The state may be broke and the economy may be weak, but one group is enjoying a flood of dollars -- California lawmakers.
"While state legislators
have done little to tend to
California's dwindling treasury during this summer's
record-setting budget impasse, they've focused aggressively
on filling their own coffers," reports the LAT's Shane
Goldmacher. "Lawmakers have vacuumed up more than $6.9 million in campaign cash — more than $80,000 a day, state records show — since the fiscal year began without a budget on July
1. Much of the money has come from powerful interests
trying to advance an agenda."
"The legislators have wooed lobbyists and donors over
cocktails at a Beverly Hills cigar club, in luxury
boxes at baseball games and at Disneyland. A dozen
golf retreats were scheduled from July through September."
And the rest of us aren't doing too badly, either. It's
official. The recession is over. In fact, it ended last year.
More from the Times: "This just in: The recession ended more than a year ago — in June 2009."
"That may seem perplexing, given the sour state of
the economy, but the panel of experts designating when
serious economic downturns begin and end typically
takes a year or so to make the calls. Even so, minutes
after the experts announced Monday that the worst recession
in more than half a century had officially ended 15 months ago, its members felt the sting of indignant
reaction from a public for whom economic pain continues
to be an everyday reality."
Meanwhile, gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman repeated her call to suspend AB 32 and said she's trying "to figure out how to be smart
and green."
Steve Harmon reports, "At a campaign stop in Sacramento
touting her support
for business tax relief, Whitman said she would like
to "change the implementation schedule" of AB32 "so we don't drive jobs out of California while we
nurture our green economy," reports Steven Harmon of
the Contra Costa Times. "There are other ways to nurture
green jobs..."
"Earlier Monday in Los Angeles, Democratic candidate
Jerry Brown accused Whitman of "trying to have it both
ways" by calling AB32 a job killer while refusing to take a position on
Prop. 23, which would all but kill AB32. "
Speaking of greenhouse gases, Capitol Weekly reports that the Air Resources Board is adopting rules this week for
SB 375,
"Two years after approving a landmark anti-sprawl law to cut greenhouse gases, California is poised
to adopt long-awaited rules targeting land-use and vehicle pollution in regions across the state."
"The idea is to encourage regional planning that reduces
carbon emissions to levels set by the state over the
next three decades. One way to do that, for example,
is to cut into commute times by reconfiguring housing
developments and having peoples’ homes closer to work. Less driving means less fuel
consumed, less greenhouse gas."
On the campaign trail, Jerry Brown locked up the prison guards' endorsement. No surprise
there but in a tight, election CCPOA's backing can
be crucial.
"No huge surprise, but important as the guards still
swing a lot of power in their (financial) billy clubs," says the Chronicle's Joe Garofoli. "And they're not reflexively Democrat-backers. The 30,000-member union endorsed Republican Meg Whitman's campaign
chair Pete Wilson twice for guv. They spend a lot on
campaigns...OK, so they don't always pick the winner. Hint: Don't mention the word "Angelides" around the guards."
Dan Walters is hiking that trail, too, and is not pleased with the lack of specifics from Brown and Whitman on solving the state's budget
mess.
"Both are old enough, smart enough and experienced
enough to know that the state budget is a complete
mess. In fact, both of them are highly critical of
the deficit-ridden budget and the convoluted non-process by which it is cobbled together every year."
"But when it comes to specifics – how each would reshape the budget's priorities and
its supportive tax structure and persuade the Legislature to reform them – they retreat into generalities and buzzwords."
Down in Orange County, home of svelte housewives and libertarians, authorities are on the prowl for medical weed, says the Register's Kimberly Edds.
"Medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Orange
County could be banned under a proposed 45-day moratorium as the county prepares for the possible
legalization of marijuana by voters in November’s statewide election."
"The county ordinance, which would ban new dispensaries
and dispensaries without permits, must be approved
by 4/5 of the board of supervisors. The board meets Tuesday
to debate the issue."
And, finally, from our More Woes in Maryland File, the state is being invaded by stink bugs -- and now even Baltimore smells good.
"We're talking stink bugs. Not the one's that have
been in our area all along, but a new invader," reported
a local TV station. "It eats just about every crop.
And in some parts of Western Maryland, they've caused
massive damage."
"They may not look like much, but they're tough. Little
tanks. Little armored tanks. I call them a lot of other
names I can't put on camera," says Bob Black, owner
of Catoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont, Maryland.
Meaner than those guys on "The Wire"...
