"Stymied in the Legislature, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday
called on the all-but-moribund Industrial Welfare Commission to approve a $1 minimum wage increase, a move that had Democrats and Republicans accusing each other of playing politics with the working poor."
"In a petition submitted Thursday, Schwarzenegger asked the commission -- which the Legislature de-funded two years ago --
to take up his proposal for a two-step minimum wage increase that would raise the bottom-level pay scale from $6.75 to $7.75. The action came after the state Senate's Labor Committee on March 29 bottled up his minimum pay plan because it didn't contain an indexing formula Democrats wanted for future increases."
"'My reason for making the request is my belief that the current minimum wage is inadequate," Schwarzenegger said in a letter to commission Chairman
Bill Dombrowski. 'The wage has not been increased since 2001. It has been substantially outpaced by the rising cost of living for minimum wage earners.'"
A spike in the minimum wage "'would be a sign that he's not really as anti-labor as he appears by all the labor bills he's vetoed and by the anti-labor initiatives he sponsored last year,' said Assemblyman
Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, chairman of the chamber's Committee on Labor and Employment. '
It would go a long way to negate that in the minds of some voters, although people who care about labor issues will understand it's a ploy.'"
So, labor activists think its a ploy, while mostly non-union minimum wage workers get a raise. Chalk that one up for the guv.
Meanwhile, the governor
agreed to a raise for the state's attorneys and administrative law judges.
"With a methodical series of public gestures, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is distancing himself from President Bush and fellow Republicans in Congress as he seeks to avoid harm to his reelection effort from their declining political fortunes," reports Robert Salladay in the Times.
"Schwarzenegger has challenged Bush on border security and global warming regulations. He publicly threatened to sue the Bush administration over Medicare regulations. He has tacitly sanctioned at least three other state lawsuits against the federal government."
"He has demanded that Bush dispense more money to the state to cover the costs of disasters, immigration and welfare, and chastised Republican efforts in Congress to expand offshore oil drilling.
In the last few weeks, he has labeled actions by Bush and Congress as terrible, irresponsible, unacceptable and embarrassing."
Despite the governor's efforts to distance himself, Democrats intend to try to make voters think that he and Bush are one and the same. "If [
Phil] Angelides wins the Democratic primary in three weeks, [
Bob] Mulholland said, the campaign 'absolutely' would run television ads featuring Schwarzenegger and Bush together at various political events."
"'
We have the video. It's Bush and Schwarzenegger playing patty-cake,' Mulholland said."
Mmmmmm...cakeWhile providing distance from Bush, the governor continues to woo traditionally Democratic constituencies. "
Linda Adams will be named director of the California Environmental Protection Agency today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an administration source said," reports Janet Wilson in the Times.
"'With more than 30 years of service to the state … Linda Adams is eminently qualified to serve as secretary for the Cal-EPA,' said
Bill Maile, spokesman on environmental issues for the governor's office."
"Adams, 57, a Democrat who has won praise from environmentalists, worked in high-ranking jobs for both state Controller
Steve Westly and Gov.
Gray Davis, and ran the state Department of Water Resources, among other positions."
By the way, if there are any people that used to work in Gray Davis's horseshoe but haven't been hired yet by the current governor,
applications are still available.
While most observers of the attorney general's race are talking about what
Jerry Brown has or hasn't done as Oakland mayor, the LAT's Patrick McGreevy
looks at the record of Rocky Delgadillo. "'My sense is he has done a very good job,' said L.A. investment banker
John Emerson, who was chief of staff for former City Atty.
James K. Hahn. 'He's been creative and appropriately aggressive.'"
"Critics, however, say Delgadillo's tenure has been marked by the appearance of ethical lapses, including decisions that benefited campaign contributors."
"They say Delgadillo is too timid a prosecutor who has been lucky that aggressive policing by the LAPD, economic changes and shifting demographics have driven crime down during his tenure."
"And despite holding citywide office, Delgadillo has not become a political force in Los Angeles or a leader whose vision has inspired a broad following, skeptics say. That contrasts with Brown, the current Oakland mayor who has been much praised and much derided in his 30-plus years in elective office."
"The city attorney 'hasn't emerged as a person with a particularly interesting or unique persona or vision,' said
Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation who has written extensively about Los Angeles."
Steve Geissinger takes a quick look at the
legislative races in the Bay Area.
"A California appellate court ruled Thursday that billionaire
Ronald W. Burkle did not trick his wife into signing a post-marital agreement that limited her divorce settlement to roughly $40 million," write Peter Y. Hong and Ted Rohrlich in the Times.
"
Janet E. Burkle, who married Ronald Burkle in 1974 and signed the agreement in 1997, challenged its validity, saying he had defrauded her into signing away her rights to perhaps as much as $1 billion. Forbes magazine this year estimated the wealth of the Los Angeles-based independent investor, who made his fortune buying, selling and merging supermarket chains, at $2.3 billion."
So concludes a mixed week int he courts for Burkle, who saw his
divorce records released after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of a lower court ruling that kept the records sealed.
"California schools chief
Jack O'Connell said he
will ask the state Supreme Court on Friday to overturn last week's ruling that brought California's high school exit exam to a sudden halt," reports Nanette Asimov in the Chron.
"Alameda County Superior Court Judge
Robert Freedman barred the state from denying diplomas on grounds that not all students had an equal opportunity to learn the material on the test. Freedman said that withholding the diplomas would harm students more than it would help the state."
"In his appeal, O'Connell will ask the court to find that Freedman's order was issued improperly, he said."
"He also will ask the high court to immediately stay the lower-court decision and allow the state to withhold high school diplomas as originally planned."
If anyone is still following the University of California story, the Regents met and
Robert Dynes is still President.
Carol Migden's Zinfandel was
watered down by the state Senate yesterday. Zinfandel will not be the official California state wine, as Migden had originally hoped but it is now "historic," thanks to the state Senate. The Chronicle reports "The measure grants this distinction to Zinfandel because it has grown up with California, arriving here during the Gold Rush and flourishing in every wine-growing region in the state."
We just want to know how much free Zin Migden's staff received during this whole debate...
