"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's drive to put a record public-works bond on the June ballot
was derailed early [Saturday] when Senate Republicans rejected a $47 billion compromise offered by Democrats," writes Ed Mendel for the U-T.
"On a party-line vote about a half-hour after midnight, the bill failed 24-12, three votes short of the two-thirds needed for passage."
"The Republican governor and Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said they were not giving up on placing a massive infrastructure bond on the June ballot, even though the formal deadline was Friday."
"But Republicans also made it clear that they thought the Democratic plan, which trimmed Schwarzenegger's original $68 billion bond proposal, spends too much on environmental programs and too little on highways and water projects."
"'We also need true reform to ensure that the bond funds go to brick and mortar and not to habitat restoration, litigation, mitigation and ultimately procrastination,' Senate Minority Leader
Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, told the Senate."
George Skelton
argues that the governor needs to win the legislative battle. "The biggest obstacle to compromise was Republican insistence on a new off-stream water storage reservoir in Northern California. Environmental interests objected. Assembly Republicans also pushed for some pay-as-you-go financing."
"Everybody really should take a deep breath and trim this monstrosity back to the basics: levees, transportation and schools. Do the rest later."
"That said, it seems to me that Schwarzenegger badly needs a deal and shouldn't be too picky. Take what he can get from Democrats and warmly embrace it as his own. Pull out a two-by-four and beat Republicans into submission."
The governor and legislative leaders are expect to continue negotiating this morning.
More time to hang out and fill in those NCAA brackets...
The Merc reports the
negotiations have taken a personal toll on those involved. Speaker
Fabian Nuñez and his wife "canceled their wedding reception Friday night so he could remain in town to try to work out a deal -- reportedly the third time the speaker has canceled his wedding reception.
The couple were remarried -- they had been divorced for 10 years but remained close -- back in November on a beach in Maui. It was a low-key affair and Núñez was planning to have a more public celebration after the couple came back."
Strange, we didn't get our invite to this one, either...
The Democratic gubernatorial primary finally seems to be heating up. Late Friday, the Angelides campaign criticized
Steve Westly for allowing new oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast as a member of the State Lands Commission -- a claim the Westly campaign dismissed as a "canard." Sunday, Westly responded by dredging up a lawsuit against an Angelides-backed company that was
sued "for the illegal dredging of Lake Tahoe – in violation of a State Lands Commission permit -- and the
subsequent dumping of a million gallons of dredging spoils, or sludge, into one of the most pristine lakes in the world," according to a Westly Campaign memo.
Looks like the race is finally on.
Speaking of which, we got a campaign email from our good friend, adult movie star and former gubernatorial candidate
Mary Carey this weekend, to let us know "Adult film starlet and former California gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey (Mary Cook) is scheduled to attend the Annual Tax Summit where she will discuss issues such as tax reform."
And fellatio.
Dan Walters runs through the controversy of
geographically based auto insurance rates. "California's geocultural rivalry, to invent a word, now has a new front - a burgeoning squabble over auto insurance rates that pits Democratic Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi against the insurance industry, but increasingly involves political pressure from the two rival regions."
"The roots of the confrontation are found in Proposition 103, the 1988 ballot measure that made the insurance commissioner an elective office and, among other things, sought to reduce or eliminate geography as a major factor in setting auto insurance rates, promising that rates would be based on driving records. Consumer groups had long accused the industry of discriminating against city dwellers, especially poor and nonwhite drivers, in rate-setting while the industry contended that geography is a valid determinant of potential losses."
The Bee's Jim Sanders has been shopping, and reports that the
Capitol gift shop is filled with foreign-made goods. "Tourists will find "California State Assembly" ball caps, "California Quail" luggage tags, Capitol shot glasses and "Sacramento USA" beanie headwear from China; "Golden Poppy" sweat shirts from Mexico; even a Smokey Bear fire patrol T-shirt from Honduras."
"
Sandra May, manager of the Capitol's gift shop, said she strives to patronize U.S. firms but that it's not always practical or possible to do so."
"'It's hard, because there aren't a lot of (California-related) items out there that are strictly made in the United States,' she said."
"Costs also are a consideration, she said. 'Tourists want a memento to take home, but they don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it,' May said."
"Assemblyman
Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa, said he won't waste money on foreign souvenirs.
I think we ought to 'Buy America' and support our own workers, our own families,' he said."
Looks like the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times may have a new boss -- The Sacramento Bee. "
Sacramento's McClatchy Co. will buy Knight Ridder Inc., a newspaper chain more than twice its size, for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, according to a published report. The deal is expected to be announced this morning," reports the Associated Press.
A federal appeals court has upheld the rights for
bong hits for Jesus. " The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a high school principal violated a student's constitutional rights when he suspended the student for holding up a sign with the aforementioned phrase during a televised parade near campus. "The principal said the teenager's words -- which the boy later called a meaningless phrase meant only to attract the cameras at the parade in Juneau, Alaska -- were a pro-marijuana message that clashed with school district policy ... [The court ruled] the student had a right to express himself as long as he didn't disrupt the school or its educational mission."
