With just two days left in this year's legislative
session, special
interests are making last-minute moves to get pet projects through
the Legislature.
"It happens every year at this time. Overtired legislators
are only days
from the deadline to pass new laws, and there is so
much bustle in the
Capitol that keeping track of all the drafts of bills
is almost
impossible. That's when special interests can capitalize
on the chaos.
It's an opportunity to rush proposals to a Senate or
Assembly floor vote
with little vetting, media scrutiny or public notice.
And this year,
many groups are scurrying to do just that, convincing
friendly lawmakers
to use arcane procedures that allow them to step around
rules meant to
expose proposed laws to plenty of sunlight.
"It's an easier way to, frankly, pull a fast one," said Joe Nation, a
former Democratic assemblyman who now lectures about
public policy at
Stanford.
A California energy panel has promised
millions to an ethanol firm backed by a Schwarzenegger ally.
Jack dolan reports, "California's energy commission
has promised millions of dollars to a
struggling corn ethanol business founded by a political
ally — and
generous campaign contributor — to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger despite
public assurances that the commission's environmental
funds would not be
used to subsidize that technology.
"The money comes from a tax on car owners passed three
years ago that
goes to a fund for clean-energy technologies. When the fund was set up,
its backers said it would not be used for corn ethanol,
a decades-old
gas additive that many environmental scientists argue
is at least as bad
for the planet as oil.
"The decision to use the fund for an ethanol subsidy
has the program's
creator crying foul.
"It's appalling. We gave them a very clear direction
where these funds
should be going," said former Assembly Speaker Fabian
Nuñez, who wrote
the bill that created the Alternative Fuel and Vehicle
Technology
Program. "Ethanol is yesterday's news. It seems like
there's some inside
deal going on."
Nuñez then went on to exol the virtues of plastic bags
on behalf of his new client...
The Riverside P-E wonders about the timing of the GOP leadership handoff in the Senate.
"Just when does Senate Republican
leader-elect Bob Dutton get to drop the "elect?"
The transition had long been set for Wednesday. Earlier
this month,
Senate GOP head honcho Dennis Hollingsworth said Dutton
would be taking
over then, "rain or shine, budget or no budget."
"There were no moving boxes as last week ended. Both
Hollingsworth and
Dutton said Hollingsworth may stay on longer if agreement
on a budget
-- it's been 60 days since the start of the state's fiscal year -- is
imminent.
"Dutton, who locked up the votes to become leader months
ago, said it
makes sense to hold off on the switch if a budget deal
is nearly
complete.
Not that there are any signs of that. On Tuesday, Democrats
and Republicans are expected to debate dueling budget
plans,
with nothing expected to pass.
"If there's no indication that people are negotiating,
there's no
reason to wait," said Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, of the transition.
Critics and nay-sayers who said Jerry Brown's summer campaign silence
would be a death sentence are now voicing grudging respect for Brown's ability to stay close to Meg Whitman in
the polls.
"It's a very important point that after Brown not running
any campaign,
the race is still tied," said GOP strategist Adam Mendelsohn. "People
are now realizing that Jerry Brown is a tougher candidate
than they
anticipated and the fall is going to be a very difficult
election. I
think some Republicans thought because she had so much
money and was
running a very competent campaign, they could get themselves
10 or 15
points up" before he began campaigning.
Brown's low-key summer strategy was born of necessity, because
the
candidate's campaign coffers are a sliver of his billionaire
opponent's,
but it is also one that many political experts questioned
and that some
fellow Democrats criticized as the summer wore on.
Whitman's blanketing
of the airwaves and juggernaut campaign machine, they
said, would put
Brown so far behind by Labor Day that he would never
catch up. That
scenario failed to materialize.
When we hear Garry South apologizing, or something close to it, then we'll
believe Brown is home free...
But George Skelton says the time has come for Brown to make his case to voters.
"They're all waiting for the Democratic candidate to
get a move on and
finally tell them why he'd be a better governor than
Republican
political novice Meg Whitman.
"They shouldn't have to wait much longer. We're approaching
Labor Day, traditional kickoff of November election
races.
"Never mind that Whitman has been running hard for
a year and has already
spent an unprecedented $104 million of her fortune, most of it on TV
ads. Brown has been hoarding his privately donated
money — he has
stashed around $25 million — and has said he intends to begin running TV
spots after Labor Day. He'll spend the holiday weekend
stumping the
state.
"So we'll soon see what Jerry Brown still has to offer
at 72, after
having served two terms as governor a few decades ago
and lately as
Oakland mayor and state attorney general.
Brown gave us a broad hint of his pitch at a campaign
stop in San Diego
last week: "Everything I've done in my life has prepared me for
this
moment in time, to do what I can to protect the state
I love."
Hmm...
David Siders wonders where in the world is Pete Wilson, now that the GOP primary is over.
"Former Gov. Pete Wilson provided Republican gubernatorial
candidate Meg Whitman a valuable endorsement in the
GOP primary, when he
declared she would be "tough as nails" on illegal
immigration.
But
what made that recommendation resonate for many conservatives
– Wilson
championed Proposition 187, the 1994 initiative that sought to deny
public services to illegal immigrants – has become a liability now that
Whitman is trying to win over Latino and independent
voters.
"Not
surprisingly, Wilson, Whitman's campaign chairman,
has all but
disappeared from public view."
Some teachers are not happy that The Times released
data about how their students performed on standardized tests.
"National and local teachers unions sharply criticized
The Times on
Sunday when the newspaper published a database of about
6,000 third-
through fifth-grade city school teachers ranked by their effectiveness
in raising student test scores.
"It is the height of journalistic irresponsibility
to make public these
deeply flawed judgments about a teacher's effectiveness,"
said a
statement issued by United Teachers Los Angeles.
And finally, from our New Reality Show Idea Files,
AP reports on a yard sale gone wrong in Sonora.
"A 70-year-old yard sale shopper is facing charges after things
apparently got a bit out of hand at a yard sale. Tuolumne
County
authorities said Jon Joslin was arrested on suspicion
of assault with a
deadly weapon after he allegedly hit another man over
the head with a
cornbread pan at the sale Friday. A sheriff's spokesman
said Joslin hit
the fellow shopper with a five-pound, cast iron pan to prevent him from
getting to the sale first.
"It seems the two men arrived early at the yard sale
and were walking up a long driveway when investigators
said Joslin first
attempted to trip 64-year-old Joseph Brown."
