State lawmakers put a small dent in the state's $20 billion deficit yesterday, taking out the most controversial pieces of the Democrats' budget fix. The Merc's Denis Thierault reports, "Up against a deadline to close at least part of the state's $19.9 billion deficit, the Legislature sent more than $2 billion in cuts to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday. But they held off on approving the rest of a package that punts most of the state's budget pain until later this year.
"In low-key votes, lawmakers slashed nearly $1
billion from the state's prison system, chiefly from
inmates' medical
care, and approved a $540 million reduction in state workers'
paychecks. The state Senate had approved those measures
last week, and
on Monday the Assembly passed them on party-line votes. "Discussion
of more controversial proposals, including a $1.8 billion fuel-tax
overhaul and a plan to force out-of-state retailers like Amazon.com
to collect sales tax on online purchases, will continue
this week. They
were pulled from final approval Monday amid concerns
from the
governor's office."
But at times watching the Assembly in action felt like watching amateur hour. The LAT's Shane Goldmacher reports, "Predictably, partisan squabbling immediately broke out. GOP lawmakers accused Democrats of rushing the process. Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Montebello) chastised Republicans, sniping that they were in the “big leagues” now and that the legislation had been publicly available since last week.
One by one, bills were taken up. Except there was a problem.
“We've posted and voted on the wrong set of bills," announced Assembly floor leader Alberto Torrico (D-Newark). Murmurs spread across the chamber. And, moments later, the previous votes were “expunged” -- as in, erased from the public record -- as the Assembly began taking up the proper bills.
To which GOP Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries of Lake Elsinore retorted, “Is this the big leagues?” amid much uproar on the Republican side of the aisle."
And that's not even mentioning the lawmaker who dropped the F-Bomb on an open mike on the floor yesterday. You'll just have to watch the replay on the Cal Channel to find that one, in case you missed it.
Meanwhile, the governor's race got serious as Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman discussed -- wardrobe. "Let’s say you are an out-of-touch billionaire running for governor and everyone is accusing you of trying to buy the election," Poizner spokeswoman Bettina Inclan wrote in an e-mail to reporters this morning.
"You need to show that you are in touch with regular working people, so you go to a NASCAR race on a Saturday night. But was that a Burberry coat that Meg chose to wear to NASCAR? Isn’t that against some kind of unwritten rule?"
The Poizner campaign launched a new slogan -- Vote for Steve. He wears jeans sometimes.
Poizner did spend some time yesterday talking substance. The Department of Insurance announced more than 700 violations from Anthem Blue Cross.
"Poizner had some harsh words for the health insurer, accusing the company, a subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., of being "belligerent" in its failure to cooperate with the Department of Insurance and "low-balling" customers in settlement discussions.
"Anthem Blue Cross has come under state and national scrutiny in recent weeks for trying to impose rate increases as high as 39 percent on some of its 700,000 customers who buy individual coverage. Those increases, which are on hold until May 1, are not directly related to the alleged violations."
In the world of campaign finance yesterday, Alex Padilla shelled out $15,000 to repeal Proposition 11, the state's redistricting law passed last year. And Steve Bing emerged, shelling out $50,000 to change the state's term limits law. Meanwhile, Karen Bass will hold her final press conference as speaker this morning, as John Perez prepares to take over next week.
And finally, we bring to you the latest in theme restaurants -- Ninja cuisine! Oh, at long last...
AP reports, " Waitresses wield swords and flare flames at diners, who have to get past a moat before sitting at their table in the dimly lit dining hall. The same customers are also encouraged to take photos with the warrior-like waitresses, who dress in black or red to look like ninjas in keeping with the theme of a dark but lively restaurant that opened last month in Taiwan's capital.
"The ninja is mysterious," said Ou Chia-wei, owner of the restaurant simply named Ninja, explaining why he chose that theme for the Japanese-style restaurant. "On that premise, we can do magic tricks and light up the food."