"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to sell the Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum, San Quentin State Prison, the Orange County
Fairgrounds and
other state property to raise cash amid the state's growing fiscal
crisis," the LAT's Michael Rothfeld reports.
"Sale of the properties, to be included in the governor's revised
budget plan today, would raise between $600 million and $1 billion,
although it would not provide financial relief for
two to five years,
according to the proposal."
One official, who requested anonymity because the governor
had not yet
announced the plan, said lawmakers who expressed opposition
to such
property sales in the past might be more willing to
compromise now. The
state faces a deficit projected at $15.4 billion -- more, if voters
reject a slate of ballot measures on Tuesday.
"It's different times," the official said. "The choices aren't great, obviously."
Of course the question Kings fans want to know is: How would the proposed sale of CalExpo affect the
negotiations for a new arena for the team?
Capitol Weekly gives a brief rundown of options open
to the governor and the Legislature, and some of the options that are no longer on the table.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will unveil his quickly
assembled roadmap to solve the state’s budget crisis Thursday. But the proposal is notable
for what is not expected to be in there. Schwarzenegger’s focus on budget reform that held up the last round
of talks will be gone from the post-May 19 budget plans, as will the prospect of going to voters
to help the state out of its immediate financial woes.
"There is expected to be lots of blood in the governor’s proposal, with most of the solutions coming from
deep cuts to social services.
But the Legislature’s ability to cut programs is also more limited than
it was last time around – in part because of federal restrictions on stimulus
dollars that preempt cuts to certain state-funded programs, including Medi-Cal and education."
The Bee's Andy Furillo reports the governor is again threatening to release prisoners
as part of his cost-cutting plan.
"Now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 's administration – looking down the barrel again at a massive budget
crisis – is talking about letting 38,000 inmates out of prison before their time is up.
"Unlike its past early release plans, the Schwarzenegger administration says it can commute prisoner sentences under the California
Constitution"on conditions the governor deems proper" – without buy-in from the Legislature."
John Ortiz says state workers have become "a big, fat political parget" for the administration.
"The revision could include adding a furlough day to
the two
unpaid days off state workers already take each month.
Sources tell The
Bee the plan consolidates some departments and eliminates
a few boards.
It certainly will feature program cuts.
And when programs get axed, state jobs will follow."
In more good news, APs Terence Chea reports on the
10 percent fee increase at CSU . "Despite objections from students, the CSU Board of
Trustees voted 17-2
for the seventh fee hike since 2001, saying the increase was necessary
to prevent deeper cuts to student services, classes
and enrollment. CSU
fees have more than doubled since 2002."
As bad as the budget is, LAT's Phil Willon reports the budget situation ain't much better in Los Angeles.
"
The
Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday got down to the
grim business of
slashing spending to make up for an expected $530-million budget
shortfall, starting with a possible police hiring freeze,
mass layoffs
and mandatory unpaid furloughs for city workers.
"The recommended
cuts, which were passed out of the council's Budget and Finance
Committee, would eviscerate Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's police hiring
program and almost certainly lead to significant cutbacks
for parks,
libraries, street-paving programs and other city services."
Michael Finnegan reprises the special election campaign's mixed messages. "
In
the final sprint to Tuesday's election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has
warned day after day of teacher layoffs, fire-station shutdowns and
other dire consequences if voters fail to pass budget
measures that
would produce almost $6 billion to ease California's fiscal crisis.
Yet Schwarzenegger and his allies have abandoned TV
advertising -- the
main vehicle for reaching voters statewide -- on the three measures
that would generate that money: Propositions 1C, 1D and 1E."
"Lawmakers questioned state transportation officials
Wednesday about
their decision to direct millions of dollars worth of business to a
Berkeley company whose vice president is a former Caltrans
administrator, " the Chron's Wyatt Buchanan reports.
"The lawmakers acknowledged that Caltrans did not break
any law and
followed official procedures, but recommended the agency
add an
additional layer of oversight when it selects specific
pieces of
technology for contractors to use on road projects."
"A three-year battle over whether Junior Reserve Officers' Training
Corps belongs in San Francisco schools ended Tuesday
night with a 4-3
vote by the school board to restore the military leadership program weeks before its scheduled expiration," the Chron's Jill Tucker reports.
The board's vote reverses a controversial 2006 vote to get rid of JROTC
in the city high schools. The armed forces, the board
then argued,
should not be in public schools, and the military's discriminatory
stance on gays made it unacceptable.
Fiona Ma announced she was shelving her bill that would
have required the district to reimplement the program.
And finally, are ACORN ninjas out to kill Glenn Beck ? "Gawker reports, "It's pretty straightforward, really: ACORN is an international
conspiracy of poor people who threaten to take over
the world with
shoddy voter registrations. Anyone who speaks out against
ACORN—including a dissident member of the organization's Washington,
D.C., arm who recently appeared on Beck's show—is "in danger."
"And Beck is the top target, which is why he told his
viewers: "If
I'm ever in a weird car accident, or I commit suicide
or something,
after the media stops celebrating my death, could they
check into it?
Because I'm not suicidal. And I'm a pretty good driver."
OK, Rain Man. Whatever you say.
