ruskin is termed out. "The
experienced officeholders are San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon
and former Palo Alto Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto. Both enjoy well-known
names in their respective portions of the 21st Assembly District, which
runs from San Carlos in the north through Palo Alto
and into San Jose's
Almaden Valley in the south. "The insurgent is Josh Becker, a
40-year-old "social entrepreneur" from Menlo Park who is billing
himself as a representative of Silicon Valley know-how." Social entrepeneur? What is he, a pimp? Meanwhile, another Republican has jumped into the race to replace
Danny Gilmore, the Bakersfield Californian reports. "Stephanie Campbell announced her bid at the Bakersfield breakfast
honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Campbell, 56, will run on the
Republican ticket. The owner of a Bakersfield consulting
business
previously ran for the seat in 2006 as a Democrat, but pulled out
before the primary."
And in case you missed it over the weekend, check out Michael Rothfeld's Susan Kennedy profile.
Kennedy blames Democrats for the failure of the Davis administration. "It was the Democrats that recalled Gray Davis," she said. "And this was not a debate about principle or passion. . . . A lot of this was about lining the pockets of the people who suck money out of the system."
Then she dishes on aircraft construction: "I see everything as a campaign," Kennedy says. "I put 1,000% into accomplishing a goal within a specified time period. That's what a guy like Arnold Schwarzenegger needs. He's a pilot who wants to break the speed record. I build planes."
But Rothfeld points out what people have been whispering in Sacramento for the last couple of years. "She has taken leading roles under two governors widely seen as disappointments to their supporters.Inevitably, critics ask whether the shortcomings of Davis and Schwarzenegger reflect entirely on them, or also on her.
The Chron's political team looks at potential California fallout from today's Senate race in Massachusetts. "The possible loss of a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts has Democrats on edge 3,000 miles away in California, where party activists fear a GOP upset today could trigger a conservative wave and swamp health care reform and the 2010 midterm elections.