The Big 5 met Tuesday to talk prisons, water and budget reform.
"The Legislature's fight over water is evolving into a fight over money ," E.J. Schultz reports. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he will
not approve a
deal unless it includes a multibillion-dollar bond to pay for dams and
other projects.
But his demand – which repeats a pledge he's made
for three years – is at odds with the push by Democrats to seek policy
changes first.
The divide threatens to derail
negotiations on legislation to shore up water supplies
and fix the
ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Lawmakers began water hearings
Tuesday and hope to reach a compromise before the legislative
session
ends Sept. 11.
In
a letter to Democratic leaders, the governor says: "I cannot sign a
comprehensive water package if it fails to include
a water
infrastructure bond that expands our water storage
capacity – both
surface storage and groundwater – funds habitat restoration, water
quality and conservation."
Eric Bailey looks at some of the reform proposals on the table . "With less than a month left in the legislative session,
proponents
of change urged a state Senate panel to quickly adopt
ideas that have
bipartisan support while continuing to push for solutions
to tougher
problems -- or risk having voters do it for them.
"It really
comes down to a question of political will -- as opposed to political
won't," said Jim Wunderman,
president of the Bay Area Council, a
business-backed group that is pressing for a constitutional
convention
to let citizens draft a new blueprint for the way state
government
operates.
"Not
only is California broke, it's broken," added Sunne Wright McPeak, a
former Schwarzenegger administration official serving
on the board of
California Forward. That nonprofit foundation is pushing
for more
lawmaker accountability, a new budget-making process and a shift of
more government responsibilities to the local level.
The
three-hour hearing came as Sacramento lawmakers face plummeting
approval ratings and growing momentum behind the fix-it movements. In
addition to the proposals advocated by the Bay Area
Council and
California Forward, another group is circulating petitions
for a ballot
measure proposing a part-time Legislature.
Legislative
leaders have heard the drum beat for change. More than
three dozen
bills to change state government are in the pipeline."
"Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett- Packard, took her
first formal step Tuesday toward a campaign for Barbara Boxer's seat in
the U.S. Senate," Michael Finnegan reports.
"Fiorina, who would face Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine in the
Republican primary in June, announced that she had
filed papers with
the Internal Revenue Service to start exploring a candidacy.
"The people of California have serious concerns about
job creation,
economic growth and the role of government in solving
problems that
touch each of our lives," Fiorina said in a written statement.
Her personal wealth would make Fiorina a heavy favorite
for the
Republican nomination. But she would have a tough fight
to unseat
Boxer, a Democrat seeking a fourth term. And Fiorina
is opposed to
abortion, which puts her at odds with most California
voters.
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan reports, "The state of California is in a major push to increase
the disclosure around contracts with private firms .
But it's not enough for Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park.
"Eng is back for a second try with legislation that
would force the state to move beyond the changes currently underway. Under the direction of
the Schwarzenegger administration, the state is streamlining
it's IT-contracting methods and reporting all contracts over
$5,000 on a new website.
"But Eng's AB 756 would add new requirements -- such as forcing agencies
to list the reason for no-bid contracts or why a low bid was not
accepted. It
would call on contractors to list the number of staff
they have assigned to contracts and the reasons for
all amendments."
"Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday
to launch an
investigation into potential flaws in the child welfare
system that
might have played a role in the deaths of three children
over the last
month," the LAT's Garret Therolf reports.
"Child welfare authorities had at one point investigated
the care of the three children who died.
"Statistics show that in the last three years, a dozen
children or more
have died annually as a result of abuse or neglect
despite the fact
that their cases had come to the attention of social
workers."
And finally, today's episode of stupid legislator tricks comes from Maryland.
State Del. Jon S. Cardin called Baltimore's police commissioner this
morning and apologized for using city police officers from the
marine
and helicopter units to stage a fake raid during which
the lawmaker
proposed marriage to his girlfriend.
"Cardin, a Baltimore County Democrat who issued a brief
statement Monday
and did not return calls for comment today, has also
promised to repay
the city for any expenses incurred Aug. 7. That night, he and a friend
had officers board a boat, pretend to search it and
find a box with a
ring for his soon-to-be fiance."
Maybe the guy should apologize to his fiance for thinking
a fake police raid was a romantic proposal idea.
