The governor hasn't even presented his plan to reform K-12 finances, but he's already running into flack in the Legislature.
From John Fensterwald in EdSource: "Brown’s position that his Local Control Funding Formula will be included as part of the state budget is meeting resistance from legislative leaders, who see this as an end-run around a full public process that’s required for significant policy changes. They’re insisting that Brown submit a bill that would go through policy-making committees, likely the Assembly and Senate Education Committees."
"Rick Simpson, deputy chief of staff and education adviser to Assembly Speaker John Pérez, wrote in an email to EdSource Today that the Assembly’s position is simple: “No bill? No law. Period.”"
"Mark Hedlund, communications director for Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, wrote in an email, the “process we use to consider legislation is the Legislature’s prerogative. Regardless of how and where this issue is considered, the bill will have to pass the muster of our appropriate policy committee.”
Meanwhile, the tale of Lance Armstrong is a story with legs. The latest: Did California lawmakers ride to his aid?
From the LAT's Anthony York: Less than a week after the United States Anti-Doping Agency banned cyclist Lance Armstrong for life for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs, 23 California lawmakers sent a letter to the state’s two U.S. senators urging them to conduct a “comprehensive review of the organization.” While never mentioning Armstrong by name, the letter raises concerns that “the USADA has unilaterally changed the rules by which athletes who have never failed a drug test are prosecuted.”
"The letter was signed by 23 state lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans. “We respectfully ask that you … conduct a comprehensive review of USADA’s operations and finances,” the letter continued."
"In an interview with Times reporter Lance Pugmire, the wife of one of Armstrong’s former teammates suggested the letter was a product of Armstrong’s political connections aimed at destroying the reputation of his enemies."
The deregulation of phone service was supposed to lower rates through competition, but in AT&T's case, exactly the opposite has happened.
From James Temple in the Chronicle: "Since fall 2006, AT&T's price for flat-rate landline phone service has leaped 115 percent, from $10.69 per month to $23, according to information from the commission. The monthly price for measured service, which charges a fixed rate for a limited number of calls, has soared 222 percent - from $5.70 to $18.35."
"Call-waiting charges poppesd almost 180 percent. Anonymous call rejection costs nearly quadrupled. Even flat-rate prices for the LifeLine Program basic service, discounted for California's low-income households, have risen 28 percent. AT&T's price increases far outstripped those of its smaller landline competitors. Verizon's flat-rate service climbed only 18 percent during that period, while SureWest and Frontier increased charges by about 6 percent."
"That gap is due in part to the fact that AT&T started with far lower rates before deregulation, which has been attributed to its efficiencies of scale compared with rivals when rates were capped in the mid-1990s. But its prices are now the highest among the four competitors for basic residential service, by anywhere from $2 to $6 per month, according to PUC data."
When Highway Patrol officers stopped a pregnant woman for talkiing on her cell phone, their conduct was caught on tape -- and the charges were later dropped.
From the LAT's Richard Winton: "A pregnant woman who was pulled over for talking on her cellphone — and then hurled to the ground and hogtied by CHP officers on the shoulder of the busy Harbor Freeway — has been paid $250,000 in damages."
"The 30-year-old woman was charged with resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license, but the charges were dropped after a judge was shown a video of the incident, captured on a camera mounted on the dashboard of a California Highway Patrol cruiser."
"The conduct here is outrageous. What these officers did here was bewildering to me. They knew she was pregnant," said Howard Price, the attorney for Tamara Gaglione. "She never resisted arrest."
Gov. Brown intends to take an important role in the fight over legalization of undocumented immigrants.
From the Bee's Jim Sanders: "Gov. Jerry Brown is thrusting himself into the federal fight over creating a "pathway to citizenship" for millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the United States illegally."
"I expect to play a role in the national effort for comprehensive reform," Brown said in a statement released by his office Thursday. "I'll be directing some efforts on national reform."
"Brown's personal involvement is significant because California is home to an estimated 2.9 million undocumented immigrants, about one of every four nationwide."
