"While praising President Barack Obama's moves to allow California to impose tighter controls
on tailpipe emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now
finds himself under pressure from fellow Republicans
demanding that he weaken the state's broader greenhouse-gas laws as part of any deal to solve the budget crisis," reports Michael Gardner in the U-T.
"The possibility of compromising the state's landmark standards to curb global warming has environmentalists
fuming. They also worry that Democrats will be forced
to trade environmental safeguards for GOP concessions
on raising revenue."
Just when you thought we were about to get a budget
deal, right?
"'This is fiscal blackmail,' said Bill Magavern, state director of the Sierra Club. 'They know they could never achieve these weakenings
of environmental protections through the normal process.'
"Republicans, however, say providing industry relief
from potentially new costs to limit emissions will
stimulate growth, provide jobs and help refill empty
state coffers.
"Schwarzenegger yesterday declined to commit to defending
the state's emission laws, suggesting that publicly drawing lines
outside secret budget talks could be counterproductive.
"'I don't want to get into any of the details of our budget
discussions, because it could blow up everything,' he said."
We thought that's what happened in Schwarzenegger movies. Things get
blown up.
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura reports on other environmental demands the GOP is making in exchange for votes for tax hikes.
"One proposal would allow farmers in the Central Valley
and in certain coastal areas to use more pesticides
than allowed under a court-authorized agreement the state made last year. Cogdill
said the request involves "clarifying a court decision."
"But environmentalists see it as an attempt to circumvent
the judicial system.
"'It's certainly an effort to water down what was achieved
in the courts,' said Brent Newell of the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment
and the lead counsel representing local residents who
challenged the state. 'My clients had to go to court to make sure the state
kept its promises … now the Republicans are trying to gut it.'
"Officials at the California attorney general's office have grown concerned about a GOP proposal
to protect developers and other builders from litigation
related to the state's 2006 greenhouse-gas reduction law, according to an internal memo. They
also questioned a plan to give the Business, Transportation
and Housing secretary power to analyze major air-board regulations for business impacts.
"Another change would relieve construction firms and
other businesses from having to meet a 2007 retrofit requirement for diesel off-road vehicles. Mike Lewis, senior vice president for the Construction Industry
Air Quality Coalition, said contractors already have
reduced emissions below targeted levels because the
economic slowdown has reduced activity and firms have
begun complying with new rules.
"Under the air-board requirement, he said businesses would have to
pay $1 billion to retrofit 35,000 particulate traps by next year: 'The industry simply doesn't have a billion to do that.'"
"California officials say they plan
to enforce the state's regulation requiring the nation's most
fuel-efficient vehicles as soon as the federal government
grants the
state a waiver from less-stringent national standards," report Matthew Yi and Wyatt Buchanan in the Chron.
"The regulation would have the single largest impact
on the state's
ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
30 percent by 2020
under the landmark legislation AB32.
"Delayed by the Bush administration since 2005, the rule would require
automakers to produce vehicles that cut greenhouse
gas emissions by 30
percent by 2016, resulting in an average vehicle fuel-efficiency of
35.7 miles per gallon - far higher than the current federal standard of
27.5 mpg for cars and 22.3 mpg for SUVs and light trucks.
"The rule would have wide-ranging impact on the types of cars,
minivans, SUVs and trucks that consumers will see in
California
dealerships.
"President Obama ordered his environmental officials
on Monday to
immediately review California's regulation, strongly hinting that he
would like to allow the state and 13 others to move forward with
stricter emissions standards. The federal government,
under former
President Bush, refused to grant the waiver in 2007 after two years of
deliberation."
"Los Angeles County officials said Monday that the county will lose about $1.4 billion over the next seven months for health and
social services programs if the state goes forward with its plan to defer
such payments starting next week," reports Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Times.
"The projected shortfall is too large for the county
to cover for more than a short period, even as some
lawmakers caution that numerous affected programs,
including welfare and foster care, are mandated by
law, the county's chief executive warned in a memo to Los Angeles County
supervisors.
"'At best, we can cover deferred payments for two months.
Beyond that we would have to look at financing options,' William T Fujioka said. On Sunday, the state controller plans to start
delaying payments that the state's 58 counties had been counting on to meet increased demand
for welfare and social services. Los Angeles County
can cover February's payments, about $105.6 million, but not much more, Fujioka warned.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, faced with a budget impasse,
plans to keep deferring those payments until August.
H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the governor's finance department, called the proposed deferrals
'necessary to make sure the state can make critical
payments for things like debt service and K-12 schools.'"
The OCR's Serena Daniels writes on the impact of the budget impasse on road projects in The
OC.
"While none of Orange County's freeway widening and eight railroad projects are
in immediate danger of cancellation, officials at the
Orange County Transportation Authority are worried
about costly delays.
"'There is a concern at OCTA that unless the budget crisis
is resolved Prop. 1B funding is probably one of the most likely to be
affected,' OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik said.
"Last year, Orange County was awarded some $218 million from Prop 1B money to help offset the impact of train and truck
traffic, much of which originates in Los Angeles County
ports and moves through Orange County. The county kicks
in another $263 million in matching funds for the $481 million total needed to complete the projects."
Dan Walters writes that the federal stimulus may be the duct tape to put the
budget plan together . . . or not.
"Put it all together and this may be the week in which
either something happens or California falls off the
fiscal cliff."
Well, now that we've cleared that up...
"The governing body of the California Teachers Association
voted over the weekend to support signature gathering
for a ballot measure that would hike the California
sales tax by a penny on the dollar with all the proceeds going to the
state's schools," reports Shane Goldmacher on Capitol Alert.
"The initiative, which the 340,000-strong teachers' union filed in December, is not part of any budget
negotiations ongoing in the Capitol.
"The sales tax would generate between $5 billion and $6 billion per year, the union estimates.
"The weekend vote of the CTA's State Council of Education allows the union to begin
gathering signatures to potentially place the measure
on the upcoming 2009 special election. No date has yet been set for that
election."
"The trend of legislative spouses running for office
will continue in 2010, as Susan Jordan, the wife of termed-out Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, has filed paperwork to succeed her husband in the state
Assembly," reports Shane Goldmacher on Capitol Alert..
"Jordan, also a Democrat, is director of the California
Coastal Protection Network and has been an environmental
activist in the state for more than a decade. She co-founded the group Vote the Coast in 1996, she said, as a counterpart to the brief GOP speakership
of Curt Pringle.
"'I think my work stands on its own,' Jordan said, noting that many in the political sphere
didn't know for years that she was married to Nava.
"Jordan said she filed her paperwork on inauguration
day, inspired by the swearing-in of President Barack Obama the day after Martin Luther
King Jr. Day."
Touching.
And if you find yourself on the mean streets of Long
Beach, be on the lookout for bunny rabbits. And lots of em.
"'At first, I was just so delighted by their cute-ness,' writes the blogger at UnHip LA. 'But then I started to see the rabbits as larger rats,
campus squirrels and cats, and other campus blight."
Like children.
