It’s hard to offer a happy Monday the day after an extraordinarily anti-climatic Super Bowl. But let’s try to unearth some of the more newsworthy items from this weekend to get you started on the week.
Drought woes have yet to cease. Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg is now working on urgency amendments to help stricken communities by redirecting millions initially intended to address climate change.
From Matt Weiser in the Sac Bee: “The proposal would appropriate $11 million of existing state and federal funds for clean-drinking-water programs and direct the State Water Resources Control Board to speed up spending that money to help poor and disadvantaged communities.”
“Some environmental groups said they would support the emphasis on water recycling. “However, there must be enough time to allow public health experts to confirm that the highest safety standards will continue to be met,” said Jonas Minton, senior project manager at thePlanning and Conservation League.”
In the Fresno Bee, Robert Rodriguez takes a look at how the drought is affecting agricultural communities, like cattle ranchers faced with skyrocketing maintenance costs…
“Randy Perry, an animal science professor at California State University, Fresno, said some ranchers' feed costs have jumped 50% to 100%.”
"We went into this year with below-average rainfall and below-average grasses," Perry said. "And that has caused a lot of people to have to feed their cows a lot longer than they normally would."
“(Michele) Lasgoity said her feed costs have jumped 25%. This time last year, hay in the Valley was selling for about $200 a ton. Now, it's up to $265 and climbing. Demand for hay is high and a shrinking supply is pushing prices higher.”
California’s first-in-the-nation state operated “automatic IRA” program, approved by the Legislature in 2012 to help for workers without a retirement plan, is well underway.
From Ed Mendel: “The Secure Choice board plans to hire a law firm to help develop a plan that can be approved by the IRS for tax deferral and by the U.S. Department of Labor for compliance with ERISA, the law covering private retirement plans.”
“The board hopes to send a plan to the Legislature for approval next year. The De Leon bill, SB 1234 in 2012, got little or no support from Republicans and was opposed by employer, insurer, financial planner and taxpayer groups.”
“Last week, the board was told the Laura and John Arnold Foundation is making a $500,000 matching grant. The SEIU state council voted to contribute $100,000, which with the Arnold match provides a total of $200,000 so far.”
The Legislature is once again mulling over the idea of allowing the state’s community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in some high-needed areas by fall 2015.
Nanette Asimov reports in SF Gate: “Nationwide, 21 states let community colleges offer bachelor's degrees. But the issue is controversial in California because its Master Plan for Higher Education - as beloved as a bible - generally limits the level of degrees to be awarded by each system: associate degree for community colleges, master's for California State University and doctoral for the University of California.”
“…however, student demand often outstrips California's capacity to provide bachelor's degrees.”
"To meet the projected demand by 2025, the state would need to immediately increase the number (of bachelor's degrees) awarded by almost 60,000 per year - about 40 percent above current levels," says a newly released report by the California Community College Baccalaureate Degree Study Group, convened last year by Brice Harris, chancellor of California's community college system.”
Gov. Jerry Brown appointed longtime public servant Michael Picker to fill a new vacancy on the Public Utilities Commission.
Marc Lifsher reports in the LA Times: “Michael Picker, the newest member of the powerful Public Utilities Commission, has a long history with Gov. Jerry Brown: He worked in the governor's mail room during his first term from 1975 to 1977.”
"I delivered press releases," said Picker, 62, who moved to Sacramento from Echo Park a year after graduating from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles in 1974.”
“Since then, Picker, has held a number of government jobs, most recently as an elected board member of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and as senior adviser on renewable energy for Brown and his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Also in the LA Times, Anthony York gives us a look at Brown’s Achilles heel in his probable reelection bid: growing poverty:
"Brown is being penny-wise and pound foolish, say advocates for those in deepest poverty — typically defined as a family of four with an annual income of $16,000 or less."
"If we don't invest in early childhood education and healthcare and the safety net now," said state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), "it will cost us more later."
"Brown bristles at the suggestion that he has ignored those in need. California is more generous than most states, he says, and Washington, D.C., including the Obama administration, is struggling to catch up."
Downtown Sacramento is expected to launch a streetcar line in a landmark deal with Caltrans in which the Kings have agreed to help with $500,000.
Tony Bizjack in the Sac Bee: "As envisioned, the streetcar would run on a 3-mile line through downtown that would go past the arena on K Street and include numerous stops. The line would connect the convention center, downtown hotels, the railyard and Old Sacramento. It also would cross the Tower Bridge for stops in West Sacramento, including Raley Field. The line is expected to cost $130 million to $150 million."
"City officials said the goal is to have streetcars running by 2017, the year after the arena is scheduled to open. Sacramento and West Sacramento leaders say they hope to persuade the federal government to pay for half of the cost, but that U.S. Department of Transportation officials have privately told them Sacramento must first show that key local players are supportive and that local businesses are willing to help out financially."
