The Chron's Tom Chorneau says
time is running out on the governor's ambitious special session agenda.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plans to overhaul California's troubled health care system and solve the state's long-term water needs hit snags Tuesday, with one week left before the expected end of a special legislative session called to consider his agenda.
The governor unveiled a revised health care plan that included leasing the state lottery to a private company to help pay for expanding coverage to uninsured residents and give a tax break to low- and middle-class families.
But the proposed changes drew only a passive response from Democratic leaders, while consumer and labor groups said the plan does not do enough to protect the working poor from escalating costs.
Meanwhile, in water world, "a Democratic water bond proposal
was defeated in the state Senate on Tuesday, likely killing any chance of getting a bond measure on the February ballot," reports E.J. Schultz.
"As expected, Republicans opposed the $6.8 billion measure, which failed 23-12, four votes short."
It's like deja vu all over again.
"Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata said he will now try to get a measure on the November 2008 ballot by gathering voter signatures instead of going through the Legislature.
"'
Today we're finished. We'll take the next step,' he said before the vote at an appearance before the Sacramento Press Club as it became clear his plan would not draw Republican votes.
"Republicans are considering their own signature-gathering drive, raising the possibility that voters would be faced with two ballot measures."
So everybody's political consultants can get paid!
"In a high-stakes gamble to revitalize healthcare negotiations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
proposed Tuesday to lease California's lottery to a private firm and use the money to help guarantee medical insurance for everyone," reports Jordan Rau in the Times.
"Schwarzenegger submitted a 200-page bill to a special session of the Legislature. The framework is largely the same as the plan he outlined in January but never submitted as a bill, although it contains a number of concessions intended to appease labor unions, physicians and some small businesses, all of which have persistently opposed his vision.
Didn't the speaker say he would put his name on the governor's bill when it was introduced? Has something changed?
"Schwarzenegger's $14-billion plan still would require all Californians to obtain private insurance, either individually or through their employers.
The state would subsidize coverage for individuals earning less than $25,525 for individuals or $51,625 for families of four."The new plan would
create a tax credit for low earners who make more than those amounts, to address complaints that many Californians could not afford the insurance Schwarzenegger wants to require.
"It also would
excuse physicians from being taxed on their office revenue, a move intended to appease the California Medical Assn.
"And the governor
changed a 4% tax on employers who don't provide healthcare so that businesses with payrolls under $200,000 would not have to pay that much.
"His old plan would have exempted employers with fewer than 10 workers. The new one would double to $2 billion the amount businesses contribute, while giving a break to smaller enterprises like restaurants."
Mike Zapler looks at the guv's plan to
tap lottery revenues to pay for health care.
" The Republican governor said at a news conference that he wants to lease the lottery to a private group and use about $2 billion a year of the proceeds to pay for his health insurance plan, without diverting any lottery funds used for education.
The proposal is part of a larger health care financing initiative whose fate voters would decide in November 2008.
But before he can go to the ballot, Schwarzenegger must reach agreement with Democrats on a sprawling health reform plan. The sticking point remains cost: Schwarzenegger wants to require everyone to carry insurance, but Democrats say he must first demonstrate how he would make it affordable for lower- and middle-class Californians."
Hey, why not just sell off EdFund, and use
that money for health care. Oh, wait a minute...
"Just weeks after lawmakers enacted a state budget amid partisan turmoil,
finance officials say revenues are slipping below projections, making it likely that next year's problem will be worse than expected," reports Judy Lin in the Bee.
"Based on major tax receipts collected in the first two months of the new fiscal year, California could face a $8.6 billion operating deficit or more in 2008-09 if the state's economy and soft housing market continue at the current pace. That would be 40 percent higher than the $6.1 billion gap officials anticipated in August.
"'
It's fair to say the revenue situation is not going to be as good as we had hoped,' Finance Director
Mike Genest said in a recent interview. '
It's likely the $6.1 billion (projected operating deficit) will be higher.'
"What's more, several of the assumptions that went into the current $102 billion spending plan -- such as a $1 billion sale of EdFund -- are considered shaky. A Department of Finance memo listed several "threats" to the budget, including the sale of the state's student loan guarantor, which it acknowledges "could slip" beyond this fiscal year."
We're shocked! Next thing you're going to tell us there's no Santa Claus...
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed eight bills to help California veterans, military personnel and their families, including educational benefits and protections from predatory lenders. Legislative wrangling over the budget scuttled some of his big-ticket items, however, such as one measure that would have offered college tuition assistance to National Guard members," reports the LAT's Patrick McGreevy.
"The bills give military personnel priority in enrolling in state colleges, waive some vehicle fees, provide a shortcut for voting and require employers to let workers take up to 10 days of unpaid leave when their spouses are on leave from the military.
"'These bills demonstrate California's commitment to those who currently serve, those who have served and the families who have sacrificed so much to support them,' Schwarzenegger said.
"One of the bills fulfills a top priority of the National Guard Assn. of California by allowing guardsmen and women to qualify for membership in the state's Public Employees Retirement System and to buy credit toward retirement.
"One bill signed provides members of the armed services with priority enrollment for classes at California's state universities and community colleges. That legislation, SB 272, was by Sen.
George Runner (R-Lancaster).
"Another bill extends the period that non-Californians in the armed forces who are stationed in the state can pay lower resident fees in the California State University and University of California systems. That bill is AB 950 by Assemblywoman
Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista)."
"They profited together from the rise of tribal gambling in California, but
on Tuesday the rift between the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians and the lawyer who led them out of poverty was laid bare in a lawsuit," writes the LAT's Michael Rothfeld.
"The tribe accuses
Howard Dickstein, whom it fired last year after more than two decades, along with former investment consultant
Arlen Opper and real estate developer
Mark Friedman, of siphoning off tens of millions of dollars of its money from a variety of deals involving gambling, real estate and securities.
"The suit contends that Dickstein, one of the state's most influential Indian law attorneys, also used the tribe's plane for personal trips to the south of France, Big Sur and Grand Prix events in Monte Carlo and Montreal for which he owes the tribe $1.2 million.
"'This lawsuit is about greed and betrayal,' says the document, filed in Yolo County Superior Court."
Finally, the speaker has someone else to take the heat off...
Here's one for the state fund...An Indiana appeals court upheld
a worker's compensation award Tuesday for an exotic dancer who was injured while performing on a pole at a strip club.
"The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in favor of
Angela Hobson and ordered the state Worker's Compensation Board to determine if she was entitled to double compensation.
Hobson claimed she suffered neck pain and numbness after injuring herself while dancing at the Shangri-La West club in Fort Wayne on Dec. 20, 2001. She underwent surgery for a herniated disc in her cervical spine, according to court records."
