"California faces a massive $11.2 billion deficit this fiscal year, even higher than projected in recent weeks, Senate
President Pro Tem Don Perata said Wednesday," report Kevin Yamamura and Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"Without immediate intervention, the nightmare could
lead to an additional $13 billion hole in the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to Perata, citing numbers he
said came from the Governor's Office.
"The Oakland Democrat said the gap is so severe that
it cannot be bridged by spending cuts alone. He suggested
Wednesday that the state increase its vehicle license
fee and tax oil extraction in California.
"Perata's comments came a day before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
is scheduled to declare a special legislative session
to address the state's budget and economy. The Republican governor is expected
to propose a mix of cuts and temporary revenue increases,
such as a higher sales tax."
Today, the governor will hold a press conference to
call a special session, and maybe take a question or
two about the budget mess and talk about his new foreclosure assistance plan.
"A day after California voters approved a state constitutional
ban on same-sex marriage, the incendiary issue returned to the state Supreme Court, where gay and lesbian couples and the city of San
Francisco filed lawsuits Wednesday seeking to overturn
Proposition 8," reports Bob Egelko in the Chron.
"The plaintiffs are six unmarried same-sex couples and the advocacy group Equality California; another couple who married shortly after the May 15 ruling took effect; and the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, joined
by Santa Clara County.
"Although their lawyers would not discuss their strategy
publicly, each suit seeks to overturn Prop. 8 on the basis of state law and avoids federal constitutional
claims that could send the case to the U.S. Supreme
Court. Gay-rights advocates have tried to keep such disputes away
from the nation's high court, out of fear that the justices would issue
a nationwide ruling rejecting any right of same-sex marriage under the U.S. Constitution."
Dan Morain and Jessica Garrison look at how proponents of Proposition 8 carried the day.
"They were able to focus the debate on their assertion
that without the ban, public school children would
be indoctrinated into accepting gay marriage against
their parents' wishes, churches would be sanctioned for not performing
same-sex weddings and the institution of marriage would
be irreparably harmed.
"Supporters of gay marriage, along with political leaders
including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-San Francisco) and the state's superintendent of public instruction, denounced those
messages as scare tactics, but they were not able to
sway voters. Preliminary returns showed Proposition
8 passing 52% to 48%.
"'It was masterful of the campaign to raise the implications
of what it could mean in terms of the school system,' said Republican political consultant Wayne Johnson. He said voters may have started out 'thinking that as long as it doesn't affect me, do what you want' but the supporters shifted the focus to children."
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan contemplates the performance of the polls in this year's election cycle.
"The election of Barack Obama may once and for all put
to rest the notion of a race-based “Bradley effect” – the name given to the phenomenon of poll takers lying
to pollsters about supporting a black candidate for
fear of appearing racist.
"But as pollsters accurately predicted the big Obama
victory, the results were more mixed when it came to
California ballot initiatives. Polls failed to accurately
predict the outcome of a number of initiatives, including
a Constitutional ban on gay marriage, a measure that
would have required doctors to notify parents of minors
seeking an abortion and some environmental and public
safety measures.
"Perhaps the most notable difference between the polls
and Tuesday’s vote came with Proposition 8, in which voters approved a constitutional ban on
same-sex marriages. Earlier, the California Supreme Court
ruled that gay couples were legally entitled to marry
– a decision that overturned an earlier voter-approved ban on gay marriage and triggered the Prop.
8 fight.
The Bee's Jim Sanders checks in on outstanding state races. "Proposition 11, the redistricting initiative, was ahead by nearly
99,000 votes – a margin of about one percentage point, with all precincts
counted.
"The measure would create a 14-member citizens commission to draw legislative and
Board of Equalization districts. Lawmakers would continue
to decide congressional seats.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Proposition 11 backers claimed victory Wednesday, but opponents refused
to concede with perhaps 3 million absentee and provisional ballots yet uncounted.
"'To the governor's call for us to concede, I have a one-word answer: Nuts,' said Paul Hefner, spokesman for No on 11."
That's Ukranian for 'no,' in case any of you are wondering.
"Tentative results had Democrats gaining two seats in
the Assembly and potentially one in the Senate, the
19th District in Southern California, where a virtual
tie had Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson edge Tony Strickland by just 108 votes."
Debra Bowen "reported" on her Facebook status that the number of outstanding
ballots will be reported by counties by the end of
the day today.
The LAT's Ari B. Bloomekatz surveyed counties and reports that 1.6 million ballots are outstanding, including 566,000 in L.A. County.
Good to know at least one of her Web sites is working...
Capitol Weekly reports, all in all, Republicans did
better than expected in California.
"If there is a bit of solace for Republicans in California,
it may be that the political storm, while punishing,
wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. In the days before
Election Day, Democrats had begun to speak more confidently
about the prospect of picking up seats in the state
Assembly, with some talking about getting close to
a 54-vote, two-thirds majority in the lower house.
But just as the national Obama victory did not lead
to the super Congressional majorities Democrats had
hoped for, Obama’s decisive California victory was similarly without
coattails.
"Democrats did make some key legislative
gains – mostly in seats that were originally designed for
Democrats back in 2001 – but Republicans are breathing a small sign of relief.
“We’re trying to see if we can hold the tsunami at the
Sierras,” said Hector Barajas, spokesman for the California
Republican Party. “The way this particular cycle has been going, Democrats
should be running the table on us.”
"In
fact, Republicans held off Democratic challenges
in many seats, and even won back a GOP seat for the
30th Assembly District in Bakersfield.
In the state Senate, it looks like the race between
Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson and Republican Tony Strickland may be
headed to overtime. This was the one true competitive
Senate race, and everyone expected it to be a nail-biter. As of this
writing, just 108 votes separated the two candidates out of more than
300,000 cast, with Jackson clinging to a small lead. The precinct
vote has been fully tabulated, and the count of late-absentee and
provisional ballots is under way.
"In the Congressional races, some Democrats salivated
openly about the prospects of picking up seats in California.
While Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerny beat back
a challenge from Republican Dean Andal with relative
ease, Sen. Tom McClintock clung to a small lead over
Democrat Charlie Brown. Meanwhile, long-shot Democratic hopes of knocking off Republican incumbents
like Mary Bono-Mack, Dana Rohrbacker or Brian Bilbray never materialized.
"So, as bad a night as Tuesday was for Republicans,
in many ways it could have been much worse."
Eric Bailey and Michael Rothfeld try to make sense of the ballot measure votes of Californians.
"With all but a few results in on Wednesday, the reliably
quirky Golden State electorate proved that ballot-box lawmaking lives on here -- with a scattershot flair.
"Was it the clutter of TV ads? The plethora of first-time voters? The phases of the moon?
"'This is just one of those times you say, hey, voters
are unpredictable,' said Ken Khachigian, a Republican strategist."
Proposition 4 proponents are promising another effort at parental
notification.
"'The only questions are exactly when, exactly where
and exactly how,' said Don Sebastiani, a vintner and former state lawmaker who was one of
the measure's top backers."
"Though faced with a daunting state budget deficit and
a global economic crisis, California's voters decided Tuesday to spend billions of dollars on public
projects, including a high-speed rail system and hospitals for children," writes the Chron's Wyatt Buchanan.
"Voters rejected other ballot proposals that came with
hefty price tags, but the choices they did make about
spending money showed that on election day, Californians
had one eye on their wallets and the other on the future.
"'Voting for bond measures like high-speed rail was an opportunity for voters to say, 'Well, there is something we can do,' ' said Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy
Institute of California. 'It pointed out just how desperately Californians feel
we need to make investments in the future. For it to
pass at this time even by a narrow margin I think says
a lot, because it was a big price tag.'
"By the time it's built, the cost of the high-speed rail project will come to an estimated $19.4 billion, including interest on the bonds. The total
includes $1 billion per year in operating costs.
"Voters also approved $980 million in general-obligation bonds, which would come to $2 billion with interest, to fund the construction and
upgrade of children's hospitals across the state and $1.8 billion, including interest, to help veterans buy
homes and farms.
"Turned down were proposals on mandatory funding for
public safety agencies along with renewable energy
and alternative fuel proposals that also came with
a price."
George Skelton looks at what the election did for two potential gubernatorial
candidates.
Gavin "Newsom, 41, is the handsome fresh face who presumably would appeal
to young voters attracted to Obama, 47. But he didn't help himself for a future general election by being
on the wrong side politically of Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage.
"Newsom, who issued same-sex marriage licenses in San Francisco when it was
illegal, became the early poster boy for Prop. 8 sponsors. And his provocative declaration at a rally
that same-sex marriage was coming, "like it or not," provided effective footage for pro-8 TV ads.
"But with good care, most political scars can heal in
two years.
Dianne "Feinstein, 75, will measure the thrill of being part of a strengthened
Senate majority working with a historic new president
against the career-long yearning to become the governor of her troubled
native state. And the first female governor, at that.
"For now, Feinstein says, she'll focus on being chairwoman of the Obama inaugural
committee and won't decide about running for governor until sometime
next year."
The Chron's Erin Allday takes a deeper look on the impact on Gavin Newsom's future, who also apparently lost in his effort to swing the
Board of Supervisors away from the progressive coalition.
And a Prescott, Ariz. woman has given us a great idea
for a new olympic event -- the rabid fox trot. The AP reports, "Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a
rabid fox ran a mile with the animal's jaws clamped on her arm and then
drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff's office said
the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott
on Monday when
the fox attacked and bit her foot.
"She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went
for her leg but it bit her arm.
"The
woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran
a mile to her car
with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off
and tossed it in
her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital."
Top that one, Sarah Palin...
