"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a temporary, one-cent increase in the state sales tax along with long-term budget reforms in an effort to break the stalemate
in budget negotiations that have been stalled for more
than a month, legislative sources close to the talks
said Monday," reports Matthew Yi in the Chron.
"Schwarzenegger's plan to help erase the state's $17.2 billion budget deficit would raise the sales tax for
three years, after which the rate would dip below the
current level, the sources said. In San Francisco,
for example, sales taxes would increase from 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent.
"The tax increase would require a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, along
with the governor's signature, before it could take effect.
"The increase would bring the state about $4 billion in what's left of the current fiscal year, which began July
1, and as much as $6 billion in each of the next two years, one source
said. Sales tax on gasoline would be exempted from
the increase, the source added."
The LAT's Evan Halper and Nancy Vogel report: "It is unclear whether lawmakers will embrace the governor's proposal . His automatic spending restraints would be written
into the state Constitution, something Democrats have
long resisted, saying they could force steep cuts to
schools and other programs and limit the Legislature's flexibility.
"And Democrats have expressed concern that sales taxes
fall too heavily on the poor. They support higher income
taxes on the wealthy and the repeal of tax breaks available
to corporations.
"Almost every Republican in the Legislature, meanwhile,
has signed an oath never to support a tax increase.
Assemblyman Chuck Devore (R-Irvine) predicted that Schwarzenegger's proposal would win no GOP votes."
So, the governor broke his no new taxes pledge while
pissing off both parties. Well played, sir!
"'You're talking about raising the cost of living on working
Californians at precisely the time inflation is beginning
to raise its ugly head,' [DeVore] said. 'The last thing that hardworking Californians need right
now is, in effect, an increase to their cost of living
by making everything they purchase, with the exception
of food and medicine, more expensive.'"
And just to make matters more interesting, Nicole Parra says she may not vote for a budget unless
there's a water bond. The Fresno Bee's E.J. Schultz reports, "In a recent letter to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass,
Parra issues what appears to be a stark ultimatum: 'I
simply cannot support a budget without a solution to
the Central
Valley's water supply,' the Hanford lawmaker said in a July 29 letter
obtained by The Bee. "A vote on a budget that adequately reflects our
state's priorities is only half honest, unless we are simultaneously
addressing the issue of water supply."
She "respectfully" asks in the letter that the Assembly "place a water bond on the November ballot."
Time to get Nell Soto's voting gurney ready...
"Democratic state Controller John Chiang said Monday it would take at least six months to reconfigure
the state's payroll system to issue blanket checks at the federal
minimum wage of $6.55 per hour, though Schwarzenegger insists such a change
should occur this month," writes Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"Experts say Chiang isn't joking when he describes the state's payroll system as a computing relic on par with vacuum
tubes and floppy disks.
"'It's an example of a number of computer systems in which
the state made a large investment decades ago and has
been keeping it going the last few years with duct
tape,' said Michael Cohen, director of state administration with the Legislative
Analyst's Office."
What ever happened to Oracle, the killer sale?
Dan Walters isn't impressed by the governor's executive order.
"Besides, Chiang says, the state's cash situation isn't nearly as dire as Schwarzenegger claims, with enough
money to meet its payroll and other obligations through
September. It would still have $4.2 billion remaining then, he says, and could borrow
through issuance of "revenue anticipation warrants" if there's no budget in place.
"Schwarzenegger's action is based on 'faulty legal and factual premises … and is just wrong,' Chiang told a legislative hearing Monday.
"So what happens now if Schwarzenegger were to continue
this bit of political theater? A big state worker union
has already gone to court to block the order, but Chiang's declared intention to keep issuing payroll checks
means that the order won't take effect anyway unless Schwarzenegger were to
go to court himself.
"'He would sue us and we would respond,' Chiang says with characteristic diffidence.
"While Schwarzenegger's stunt has received much media attention, it has not
propelled the Legislature into quickly resolving its
ideological conflicts over spending and taxes, nor
should it. Any hurry-up budget would be another get-out-of-town budget that relies on gimmicks and borrowed money
and doesn't truly close the deficit.
"We do need a new budget, but more important, we need
a budget that fairly balances income and outgo, not
one that continues the state's years-long fiscal charade."
"If voters approve a November ballot measure banning
same-sex marriages in California, thousands of gay and lesbian weddings conducted since
the state Supreme Court legalized the unions on May
15 will probably remain valid, Attorney General Jerry Brown said Monday," reports Bob Egelko in the Chron.
That would be some chaos.
"The potential effect of Proposition 8 on existing same-sex marriages is already being debated among legal
scholars and opposing sides in the Nov. 4 ballot measure campaign. Brown's position is significant because his office will represent
the state in lawsuits over Prop. 8's validity and meaning if it passes.
"The measure would amend the state Constitution to declare
that 'only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or
recognized in California.' It would overturn the court's ruling that the previous ban on same-sex marriage - established by statutes rather than a constitutional
amendment - discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation and
violated the right to marry one's chosen partner.
"The measure does not state explicitly that it would
nullify same-sex marriages performed before Nov. 4. But in their ballot arguments, supporters of Prop.
8 declare it would invalidate all such marriages 'regardless of when or where performed' - an interpretation that would apply to existing as
well as future marriages."
"The state's ethics agency announced fines Monday against former state Sen. Martha
Escutia of Whittier for failing to properly disclose at least $340,000 in payments made by 17 special-interest firms and campaigns to her then-husband's political consulting firm," reports Patrick McGreevy in the Times.
"The state Fair Political Practices Commission also
announced fines against former Gov. Gray Davis, related to the campaign fund he used to fight the
2003 recall that removed him from office.
"He failed to fully disclose $187,381 in unpaid expenses and a late contribution, and he
did not keep some records required for donors who gave
$5,000 or more, the commission determined.
"Both Escutia and Davis signed settlement agreements
with the commission's enforcement division admitting the violations and
agreeing to pay the fines -- $2,000 for Escutia and $4,950 for Davis. Commissioners will meet Aug. 14 to approve the agreements.
"The payments made to the political firm headed by Escutia's husband at the time, Leo Briones, when she was still in the Legislature, included one
from a client who later had a matter pending before
lawmakers. Escutia voted in 2006 to support a bill reducing fees for hospitals. A onetime
Briones client, AltaMed Health Services, hired a law
firm in 2006 to lobby on the bill."
"UC Berkeley, poised to clear the Memorial Stadium oak
grove for a sports training center, has asked the city for help to control a growing encampment
on a nearby street median of people who support tree-sitting protesters.
"Campus Police Chief Victoria Harrison last week asked the Berkeley police and city manager's office to remove the encampment, which includes 10 to 20 people, tents, dogs, sleeping bags and banners along
about 100 feet of the city-maintained divider on Piedmont Avenue.
"'The median is not meant to be a campground or a park.
It's a major traffic artery for campus,' said Harrison. 'It's a health and safety issue, and obviously we're very concerned.'
"The city has not decided whether to intervene.
"'We received the university's request, and it's under ongoing consideration,' said Berkeley police Lt. Andrew Greenwood. 'Our primary concern is always safety, and this doesn't appear to be an urgent safety issue.'"
The Wall St. Journal has gotten in on the Don Perata FBI story, with some new information. "The investigation gained momentum over the past year,
as prosecutors gathered information from political
consultant Sandi
Polka, a longtime ally of Mr. Perata, said people close to
the defense.
They said prosecutors gave her immunity from prosecution
so she
couldn't invoke her Fifth Amendment right to not testify.
Ms. Polka and
her lawyer didn't return calls seeking comment."
Fishing expedition or otherwise? You be the judge...
And finally, from our Are You Going To Eat That? Files, "Police in Atlantic Beach, Fla.,
said they have charged a woman with domestic battery
after she
allegedly struck her husband with a frozen lasagna .
"Investigators said Amanda Trott allegedly used the
frozen food as a
weapon during an argument with her husband, whose first
name was not
released, WJXT-TV, Jacksonville, Fla., reported Monday.
"'Mr. Trott claimed that Mrs. Trott had slapped him across
the face
several times and threw a frozen lasagna at him that
struck him at the
top of his head,' police Sgt. David Cameron."
