"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
has won federal support for a critical piece of his $12 billion health care proposal to cover California's uninsured residents, erasing earlier questions about whether the state can get more from its biggest contributor.
"U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary
Mike Leavitt said Wednesday the Bush administration would support the governor's request for $3.45 billion of the $3.7 billion in additional federal funding needed to increase the state's insurance program for the poor, known as Medi-Cal.
"Leavitt said the state could get the remaining $250 million by submitting an application for a demonstration project.
"It's the first time federal officials have offered an opinion since Schwarzenegger began promoting his plan to cut health care costs and to cover the 6.5 million Californians without insurance. Health care advocates say the endorsement gives the debate momentum, although the Republican governor has yet to get his ideas into a bill.
"'It's a major step forward for the governor -- and all the other plans. It's a strong signal that they're going to support the spending,' said
Peter Harbage, a health care consultant who worked on Schwarzenegger's plan."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
strode through the Capitol on Wednesday for the first time in 81 days without crutches, a cane, a golf putter or any of the other items he has used to steady himself since he broke his leg in a skiing accident last December," writes the AP's Aaron Davis.
"Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor's recovery is almost complete.
"'There are no more surgeries and he's out of physical therapy,' McLear said. 'We may see a bit more time with the cane, but we can soon expect to see him completely without' it.
"McLear said Schwarzenegger has even promised to hit the slopes again."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver,
are selling admission to private cocktail receptions and dinner at their Brentwood house to donors who give as much as $250,000 to the governor's main political fund," writes the LAT's Robert Salladay.
"The fund's executive committee recently distributed a five-page letter to potential donors inviting them to an April 25 cocktail party at the Mandeville Canyon mansion. Another June 6 reception and dinner is planned for those who contribute either $100,000 or $250,000 to the tax-exempt account, called the California Recovery Team.
"The biggest donors are being invited to four additional private meetings with Schwarzenegger, according to the invitation. "Members will also be included in regular conference calls with the governor and leading and well-known Californians from the public and private sector," the invitation says.
"
Julie Soderlund, the governor's campaign committee spokeswoman, said the private meetings are a chance for the governor to 'present his vision for California, not the other way around…. He believes it's important to communicate his vision, whether it's to larger groups or this group.'"
Speaking of fundraising, CW's Cosmo Garvin reports "a
Joe Coto fundraiser being held on the same day, and at the same location, as a symposium on education is
blurring the line between political funding and nonprofit education efforts."
"Coto, D-San Jose, is piggybacking his private fundraiser on top of a two-day symposium being sponsored by the nonprofit California Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation and the Barona Band of Mission Indians.
"Fundraising letters promise that donors who pony up $10,000 for the education efforts of the Foundation will be allowed to attend the Coto fundraiser, as well.
"The education symposium is being held March 22 and 23 at the Barona Valley Ranch near San Diego. It's billed as a discussion of "Educational Equity in Schools" and will include speakers from UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA and San Jose State. State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jack O'Connell and the Hewlett Foundation's Mike Smith are also giving presentations at the symposium."
As the nonprofit, the Foundation is prohibited from political fundraising and political advertising."
"Republicans have been asked to review party rules to determine if California can
consider opening its 2008 presidential primary to 3 million independent voters, a move that could benefit party mavericks
John McCain and
Rudy Giuliani.
"Democrats permit independents to vote in their presidential primary. Some Republicans fear that if independents remain locked out of the GOP contest, they will be unlikely to vote for the Republican candidate in November."
The governor will sign the bill which will officially move California's presidential primary to February on the steps of the Capitol this morning.
CW updates the
status of the pending gaming compacts in the Legislature. "The deals, worth billions of dollars, together would comprise the largest expansion of California gaming since voters first decided to allow slot machines in tribal casinos in 2000. They are expected to easily pass the Senate, but they face a much tougher road in the Assembly, where many Democrats have close ties to labor, and others fear that regulation of tribal casinos may be weakened by a recent federal court ruling.
"Other issues have emerged, such as ensuring that state labor safety rules and workers' compensation insurance standards apply at tribal casinos, that wage orders for spousal support are enforced, and that there are tough audits and aggressive oversight of slots.
"'My caucus wants these issues resolved before these compacts are ratified'" said
Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, who heads the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee."
"A controversial Schwarzenegger administration appointee to a state commission on building standards
withdrew his nomination Wednesday after disability rights advocates raised questions about his commitment to compliance with disability access laws and his ties to private industry," reports Clea Benson in the Bee.
"
Kim Blackseth, who is quadriplegic and runs a private consulting business on disability access, has been sitting on the Building Standards Commission for almost a year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to fill a post set aside for a person with disabilities on the 11-member commission, which oversees the state agencies that write the building code.
"But at a state Senate confirmation hearing on Blackseth's appointment last week, a stream of witnesses from the disability rights community testified that they felt he helped businesses and governments find ways around complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and state building codes."
"A soon-to-be-released study of California's public education system says the state will have to stop pouring money blindly into schools -- and
spend far more money specifically on kids with the highest needs -- if it wants every student to succeed," write Greg Lucas and Nanette Asimov in the Chron.
"The state should also consider making it easier for principals to hire and fire teachers, according to a 30-page summary obtained by The Chronicle. The study will be made public over two days, starting this afternoon.
"The voluminous treatise -- 23 separate studies by academics and educators -- highlights failings in the current system and offers ideas for improvement, concluding that dumping money on schools won't cure what ails the 6.3 million student system.
"Authorized in 2006 and paid for by several foundations, the study is intended to offer new ideas on how to create a public education system that allows each school to meet or exceed a score of 800 on the state's Academic Performance Index -- a 200-to-1,000-point yardstick of pupil achievement with 800 considered excellent.
"'The underlying concept with adequacy is once we decide what we want our districts to produce, you ought to somehow be able to sit down and look at the student population and design a school system that anyone could reasonably expect to produce those results,' said
Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators."
"California's 626,000 public university students
got clobbered Wednesday with their fifth tuition hike in six years as the governing boards of both the University of California and the California State University agreed to raise the price of attendance dramatically," report Tanya Schevitz and Jim Doyle in the Chron.
"Despite emotional pleas from students, the UC Board of Regents and the CSU Board of Trustees said they had no choice but to increase the costs next fall to maintain the quality of the institutions.
"As dozens of students chanted in protest outside, the regents voted 13-6 during their meeting at UCLA to increase undergraduate and graduate fees in the fall by 7 percent and professional school fees by up to 12 percent. Meanwhile, in Long Beach, the CSU trustees voted 15-1 to impose a 10 percent fee hike on undergraduate and graduate students next fall.
"Regents acknowledged this is probably not the end of annual increases for UC students. Since the 2001-02 school year, undergraduate tuition has climbed 92 percent at UC's campuses and 94 percent at CSU's schools."
"A bill that would
require restaurants to disclose calorie counts and other nutritional information passed its first legislative hurdle Wednesday," reports the AP's Don Thompson.
"Fast-food outlets would be required to post the calories contained in each of their items on menu boards. Printed menus would have to list calories plus the amount of saturated fat, trans fat and sodium in each item.
"'People are eating out more now than they were a generation ago,' said state Sen.
Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles. 'If a restaurant can tell you how to super-size a meal, they can certainly tell you how many calories.'"
"Democrats in the state Senate
filled in the blanks Wednesday on their version of a sentencing commission by proposing a panel with the power to set prison terms that could be amended only by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature," writes the Bee's Andy Furillo.
"The Senate Democrats' take on a sentencing commission differs markedly from the one offered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his 2007-08 budget. Rather than adjusting the length of terms, the Republican governor's commission would only make recommendations on sentencing policy and devote its first year of research to the state's much-criticized parole system.
"Jointly written by state Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata of Oakland and Senate Majority Leader
Gloria Romero of Los Angeles, Senate Bill 110 proposes the creation of a 20-member commission that would include the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, the attorney general, the corrections secretary and an assortment of judges, a prosecutor, a public defender, an inmate rights lawyer and others selected by the Legislature and the governor."
And we end with a moment of silence courtesy of our friends in the Wales Township, Michigan bureau, who are
">mourning the loss of the town turkey. "The Rev.
James Huff, pastor of Lambs United Methodist Church, said the turkey regularly attended Sunday services and greeted people as they arrived." The turkey was hit by a car and killed last week.
"'He would kind of wait for me to come in,' Huff told the Times Herald of Port Huron. 'He knew when I got there. Service was about to begin, and then he would sit on one lady's car until we were done.'
"Taking time to remember a wild turkey may seem strange, but a church will hold a moment of silence this Sunday for what the pastor called
a model member of his congregation."
Hey, that doesn't seem strange at all. We sit through motions and resolutions on the Assembly floor every week...
