"State Controller John Chiang on Tuesday said he will be unable to make $7.6 billion in payments to schools, state vendors and
others in September if a state budget is not approved this month," reports Dan Smith in the Bee.
"Lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remain unable
to craft a compromise spending plan that was due July
1 when the new fiscal year began. If the impasse goes
through Friday, it will be the deepest into a fiscal
year the state has ever gone without a budget.
"Already in August and July, Chiang has been unable
to make $4.25 billion in payments. While the controller generally
is prohibited from paying bills without an approved
budget, various court decisions have exempted some
beneficiaries, allowing Chiang to send them checks."
The Bee's editorial page lists seven leaders to blame for the budget mess, with stars indicating the "wretchedness of their performance."
They are:
Mike Villines (4 stars), Dave Cogdill (3 stars), Don Perata (3 stars), Darrell Steinberg (2 stars), Karen Bass (2 stars), Arnold Schwarzenegger (2 stars), and Pete Wilson (3 stars).
"Assembly Democratic leaders will let their Budget Committee
hold a hearing on the Republican budget proposal at 1:30 p.m. today in Room 4202 in the Capitol. That's 2 1/2 hours after Assembly Democratic leaders are due to
hold a news conference on the GOP plan,"
writes the Bee.
Dan Walters writes that the Republican budget plan, while flawed, will likely
prevail. "The Republican version is more or less business as
usual, covering the deficit with short-term gimmicks and loans, and leaving us in the same
boat unless the economy recovers suddenly.
"That said, as public pressure mounts, the short-term Republican approach may become the most likely
outcome, since GOP votes are needed for any budget
and its legislators are showing remarkable unity and
a tactical cleverness not previously seen.
"They are, for example, putting Democrats on the spot
by suggesting a stop-gap spending bill to relieve financial pain on nursing
homes and others whose payments have been blocked by
the prolonged stalemate. Another tactic is pointing
out some questionable, if minor, pieces of the Democrats' budget, such as $118,000 to hire two people to distribute arts and crafts materials
to inmates on death row.
"In a game of political chicken, time may favor the
Republican plan, even if it doesn't fix the problem permanently."
Dan Weintraub also weighs in. "Lawmakers and the governor can continue to use borrowing
and shifts and gimmicks to hobble along from one year
to the next, dragging the problem behind them like
a fiscal ball and chain.
"Or they can be honest and raise the taxes needed to
pay for the services that a large majority of the Legislature,
the governor and, presumably, the people of the state
desire.
"Even with every cut the Republicans have proposed,
spending still exceeds the state government's revenues from the current tax structure by billions
of dollars a year.
"If that doesn't make it obvious that something has to give, nothing
will."
Meanwhile, "[a] wealthy farmer who once gave lavishly to promote
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political fortunes and spent time with him smoking
cigars has become one of his most outspoken critics," reports the AP's Judy Lin.
"Dino Cortopassi has spent at least $100,000 bankrolling an ad blitz targeting one of the governor's main policy initiatives — upgrading the state's water delivery system.
"In an interview, Cortopassi said he's convinced that Schwarzenegger, Southern California
water districts and agricultural interests that farm
land south of his in the Central Valley are conspiring
to build a canal that would pipe fresh water around
California's fertile delta region, the heart of California's water system.
"He said doing so would irreparably harm the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's ecosystem, which he says is just as important to
the state as the water it provides for cities and farmers.
Sensing a political threat to the region he calls home,
Cortopassi moved to attack Schwarzenegger's proposal even before it has been placed before voters.
"'I love it,' Cortopassi said of the place he has lived all of his
life. 'I build habitats with my own money. It's a magnificent place.'"
"California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown waded into the legal fray Tuesday between Orange County
and the union that represents sheriff's deputies, taking the union's side and saying he would seek to file a brief opposing
the county's effort to slash deputies' pensions," writes Christian Berthelson in the Times.
"Brown's entry came after months of discussions with Tom Umberg, a former Democratic state assemblyman now representing
the deputies union as a lawyer in the case, and Wayne Quint, the president of the union.
"The two flew to Oakland to meet with Brown on two occasions
in recent months, according to people familiar with
the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to speak publicly about them.
"In announcing his intent to file a friend-of-the-court brief, Brown said in a statement: 'The deputy sheriffs put their lives on the line for
us, and they deserve fair compensation for their hard
work serving and protecting the people of Orange County.
County supervisors are not entitled to suddenly change
their minds and decide to take away important pension
benefits that the deputies bargained for in good faith.'
"The attorney general's decision has the potential to bring more attention
to the case, a high-stakes battle over public employee retirement benefits
that could have far-reaching consequences yet has received little attention
outside the public employee pension realm."
CalPERS is also siding with the union in the case.
The Bee's Steve Weigand follows the long and winding road of the bingo bill.
Speaking of gambling, the governor sent a security team to scope out Minnesota,
just in case, reports Matier and Ross. "If nothing else, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is sure an optimist. Even while his office was downplaying
the chances he would jet off
to Minnesota to speak at the Republican National Convention
- citing
the state's budget stalemate - we're told that the California Highway
Patrol dispatched a security team to the Twin Cities.
"The idea was that the team would prep for a possible
Arnold drop-in
if a miracle occurred and Sacramento legislators reached
a deal."
And finally, Matier and Ross report on a uniquely San
Francisco bandit on the loose. In the city where people
love their dogs, one man apparently thinks he has become
one. A dog, not a city.
"Cops in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood are on the lookout for a guy
who apparently thinks he's a dog.
"He's been known to bark at people on the street and is
a suspect in the break-in robbery of a local pet store. But what really got the cops' attention was when the growler came up
behind a woman who was walking along O'Shaughnessy Boulevard, grabbed
her thigh - and tried to bite her."
