"With the state budget far from resolved, the Assembly resumed its summer vacation Tuesday, " writes the Bee's Judy Lin.
"Members of the lower house contemplated two dozen bills
before joining their Senate counterparts on holiday.
Barring a budget breakthrough, both houses are scheduled
to be dark until Aug. 4."
That's a week after legislative staff, who are saving their
vacation time for elections, are supposed to be paid.
Just sayin'.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, ramped up his
rhetoric over the lack of progress on the state's $101 billion general fund spending plan, which contains
a $15.2 billion deficit. The governor admonished the Legislature
for not meeting its June 15 constitutional deadline and noted that he has always
turned in his spending proposal on time.
"'I can only get the horse to the water,' Schwarzenegger said, 'but I can't make it drink.'
"Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill replied: 'We're not going to drink any tax increases.' The Modesto lawmaker said he believes a vote on the
budget can happen by Aug. 1, when the state would begin to encounter cash problems.
Lawmakers are on call, so any breathroughs in negotiations
could be voted on before Aug. 4."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he is frustrated by the Legislature's inability to broker a state budget on time but will hold out to make sure the state's spending plan, which is more than two weeks late,
includes changes in the budget process," reports Matthew Yi in the Chron.
"'I think if it takes another two, three weeks, budget
reform is worth it because I think it's extremely important that we have budget reform,' the governor said in an interview with The Chronicle.
"The state is facing a $17.2 billion deficit and Schwarzenegger has been touting
his ideas for change, which include setting a spending
cap based on an average of the previous decade's revenue; instituting automatic spending cuts during a fiscal
crisis; and borrowing against future state lottery sales to
close the deficit and create a rainy-day fund.
"'If we don't have budget reform, we're basically saying to the people of California ...
that even though we have the worst budget system, we're not willing to fix it,' said Schwarzenegger.
"But garnering support in the Democrat-controlled Legislature has not been easy.
"'We're also in favor of a real budget reform, and having
a rainy-day fund. ... But it's been raining for years, and we're not going to adopt a plan that was overwhelmingly
rejected by voters in 2005,' said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), referring to the governor's ballot measure three years ago to reform the budget
process."
"Saying California children shouldn't breathe soot so people across the country can buy
cheap televisions, legislators voted Tuesday to impose a fee on every container moving
through the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland," reports Nancy Vogel in the Bee.
"The money -- at least $400 million a year -- would be used to ease the traffic congestion and air
pollution generated by the ports, which handle more
than 40% of the nation's goods. Similar bills were vetoed or failed in the
last two years, but this measure's author, Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), said he was optimistic that his legislation would
be signed into law soon.
"'We have built a statewide coalition to support the
container fee,' he said.
"SB 974 would impose on shippers a fee of $60 for every typical-size cargo container leaving or entering the ports.
The money would be used across Southern California
and in the Bay Area for such projects as installing
cleaner-burning truck and train engines and building roadways
under or over railroad tracks to avoid long lines of
idling vehicles.
"The Assembly voted 45 to 24 to pass Lowenthal's bill. The Senate, which passed the legislation earlier,
is expected to give final approval to amendments soon.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has offered no official
position on the bill but said through spokeswoman Rachel
Cameron that 'we do support finding a solution to ensure California's air quality is protected while facilitating the movement
of goods throughout the state.'"
The Chron's Bob Egelko reports a sexual harassment suit against John Burton has been
settled out of court. A sexual-harassment suit
against former state Senate leader John Burton by the
executive
director of his charitable foundation for homeless
children has been
settled on confidential terms, the plaintiff's lawyer said today.
"Attorney Kelly Armstrong said she could not say anything
about the
nature or timing of the settlement or describe her
client's reaction to
it. Burton and his lawyer were unavailable for comment."
"In the suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court
in January,
Kathleen Driscoll accused Burton of making lewd and
suggestive comments
to her on an almost daily basis after hiring her as
executive director
of the John Burton Foundation in August 2006. She said she sued after
complaining unsuccessfully to Burton and to the foundation's personnel
department and after going on stress-related medical leave.
"Barack Obama is widening his lead over John McCain
in California,
backed by supporters who are decidedly more excited
about his candidacy
than backers of McCain," reports the Bee.
"According to a new California Field Poll,
Obama's lead over McCain has climbed to 54 percent to 30 percent, a
seven-point increase from May. Obama supporters were three
times more
likely to be "very enthusiastic" about their candidate.
"Obama
leads McCain by more than 3-to-1 among nonpartisan voters and is
consolidating his support among voters who backed Hillary
Rodham
Clinton in the Democratic primary."
And who knew that terrorists don't use turnstiles?
The LAT's Phil Willon reports on some bookkeeping gymnastics
that gave the city of Los Angeles $16 million from the Department of Homeland Security to
install turnstiles.
"Both Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state
Homeland Security Advisor Matthew Bettenhausen said
the turnstiles will
enhance security at the rail lines, as well as stop
fare jumpers,
although a transportation security expert said the
gates by themselves
will have only a nominal effect on stopping potential
terrorist attacks.
"The
grant comes from state money set aside for transit
security, funded by
the Proposition 1B bonding measure California voters approved in 2006
to improve and protect the state’s highways and other critical
infrastructure.
"The money will be used
to help pay for a 10-year, $46-million project to install the barrier
gates at the subway and selected light rail stations
that the Metro
board approved in February.
"At the time,
the project was touted as a way to collect an estimated
$3 million to
$6 million from people who evade paying fares. Currently,
both the
subway and light rail systems rely on the honor system,
with sheriff’s
deputies infrequently checking passengers tickets – and issuing
citations to those without one.
"On
Tuesday, however, the gates and turnstiles – which are commonplace at
every major subway system across the country -- were described as way
increase “security and safety.’’
Certainly deserving of some originality points..
"Proponents of same-sex marriage are calling for a boycott of two prominent San Diego
hotels because their owner, Doug Manchester, contributed
more than $100,000 to the campaign for Proposition 8, the ballot measure that would amend the state Constitution
to ban same-sex marriage," writes the LAT's Jessica Garrison.
"Although they expressed outrage about the boycott and
a rally planned for Friday, opponents of gay marriage
also immediately began using it in their fundraising
appeals.
"On Tuesday, they sent a blast e-mail saying they had raised $100,000 in the 24 hours after the boycott was announced. 'Gay marriage advocates and their union allies have
just launched a campaign of intimidation against Doug Manchester and are trying to shut down his business,' read the e-mail from Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for
Marriage. 'Would you give a generous gift of $50, $100 or even $500 right now?'
"Manchester, San Diego's most prominent hotelier, who goes by the moniker
"Papa," donated $125,000 to pay for signature gatherers to get the measure
on the ballot. He could not be reached for comment."
The Merc News's Mike Zapler checks in on Jim Beall's proposal to increase taxes on beer, which hasn't been embraced by Democratic leaders.
"...Beall said he plans to push ahead with the beer
tax, which needs a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, and
then approval from voters, to take effect. He's aiming to get a constitutional amendment to enact
his idea on the November 2010 ballot.
"'I think I might get some Republicans to vote for it,' he said, 'because we're not taxing the general population. We're taxing users of the product.'"
"The state of California will give parents one-stop shopping starting today to compare neighborhood
schools' performance on everything from test scores to graduation
rates to student demographics," reports Edwin Garcia in the Merc News.
"The Department of Education's new Web site, www.schoolfinder.ca.gov, will gather at least 18 comparisons between schools that the state had only
made available until now through a variety of pages
and links.
"'You can view a school's academic rating, graduation and dropout rates, teacher-to-student ratio, and how much money each school receives
per student,' Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says in a video message
on the site. "It is an important tool in improving transparency and
accountability in our education system."
"Schwarzenegger will unveil the site at a news conference
this morning with Education Secretary David Long and Chief Information Officer Teri Takai."
And a big Roundup congratulations to Bo Derek, who was appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger to the Horse Racing
Board.
AP reports, "The position requires confirmation by the state Senate
and pays $100 per diem.
"Derek
is a horse lover who has lobbied Congress for the past
five years to
ban the slaughter of the animals. She also owns the
pet care products
company Bless the Beasts, which sells such items as
dog shampoos,
conditioner and fur polish.
"She also wrote the book "Riding
Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses." Her
Web site said the autobiography links her life lessons
with her
understanding of horses."
And, of course, there was Bolero...
