Propostion 98, the underpinning of California's education finance system that voters approved 25 years ago, was created to assure schools of a year-to-year funding guarantee. But the Legislature's nonpartisan fiscal adviser has serious concerns about the way the Brown administration is calcuating that guarantee.
From Kathryn Baron in EdSource: "The State Legislative Analyst’s Office is calling into question the legality of Gov. Brown’s proposal to count new revenue from Proposition 39 toward funding for education. In a report released Thursday, the LAO warns that the governor’s plan for the initiative, the California Clean Energy Jobs Act, violates the intent of the law."
"Proposition 39, which won with 61 percent vote last November, is projected to raise up to half abillion dollars in revenue this fiscal year and as much as a billion per year starting next year forclean energy projects. It does this by changing the tax formula for multistate corporations doing business in California to one used by most other states."
"At issue is a provision of Prop. 39 that requires the state to put half of the revenues raised for each of the next five years into a new Clean Energy Job Creation Fund for energy efficiency projects in local communities, such as hospitals. The other half of the money would go into the general fund,where it would increase the minimum school-funding guarantee of Proposition 98 by as much as $500 million this year and go up from there."
Speaking of money, the states judges are wondering whether it's time to scrap 12-person juries because of the cost.
From the Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "A defendant's right to be tried by a jury of 12 people in criminal cases has been enshrined in California's Constitution since statehood. But judges say the state can no longer afford it."
"With court funding evaporating, the California Judges Association is endorsing a state constitutional amendment that would shrink juries from 12 to eight members for misdemeanors, crimes punishable by up to a year in jail."
"Judges are also proposing legislation that would cut the number of prosecutors' and defense attorneys' challenges to prospective jurors, likewise in the interest of saving time and thus money."
Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, a Modesto Republican who had been seen as a potential new GOP leader to replace the current one in the Assembly, has been transferred to a smaller Capitol office. Earlier, Olsen rankled fellow Republicans by refusing to sign Grover Norquist's no-tax pledge. The ranking Reeps are not happy.
From the Bee's Jim Sanders: "(She) was ordered to move immediately into a much smaller office in the wake of a failed effort within the Assembly Republican Caucus to oust its leader, Connie Conway."
"The move was widely regarded as punishment for Olsen, R-Modesto, who had been touted by some Assembly Republicans as a potential successor to Conway..."
"Office assignments are controlled by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, but historically the leader of the lower house has consulted with the chief of the minority party regarding the latter's offices and committee assignments. For decades, forced office changes have been a common form of punishment by legislative leaders."
The governor is headed to D.C. to meet with the chief executives from other states and an interesting phenomenon is developing over health care reform.
From the LAT's Anthony Y ork: "When Gov. Jerry Brown meets with the nation's other governors this weekend in Washington, D.C., he will find common ground with some unlikely counterparts on an unlikely issue: President Obama's healthcare plan."
"Among the governors now moving nearly as aggressively as Brown to implement the federal healthcare law are conservatives who have long fought to unravel it. They are finding that they cannot afford to pass up Obama's offer of billions of dollars in federal aid to cover expansion of theirMedicaid programs for the poor."
"Arizona's Jan Brewer, New Mexico's Susana Martinez and Nevada's Brian Sandoval — all Republicans — have bucked the GOP trend on the Obama law by opting to accept the new federal money. In Florida, where 20% of residents do not have health insurance, Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday that he is joining the renegade group."
From the LAT's Richard Winton: "A top L.A. County Probation Department executive who once was a state assemblyman has agreed to plead guilty to federal bank fraud charges, admitting he bilked financial institutions out of nearly $200,000 by falsely claiming to be an identity theft victim."
"Carl Washington, a division chief of intergovernmental relations and legislative affairs, has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of bank fraud for causing losses of $193,661 to financial institutions, including Farmers and Merchants Bank, First City Credit Union and L.A. Financial Credit Union."
"Washington, 47, of Paramount, began in the summer of 2011 to run up large debts and file bogus police reports with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, blaming his debts on identity theft."
