When it comes to transparency in government, Gov. Brown is not exactly a fierce advocate. The budget he signed Thursday specifically removed language requiring the Judicial Council to deliberate in public. He also recently approved being able to meet privately with local supervisors and he only reluctantly restored the state's Public Records Act.
From Cheryl Miller in The Recorder: "Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a state budget that includes an extra $63 million for courts but deletes Legislature-sought language that would have forced the judiciary to open its many policy- and rule-making meetings to the public."
"This spending provision would create cost pressures on trial courts," Brown said in a veto message, even though the open-meeting provisions were aimed squarely at the Judicial Council's more than two dozen subcommittees and task forces, not the trial courts."
"I urge the Judicial Council to continue efforts to provide greater public access to judicial branch committee activities," the governor wrote.
But back to the budget: Gov. Brown signs the new state budget for the fiscal year beginning Monday, and it's almost starting to feel normal: The state actually has a budget in hand when it is supposed to.
From the Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan: "The plan outlines spending for $96.2 billion in the general fund - the state's main checking account, which pays for schools, colleges, health and human services, and public safety - and $49 billion in special funds and bonds."
"Brown did not make significant changes to the plan the Legislature passed earlier in the month, though he did use his line-item veto authority to cut about $41 million from the spending plan. Most of that - some $30 million - was cut from a Department of Educationfund for special education."
"The governor and Democratic leaders of the Legislature gathered in his office at the Capitol for the bill signing, which included two other bills that will enable the state to further implement the federal Affordable Care Act. He and the legislative leaders were jovial, and among the crowd were many health care advocates."
Speaking of Brown, he got most of what he wanted in the dismantling of California's enterprise zones: Lawmakers put the finishing touches on the revaqmp and sent it to his desk.
From the AP's Laura Olson: "The Assembly sent AB93 to the governor, marking the second major victory over local business-incentive programs for the Democratic governor in the past two years."
"He previously eliminated community redevelopment agencies, saying they directed property tax revenues into slush funds for private developers rather than distributing money to school districts and police and fire departments."
"Brown initially wanted to eliminate enterprise zones, as well, but settled on a compromise after it became clear his first proposal would not receive enough support to pass the Legislature."
CEQA usually grabs attention when it figures in dispute between business interests and developers, but the state's premier environmental law also plays a little known role -- the protector of tribal cultural resources.
From Capitol Weekly's Samantha Gallegos: "A number of lawmakers and tribes are attempting to expand the 45-year-old CEQA statute specifically to include protections for Native Americans’ cultural heritage. On Thursday, legislation to do just that was approved by the Assembly 56-0 and sent to the Senate."
"“My tribe was forced to pay over $20 million to preserve our one and only creation area, because of a broken CEQA,” attorney Laura Miranda of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians testified during a hearing of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources."
"Miranda was speaking about the importance of AB 52 by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, which would extend CEQA’s environmental protections to tribal resources. It would require agencies to consult with Native American tribes before officially declaring that a project passed environmental muster."
When it comes to transparency in government, Gov. Brown seems skeptical at best. The budget he signed specifically removed language requiring the Judicial Council to deliberate in public.
From Cheryl Miller in The Recorder: "Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a state budget that includes an extra $63 million for courts but deletes Legislature-sought language that would have forced the judiciary to open its many policy- and rule-making meetings to the public."
"This spending provision would create cost pressures on trial courts," Brown said in a veto message, even though the open-meeting provisions were aimed squarely at the Judicial Council's more than two dozen subcommittees and task forces, not the trial courts."
"I urge the Judicial Council to continue efforts to provide greater public access to judicial branch committee activities," the governor wrote.
An attempt to penalize large employers who provide so little in hours and wages that their workers are forced to go to Medi-Cal was rejected in the Assembly.
From the Bee's Jim Sanders: "The vote on AB 880 was closely watched statewide as a test of Democrats' supermajority because it forced moderate lawmakers in the party to stand with or to buck their more liberal colleagues in the lower house."
"Three Assembly Democrats voted against it: Cheryl Brown of San Bernardino, Tom Daly of Anaheim, and Adam Gray of Merced. Five party colleagues did not vote: Henry T. Perea of Fresno, Raul Bocanegra of Pacoima, Steve Fox of Lancaster, Rudy Salas of Bakersfield, and Al Muratsuchi of Torrance."
"Lobbying was intense, pitting organized labor against business groups on a top-priority issue for both."
