"California's budget impasse, which hits Day 42 today, may get a lot worse if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and
the Democratic-controlled Legislature do not reach a compromise in
the coming days," reports Matthew Yi in the Chron.
"Two significant pieces of the budget negotiations that
require voter approval will miss the deadline for making
the November ballot in about a week, making them no
longer viable.
"Secretary of State Debra Bowen has said Saturday is the last day for new measures
to be added to the supplemental ballot on Nov. 4.
"Time is quickly running out for Schwarzenegger's proposal to borrow against future state lottery sales
to help erase the current $17.2 billion budget deficit and jump-start a rainy-day fund to avoid future fiscal crises. Any change
in the state lottery requires voter approval because
the lottery was originally enacted through the ballot
box.
"Budget overhaul is the other issue Republicans want
to go before voters in the fall, and it is perhaps
even more significant because it has been a rallying
cry of the state's Republican lawmakers.
"Taking lottery and budget overhaul off the negotiating
table could aggravate the already polarized budget
debate between the governor and the Legislature, capitol
observers say.
"
'If that happens, you'll see this budget dug in and you'll see (the longest impasse) ever. And that's unfortunate,' said Assembly Republican leader
Mike Villines from Clovis (Fresno County)."
Meanwhile, the Bee reports: "Facing a deadline for action, the state Assembly is expected to approve a bill amending the high-speed rail bond on the November ballot. The measure would be the first to hit the governor's desk since he vowed to veto all legislation until
a budget is signed. The catch: The bill is being pushed by Schwarzenegger's own administration.
"State controller John Chiang has until noon today to respond to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's request to get moving on the state pay cuts. Schwarzenegger
has said he will go to court to force action if the
controller does not comply with his order reducing
most state workers' pay to the $6.55 an hour federal minimum wage."
"Schwarzenegger has been holding private meetings with Republican
pickoff targets, trying to sell his reforms and convince them of the
importance of finally passing a budget. Then there'd be time for water
legislation and other pet bills, he notes," writes George Skelton in the Times.
"They're probably not openly discussing future judgeships
or cushy jobs for termed-out lawmakers. But they probably should be.
"The governor and Democrats need at least two Republican
pickoffs in the
Senate. They need at least seven in the Assembly, one
extra because
Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona),82, has been incapacitated.
"This Legislature still can avoid breaking the all-time mark for late budget passage: 60 days, recorded on Aug. 31, 2002.
"But they'll need to listen to [Otto van] Bismarck and artfully play the game."
The Daily News's Gene Maddaus profiles the unlikely hero to some in the budget fight, Controller John Chiang.
"Thanks to a showdown with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
over state paychecks, Chiang, who lives in Torrance
with his wife, has emerged from the obscurity of his
office to become a hero to state employees.
"'He's become an overnight rock star to us,' said Jim Zamora, spokesman for SEIU Local 1000, which represents 90,000 state workers. 'We are just ecstatic at his position. We support him
100 percent.'
"Chiang (pronounced Chung), 46, is no firebrand. He has long been a Democratic activist,
but his policy interests tend toward issues like financial
literacy and small-business tax credits. 'I tend to be I like to call it `thoughtful,' ' said Chiang, who began his career as a tax law specialist
with the Internal Revenue Service. 'Some people will say `technical' and `detailed.' It's the meat and potatoes of making improvement in people's lives.'
"...[W]hen Schwarzenegger issued the executive order on July
31 to slash state workers' salaries, Chiang announced that he would not comply
with it.
"While the Governor's Office argues that case law requires Chiang to obey
the order, Chiang has said that doing so would expose
the state to liability and would not improve its financial
position. His office has also claimed that the state's payroll system is too antiquated to handle an immediate
pay cut for nearly 200,000 workers.
"'Yesterday the governor sent some of his computer experts
to try to help him comply with the law,' said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the governor."
"In a setback for opponents of gay marriage, a Sacramento
judge Friday left intact a ballot title that states Proposition
8 eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry," reports Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"Sponsors of the proposal had argued Attorney General
Jerry Brown was prejudicial when he changed the ballot title – "Limit on Marriage" – that was on petitions circulated last year to qualify
the Nov. 4 ballot measure.
"But Sacramento County Judge Timothy Frawley, who heard arguments in the case on Thursday, disagreed.
"'Petitioner has failed to explain why the term 'eliminates' is inherently argumentative, while the term 'limit' is not,' Frawley said in his eight-page ruling.
"The measure's title was reworded after the state Supreme Court
in May overturned a ban on gay marriages in California."
The U-T's Bill Ainsworth writes that the governor's scaled-down health reforms are going to have a hard time passing
at the end of session.
"Significantly, Schwarzenegger's proposals contain no money to help cover some of
the estimated 6.6 million residents who are uninsured. About half of
those people would have been covered under Schwarzenegger's unsuccessful $14 billion overhaul.
"Some of the ideas are contained in bills traveling
through the Legislature. Other proposals don't yet have lawmakers to carry them, raising doubts
that Schwarzenegger can get them through the state
Senate and Assembly before the session ends this month.
"On top of that, the governor recently threatened to
veto all bills sent to him until the Legislature sends
him a budget.
"Further, these policies are offered at a time when
Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting billions from health
programs to help close a huge budget deficit."
Meanwhile, the Legislature is coming for your water
softeners!
"Assembly Bill 2270, by Assemblymen John Laird and Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, would allow cities, counties and special districts
– whichever entity oversees wastewater – to ban water softeners," reports Capitol Weekly's Malcolm Maclachlan.
AB 2270 by Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, would expand the targets set out in the
Water Recycling Act of 1991. It would also expand the powers of the Department
of Water Resources and local water agencies to control
what is going into the water system. This is where
the opposition comes in. The bill "would authorize any local agency that maintains a community
sewer system to take action to control residential
salinity inputs, including those from water softeners."
Water softener systems use salts to remove minerals,
mainly calcium and magnesium, which "harden" water. These systems run anywhere from a few hundred
dollars to over $4,000 according to Gene Erbin, a lobbyist representing Culligan
International Company with the firm Nielsen Merksamer.
Erbin estimates between 10 and 15 percent of Californians households have these systems.
"X-rated entertainment won't be tapped to help solve California's massive budget woes," writes the Bee's Jim Sanders.
"Legislation died in an Assembly committee this week
that would have slapped higher taxes on businesses
that sell or produce sexually explicit shows, films,
books, magazines or Internet programming.
"Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, had proposed to target X-rated entertainment in much the same way that the state
does cigarettes: Impose higher taxes to curb the harm it creates.
"Calderon's Assembly Bill 2914 stated that adult entertainment causes numerous health,
safety and societal problems, including reducing property
values in affected neighborhoods and encouraging unsafe
sex and aggressive attitudes toward women.
"Opponents argued that their sex life is none of the
Legislature's business and that singling out adult materials would
violate free-speech rights and be difficult to enforce or define."
"When voters overwhelmingly approved Jessica's Law in fall 2006, many assumed it would lock away predatory child molesters
and rapists who had slipped through the cracks of existing
law," report Charles Piller and Lee Romney in the Times.
"But by key measures, Jessica's Law may be failing to deliver on its promise -- and in some respects producing the opposite of its
intended effects.
"As a Times investigation reported Sunday, the law has
led far more sexual offenders to be evaluated and recommended
for indefinite hospitalization after their prison terms
end. But the number of commitments has barely budged.
"In the 18 months after Jessica's Law took effect, only 42 of 67 defendants in civil commitment trials -- 63% -- were sent to hospitals, compared with 41 of 51 -- 80% -- before the law."
And the Roundup bids a fond farewell to Isaac Hayes,
who died Sunday in Memphis. Hayes, of course, wrote
the musical score to "Shaft," but is perhaps best known as Chef on South Park, and
penning this little ditty.
