While today has some incredibly exciting international news - China and the US announced a landmark carbon-reduction agreement, and humankind is hours away from landing a spacecraft on a comet – California’s post-election political news is a bit more mundane.
That said, we did see a flurry of excitement yesterday in the international gaming community in response to news that California tribes are making a new push to legalize online gaming in the state. From John Howard at Capitol Weekly.
“Three months after attempts to reach an agreement to establish internet poker in California fell apart, a major California gaming tribe says it has joined a coalition to push for new legislation to bring online gambling to the state….
“The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians said Tuesday it had joined a group that includes the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California’s largest card clubs and the Amaya Gaming Group, owners of several companies that together serve the bulk of the world’s internet poker market. Those companies include PokerStars, a major player in international gaming.”
Prop 47 was designed to reduce inmate populations and keep nonviolent drug offenders out of prison, but it may have an unintended consequence: reducing or eliminating inmate fire crews. James Barragan has the story at the Los Angeles Times.
“[The] future of… county jail fire crews across the state is now in doubt after the passage last week of Proposition 47.
“The initiative reduces penalties for drug possession and other nonviolent crimes —something that could deplete the pool of jail inmates who qualify for fire duty….
"’It could very well create an issue as far as having inmates eligible to be part of the inmate fire crew,’ [sheriffs spokesperson Jodi Miller] said. ‘The inmates who could now be released from custody would be the ones that have the criminal history that allows them to be part of that program.’"
In case you missed it, the Sacramento Bee editorial board offered a great guide for newbie legislators on Monday. Some of the highlights: Don’t get arrested, try to live in your district, and don’t talk about your conquests at all – and especially not over open microphones.
And if you’re one of many still wondering what the heck happened in AD39 where incumbent Raul Bocanegra is trailing his heretofore unknown challenger, a community activist named Patty Lopez who spent less than $10K on her campaign, John Hrabe may have some answers. From Fox and Hounds:
“Upsets happen every election cycle. But, every once in a while, there’s an upset so big that nobody – not even the underdog candidate- saw it coming.
“That happened last week in the 39th Assembly District, where Democrat Patty Lopez is leading incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra by just 32 votes. All the political professionals in Sacramento are scratching their heads, asking ‘What the hell happened?’
“The first-take analysis is that a popular lawmaker, well-known in Sacramento, with strong leadership skills, lost track of his first priority: getting re-elected. The vast majority of money raised by Bocanegra, along with his personal and staff time, went into races known to be competitive. A team player, Bocanegra dedicated his time to the key races that could swing the partisan makeup of the State Assembly.”
On the other side of the aisle in the Assembly, new GOP leader Kristin Olsen ousted two senior Assembly staffers this week. Jeremy White has the story at the Sacramento Bee.
“Longtime policy staffer Richard Mersereau and Deborah Gonzalez, who served most recently as policy and fiscal director and then chief of staff to outgoing Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare, will both be pushed out.
“’Leadership have the right to select staff, especially senior staff, to help implement their vision,’ Olsen spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said. ‘Assembly leader Olsen wants to take the caucus in a different direction.’”
The CCPOA, the California state prison guards’ union, has agreed to pay a fine for failure to disclose gifts to lawmakers. From Associated Press:
“The union that represents California prison guards has agreed to pay a $5,500 fine for failing to report nearly $25,000 in gifts to state lawmakers, according to the state's campaign finance watchdog, the Fair Political Practices Commission.
“The commission said it has reached an agreement in which the California Correctional Peace Officers Association agreed to pay the fine as part of a settlement. It says the union failed to include the gifts in reports it filed as a lobbyist employer in 2009, 2010 and 2011.”
Speaking of FPPC fines, veteran Dem campaign consultant and lobbyist Richie Ross appears to have run afoul of the rules and will be ponying up as well. Lauren Rosenhall has the story at the Bee.
“Richie Ross, a longtime Democratic campaign consultant and lobbyist, has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and write off $160,000 he’s owed for violating California’s lobbying laws, according to a proposed settlement he reached with the staff of the Fair Political Practices Commission.
“The violation stems from Ross’ dual roles as both a campaign consultant who helps legislative candidates get elected and as a lobbyist who is paid by outside interests to sway legislators’ votes. While state law allows a person to hold both positions, Ross ran into trouble because of his practice of carrying debt for successful candidates who agreed to pay him a ‘win bonus.’”
And, a sliver of good news in the never-ending drought coverage: California farmers have produced an epic tomato crop this year. From Dale Kasler in the Bee
“Defying the state’s devastating water shortage, California farmers produced a record tomato crop. The harvest came in at an estimated 14 million tons of processing tomatoes. Those are the type used to make sauce, salsa and other products, and represent about 96 percent of all the tomatoes grown in California.
“In a year when most commodities saw declines in production, the tomato crop was 16 percent larger than last year. It surpassed the old record of 13.3 million tons harvested in 2009, according to the California Tomato Growers Association.”
We’ve all had it happen: a friend sends a request to fund a Kickstarter campaign. You look at the lame description on the project page, at the tiny amount raised toward the goal, and think, “this is never gonna happen.” For every $55,000 potato salad there are thousands of Kickstarters that just don’t make their goal.
And then there are the ones that get nothing at all. Zero. Zed. Bupkis.
“Have any interest in funding a zombie outbreak response team? How about an eight-foot-tall sculpture of a hummingbird, or the children's book Ants in the Plants at Gramp's? Do these Wig Hatz 4 Cancer inspire you to open your wallet? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of them, congratulations: You're the only person who ever has.
“Kickended, a website by Silvio Lorusso, archives Kickstarter campaigns that ended before receiving a penny of financial backing. It is a gallery of dreams deferred. Terrible, unimaginative dreams deferred.”
h/t Gawker.
