In politics, as the saying goes, money always finds a way, and the latest wrinkle is via texting, which just got the approval of the Federal Elections Commission. Using your cell phone to push money into your favorite political campaign is no longer a dream of consultants -- it's a reality.
From the LAT's Matea Gold: "In a rare instance of bipartisan agreement, the six-member panel unanimously approved a proposal by two political consulting companies – one Republican and one Democratic – to work with a third-party aggregator to collect donations by text. The decision means that campaigns can begin accepting donations via text messages on cellphones, a potentially lucrative new avenue."
"The program still needs to be approved by wireless carriers, which could happen speedily, said Alan Sege, executive vice president and general counsel for m-Qube, the aggregator company, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based Mobile Messenger Inc."
"Sege came up with the concept with Democratic consultant Mark Armour, who called the FEC’s decision “a real game-changer for campaigns.”
A draft state budget is poised to move through the Ldegislature's committees en route to floor votes at the end of the week. Friday is the constitutional deadline to send the budget to the governor's desk -- and it just might happen.
From the Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan and Marisa Lagos: "The Assembly and state Senate budget committees are scheduled to meet Tuesday and pass the spending plan, setting up a final vote in the full Legislature as soon as Friday, the constitutional deadline for passing a budget. If they fail to approve a plan by the end of the week, lawmakers will lose their paychecks until a budget is approved."
"Democratic leaders have been holding private meetings with Brown to negotiate a solution to the $15.7 billion gap between revenue and expenses for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It is not clear whether Brown will sign the plan or veto it as he did last year after declaring that it had too many gimmicks."
"Either way, as long as lawmakers pass a budget bill by midnight Friday they will not lose any pay."
Speaking of the budget, Democrats hope to reduce the level of cuts to welfare and social services by tapping proposed reserve-fund money.
The Mercury News' Steve Harmon tells the tale: "Days before a vote on a budget facing a $15.7 billion deficit, Assembly Democrats want to spend $434 million that the governor wants kept in reserve. That and money from other sources would be used to make whole welfare-to-work programs that Brown wants cut by $880 million, according to a document Democrats released late Monday."
"We are on track to pass a balanced budget on time," said Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Van Nuys, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. "Our budget eliminates the structural deficit, includes a modest reserve, and differs only from Governor Brown's plan by less than one percent of total spending. We are down to dotting the I's and crossing the T's in this budget before voting on it later this week."
"The governor and legislative leaders met Monday morning and were scheduled to meet again later Monday, in advance of budget hearings that the Senate and Assembly will hold Tuesday. The tenor of those hearings will signal how close Brown and legislators are to an agreement."
Is Dianne Feinstein really a techie at heart or is she faking it? We don't know either, but here's a lengthy story that, for some reason, looks at the issue.
From Politico's Michelle Quinn: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein taps out messages on a BlackBerry, reads books on her iPad and is well-known in Washington for detailed command of policies from fracking to farming to patent law."
"Yet here in her home state, there are some rumblings in tech circles about whether Feinstein truly is one of them. Techies complain she’s of a different generation, “out of touch,” “unaware” of the intricacies of tech policy — and they point out she doesn’t even send her own tweets."
"Seems harsh, but some in the tech sector are still sore at Feinstein for siding with the entertainment sector on anti-piracy legislation, which ended in January with a Hill retreat in the face of Internet protests."
A suicide on California's Death Row exemplifies the problems of the years-long delays that are part of the state's death penalty process.
From the AP's Paul Elias: "When James Lee Crummel hanged himself in his San Quentin Prison cell last month, he had been living on Death Row for almost eight years -- and he was still years away from facing the executioner."
"California's automatic death penalty appeals take so long that the state's 723 condemned inmates are more likely to die of old age and infirmities --or kill themselves -- than be put to death."
"Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978, California has executed 13 inmates, and none since 2006. But 20 have committed suicide, including Crummel, who abducted, sexually abused and killed a 13-year-old boy on his way to school in 1979. Another 57 inmates have died of natural causes. The ponderous pace of this process has helped make the state's death row the most populous in the nation, and it has generated critics from all quarters."
