Sen. Abel Maldonado's political future limped along Tuesday after a brusiing hearing in the Assembly Rules Committee. All the big issues were discussed including extortion, manicures -- all the stuff a lieutenant govenror needs to worry about.
As tough as the hearing was, it pales in comparison to the reports we heard about the Assembly Democratic caucus meeting beforehand, where Maldonado received support from just three members of the 50-member group, according to numerous sources. Maldonado could come up for a vote on the Assembly floor as early as Thursday.
Today, Senate Democrats will begin discussing their plans for mid-year budget reductions. Alicia Trost, spokeswoman for Sen. Darrell Steinberg, said in a statement Tuesday that The Senate Budget Committee tomorrow intends to consider and vote on a series of mid-year proposals. The hearing is at 10:30am in room 4203.
Meanwhile, Matier and Ross report the big guns rae coming for Meg Whitman. And no, we're not talking about Steve Poizner tattling to the FBI that Mike Murphy is a meanie.
"Democrats and unions, fearful that Meg Whitman's early radio and TV blitz will leave Jerry Brown in the dust, are setting up a $20 million "independent expenditure" effort aimed at cutting the billionaire Republican gubernatorial candidate down to size.
"It's called "Level the Playing Field 2010," and it's being put together by progressive unions and wealthy donors worried that Brown's $12 million war chest is spare change next to Whitman's mega-millions."
Inside the Capitol, the big hearing of the day for people who couldn't care less about the lite gov intrigue was in the Senate Governmental Organization committee, which held a full-day hearing on Internet Poker.
Jim Miller reports, "A California Senate panel spent Tuesday exploring the prospect of legalizing online poker, a potentially lucrative enterprise for a cash-hungry state but an issue that has sharply split politically powerful tribes with casinos in the Inland area and elsewhere.
"No consensus emerged following hours of testimony,
and it remains
unclear whether legislation will be introduced this
year to make online
poker legal.
If we were going to bet, and those who know us know we probably were, we're guessing someone introduces a bill.
Democrats unveiled their jobs package yesterday as Steinberg made the rounds of the state's editorial boards.
Denis Theriault reports, "The proposals — unveiled by Senate leader Darrell Steinberg — rely primarily on high-speed rail, mass-transit and school construction projects made possible by federal funding.
"Green energy
initiatives also play a prominent role in the set of
27 bills. Leaders
say none of the bills requires support from Republicans
or a tax
increase." Jim Sanders reports on Columbo v. Terminator. "Columbo"
is the nickname of freshman Assemblyman Dan Logue,
R-Linda, who is
battling to suspend a landmark greenhouse gas emissions
law pushed by
Democrats and touted as part of Schwarzenegger's environmental
legacy. Funny to consider the oil and big business groups supporting
an AB 32 repeal as "the little guy"... And finally, From our Spiter? I Hardly Know Her Files, the LAT reports, "During the recall of Gov.
Gray Davis, everyone from porn star Mary
Cary to actor Gary Coleman declared their candidacy for governor. But
it appears California has lost its monopoly on people
using a run for
governor to get a glimpse of the fading spotlight. "Kristin Davis, the madam who helped supply call girls for former
New
York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, announced her candidacy for Spitzer's old job
Tuesday. "I have not decided whether to seek the Libertarian
party nomination or form my own party based on my platform;
legalization, regulation and taxation of prostitution,
marijuana, and
legalizing gay marriage," she writes on her blog. "I am certainly more qualified than the losers and
hacks we have in Albany now!" Who are we to argue?