"In the midst of intense state budget negotiations,
Democratic lawmakers stole away to an elegant wine-country lodge where the gourmet meals, rooms and cocktails were
provided by a trio of interests with much at stake
in the Capitol," report Patrick McGreevy and Eric Bailey for the Times.
By "wine country," they mean Lodi, which is actually a suburb of America's second most miserable city.
"Soon after the trial lawyers and the unions representing
firefighters and carpenters covered the $14,000 tab, their agendas advanced in Sacramento.
"Such getaways for lawmakers are commonly bankrolled
by groups with business before the state, often while
that business is pending.
"'This is an unending problem in Sacramento, where lobbying
groups bring politicians somewhere to wine and dine
them,' said
Doug Heller, executive director of the group Consumer Watchdog.
'No matter who they represent, groups think that's the way you play the game.'
"The December expenditures were disclosed last week
in documents filed by lawmakers, who also reported
that various other interests provided them with tens
of thousands of dollars' worth of dinners, overseas travel and tickets to Disneyland,
Dodger baseball games, rock concerts and golf tournaments.
"The two-day retreat was convened at the Wine and Roses hotel
and spa in Lodi a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
declared a fiscal emergency and ordered the Legislature
to meet on a series of proposals to plug a projected
$42-billion budget gap. The Consumer Attorneys of California,
California Professional Firefighters and Northern California
Carpenters Regional Council picked up the tab."
The U-T's John Maurelius takes his turn covering the angst of groups looking at the May 19 ballot measures.
"The governor and Democratic legislative leaders also
crafted the measures, Propositions 1A through 1F, with sweeteners designed to make painful tax increases
and spending cuts easier for voters to swallow and,
perhaps more important, to neutralize opposition from
the state's powerful public employees unions.
"'There's something in there for everybody to love and everybody
to hate,' said Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California
Studies at Sacramento State University.
"Even if the unions don't enthusiastically support the special election measures,
analysts say keeping them on the sidelines is crucial.
"'Ballot initiatives almost never pass when big money
is spent against them, especially complicated initiatives
like this package,' said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute
of Politics at the University of Southern California.
'As long as Schwarzenegger has the only megaphone in
the debate, he's going to win. But if the 'no' side raises a good bit of money, it gets much more
difficult.'
"Unlike in 2005, the unions are biding their time in deciding what
to do.
"'All of our unions are in the process of taking a careful
look at the ballot initiatives,' said Steve Smith, communications director for the
California Labor Federation. 'People want to be deliberate and want to take the time
to figure out if they want to mount a campaign and,
if they do, what it's going to look like.'"
Enquiring campaign consultants want to know...
Speaking of the ballot measures, the Bee's Steve Weigand notes: "As California's Legislature has grown more stridently partisan and
its two-thirds approval requirement on budgets and tax-increase bills grows increasingly difficult to secure,
the time-honored game of political logrolling has evolved to
much higher stakes."
"And if the 2009 version is any indication, the new way is here to
stay.
"'Logrolling' is a term of political art that refers to what is
usually quietly conducted horse-trading among lawmakers: You back my agenda, I back yours.
"But as legislators have become entrenched in partisan
camps, said Tim Hodson, a former legislative staffer
who is director of the Center for California Studies
at California State University, Sacramento, budget
negotiators must persuade the minority party caucuses
"to allow their sacrificial lambs to vote for the budget."
"That means the "lambs" are likely to have loftier demands in return for their
votes.
"'As long as you are dealing with a situation where legislators
are more afraid of bolting their own caucus than of
any benefits they can get for their vote,' Hodson said, 'the (logrolling) requests are likely to be more global than in the
past.'"
The U-T's James Sweeney looks at the corporate tax break added as a budget sweetener, which is taking heat from liberal groups including
the California Budget Project's Jean Ross.
"What's particularly troubling about California's revision, Ross argued, 'is it says you can have it your way. Calculate your
taxes based on the old formula. Calculate your taxes
based on the new formula . . . and send us the lower
number.'"
Jim Miller takes a look at some of the new spending proposals that have been introduced
in the Legislature.
"Within days of
voting to close a $40 billion budget gap, California lawmakers
introduced hundreds of bills that could cost the state
money if they
pass.
"The legislation would create new programs, expand existing
ones or
make additional demands on state and local government.
Some bills would
reduce revenue.
"Among the bills is a proposal that would require the
state to craft
regulations for sleep-disorder technicians. Another bill would require
the state to conduct an awareness campaign about pregnancy
and
post-birth mood and anxiety disorders. And one would establish
a
vision-care program for retired state employees."
The Bee's Peter Hecht reports that two federal courts may this week resolve the fight between tribal casinos
and chartiable bingo parlors over electronic bingo games.
"California tribal casino representatives warn that
the state risks losing tens of millions of dollars
in tribal revenue-sharing payments if authorities can't shut down charitable bingo parlors that operate casino-style machines."
"A new law intended to ban electronic bingo games used
by many charities went into effect Jan. 1.
"But several bingo parlors in Sacramento and elsewhere
have continued operating the machines under a court
injunction that stopped state and county authorities
from shutting down the games."
George Skelton looks at Darrell Steinberg's push for career technical education, which has found bipartisan support.
"So what's stopping everyone? Money. The state's still broke.
"It reminds me of what my mom used to tell us kids as
we loaded our plates: Make sure your eyes aren't bigger than your stomachs.
"Maybe a little career tech; easy on everything else."
Dan Walters looks at a recent decision by the Workers Comp Appeals Board that
some say has gutted the workers' comp 2004 overhaul .
"The decision, in merged cases of a truck driver and
a school secretary, declares that the AMA guidelines
can be sidestepped if following them "would result in a permanent disability award that would
be inequitable, disproportionate, and not a fair and
accurate measure of the employee's permanent disability."
"Business and employer groups are fuming that the board
is ignoring the wording and intent of the 2004 law. The case is probably headed to the courts for
a final disposition. But the WCAB decision is a rare
piece of good news for groups representing or treating
impaired workers that have chafed for a half-decade.
"Perhaps the WCAB's members know their unanimous decision probably doesn't comport with the law as written, but are sending
a message to the administration that the implementing
rules are too tough on workers with legitimate disability
claims and should be revised. The administration had
once promised a re-examination of the law's effects but apparently has never delivered it.
"In the meantime, the WCAB decision has thrown countless
pending workers' comp cases into turmoil, with the hearing officers,
physicians, workers' attorneys and those representing insurers and employers
trying to figure out how much additional leeway they
have in rating disability claims."
Meanwhile, more bad news for the parent company of the Sacramento
Bee. AP reports, "Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. said
Monday that it plans to
eliminate 1,600 jobs, or 15 percent of its work force, as it contends
with declining revenue and a deepening recession.
"The cost-control efforts come as McClatchy is faced with plunging
ad
revenues plaguing the entire publishing sector, as
well as trying to
recover $5.3 million owed by newspapers it had sold to companies
that
have recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
McClatchy
also has its own debt worries. The company owed about
$2.04 billion as
of the end of 2008, stemming mainly from its 2006 acquisition of the
Knight Ridder newspaper chain."
And finally, from our Lunatic Ninja Files, "When a dark intruder smashed through his bedroom
window and repeatedly bounced on his bed, Beat Ettlin
at first was
relieved to discover it was a kangaroo.
"My
initial thought when I was half awake was, 'It's a lunatic ninja coming
through the window,'" the 42-year-old told The Associated Press on
Monday. "It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in."
But
his relief was short-lived. As Ettlin cowered beneath the sheets with
his wife and 9-year-old daughter at 2 a.m. Sunday, the frantic kangaroo
bounded into the bedroom of his 10-year-old son Leighton Beman, who
screamed, "There's a 'roo in my room!"
"Ettlin, a chef
originally from the Swiss city of Stans, said he jumped
the 90 pound
(40 kilogram) marsupial from behind and pinned it to the floor.
He
grabbed it in a headlock and wrestled the trashing
and bleeding
intruder into a hallway, toward the front door.
He used a single, fumbling hand to open the front door
and shoved the kangaroo into the night.
