Capitol Weekly reports that
the fight to rewrite California's drug laws has moved into state budget talks. "Ideological rifts are dominating negotiations as legislative leaders from both parties rewrite Proposition 36, the voter-approved ballot initiative that requires treatment instead of prison for first-time drug offenders.
Major changes to the law, authored by Sen.
Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, have been tucked into an obscure bill, SB 1137, linked to the health portion of state budget. Among the most significant changes being discussed is a provision that would allow drug-court judges to incarcerate first-time offenders."
"After tough negotiations with two forceful teachers unions, Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa struck an agreement Wednesday that would give him significant sway over Los Angeles' troubled public schools but fall short of the total takeover he had sought," reports the LAT.
"Under a compromise expected to be drafted by Friday and considered by the Legislature next week, Villaraigosa would effectively gain veto power over the selection of the superintendent, and that official would assume most budget and contracting authority now handled by the elected Board of Education, the mayor's aides said."
Not to be outdone, "Mayor
Gavin Newsom announced an ambitious proposal Tuesday that would
make San Francisco the first city in the country to provide taxpayer-subsidized health care to all uninsured residents, covering services like doctor visits, surgeries and prescription drugs," reports Cecilia Vega in the Chron.
"'This is not a pipe dream,' Newsom said. '
This city is going to be the first city in America to achieve universal health care access.'"
"The plan is not health insurance and therefore differs from other proposals. Those who sign up would have access to care only in San Francisco and, despite paying monthly premiums, would not be covered by the plan if they sought treatment outside the city limits."
"The estimated $200 million-a-year price tag, or $2,400 per person, would be paid through a combination of sources, including tax dollars, local business contributions and individual premiums."
"If Newsom is successful in tackling the political hot potato that is universal health care in a city where others have tried and failed, it could have sweeping political consequences for a politician best known outside San Francisco for allowing same-sex marriages.
It has the potential to catapult him back into the national spotlight and broaden his political appeal."
CW's Shane Goldmacher reports the
CCPOA is considering an endorsement of Gov. Schwarzenegger. "Just six months ago it would have been almost inconceivable that the state's powerful prison-guards lobby would back Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid for re-election. The union had just finished spending $2.9 million to torpedo the governor's special-election agenda, lampooned Schwarzenegger's attempts at prison reform and was openly hostile to the state's top prison official, a Schwarzenegger appointee.
After two years on the outside looking in, prison-union officials quietly have been meeting with the governor's top staffers and, at least once, the governor himself. Three top prison officials--all antagonists of the CCPOA--have resigned or been
fired.
With the recent changes, the correctional officers' executive vice-president Chuck Alexander says the union, and its estimated $10 million war chest, is considering staying out of the governor's race altogether--or even backing Schwarzenegger.
"It is a refreshing change from a year ago," said Alexander of the governor's friendlier tone. "We have not decided at this point where or even if we are going to engage in the governor's election this year."
Speaking of guards, "[s]tanding beside a tall metal fence along the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized House Republicans for delaying immigration legislative plans, and said it would be 'totally inexcusable' if the federal government does not enact changes this year," reports Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"House Republican leaders announced Tuesday they will not negotiate with the U.S. Senate on immigration until they hold a series of town hall meetings across the country this summer, a move that threatens the chances of a legislative package this year."
"'I am disappointed at the idea that maybe the federal government would not come up with an agreement and with true reform of our immigration laws,' Schwarzenegger said. '…
It will be totally inexcusable for them to walk away from that and say this year we couldn't do it and maybe take this whole thing on the road show.'"
"Failure to pass a bill this year, the governor said, would be 'ludicrous.'"
We love a good legislative fight, and it looks like another one will play out before the session ends. "California's horse racing industry, hoping to reverse declining fortunes,
proposed legislation Wednesday to authorize nearly 13,000 new video gambling machines at racetracks across the state," reports the LAT's Dan Morain.
"Las Vegas-style slot machines are legal in California only on Indian reservations — and tribes have lobbied hard in the Legislature and at the polls to defend that monopoly."
"Tracks have developed new "instant horse racing" machines. With flashing lights, the brightly colored machines look like slots and are activated when gamblers bet a quarter or more."
"'This is about saving an industry,' said Assemblyman
Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), who introduced the bill,
AB 2409."
Who could oppose "saving an industry"?
"The California Tribal Business Alliance, which represents six tribes with major casinos, announced its opposition to Yee's bill Wednesday. 'They're trying to do piece by piece what they couldn't do with Proposition 68,'
said Alison Harvey, the alliance's executive director."
"After launching 'one of the most productive periods of prison reform' in California history, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has retreated from the cause and
given the guards union a 'disturbing' level of clout over prison policy and operations, a federal court investigator charged Wednesday," writes Jenifer Warren in the Times.
"Special Master John Hagar accused Schwarzenegger of backpedaling and warned that California was returning to an era when union leaders were allowed to "overrule the most critical decisions" of prison administrators."
"Hagar, whose findings were spelled out in a 34-page report,
linked the turnaround to the governor's January appointment of Susan Kennedy, a one-time aide to former Gov.
Gray Davis, as his chief of staff."
"At the union's West Sacramento headquarters, Executive Vice President
Chuck Alexander called the report a collection of 'unfounded, inaccurate accusations' and lambasted Hagar for 'not vetting these issues before putting pen to paper.'"
Meanwhile, things aren't so good in kiddie prison either.
"State officials who run California's juvenile justice system are
unconstitutionally denying prompt hearings and lawyers to youthful offenders arrested on alleged parole violations, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Sacramento federal court," reports Denny Walsh in the Bee.
"The suit charges that juvenile parolees often do not learn why they were arrested until they have been in custody for weeks or even months."
"The state does not provide preliminary or probable cause hearings and, in the majority of cases, juveniles are denied their constitutional rights to have witnesses testify on their behalf, to present evidence and to be represented by an attorney, the suit alleges."
"'It is particularly deplorable that these youth are denied the very basic constitutional rights that are guaranteed to adults in the California correctional system,' said
Michael Bien, one of the attorneys who filed the suit on behalf of juvenile parolees."
"'We do believe that this litigation is not necessary,' said
Sarah Ludeman, spokeswoman for the state Division of Juvenile Justice. The division is the successor agency to the California Youth Authority and operates all state-level juvenile correctional institutions."
Speaking of lost causes, CW's Malcolm Maclachlan takes a look at the
five gay Republican candidates for state Assembly. "By contrast, Democrats, who traditionally are far more supportive of gay causes, will only have two openly gay candidates in California legislative races this fall (Assembly incumbents
John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and
Mark Leno, D-San Francisco)."
Finally, from our
Kill Me Now Files, Variety reports "Former teen heartthrobs [and current 30-something has-beens]
Corey Feldman and Corey Haim have teamed with RDF USA ("Wife Swap") on "The Coreys," a hybrid improv comedy that would center on
fictional versions of themselves ..."presumably because it would be funnier and less sad that way."
