CW's Malcolm Maclachlan looks at the new shape the Senate Ag Committee has taken under Dean
Florez.
"One of the first things you'll see upon entering the office of Sen. Dean Florez,
D-Shafter, is a big stack of books by authors such as
Michael Pollan,
the Berkeley writer known for his opposition to large-scale
agribusiness. Along the far wall is a poster for Proposition
2, the
2008 Farm Animal Protection Act.
"'It looks a little different that most Ag committee
chair's
libraries,' Florez said. He chuckled, then added, "I think the Ag
industry comes in and looks at this and goes, ‘Oh.' '
"They're also saying similar things about the bills coming
out of his
committee, Florez said. In January, he and Senate Pro
Tem
Darrell Steinberg,
D-Sacramento, held a press conference announcing that
Florez was taking
over the committee and adding the word "Food" to its name.
"This signaled a new direction for a committee that,
according to many,
has traditionally represented the interests of the
agriculture
industry. The committee held a hearing last week and
passed out three
Florez bills opposed by agribusiness groups. His
SB 135 would ban the
practice of cutting off cow's tails, while his SB 416 would bar
antibiotics from meat served in school lunches.
SB 173 imposes stricter
responsibilities around food-borne pathogens. Florez is also carrying
bills that would restrict agricultural crop burning
and impose new
requirements for food safety."
Speaking of requirements, today is the deadline to register to vote for the May 19 election. "Near the bottom of the May 19 special election ballot are two measures that ask voters to divert more than $2 billion they previously approved specifically for
mental health and children's programs," writes James Sweeney in the U-T.
"Lawmakers and other supporters of Propositions 1D and 1E say the money will be taken from substantial reserves
to help close a $42 billion state budget deficit.
"Opponents say the transfer sets a dangerous precedent
and could force reductions in local services.
"Propositions 1D and 1E would transfer to the state's general fund a portion of revenues generated by two
voter-approved tax increases: an extra 50-cents-per-pack on cigarettes authorized by Proposition 10 in 1998 and a 1 percent income tax surcharge on millionaires imposed
by Proposition 63 in 2004."
The Bee's Jim Sanders looks at the use of non-competitively bid personal services contracts by the Legislature.
Or as they're called in the real world: nepotism hires.
"When Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg launched an effort this year to root out waste in
state spending, he tapped a Sacramento attorney who
is one of his best friends to lead it.
"Assembly Speaker Karen Bass turned to a termed-out assemblywoman and a politically connected former
utility company executive, among others, to supplement
her staff with outside expertise.
"The Legislature's nine personal service contracts – touted as a way to cuts costs in tough times – went largely to those with personal relationships
or political ties to lawmakers.
"None of the nine contracts was competitively bid, so
anyone not known to Capitol officials had no chance
to be hired or to propose a lower fee. Most have vague
terms that don't require specific hours to be worked."
Steve Harmon takes us back to the future, looking at the state deficit.
"A defeat of six of the
seven measures on the May 19 special election ballot — a good
possibility, according to recent polls — could mean a return to the
Capitol's pattern of futile negotiations between Democrats,
who hold
large legislative majorities but little sway, and minority
Republicans,
who hold the last word on budgets.
"If nothing else, political
observers say, such a scenario could present an opening
for Democrats
to unmask what they believe to be the heart of the
Legislature's
dysfunction: the two-thirds vote in both houses to pass a budget, as
required by the state constitution since 1937."
The circular logic on that one has always been a bit
baffling: We'll go out and prove how dysfunctional we are, so that
we can convince voters they need to support the changes
we support for how we do business...
With Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner set to duke it out for the GOP gubernatorial primary,
Roberts and Trounstine write that rich novices rarely do well in runs for top office.
Recently, "three wealthy businessmen who would be governor – Al Checchi (1998) Bill Simon (2002) and Steve Westly (2006) spent big but finished out of the money. So did Michael Huffington, who spent more than $30 million in losing to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 1994, and Darrell Issa, who forked out millions of his
car alarm fortune to stumble in the 1998 GOP Senate primary.
"'They have too much money,' [Garry] South said, noting that without normal budget constraints,
rich candidates often fail to develop a coherent message
or target it to voters. Checchi’s consultants, for example, produced a staggering 102 TV spots in 1998, airing 42 of them. Said South: 'They think they can say everything about themselves
to everybody.'
"Unlike professional politicians, wealthy rookies lack
a group of seasoned advisers, 'so they go out and hire everybody in the Western Hemisphere
and wind up with a big bloated campaign team with no
real chain of command,' South said, adding that successful executives often
underestimate the difficulty of running for office.
"'They think because they’re successful in business, they’re smarter, better and more clever than anybody in
politics,' he said. 'They honestly don’t get that the things that they’re most proud of in their business life don’t compute in the political world.'"
George Skelton writes that it is smart to invest in community clinics serving
illegal immigrants to prevent the spread of swine flu.
"Clinics receive funds from the federal, state and local
governments, plus insurers, patients and foundations.
Nationwide, community clinics are in line for $2 billion in federal economic stimulus funds. But in
California, they're threatened with state and local budget cuts at the
same time the ranks of uninsured are growing because
of job layoffs.
"We all benefit from that, no matter how many generations
we've been legally rooted."
Christian Berthelsen reports in the Bee that companies operating rental jet fleets are challenging
a 2007 law allowing the collection of personal property taxes
on the aircraft .
"The companies, including industry leader NetJets Inc.,
a division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., have filed four lawsuits
in Orange and Santa Barbara counties against assessors
who have begun collecting taxes on the planes for the
first time under a law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
in 2007 creating a framework for the levies.
"The amount of revenue at stake is estimated to be about
$10 million per year statewide, about a third of it going
to Los Angeles, where the wealthy glide in and out
of town on gleaming Cessnas, Gulfstreams and Learjets.
"Though the sum could be considered negligible in county
budgets that run to multiple billions of dollars per
year, officials say every little bit helps – especially in a down economy that has already hurt
public coffers.
"'It's a challenging economic environment for all taxpayers,' said Chriss Street, Orange County's treasurer-tax collector, who was named as a defendant in one
of the lawsuits but has since been removed. 'It's ironic that those with the most money are suing over
taxes on their private jets. When jet-setters fail to pay taxes, it's local governments and schools that are hurt the most.'"
The Breeze's Gene Maddus breaks down the early race for Ted Lieu's Assembly seat. "Perhaps the most formidable candidate at
this early stage is Betsy Butler, who has secured several major
endorsements despite being virtually unknown in the
53rd District. Butler is the top fundraiser for Consumer Attorneys
of California, a lobbying group for trial lawyers.
"Mitch Ward, who is the first black councilman ever
elected in Manhattan Beach, has the backing of his
fellow
council members, but he will have to introduce himself
to the rest of
the district. Another local official who is looking at the race is
Al Muratsuchi, a deputy attorney general and a member of the Torrance
Board of Education.
"Rounding out the field are two attorneys who serve
on neighborhood councils," Kate Anderson and Nick Karno.
And finally, "With his plane stalling at 150 feet, and no time to return to the
runway, the pilot of a Cessna 182 was probably in need of the toilet. Luckily, he found
a whole pile of them, and the crash landing on top
of piles of portable loos probably saved his life.
"A small airplane dropping from the sky after its engine
failed wound up on a cushioning bunch of portable toilets — and the pilot was able to walk away apparently unhurt."
You can see photos of the landing here.
