You're the attorney general, and you haven't gotten any press in three or four days. So what do you do? File a lawsuit!
"California and 11 other states
sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday over a new regulation that exempts thousands of companies from disclosing to the public details about their use and emission of toxic chemicals," reports Marla Cone in the Times.
"The lawsuit by the 12 states, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, accuses the agency of jeopardizing public health and seeks to force it to return to more stringent requirements.
"In joining the lawsuit, California Atty. Gen.
Jerry Brown said the EPA was 'subverting a key public safety measure that helps communities protect themselves from toxic chemicals.'"
"Backers of two campaigns to change California law
are crying foul over donations to their opponents made through nonprofit groups that can hide the origin of the money," writes the LAT's Patrick McGreevy.
"In their separate protests, organizers of ballot measures to change term limits and restrict governments' use of eminent domain have highlighted a growing trend: the use of tax-exempt entities to finance political campaigns in a way that withholds from voters the identities of financial backers.
"In response, a coalition that includes the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has proposed an initiative to prohibit some nonprofits from contributing. And the watchdog group California Common Cause has asked the state Fair Political Practices Commission to consider new regulations.
"'It's a huge loophole in the campaign finance rules,' said
Jon Coupal, president of the Jarvis association, referring to contributions by groups such as the League of California Cities.
"On Wednesday, the California League of Conservation Voters called on Insurance Commissioner
Steve Poizner, the leading opponent of Proposition 93, a term limits measure, to disclose the original source of a $1.5-million contribution to his cause by a Virginia-based nonprofit."
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan reports, "The letter alleges that Rich -- who is well-known for his generous support of conservative causes such as term limits and eminent domain reform --
used nonprofits to shield donors to his organizations from scrutiny.
"'You have claimed to support political reform, but now you've accepted $1.5 million in campaign contributions from an out-of-state source that refuses to say who gave the money or why,' the letter states.
"'It didn't just fall out of the sky,' said Yes on 93 spokesman
Richard Stapler. 'And if it did, please tell me where, so I can go stand there and get some money for myself.'"
Well, we can tell you, Richard, but we'd have to kill you.
With nothing better to do, CW takes a shot at
handicapping the next speaker's race.
"The good news for Speaker
Fabian Nuñez is that there is an initiative on the February ballot that could extend his term as speaker for up to six more years. The bad news? If that initiative, Proposition 93, fails, it immediately makes both N��ez and his Senate counterpart,
Don Perata, political lame ducks.
"There is never any shortage of candidates who want to be the speaker, regardless of the political or economic climate. But with so many candidates, and with
other political blogs already ranking Democratic candidates for governor in 2010, we have compiled our list of potential contenders for Assembly speaker."
Karen Bass, Hector De La Torre and Alberto Torrico top CW's list.
"San Francisco government
could face a $229 million budget shortfall next year, city officials announced Wednesday, prompting Mayor Gavin Newsom to call for an immediate hiring freeze and across-the-board cuts to city departments," reports Cecilia Vega in the Chron.
"The bleak fiscal forecast for the fiscal year starting July 1 stems in part from a jump in the number of police officers and nurses on the city payroll and hefty pay raises doled out to those professions, and could mean layoffs for city workers, drastic downsizing in department budgets and fee increases for city services, officials warned.
"As San Francisco voters continue to approve ballot measures that dictate how city funds should be spent - including one passed just last month requiring $26 million annually to go toward improving Muni service - the pool of leftover funds the city can tap into is shrinking, making it increasingly difficult for officials to balance the budget, they say.
"'The sky is not falling, but every year we have less options because we close off more options to ourself,' city Controller
Ed Harrington said.
"Newsom called all department heads into a City Hall meeting Wednesday to announce that those agencies covered by the city's general fund have until February to submit proposed budgets reflecting 13 percent across-the-board cuts."
Meanwhile,
Antonio Villaraigosa is
trying to keep USC at the Coliseum and the state
is considering ordering changes at L.A. Unified.
Capitol Weekly's John Howard takes a look at
UC and CSU's opposition to a freeze on community college fees. "
When the Board of Regents of the University of California voted to oppose the community colleges� ballot plan to cut student fees, the word �hypocrisy� filled the air. Even in the Capitol�s overheated political environment, where today�s friends are tomorrow�s enemies and backs are stabbed with abandon, the regents� decision to try to keep another higher educational institution from easing its students� financial burden raised questions about UC�and about CSU.
"The regents said they need to block the ballot initiative to protect UC�s funding, but not surprisingly, supporters of the community colleges were not pleased."
And CW's Allen Young previews
tomorrow's Senate hearing on the Bay Area oil spill. "A Senate hearing targeting the San Francisco Bay oil spill will aim to pinpoint those responsible and examine the effectiveness of the state�s spill-prevention policies, environmental safeguards and
the role of private firms in cleaning up the mess.
"
State Sen. Dean Florez, who is co-chairing Friday�s hearing, said private companies paid to clean up the 58,000-gallon spill do not have an incentive to react quickly.
"'Right now ... I don�t think there�s an incentive to make the cleanup smaller, because these [private] companies are making more money, the bigger the spill.'
Meanwhile, GOP presidential candidate
Mike Huckabee has
unveiled a new border control program on YouTube. For those of you that haven't seen this one yet, it's worth a click to see just how the Web has changed political advertising.
