"Saying the ailing economy is putting enough stress on taxpayers, Senate Republican leader
Dave Cogdill said Tuesday that Republicans
will oppose any tax hikes to bridge California's budget deficit."
C'mon, your toes are crossed, aren't they Dave?
"
Cogdill suggested the deficit, which he pegged at $16 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1, could be wiped out through service cuts and tapping into the reserves of voter-approved initiatives intended for early childhood education, mental health services and transportation."Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata, D-Oakland, has suggested expanding the sales tax to include services such as consultants, dry cleaners, lawyers and technology support. And Assembly Speaker-elect
Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, believes the deficit cannot be closed through cuts alone.
"Democrats, meanwhile, are likely to oppose Cogdill's suggestion to borrow money from three initiative-created funds: the county-based First Five commissions for children, established by Proposition 10; Proposition 63 to expand mental health services; and the Proposition 42 gas sales tax for transportation purposes.
"Sen.
Darrell Steinberg, the Senate's incoming president, said "no way" will he allow proceeds from Proposition 63, which he sponsored, to be used to defray the budget deficit.
"'The voters of California passed an initiative which specifically prohibits the state Legislature from taking the money to balance the budget,' said Steinberg, D-Sacramento, adding that such a raid on the initiative would be 'unlawful.'"
"Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez proposed a ballot measure targeting legislative ethics Tuesday, hours before backers of a rival measure filed voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot," writes Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"
The two developments sparked questions about whether Nuñez is grandstanding or attempting to confuse voters and derail the competing measure, championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Even as he's on his way out the door, they're all just so cynical...
"'I think he knows very well that the train has left the station,' said
Jeannine English of AARP, a leader of the rival initiative, when asked if the group plans to negotiate with Nuñez.
"Key elements of Nuñez's proposals include:
"-
Term limits: Reduce the maximum time a legislator could serve from 14 to 12 years, but allow all to be served in one house. The measure would apply only to future legislators, not incumbents.
"-
Fundraising: Ban campaign contributions to legislators and the governor from May 15 until a state budget is enacted.
"-
Redistricting: Strip the Legislature of authority to draw districts for state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization, but not for Congress.
"Nuñez proposes to create a 17-member redistricting commission, consisting of seven Democrats, seven Republicans and three independents or members of minor parties.
"Eight of the commission members would be selected by legislative leaders; the other nine members would be chosen randomly from pools of candidates created by a panel of judges, with the governor able to strike six names.
"Adoption of a redistricting plan or hiring of staff would require approval by two-thirds of the commission's members."
Dan Walters
writes "We know that Schwarzenegger's reform measure will be on the November ballot. We know that Democrats and minority rights groups have already denounced it as a Republican power grab, despite its endorsement by liberal groups such as Common Cause and the California Democratic Council.
"We don't know what, if anything, will become of the Nuñez plan, since it would need a two-thirds legislative vote – thus requiring Republican support. And to complicate the matter even further, Nuñez wants his measure to include modification of legislative term limits, a variation of the scheme that voters rejected in February, and limits on legislative fundraising.
"
It sounds like something designed to fail. A very possible scenario, therefore, is that Nuñez's plan is bottled up in the Legislature and Democrats mount a heavy campaign against Schwarzenegger's measure. It then fails, as has every other redistricting reform proposal, and the noxious status quo – legislators drawing their own districts after the 2010 census – continues."
That's certainly where the safe money is.
Speaking of the new redistricting plan, former Gov.
Gray Davis was among those who announced his support yesterday for the Schwarzenegger-backed proposal. Schwarzenegger's plan would turn over the drawing of legislative districts to an independent commission, but allow the Legislature to maintain control over drawing Congressional districts.
The Chron's Matthew Yi
reports, The commission would be drawn from people who apply to the state auditor, an appointed official who would narrow the list to 60 candidates. Each of the four legislative leaders, two Democrats and two Republicans, could bounce as many as six names from the list.
"Eight commissioners would then be drawn at random from the remaining pool, and those eight would select six more members to fill out the panel.
"The initiative's proponents argue the current system of state lawmakers drawing district lines represents a conflict of interest. Chief among those proponents is Schwarzenegger, who has contributed $2.5 million from his own political funds to the initiative - more than half the $4.4 million that the campaign has received.
"
Other big donors include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($250,000), Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings ($287,116), and New Majority California, a business lobbying group in Orange County ($237,500)."
"The Vallejo City Council
voted to declare bankruptcy Tuesday night after months of last-ditch wrangling failed to rescue the city from financial catastrophe," reports Carolyn Jones in the Chron.
"The North Bay city of 117,000 now heads into largely uncharted territory, as no California city of this size has ever opted for this route."
Hey, maybe they can sell it on eBay!
"'This has been a long frustrating process for everyone,' said City Manager
Joseph Tanner. 'There are no winners here tonight.'
"After about four hours of discussion and public comment from the standing-room-only crowd, the council voted 7-0 to approve Tanner's recommendation to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection as a means to reorganize its finances, which have been shattered by spiraling public employee salaries and the plummeting housing market.
"The move allows the city to freeze its debts while maintaining city services. Police, fire and other unions and many in the audience were outraged at the move, accusing the council of poor leadership.
"The city suffers from mismanagement and has less debt than it claims, said a union spokesman,
Ken Shoemaker, a representative of the electrical union."
Speaking of local politics, the Sacramento mayor's race has just taken a turn for the muddy. Last night, a new Web site,
NoWayKJ.com was launched by a union supporting incumbent mayor
Heather Fargo.
The site features a laundry list of bad publicity Johnson has received over the years, and a bit of audio theater. The site inculdes audio re-enactments of conversations between Johnson and a 16-year-old Phoenix girl who said she had a sexual relationship with Johnson.
But they still didn't have
this video on the site.
Let's see Heather Fargo do
that...
"Leaders of the huge California Community College system
announced an unprecedented $50 million gift Tuesday from the Bernard Osher Foundation in what's believed to be the largest donation ever made to a two-year college system in the United States," reports Carrie Sturrock in the Chron.
"The 109-campus system will leverage some of that money in a matching fundraising campaign to create a $100 million endowment for scholarships, which will boost the system's collective endowment to an estimated $400 million.
"While the community college endowment pales next to those of universities like Stanford ($17.1 billion) or UC Berkeley ($2.9 billion), California Community Colleges Chancellor
Diane Woodruff was all smiles during Tuesday's announcement.
"'It's the happiest day of my whole professional life,' she said after a news conference with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 'Community colleges have not been the recipient of large philanthropic gifts like the Harvards, the Stanfords, the Yales or even the Berkeleys.'
"In addition to the $50 million gift pledged to the system, the Osher Foundation will give $20 million for scholarships for community college students transferring to the California State University and UC systems."
"California's voter-created stem cell institute
is expected to award $227 million in grants today to seed a laboratory building spree at a dozen universities and research centers, including USC, UCLA and UC Irvine," reports Mary Engel in the Times.
"New labs are needed to house the growing number of researchers funded by 2004's Proposition 71, officials at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine say, even though one of the main pressures on lab space is likely to be lifted after the November election.
"All three presidential candidates, all senators -- Republican
John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Democrats
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and
Barack Obama (D-Ill.) -- support human embryonic stem cell research and would be expected to lift restrictions that have forced many scientists to set up dual labs.
"Concerned about the destruction of embryos, President Bush in August 2001 limited federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research to stem cell lines that had been developed up to that point. Scientists wanting to study new lines had to find other funding and set up separate labs lest they inadvertently use a pen or a petri dish bought with federal money.
"'The primary argument that was presented for Proposition 71 -- particularly in the area of large facilities -- is becoming less and less important,' said
Jesse Reynolds of the Oakland-based Center for Genetics and Society. 'Bush's restrictions will most likely be undone before the first brick is laid.'"
"The
proposed toll road through San Onofre State Beach would not jeopardize sensitive wildlife species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday," writes the LAT's David Reyes.
"Nine species were reviewed, including endangered and threatened species, said
Jane Hendron, a wildlife service spokeswoman.
"In some cases, the project footprint was outside the species area, she said. But in others, such as the endangered Pacific pocket mouse, the toll road agency is taking measures to manage the area for the benefit of the species, Hendron said.
"The opinion, which clears a hurdle for the Transportation Corridor Agencies, was "exceptional news," said Lance MacLean, chairman of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency.
"At an estimated cost of $875 million, the proposed Foothill South tollway would be the final link in Orange County's network of toll roads. It would run 16 miles from Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita to Interstate 5 at Basilone Road, south of San Clemente."
Speaking of costs, here are the top fundraising numbers for Tuesday, according to
ElectionTrack.comYes Prop 98 -- $100,300
Simon Salinas For Senate -- $50,000
Friends of Jeff Denham Against The Recall -- $27,000
Californians For Solar And Clean Energy -- $25,000
Friends Of Lloyd Levine -- $15,300
We Deserve Better. Yes On The Recall Of Jeff Denham -- $15,000
Pavley For Senate -- $11,966
Torres For Assembly --$11,700
Friends Of Tony Mendoza -- $10,600
Speaking of fundraisers, "San Diego State University has suspended six fraternities after
a sweeping drug investigation that landed members of three fraternities in jail on suspicion of openly dealing drugs on campus," the AP reports.
"The probe - prompted by the cocaine overdose death last year of a freshman sorority member -
led to the arrests of 96 people, 75 of them San Diego State students. A second drug death occurred during the investigation.
The federal sting operation was dubbed
Operation Sudden Fall"A member of Theta Chi sent out a mass text message to his "faithful customers" stating that he and his "associates" would be unable to sell cocaine while they were in Las Vegas for a fraternity formal, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The text promoted a cocaine "sale" and listed the reduced prices on bulk quantities.
"'Attn faithful customers both myself and my associates will be in Vegas this coming weekend,' the 19-year-old student wrote in the text message. 'So stock up, we will be back Sunday night.'"
Or not.
