Today's the deadline for measures to qualify for the November ballot. Looks like most of the five pending measures are on track to qualify. The biggest question may be the fate of the measure that would effectively repeal the state's redistricting law passed by voters just two years ago. You can check signature counts throughout the day at the Secretary of State's Web site.
Until then, Capitol Weekly looks at the rivalries that have emerged between Senate and Assembly Democrats during this year's budget process.
"This week, both Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, laid out budget proposals to reporters. The two leaders have been meeting daily and it now appears that the shell of an outline is forming for a plan that Democrats in both houses can agree upon.
"But getting there is never easy. Groups loyal to Democrats
have seen programs cut or eliminated steadily over
the last five years and many have grown tired of the
budget mess that does not appear to have any end in
sight. That schism has mostly manifest with teachers
unions and other groups rallying to support Perez’s plan - a plan that
some Senate staffers have privately complained
is overly optimistic and offers false hope to groups
who will eventually have to take another round of budget
cuts.
"Both sides agree that oil-production taxes will be part of their
initial offering,
as will massive borrowing to help stave off the most
extreme cuts in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal - a
proposal that Schwarzenegger himself probably would
not sign if passed by the Legislature.
"But some differences between the Senate and Assembly
remain.
A major difference between the two groups has been
in the area of education funding. The Senate proposal
has about $2 billion less than the Assembly plan for public schools.
But these proposals don’t appear in a vacuum. They come weeks after the
California
Teachers Association sent out mailers and took out
billboards imploring Steinberg to prevent any future
cuts for public education. Meanwhile, CTA and other
members of the Education Coalition stood with Perez
at a Los Angeles press conference to voice their support
for the speaker’s spending plan."
John Howard looks at the plastic bag wars in the Capitol.
"For environmentalists and their allies, 2010 is shaping up as a landmark year in the Capitol over two major issues: renewable energy and plastic bag pollution. A confluence of political factors – shaped in part by the governor’s desire for a positive legacy – is emerging in the final months of the legislative session.
"Negotiations over a dramatic expansion in the utilities’ use of
renewable energy already are bearing fruit.
"And now agreement on a second major issue that has
bedeviled environmentalists in the state for years,
plastic bag pollution, also is looming."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing for state workers to receive minimum wage until a state budget deal is reached.
Shane Goldmacher reports, "
Schwarzenegger is pushing for the pay cut as yet another
overdue state
spending plan looms. But the man charged with writing
workers'
paychecks, Controller John Chiang, said he would defy
the order.
The new fiscal year begins July 1, but with lawmakers and Schwarzenegger
all but resigned to missing that deadline, the annual
wrangling has
begun over which of California's bills will be paid
with no budget in
place.
Jack Dolan reports state welfare cards can be used in casino ATMs.
"California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards
to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half
of the casinos in
the state, a Los Angeles Times review of records found.
"The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services
to help
recipients feed and clothe their families, work in
automated teller
machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker
rooms, the review found.
"State officials said Wednesday they were working to
determine how much
money had been withdrawn from casino ATMs by people
using the welfare
debit cards."
The state has reached an agreement to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds.
"The city of Costa Mesa has reached an agreement to buy the Orange County Fairgrounds from the state for $96 million and lease it to a private operator that would continue to stage the annual county fair.
"The tentative deal for the 150-acre piece of prime property was reached Wednesday after months of negotiations between Costa Mesa officials and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office. After several hours of debate, the Costa Mesa City Council approved agreements with the state and Facilities Management West Inc., a Newport Beach-based investment firm, just after 12 a.m.
"The sale still requires approval from the state Legislature to move forward, and it may face hurdles from legislators who have criticized an ordinance that Costa Mesa approved last month declaring itself a "Rule of Law City" when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration."
And finally, AP reports, "An argument over butter in a macaroni and cheese recipe churned into violence between a brother and sister. A 21-year-old man called police June 6 to say his 17-year-old sister tried to cut his neck with the serrated edge of a spatula.
"The police report said the sister was making macaroni and cheese when her brother asked if she was using butter. That led to an argument over the difference between butter and margarine. And, then butter battle escalated."