The state's budget analyst urged lawmakers to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
proposed elimination of the state welfare system.
Jack Dolan reports, "Legislative analyst Mac Taylor,
whom both Democrats and Republicans look
to for guidance on state spending, suggested lawmakers
instead cut
other programs and raise taxes modestly to close California's
$19.1-billion budget deficit.
"Welfare and child care "are core pieces of the state's
safety net, and
we therefore recommend that the Legislature reject
these proposals,"
Taylor wrote in an assessment of Schwarzenegger's plan.
"
Taylor said eliminating the welfare program, called
CalWorks, would cost
California $3.7 billion in federal matching funds. It would also mean
that many families cut off from state funding would
suddenly become
eligible for local assistance, shifting about $1 billion in welfare
costs to county governments."
Jim Sanders reports the LAO also called for new tax increases.
"Specifically, Taylor suggested options such as raising
alcohol taxes,
increasing community college fees, allowing oil drilling
on the
offshore Tranquillon Ridge, suspending corporate tax
breaks, imposing a
fee on structures in wildland areas where the state
provides fire
protection and extending an increase in the vehicle
license fee that is
set to expire in June 2011.
"Taylor recommended the state consider
suspending the Proposition 98 school-funding guarantee during the fiscal
crisis."
Michael Rothfeld charts Steve Poizner's reversal on the state's global warming law.
"As he wages a Republican primary for governor this
year, Steve Poizner
has advocated rolling back California's law to curb
global warming
indefinitely, calling it "a Draconian set of regulations
that doesn't
help the environment and … destroys the economy."
But four years ago, when the law was passed and he
was seeking the
endorsements of environmentalists for a different race,
Poizner said he
supported the anti-global-warming law, which had been approved that
year. In an e-mail to a campaign consultant, he said he had filled
out a
questionnaire for the Sierra Club, an environmental
group.
"In it, I am clear that I support the new global warming
legislation
just passed by the legislature and supported by GAS
[ Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger]," Poizner wrote in the Sept. 4, 2006, e-mail. "A few
years ago, I came to the conclusion that I support
bold efforts to
reduce our dependency on fossil fuels."
Dan Walters offers his official welcome to Speaker John Perez.
"Dude, you aren't nearly as important as you apparently
think you are,
and before you open your mouth, you should do your
homework," Walters writes.
"Pérez demonstrated this week that he's not ready for
prime
time when he got himself into a spitting match with
Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger over the state budget.
"Schwarzenegger unveiled this
year's version of what the Capitol calls the "May
revise" on Friday and
ordinarily, legislative leaders quickly react, not
wanting the governor
to have the media stage to himself. Accordingly, the
president pro tem
of the Senate, Darrell Steinberg, listened to the governor's
presentation and then quickly issued sharp criticism.
"Pérez, however, was absent because he was attending a
big bucks
"golf tournament" in Pebble Beach to raise campaign
money from special
interest groups. That may have been a little unseemly,
but Pérez would
have been well-served to take whatever criticism came his way silently."
Meg Whitman gave herself another $4 million Tuesday, one day after Steve Poizner dropped $2.5 million into his campaign coffers. The two have spent
more than $92 million between them on the campaign thus far.
"Since 2009, Whitman has given
her campaign more than $68 million -- shattering state
spending
records for political campaigns."
Patrick McGreevy puts Tom Campbell under the microscope, and notes the times when "Campbell's intellectual reach would exceed his political
grasp."
Campbell, now on his third run for the U.S. Senate,
is known for his
work ethic and an appreciation for big ideas. He is
also known for
having difficulty translating those ideas into achievements.
Those who
have watched his career say he refuses to bend ideologically
and
sometimes tilts at windmills, which has limited his
ability to build the
coalitions that are crucial to advancing an agenda.
He has a tendency
to overreach, they observe, and to refuse to compromise
—
characteristics that have hampered him in the political
arena.
Political scientist John J. Pitney Jr. said Campbell
is a stubborn
nonconformist — a characteristic that may help him with voters tired
of
the status quo but doesn't necessarily play well in
the halls of power.
"His entire career consists of choices other politicians
would not have
made," said Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont
McKenna College.
A new report says the state's global warming law could
cause businesses to leave California.
"A state law that requires power plants, factories
and other
businesses to cut greenhouse gas emissions could cause
energy prices to
rise and prompt businesses to delay expansion or flee
California,
according to a study by the state Legislative Analyst's
Office.
The landmark global warming law, which is being enforced
in phases,
could put the state's businesses at a competitive disadvantage
unless
other states and the federal government come up with
similar plans, the
study by the nonpartisan agency said.
"'Economic leakage' could occur as businesses move to states with lower
regulatory costs, the report said. Industries that
rely heavily on
energy use and trade, such as aluminum, chemical or
steel producers,
could be disproportionately vulnerable."
And finally, from our Don't Know Much Geometry Files, AP reports, "A Jefferson County geometry teacher
was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday after
being accused of using a hypothetical assassination plot on President Barack
Obama as a way to teach geometric angles.
"School Superintendent Phil Hammonds said Corner High
School teacher Gregory Harrison could face possible
termination.
Hammonds earlier said the teacher remained at work
and there were no plans to fire him. But in announcing
that the teacher was being placed on leave, the superintendent
said his office had been flooded with calls from people
around the nation, mainly upset that further action
hadn't been taken against the teacher."
