I shall be released

Will Meg Whitman release her tax returns or won't she? That is the question. Or at least it's a question. A question being asked by the Merc's Ken McLaughlin.

New estimates from the Times Capitol bureau show Whitman has spent $249 per minute during her campaign for governor.

The LAT's Rothfeld and Dolan report, "The billionaire former EBay chief has distributed $27.2 million -- almost all of it her own money -- to hundreds of businesses and people in the 76 days between Jan. 1 and March 17, a campaign statement filed with the state Monday shows.

In approximately that time, she built a soaring lead over fellow Republican Steve Poizner and a narrow one over Democrat Jerry Brown in a poll released last week.

Most of the money, nearly $21 million, bought airtime and production of radio ads that Whitman began airing last fall and the television ad campaign she launched in February."

Jerry Brown got a gig on Dr. Phil, alongside Kelly Osbourne, but refused to jump into a lawsuit from other attorneys general to challenge the new federal health care bill.

"Brown says that of the attorneys general filing suit, "all but one are Republican" and that "healthcare is not the place, with people's lives at stake, to engage in poisonous partisanship." The statement goes on: "At this critical time in our nation's history, we need to come together to forge a common purpose."

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Several GOP lawmakers are demanding that Brown join the suit against the federal government, a position supported by Brown's GOP rivals in the governor's race. But the state's top Republican, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is not joining that chorus. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor is not at this time seeking to involve California in the litigation. "Right now our focus is on working with the administration and the congressional delegation to ensure the state is not saddled with an unfunded mandate," McLear said.

An Assembly committee wants insurers to explain themselves before implementing rate hikes on customers.

Marc Lifsher reports, "California lawmakers who want to go further than the newly signed federal healthcare overhaul scored a victory Tuesday when a proposal to make insurance companies justify rate hikes sailed through the Assembly's Health Committee.

The bill would put health insurers and health maintenance organizations under the same strict regulation that has covered automobile and other types of property insurance for the last two decades. It would require approval of some rate hikes by state agencies.

"Now that Congress has mandated that every American must show proof of owning a health insurance policy or face fines, California must ensure that the prices that insurers charge for coverage are fair," said Jerry Flanagan, healthcare policy director for Consumer Watchdog.

The bill, AB 2578, is similar to one the Assembly passed in 2007, only to see it die in the Senate by one vote. But this time, the bill's supporters hope that public outrage will help get the bill passed."

Hey, we know veto bait when we see it...

California voters don't like tax cuts. But a new Field Poll shows they only want to cut two sectors of the state budget -- prisons and parks.

Who says California isn't getting the government it deserves?

Califorina voters may soon have a chance to vote on whether or not to legalize marijuana.

"On Wednesday, Los Angeles County elections officials must turn in their count of valid signatures collected in the county on a statewide legalization initiative. The number is virtually certain to be enough to qualify the initiative for the November ballot, according to a tally kept by state election officials.

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That will once again make California the focal point of the long-stewing argument over marijuana legalization, a debate likely to be a high-dollar brawl between adversaries who believe it could launch or stifle another national trend.

"The campaign will air issues that have changed little over the years. Proponents will cite the financial and social cost of enforcing pot prohibition and argue that marijuana is not as dangerous and addictive as tobacco or alcohol. Opponents will highlight marijuana-linked crimes, rising teenage use and the harm the weed causes some smokers."

Speaking of particulate matter, a new study from the Air Resources Board shows implementing the state's greenhouse gas law will not hurt the state's economy.

Margot Roosevelt reports, "California's overall economy will not suffer, and many parts of it will prosper under the state's landmark global warming law, according to an analysis by the California Air Resources Board that rebuts an industry-led ballot effort to suspend the regulations.

The 103-page report, to be released Wednesday, comes after earlier projections were criticized as flimsy. It was vetted by a panel of independent academics and policy experts.

"This shows we can implement the law and that growth in the California economy will be large and unabated," said board Chairwoman Mary D. Nichols, who acknowledged that "shifting the economy away from fossil fuels and toward more renewable energy means that some businesses, including green technology, will benefit, while others will see their costs go up.

"This won't go down easily," Nichols said. "It will be fought out in the political arena."

With more 'political science' we're guessing...

And finally, from our Florida files, "A Florida man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating his probation by trying to break into the Brevard County jail.

"A judged sentenced 25-year-old Sylvester Jiles of Cocoa on Monday. He was convicted in January of trespassing on jail property and resisting an officer. Authorities say Jiles tried to climb a 12-foot fence at the Brevard County Detention Center in August. He was caught and hospitalized with severe cuts from the barbed wire. He had been released a week earlier after accepting a plea deal on a manslaughter charge."

We love a happy ending.