A judge has upheld the Legislature's plan to shift $2 billion from redevelopment agencies to schools.
"In a 26-page ruling, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge
Lloyd
Connelly said the state was within its rights to move
the money. The
maneuver saves more than $1.7 billion in the current budget year and
$350 million for the 2010-2011 budget year.
"Legislators have been trying to borrow from and shift
various pots of
money as part of their continuing effort to balance
the state's books,
which are more than $18 billion out of whack. The moves have prompted
lawsuits, some of which have ended in rulings that
the state acted
illegally.
"Connelly said payments to schools "benefit redevelopment"
and therefore
are a valid use of redevelopment funds.
"Under that logic, any state program could be called
redevelopment,"
said John Shirey, executive director of the California
Redevelopment
Assn. "The Legislature needs to deal with its budget
problems by making
hard decisions using its own limited resources, not
by taking away local
government funds."
The association will appeal the ruling and ask for
a stay on the
$1.7-billion payment due May 10.
Jack Dolan reports new ethics laws may limit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's use of private donations to fund his travel and hotel stays.
"A new regulation put in place by the state's ethics watchdog agency takes aim at such nonprofits as the California State Protocol Foundation. For years, the organization served as a conduit for the governor to collect unlimited sums from private donors — as much as $200,000 in one case — to fund luxury travel for him and his staff.
"The foundation is run from the offices of the California Chamber of Commerce, and most of its donors are business interests. Advocates of campaign finance reform said the foundation has allowed donors seeking to influence the governor to circumvent the limits that state law placed on their generosity."
In the wake of "bad math" that almost lead to a 30 percent rate hike for some health insurance customers, consumer advocates now want reviews of other pending rate increases.
"A prominent healthcare advocacy group urged the state's
two insurance
regulators Tuesday to seek independent assessments
of all increases in
premiums for individual policyholders and those who
get insurance
through small employers.
"The request by Health Access California follows Anthem's
decision last
week to withdraw rate hikes of as much as 39% for many of its 800,000
individual policyholders. The move came after a consultant
to state
regulators found errors in the way Anthem justified
its higher charges."
Seema Mehta reports on the healthcare quandry for California's GOP Senate candidates.
"Republican candidates across the nation are confident
that
opposition to President Obama's healthcare law will
deliver them
electoral victories. But in California, the three GOP Senate candidates
vying to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer face a much more
daunting task:
convincing a majority of Californians who support the
bill that they are
wrong.
"The issue is a stark reminder of the difficulties facing Republican candidates in this highly partisan state, even in a year when the political winds are at their backs. The primary voters Republicans are courting are a conservative lot who fiercely oppose the new law. But in November, the winner of the June primary will have to sway voters who by and large support the plan, and who continue to hold Obama, its architect, in high regard."
The Los Angelse city attorney has notified more than 400 pot clubs they must close by June 7.
"Los Angeles city prosecutors are sending letters to 439 medical marijuana dispensaries warning them that they must shut down by June 7, when an ordinance to control pot shops will finally take effect after years of debate and delay.
"Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the city attorney’s office, said the Police Department and city building inspectors compiled the list of illegal dispensaries. “We’re not saying we have them all,” he said. “This is the initial blanketing of locations that we are aware of at this time.”
Steve Lopez looks at the battle between one Chinese restaurant and the state's tax collector.
"Let me assure you, the Board of Equalization is not
in business to put
people out of business," said Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the
department, adding that findings can be contested and
payments
negotiated.
"Gore said she can't comment on individual cases, but
some audits begin
when a customer reports that a restaurant isn't ringing
up every sale.
And sometimes another tax agency will flag businesses
that appear to be
under-reporting income.
"She also said the board has stepped up inspections
statewide, thanks to a
growing army of auditors. Gore said more than 300 employees have been
hired in the last two years for the express purpose
of generating
revenue to help fill the state budget gap.
"So there you go, a double whammy for Mama and Papa.
First they lose
business because of the economy, and then they're hammered
with an
audit."
And finally, from our Take Me To Your Leader Files, "An unruly passenger who banged on the cockpit door of a SkyWest flight and claimed he was a space alien was arrested after the plane made an emergency landing Sunday in Idaho Falls.
"Delta Connection Flight 4620 was en route from Helena, Mont., to Salt Lake City when a passenger got up and approached the cockpit, said SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow."
Apparently the stop over on Jupiter was not part of the flight plan.