"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed legislation Thursday that will lead to a huge prison expansion with unknown but potentially dramatic long-term costs and will require a major increase in the kind of inmate rehabilitative services that prison managers have routinely botched in the past decade," writes Mark Martin in the Chron.
"Surrounded by law enforcement officials and lawmakers from both parties, Schwarzenegger presided over a celebratory news conference on the Capitol steps to enact
plans to initially spend $7.4 billion to build 40,000 new prison beds and 13,000 new county jail beds. The cost of operating the expanded facilities is unknown, however, but expected to be in the billions. Estimates could be released later this month.
"The new law also requires the department to increase inmate programs such as drug treatment and vocational education in an effort to help felons stay crime-free once they leave prison.
"The governor
said the plan could end threats from federal judges to take further control of the legally troubled and dangerously overcrowded prisons, and he touted the new emphasis on rehabilitation services as '
a monumental shift in how we manage prisons in California.'"
And CCPOA
was eerily quiet about the signing.
Meanwhile, the governor
didn't receive much support for his own ambitions from his party's presidential candidates during last night's debate. The LAT's Peter Nicholas writes: "Early on, moderator
Chris Matthews polled the 10 Republicans on stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley, asking whether they would support the constitutional amendment needed to allow Schwarzenegger to run.
"
Two of the candidates said yes: former New York City Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee.
"A definite maybe was registered by Arizona Sen.
John McCain, who quipped that he was still angling for Schwarzenegger's support in the 2008 presidential campaign.
"'Depends on whether he endorses me or not,' McCain said. Then he said: 'He and I have many similar attributes, so I have to seriously consider it.'
"
The rest said no."
For those keeping score, that would be 2-7-1, which is only modestly better than
Dirk Nowitzki's shooting last night.
"Schwarzenegger at times seemed the 11th person in the debate.
"He escorted
Nancy Reagan into the pavilion and sat next to her in the first row of the audience. Afterward, when the candidates went to greet the frail former first lady, Schwarzenegger stood next to her, protectively holding her arm.
"Candidates and questioners alike invoked Schwarzenegger throughout the 90-minute session. At one point,
John F. Harris, editor-in-chief of the Politico, asked U.S. Rep.
Duncan Hunter whether Republicans could learn from Schwarzenegger's formula for electoral success in California — a blend of bipartisanship and conciliation.
"Hunter, of El Cajon, conceded the governor's approach was 'a way to win,' but he added that candidates 'need to win the right way.' He went on to tout the value of a fence between Mexico and the U.S."
Dan Walters criticizes Assemblymember
Pedro Nava's
quick judgment on the driver in the Bay Area tanker crash. "Within hours, Nava was complaining to the media that the driver of the 8,600-gallon tanker,
James Mosqueda, had been licensed to drive hazardous cargos despite a criminal record that included felony drug and burglary charges. Mosqueda survived the crash, walked away and hailed a cab to take him to a hospital to be treated for severe burns.
"Nava rushed to the crash site and declared, 'A family driving on the highway and looking at a gasoline tanker truck out the window assumes that driver has met the highest standards. We now know that is not the case.'
"Nava, who chairs the Assembly's Transportation Committee and the Legislature's Joint Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security, pledged to press for regulatory change, saying, 'The requirements are substandard.'
"Wait a minute. There's absolutely no evidence that Mosqueda was in any way impaired, and every indication that it was a simple human error -- perhaps taking a curving ramp a bit too fast -- that had particularly spectacular results because of the type of vehicle and cargo involved. Mosqueda's prison record did not prevent him from getting driving permits, nor should it have done so.
By all accounts, he paid his debt to society, reformed and became a very solid citizen -- even offering to pay for his cab ride to the emergency room."
The Register's Brian Joseph
looks at the costs of one of the spring break trips. "At the end of March, lawmakers and members of the Public Utility Commission joined corporate executives on a trip to Japan.
"The expenses,
valued at $8,000 to $9,500 per person, were picked up by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy – a nonprofit in San Francisco funded and connected to firms represented on the trip.
"Lawmakers say trips like these are valuable educational experiences; government watchdogs say they're attempts to buy influence and circumvent the law, which bars corporations from buying trips for government officials or funneling money through organizations that can.
"But without evidence, like a memo or an e-mail, directly linking corporate money to officials' travel, the law says it's OK.
"'It's extraordinarily frustrating,' said
Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer and Rights. The foundation recently uncovered documents showing the value of the Japan trip.
"'You don't need a smoking gun in California to know a $10,000 gift to the Speaker of the Assembly is illegal,' Balber said. 'But the law does require that smoking gun if that $10,000 gift is funneled through a nonprofit organization. And that's absurd.'"
"The Southern California Assn. of Governments
voted Thursday to urge President Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency in the region
because of more than 5,400 premature deaths that the state has estimated are linked annually to air pollution."
"'When we have a hurricane or earthquake, they declare a state of emergency,' said
Hasan Ikhrata, director of planning and policy for the regional body. 'These numbers are out of this world … so this is significant enough that they should do the same thing.'
"SCAG, made up of mayors and county supervisors from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Imperial counties, is responsible for the transportation portion of plans designed to bring the region's air quality — the worst in the nation — into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act."
"A high school student
got a little taste of what it's like to be Michigan's governor — and didn't find it too appealing.
"A cell phone number
Katie Kamar received about five months ago once belonged to Gov.
Jennifer Granholm.
"The 18-year-old high school senior said she started getting about six calls a day for Granholm. She told the Detroit Free Press her phone would ring for the governor at all hours.
"'It would be an honor to be governor, but people want to talk to you 24-7,' she said. 'This experience hasn't given me any political aspirations.'"
