California’s political watchdog approved stricter rules on lobbyist fundraising yesterday. The California Fair Political Practices Commission struck down a proposal to allow legislators to hold fundraisers in lobbyists’ homes. Patrick McGreevy has the story for the Los Angeles Times.
“The legislation was drafted after the FPPC imposed a record $133,500 fine last year against lobbyist Kevin Sloat and his firm for violating campaign contribution rules by providing wine, liquor and cigars at lavish fundraisers held at his home for lawmakers' campaigns.
“On Thursday, an attorney for the Institute of Governmental Advocates, a lobbyist trade group, argued unsuccessfully that a strict ban is unwarranted….
However, commission Chair Jodi Remke said the legislative intent was to ban fundraisers in lobbyists' homes, so she opposed any exceptions. “I don’t think we can be any clearer on the scope of this,” she said.
Oil industry representatives appeared at Thursday’s meeting of the California Air Resources Board to oppose renewal of the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS). The standard will require fuel producers to lower the ‘carbon intensity’ of their products by 10%.
From Dale Kasler at the Sacramento Bee: “Nick Economides, manager of state fuels regulation at Chevron Corp., said the Air Resources Board must move away from its ‘strategy of higher-than-achievable goals.’ He said it relies heavily on the development of alternative fuels, many of which haven’t yet panned out.
“’We have invested heavily (in alternative fuels) and regretfully, we have not been successful,’ he said.
“The agency is expected to make a final decision during the spring or summer.”
The state’s Medi-Cal program has seen a larger-than-expected expansion since the federal health care reform programs began. Today, nearly a third of Californians rely on Medi-Cal, putting a serious strain on the system. Julie Small has the story for the California Report.
“A provision of the Affordable Care Act that temporarily boosted Medi-Cal reimbursement rates expired on December 31. Also, state lawmakers passed a ten percent cut to California’s reimbursement rates during the depths of the state’s recession took effect last month for primary care doctors.
“State lawmakers Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-La Puente) and Asm. Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) introduced a bill this week that would restore the higher reimbursement rates. But even if it passes, they’ll have to persuade Gov. Jerry Brown to sign it.
“H.D. Palmer with the state’s finance department says the governor’s not budgeting for higher provider rates because California faces numerous fiscal uncertainties.
“’So we have to be very careful and prudent about adopting any new major spending commitments or dealing with some of the difficult but necessary reductions that had to be made in recent years,’ he said.”
The bad news is that even if the governor signs the bill, the new Xerox-built Medi-Cal computer system may not be ready in time to handle the workload. Jon Ortiz reports for the Bee:
“A new report from State Auditor Elaine Howle about the California Medicaid Management Information System notes that similar Xerox projects in much smaller states have encountered lengthy delays. Howle also flagged concerns that the project is unorganized.
“The first of the project’s five phases, or ‘releases’ is up and running. But ‘Release 2 is far more complex than Release 1 and is expected to address over 1,300 functional requirements, which is significantly more than the 27 functional requirements addressed by Release 1,’ Howle wrote in her report to lawmakers on Tuesday. The project is supposed to roll out in five releases.
“Without some quick changes, Howle expects the project will overshoot its June 2015 planned release of the second phase.”
Assemblyman Jim Cooper, (D-Elk Grove), introduced legislation Thursday to allow police to collect DNA from people arrested for misdemeanors – a procedure banned under recently-passed Prop 47. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and district attorneys support the legislation.
From Jeremy White at the Sacramento Bee: “’I think a lot of voters didn’t know the details of the law,’ Cooper said. ‘So it’s really not a slap in the face to (Proposition) 47, it’s just making sure folks are held accountable with that.’”
Sometimes you just have bad luck. In our Singin’ the Golden State Blues files, we look at the Senate candidacy of Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, who Tuesday announced his intention to run for Barbara Boxer’s senate seat.
The problem? The Field Poll, released the next day, put Chavez in 17th place – out of 18 potential candidates. To put that in perspective, Chavez ranked below that familiar household name Ernie Connyu. The only person he beat in the poll was former Republican Party Chair Duf Sundheim. Ouch.
LA Times columnist George Skelton likes Chavez – quite a bit, it seems – but doesn’t think much of his chances.
"’I've got a good message and I'm right on the issues,’ [Chavez] says.
“But to broadcast that message, he'd need $20 million. Forget it. National Republicans no longer invest in California, and the state party is practically broke, focusing on legislative races.”
Sometimes you just can’t win for losin’
