The Bee's Judy Lin writes that "Schwarzenegger on Thursday
signed an executive order, known as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, requiring fuel suppliers to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in transportation vehicles by at least 10 percent by the year 2020.
Administration officials estimate the move will save 3.2 billion gallons of gasoline a year, and drive investments in alternative and renewable fuel technology into the state.
'We're saying, 'Come here, this is where the action is,' ' Schwarzenegger said just before signing the order on the Capitol's west steps with energy executives, environmental advocates and academic researchers in attendance. 'Come to California.'"
"Launching what promises to be one of the year's fiercest debates in the Capitol, the Senate's top Democrats on Thursday
moved toward reforming California's byzantine criminal sentencing system," reports Jenifer Warren in the Times.
"Unveiling legislation to create a sentencing review commission, Senate leader
Don Perata of Oakland and Sen.
Gloria Romero of Los Angeles said California should join 16 other states now revisiting the question of who goes to prison and for how long.
The lawmakers also urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to use his executive powers to create an interim working group that would begin collecting and analyzing sentencing data as early as February.
'We can't wait,' Romero said, noting that prison overcrowding is so severe that federal judges may impose a cap on the inmate population, now at 172,000. 'Public safety is not served with a broken corrections system.'
Assemblyman
Todd Spitzer (R-Orange) said suggesting that lawmakers "punt to a commission that has no accountability is a nonstarter."
'
They want to take the politics out of it,' said Spitzer, who was a prosecutor before becoming an elected official. '
But in my opinion, the politics is critical to making sure a liberal Legislature does not become more soft on crime.'"
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
defended his health care plan Thursday against criticism that he broke his fundamental campaign pledge of no new taxes by asking businesses and physicians to give a share of their revenues to the state.
In a 30-minute interview with The Bee, the Republican governor insisted his proposed charge on certain groups is not a tax because the money collected is dedicated to health care rather than other state expenditures. He also said he does not see it as a tax because it is intended to lower costs throughout the system, benefiting those who have to pay upfront.
'
It is not a tax, just a loan, because it does not go for general (expenditures),' Schwarzenegger said. 'It goes back to health care. I think it's the important fact here, that you take it for health care.'"
The guv continues his defense of his health care plan today at a health care roundtable in Los Angeles.
The Merc News's Mike Zapler reports: "The state Legislature is about to weigh in on a question that stirs impassioned debate among moms and dads:
Should parents spank their children?Assemblywoman
Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, wants to outlaw spanking children up to 3 years old. If she succeeds,
California would become the first state in the nation to explicitly ban parents from smacking their kids."
Whew, as long as they don't prohibit spanking of adults.
"Making a swat on the behind a misdemeanor might seem a bit much for some -- and the chances of the idea becoming law appear slim, at best -- but Lieber begs to differ.
'I think it's pretty hard to argue you need to beat a child 3 years old or younger,' Lieber said. 'Is it OK to whip a 1-year-old or a 6-month-old or a newborn?'"
The U-T's Eleanor Yang Su writes: "University of California regents voted unanimously yesterday to adopt a best practice of the corporate world and
limit its executives' for-profit board service – a move that will affect UC San Diego Chancellor
Marye Anne Fox.
The policy, which is watered down from a key task force's recommendation, would limit senior managers to serving on three corporate boards. Employees have until Dec. 31 to divest from extra boards or seek an extension from UC's president and the regent compensation committee chair.
The effect of the interim policy will be limited. University officials could only immediately identify three people who may exceed the limit: Fox, who serves on four corporate boards and at least six nonprofit boards;
S. Robert Foley, the vice president of laboratory administration, who serves on five boards; and
Andrew Policano, the dean of UC Irvine's School of Management, who reported serving on four boards.
Regents also said they'd be willing to make exceptions to the policy and craft a more comprehensive permanent policy by the end of the year."
"Now that the lease on his Ford Explorer has expired, Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles)
is driving a Toyota Prius. At least 38 of his fellow members also have chosen hybrids; only 10 have requested nonhybrid SUVs as their taxpayer-subsidized wheels," reports the LAT's Nancy Vogel.
That's a transformation since 2002, when a single member drove a hybrid and 33 had SUVs.
Some senators are converts too, though not nearly as many. And it was Nuñez who largely orchestrated the turnaround: He used his discretionary budget to slice $6,000 off the price of a leased hybrid for any member who chose one.
'I figure in the end, there will be a cumulative savings that I think will be good for us,' Nuñez said, though the lower house has no specific savings projections. '
It sends the right message.'"
