LADN's Harrison Sheppard reports, "Over the next 30 years,
California taxpayers will have to come up with an extra $48 billion to pay health benefits for state government retirees, according to a new study by State Controller
John Chiang.
"The study, required under new federal accounting rules, found that next year alone, escalating health-care expenses for state retirees will cost taxpayers an extra $3.6 billion.
"Still, other officials believe the study underestimates the future burden, which they say will range between $70 billion and $100 billion.
"'These are big numbers, but they are not insurmountable,' Chiang said. 'We need not panic or rush to judgment.'"
While we put off thinking about those big numbers, "[t]he Senate Democratic leader
is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to use his administrative power to change parole rules to ease severe prison crowding, possibly by as many as 8,100 inmates.
"Senate President Pro Tempore
Don Perata, D-Oakland, said Republican opposition kept parole reform out of a $7.8 billion plan to ease overcrowding through a building program and transferring some prisoners to other states.
"Perata said speculation at the Capitol that the bill signed by the Republican governor last week includes an unwritten 'side deal' to have Schwarzenegger bypass the Legislature and administratively enact parole changes is inaccurate.
"'
I wouldn't call it a deal,' Perata said of talks with the governor. '
What we said is we couldn't put it in the bill because the Republicans wouldn't support it.'
"'We said further that if you don't do something with parole, you can't make any of this work,' said Perata. 'So you've got the ability to do it. It's up to you to do it.'
"
Adam Mendelson, Schwarzenegger's communications director, said there is no agreement for the governor to take administrative action to ease prison overcrowding."
"The Legislature's lawyer testified Monday that the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners
subverted the state's regulatory process by endorsing a procedure in which chiropractors work on anesthetized patients," reports the Bee's Kevin Yamamura.
"In a state Senate hearing that reviewed the board's support of "manipulation under anesthesia," deputy legislative counsel
Lisa Goldkuhl said the panel had engaged in "underground" rule making by stating in March that it believes MUA is within the chiropractic scope of practice.
"'Just by putting the interpretation out there, presumably certain licensees ... will believe that this is a legitimate legal interpretation and act accordingly so,' Goldkuhl told the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development.
"Goldkuhl said the chiropractic board must propose regulations through the Office of Administrative Law in order to legalize MUA.
"
Doreathea Johnson, deputy director of legal affairs for the Department of Consumer Affairs, said she did not think the MUA resolution was problematic unless the board tried to act on it. But Goldkuhl disputed that argument, stating that the resolution on its own allows chiropractors to believe they can perform MUAs."
It's
not just the Democrats on Gov. Schwarzenegger's staff who like Barack Obama. Apparently the guv has some nice things to say about the Illinois senator as well. "California Governor Schwarzenegger issued the following statement today regarding legislation introduced by Senator
Barack Obama (D-Illinois) to establish a national version of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard:
"'I applaud Senator Obama for introducing legislation to establish a national version of California's groundbreaking Low Carbon Fuel Standard. By adopting our approach of employing enforceable standards and market competition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Senator Obama's legislation, like the bi-partisan legislation proposed by California Senator Dianne Feinstein, can dramatically increase investment in low carbon fuels at the same time it effectively fights climate change, expands consumer choice and rewards innovation.'"
"The state Department of Water Resources on Monday
appealed a ruling in a lawsuit that threatened to halt water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and also changed tactics to satisfy the original March 24 court ruling.
"That ruling found that DWR's water pumping did not comply with the state Endangered Species Act, which protects salmon and Delta smelt. It ordered DWR to comply by June 17 or shut the pumps. The appeal stays that order, giving the state more time to secure the authority it needs to continue serving water to 23 million people."
"For many California youngsters who enjoy riding with their parents in the front seat of cars,
the Assembly passed legislation Monday that could change riding habits," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"The measure would require children to ride in back-seat booster seats for two additional years, until age 8, unless they are 4-foot-9 or taller.
"Assemblyman
Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, crafted the legislation and characterized it as a way to save lives.
"'I still have my 8-year-old grandson sit in a booster seat because I'm aware of the safety factors involved,' he said.
"Mullin's measure, Assembly Bill 881, was approved on a largely party-line vote, 44-25, with most Republicans opposed."
"Today the Assembly budget subcommittee will hear details of a new report that found
the state's high school graduation rate dropped by 10 percentage points the year the California High School Exit Exam became a graduation requirement," writes Lauren Rosenhall in the Bee.
"The study by
John Rogers, an education professor at UCLA, says the statewide graduation rate went from 73 percent during the five years before the exam kicked in as a requirement to 63 percent in 2006, the first year students had to pass the test to graduate.
"Rogers' analysis shows even steeper drops in some school districts -- including Sacramento City Unified, where the graduation rate dropped 16 percentage points, and San Juan Unified, where it plunged 28 percentage points.
"State Department of Education officials have denied that claim. They said Monday that Rogers' report was based on 'bad data.'"
Dan Weintraub reports on the
divisions over the governor's health care plan.
"Perhaps the most important question in the debate over expanding access to health insurance is whether insurance companies should be required to provide coverage to anyone who seeks it, regardless of the consumer's health condition or past illnesses.
"In the Legislature, Democrats tend to answer this question 'yes.' Republicans tend to say "no."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is increasingly the man in the middle, says insurance companies should be required to offer coverage to all -- but only if everyone in California is also required to buy it."
"If AB102 is adopted by the Senate and signed by the governor, California
would become the first state to allow domestic partners to change their names without having to obtain a court order," reports Edwin Garcia in the Merc News.
"Under current law, husbands, or domestic partners, can legally change their name - but only through a cumbersome process that requires a judge's intervention, takes many months of hassle and costs hundreds of dollars.
"But the Name Equality Act of 2007 would make it as easy for them to change their last names as it is for wives upon marriage. County-issued marriage license applications and state-produced domestic partnership certificates would be amended to allow couples or individuals to jot down any last name they wish to adopt.
"'AB102 is about equality and flexibility, and getting with the times,' said Assemblywoman
Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, who proposed the legislation."
LAT's Ronald White reports the price of gas in California has
hit an all-time high.
"Retail gasoline prices in California jumped a dime to a new high of $3.461 a gallon during the last week as the national average came close to a new record, the Energy Department said Monday.
"There appeared to be no relief in sight with the start of the traditional summer driving season less than a month away and refineries struggling to regain normal production levels.
"'Demand has been unrelenting and refineries continue to be offline,' said
Phil Flynn, vice president and senior market analyst for Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. Production problems 'are getting as regular as the sun coming up in the morning.'"
That's more than we've ever heard him say about
Mitt Romney...
From our
So Much For Solar Files, LAT's Marc Lifsher reports, "California homeowners are
rejecting new rebates for solar power equipment, saying the state has made installing the rooftop panels far more costly than expected.
"As a result, Public Utilities Commission reports show a decline of 78% in rebate requests in the first three months of this year, compared with last year, and the solar installation industry says it is threatened with collapse across much of California."
From our
Silence on the Lamb Files, here's a little hint from your friendly, neighborhood Roundup: If you're hiding out as a fugitive, you might not want to go around
breaking world's records and just advertising it.
"A Russian fugitive evaded arrest and became a minor celebrity by masquerading as a U.S. citizen hitch-hiking across the country for a record attempt, the state security service said on Monday.
"Unsuspecting national television stations broadcast reports on an attempt by the man, who spoke only in English and wore an orange bandana, to claim a place in the record books by crossing Russia with no money or travel documents.
"But despite the publicity, he was not recognised.
"He was finally picked up by police after being spotted loitering at a university in the Volga river city of Samara, over 8,000 km from his native Primorye region, on Russia's Pacific coast.
"The hoax was uncovered last week by the Federal Security Service (FSB). They established that he was in fact a Russian citizen called
Rustam Dzhumaliyev who was wanted by police for theft and suspected deception."
That sounds like one of them Cold War crimes, doesn't it?
