With the Legislature gone for the spring recess, we
might as well talk about the special election.
"[I]f voters reject a package of ballot measures in the
May 19 special election, then the projected shortfall could push the state's deficit to more than $15 billion, creating a new fiscal crisis," writes the Chron's Matthew Yi.
"That, state lawmakers fear, would prompt the same kind
of partisan posturing - over tax increases and program cuts - that led to last summer's record-setting impasse.
"
'If the voters reject (the measures), what the voters are really saying is 'We want you to go back to partisan warfare. We want
you to go back to arguing and not getting something
done,' ' said Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines of Clovis
(Fresno County). 'The message to the Legislature would be to go back
to your corners.'
"
Julie Soderlund, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman, said passage of the measures - which include spending limits, borrowing against future
lottery revenues and shifting funds from mental health
and children's programs - is crucial for the state's short- and long-term financial viability."
"The strangest of bedfellows will be squaring off May 19 in the special election battle over Proposition 1A, the spending-cap measure that is the linchpin of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget-reform plan," reports John Wildermuth in the Chron.
"On one side are Schwarzenegger, the California Teachers
Association and much of the Legislature's leadership, who argue that the measure is the only
way to deal with a budget crisis that could cripple
the state.
"They're opposed by a one-time-only coalition of anti-tax conservatives who argue that Prop. 1A won't cut state spending enough and by progressive and
good-government groups who complain it will slash spending
too deeply.
"'Both sides have put together coalitions of people who
normally wouldn't talk to each other,' said Barbara O'Connor, a professor of political communication at Cal State
Sacramento."
"The only state-budget-related proposition on the May 19 special election ballot that appears assured of passing
is the one that would have the least impact on California's chronic budget woes," writes John Marelius in the U-T.
"Proposition 1F, which would prohibit state elected officials from
receiving pay increases in years when the state is
running a deficit, is wildly popular with voters.
"A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California
found that 81 percent of likely voters favor Proposition 1F. The other five propositions collectively needed
to cement the recent budget deal were running below
the 50 percent mark required for passage.
"'It strikes a populist chord, but it's meaningless,' Republican analyst Tony Quinn said in reference to Proposition 1F. Quinn is co-editor of the California Target Book, which monitors
state political campaigns.
"'The greatest impact of 1F is it provides a very visceral reminder to politicians
of both parties exactly how little the voters of California
think of them,' said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics
at the University of Southern California."
So, what's going to happen on May 19? You can make your prediction over at Capitol Weekly.
The Bee's Peter Hecht profiles Anne Gust, Jerry Brown's wife and advisor.
"Gust, a former general counsel and chief administrative
officer at Gap Inc. whom Brown married in 2005, is an unpaid special counsel in the state Justice
Department. She is summoned to resolve complex legal
wranglings and advise her husband on policy.
"Gust ran her husband's 2006 attorney general campaign. She also is a key fundraiser
and will play an important role should he seek an encore
as California governor, as many expect he will do in
2010.
"Friends say their relationship is forged in a remarkable
union of voracious readers and learners with complementary
styles and instincts.
"Brown, a kinetic thinker and Yale Law School grad who
studied up for attorney general by reading the works
of 17th-century jurist Sir Edward Coke, conceptualizes in grand
themes.
"Gust, a graduate of Stanford and the University of
Michigan Law School, is known as someone quick to cut
through highbrow debate and focus on solutions."
George Skelton looks at Proposition 1C, the lottery securitization measure.
"It would authorize significant tweaking and expansion
of the state lottery, creating more winners. And it
also would allow the state to borrow $5 billion immediately against future lottery revenue.
"Those should be separate questions: 1) Should the state expand its gambling operation? 2) Should Sacramento take out a loan for, say, 30 years just to help pay one year's worth of daily expenses?
"Ordinarily, you might think a bit about growing the
lottery. And, ordinarily, you'd probably instantly respond that the borrowing is
a really bad idea. But these are hardly ordinary times."
Matier and Ross report that political consultant Frank
Schubert recognizes Gavin Newsom for his role in passing Proposition
8.
"Schubert and his crew were honored at the American
Association of Political Consultants' annual meeting in Washington, D.C., for their successful
fight to pass Proposition 8 in November, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
"Schubert acknowledged that half the crowd at the Gaylord
hotel ballroom didn't agree with his stance.
"Still, he was happy to give the political pros from
across the country a 45-minute seminar on his victorious campaign, where he
was asked: "How did you come from 14 points behind in the polls and win?"
"Well, Schubert explained, they were very disciplined,
they had tremendous support from the faith community
and they had 'a gift from God: Gavin Newsom.'
"Whereupon Schubert showed the same-sex-marrying San Francisco mayor delivering his infamous
"it's gonna happen, whether you like it or not" line that became the anchor for Schubert's TV campaign.
"The place exploded in laughter."
Speaking of Gavin Newsom and gifts, the SF mayor has
just disclosed the gifts he has received over the last
year, reports the Merc's Mary Ann Ostrom. And picture frames abound!
"Frames, by the way, were
the gift of choice of Gap founder Don Fisher, former
Secretary of State
George Shultz, actor Michael Keaton, actress Molly
Sims and more than a
dozen others. Candlesticks were also popular. A set
of china was valued
at $7,700. And at the top end of the gift list, Charles Schwab
gave the
couple a wedding-related party valued at $23,000.
"But the gift
that has produced the most laughs came from former
state Sen. John
Burton, who is about to take over California's Democratic party: a $150
crockpot."
We don't get it.
Ostrom also reports, "Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was on a short list of celebrities
who ordered
the super-sleek, $109,000 Tesla Roadster when the San Carlos-based
electric-car maker took its first round of orders awhile back.
But now it looks as if the governor wants a refund.
"The
gossip Web site Valleywag reported last week that Schwarzenegger
for
months has been quietly trying to return the sports
car. The reason?
The car, built on a Lotus frame, is a little too cramped
for the former
bodybuilder.
"An aide to the governor was aware of the report but
said he couldn't get hold of Schwarzenegger on Friday to comment.
But
considering how vocal a supporter of Tesla the governor
has been,
something tells us he would've been quick to slap down the posting were
it not true."
Does that mean the state gets a refund on all those
tax credits lavished on the company?
"In a major legal win for immigrant workers, thousands
of California construction workers will start receiving checks April 15 to compensate for unpaid wages and other alleged labor
violations committed during California's housing boom," reports Susan Ferriss in the Bee.
"The $8.5 million legal settlement benefits nearly 3,100 former and current workers for several companies that
built houses in Southern California, the Central Valley,
Central Coast and San Francisco East Bay."
"A few workers initiated the complaint in 2006 after approaching a Spanish-speaking attorney, but lawyers say the case grew into
one of the biggest class-action lawsuits in California involving mostly Latino
construction laborers, including some who are undocumented."
The Chron's Meredith May writes:
"Jerome Waldie, the California Assemblyman credited with bringing
higher pay and full-time work standards to the Legislature in 1966, and who later served in Congress, where he was instrumental
in the downfall of President Richard Nixon, died in his Placerville home Friday. He was 84.
"When Mr. Waldie was elected to the Assembly in 1958, legislators met for only certain months out of the
year and were paid $500 to put together the state budget. By the time he was
elected to Congress in 1966, state legislators were career professionals.
"At the nation's Capitol, Mr. Waldie became a member of the House
Judiciary Committee, where he was best known for introducing
the articles of impeachment against Nixon in July 1974. The Democrat led the vote to impeach Nixon on charges
of obstructing justice and violating the oath of office,
among other allegations in connection with the political
scandal that began with the 1972 break-in of Democratic National Committee headquarters in
the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C."
