"Personal income tax receipts coming into the state in January
fell $1.3 billion below Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's revenue estimates in the spending plan he released last month, the state controller said yesterday," reports the AP's Aaron Davis.
"The lower-than-expected revenue raises questions about whether Schwarzenegger will reach his stated goal of eliminating the state's net operating deficit in the budget year beginning in July."
Hey, win or lose, the guv did get the AP to write the phrase "net operating deficit" in a story...
"The governor's proposed 2007-08 budget assumes that tax revenue in the current budget year would grow by $1.1 billion, or 1 percent. In the coming fiscal year, Schwarzenegger also assumed a $6.8 billion boost, or 7 percent increase.
"'Tax payments are down about $1 billion, and we don't yet have the source of that decrease,' said Controller
John Chiang, holding a news conference at the state's tax-collection center, where 2006 tax returns have begun to trickle in."
The LAT's Peter Nicholas writes that
what's left off of the transcripts of the governors audiotapes may be more interesting then what's on them. "A scene from the governor's office: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his chief of staff were clearly annoyed about a person who kept making appointments and canceling them."
"'I said, 'Look, you can't go and tell my people five times you're coming, you're not coming, you're coming, you're not coming.' I said, 'What's that? Are you coming or not?' ' Schwarzenegger says, according to transcripts of conversations that were recorded by the governor's staff last year.
"But there is one important omission in the transcripts put out by Schwarzenegger's office this week: The person being discussed is
Clint Eastwood.
"
In the actual recordings, the governor clearly mentions Eastwood's name. But the transcript simply leaves it out. There is not even a notation that what the governor said was inaudible.
"In virtually all cases, the transcripts also omit the names of the powerful aides speaking to Schwarzenegger.
"So no one reading the transcript would know that the governor's chief of staff,
Susan Kennedy, is the one who tells him that he has three 'antelope' waiting to see him 'in the other room,' an apparent reference to three lawmakers. Elaborating, Kennedy describes them as '
the weak and the ugly.'"
Man,
she didn't even get Clint's movie title right! No wonder he kept cancelling.
Meanwhile, we're just waiting for someone to leak us tapes of candid discussions about Susan Kennedy from a Republican caucus meeting...
"State schools Superintendent
Jack O'Connell on Tuesday
called on educational leaders to find solutions to solve an academic 'achievement gap' afflicting low-income and minority students," reports Peter Hecht in the Bee.
"In his annual "State of Education in California" speech, O'Connell said he will direct a committee of some 50 education, business and community leaders 'to look at the root cause of why the gap exists' and propose solutions.
"O'Connell said the work of the committee, an existing panel known as the P-16 Council, will then set the agenda for a November educational summit that will bring together school officials from across California.
"Calling for 'an honest discussion, a courageous discussion,' O'Connell said he wants to identify and address academic needs of low-income and -- in particular -- Latino and African American students.
"'
There are plenty of people ... who say the 'achievement gap' will never be closed,' O'Connell said in his Sacramento address.'
"'
I refuse to accept that assumption,' O'Connell said."
"A state Department of Child Support Services analyst used
a state credit card to embezzle $320,000, buying a
flat-screen television, hot tub, gazebo, iPods, handcuffs, chains and whips, according to California Highway Patrol officials," reports the Bee's Christina Jewett.
Sounds like
one hell of a party...
Speaking of party, there's even more
Gavin Newsom coverage today. "After admitting in the last five days to adultery and alcohol abuse,
[Gavin] Newsom has suffered a public political meltdown that has rocked City Hall and led one San Francisco supervisor to call for his resignation," write John Glionna and Lee Romney in the Times.
"The 39-year-old mayor, who is running for reelection in November, acknowledged last week that he had an affair with the wife of a longtime aide. On Monday, he announced he would seek counseling because he had 'come to the conclusion that I will be a better person without alcohol in my life.'
"
But the mayor's problems appear to run deeper than behind-the-scenes indiscretions, raising questions about his ability to lead one of America's largest cities.
"Critics and backers alike now acknowledge that Newsom has become disengaged, reluctant to grapple with such critical issues as the city's soaring homicide rate among black residents.
In recent months, he has even refused to meet with supervisors -- longtime supporters included."
The Times also prints
a photo of Ruby Rippey-Torque.
The Chron's Marisa Lagos reports:
Carole "Migden, D-San Francisco, today introduced legislation that would
require chain restaurants to post calorie counts for their food in "plain view" -- that is, on menus and menu boards. The legislation defines chains as restaurants that have five outlets in California, or have one in the state but at least 10 nationwide.
"Citing the nation's high obesity rate -- 30 percent of adults over the age of 20 are considered obese, according to the National Center for Health Statistics -- Migden argued that consumers should be allowed to make informed choices."
...because it's working so well at the fast food restaurants that already post nutrition facts.
"'
Californians need to know the calorie content of their meals to make healthier decisions about the food they consume,' Migden said in a written statement. 'There's no denying the link between overeating fatty foods and obesity. We're spending nearly half of our food dollars outside our homes while obesity rates have risen 100 percent over the last 10 years.'"
The Bee's John Hill writes: "Faced with a rash of retirements as the baby boomer generation ages, the state is
preparing to overhaul what it describes as an antiquated civil service system to make it easier to hire and promote.
"The state hopes to whittle its current list of 4,200 classifications, streamlining the process for job candidates to take exams, promote within a classification or move between positions in different departments.
"The state wants to automate the personnel system so managers and supervisors, for instance, can check online for qualified candidates instead of requesting a list from a personnel office.
"'Right now, it's all on paper,' said
Mary Fernandez, chief of administrative services for the State Personnel Board."
Dan Walters
contrasts the speakerships of Willie Brown and Leo McCarthy. "The contrast between the two speakerships could not have been starker -- McCarthy's concentrating on policy and Brown's creating a wheeler-dealer atmosphere that fostered a federal undercover investigation of corruption that sent a number of figures to prison and persuaded voters to impose term limits on lawmakers.
"Finally, McCarthy never let the speakership go to his head, unlike predecessors and successors who saw themselves as shadow governors. He was a nice guy who performed acts of personal kindness and whose political rivals became lifelong friends. What more can you say?"
