A Field Poll shows that Jerry Brown is popular
among the California electorate -- twice as many like him as don't -- but that isn't translating into any breakthrough on
budget negotiations in the Capitol, notes the Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan.
"The governor is in the midst of working to persuade
lawmakers at the Capitol, especially Republicans, to
support his budget plan
and his call for a special election in June that would
allow voters to decide
whether to extend and increase some taxes for five
years. The taxes would help
close the state's $26.6 billion deficit."
"In the survey, 40 percent of registered Republicans said
they have no opinion of how Brown is doing. DiCamillo
said among those are
voters withholding judgment due to the opposition to
Brown's budget plan by
Republicans in the Legislature."
"He said the Republican opposition "throws up a
warning flag" for Republican voters, even if Brown
is "doing things
some of them might approve of."
The Bee's Dan Walters also takes a look, and compares Brown to the hapless Schwarzenegger.
"The bad news is that his approval rateing in a new Field Poll is just 48 percent, the lowest level for any governor's first
weeks in office since George Deukmejian in 1983. However, Republican Deukmejian had just won his election
by a paper-thin margin while Democrat Brown captured his second
governorship in November in a landslide."
"Simply put, Brown is less popular today than he was
when he defeated Republican Meg Whitman."
"He could take solace from the Field Poll finding that
he's three times as popular as the Legislature. But
as predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger learned the hard way, a governor's popularity means
almost nothing in dealing with legislators who are
elected from gerrymandered districts and are utterly
beholden to outside interests."
Maybe rather than wooing recalcitrant Republicans,
Brown should push his budget to a special election
ballot through a simjple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds vote requiring GOP support. When asked directly,
however, he danced around the issue.
From the LA Times' Anthony York: "Brown needs support from two-thirds majorities of each legislative house to put
billions of dollars in vehicle, income and sales tax
extensions before voters -- support that he has thus far failed to secure."
"When asked whether he meant he was prepared to try
to find a legal loophole that would circumvent the
two-thirds requirement, Brown remained coy. "I'm not prepared to cease negotiating in good faith
... and so far, I remain hopeful," he said."
"Brown did not want to discuss specific election scenarios
without any Republican support,saying that his talks
with GOP lawmakers continue: "I'm not prepared to even contemplate a Plan B tonight."
The governor's budget-linked plan to abolish California's redevelopment agencies
is causing some problems in organized labor, which
is on both sides of the fence. Capitol Weekly's John Howard reports.
"The state’s fiscal turmoil has caused fissures in one of
California’s most important political interests – organized labor. Ironically, the immediate cause of the division is
Gov. Jerry
Brown, who won the November election with the crucial
backing of labor."
"But his proposal to abolish California’s redevelopment agencies
has raised tensions among labor groups as they advocate
for their union
members’ best interests."
"The issue is expected to get a full airing at a two-day unity
meeting in Sacramento, the Joint Legislative Conference,
sponsored by the
California Labor Federation and the State Building
and Construction Trades
Council."
California's landmark law to curb greenhouse emissions
law has been put on hold by a San Francisco judge,
who ruled that the program to trade emissions credits was approved
by the state without considering sufficiently other
alternatives.
The Chronicle's Bob Egelko tells the tale: "The ruling by Judge Ernest Goldsmith of San Francisco
Superior Court does not prohibit the state Air Resources
Board from adopting cap and trade or explicitly require
that officials delay its scheduled implementation next
year. But Goldsmith said the board must first analyze
other options, such as a tax on carbon emissions, and
explain why it did not choose them."
"The state agency "seeks to create a fait accompli
by premature establishment of a cap-and-trade program before alternatives can be exposed to
public comment and properly evaluated," Goldsmith said
in Friday's ruling, which the state and environmental
group that sued over the plan received Monday."
"The board will appeal, said spokesman Stanley Young.
He expressed dismay at the scope of the ruling, which
requires the board to conduct an environmental review
and invite public comment before taking further steps
to implement the law."
Other coverage of the court decision: Margot Roosevelt in the LAT and Craig Miller at ClimateWatch.
California experts are looking at tsunami damage scenarios
for the state's coastal areas, in the wake of some $40 million to $50 million in damage suffered recently in Crescent City
and Santa Cruz, reports Chronicle science writer David Perlman.
"Wilson's agency, which two years ago published an
"inundation map" series online for every county in
the state, is now
planning similar maps to help land-use planners assess hazards to buildings
near shores and harbors, and to provide a guide to
danger zones where new
construction might be avoided, he said. The new maps
will not be ready for a
year or two."
"The state Geological Survey has also added a feature
to
its tsunami inundation map site that allows people
to see the probable flooding
areas near a specific address."
"Marin County has a site that shows the probable flooded
areas for every town and includes a narrated video
with information and advice
about tsunamis, plus the addresses and one numbers
of all emergency services."
And from our "A Star is Born" file comes the startling news that Charlie Sheen may get his old job back at CBS. Actually, we at the
Roundup have little time indeed for Charlie Sheen,
but we heard that if we write his name, it'll boost
our internet traffic. Gotcha!
"Sources close to Charlie Sheen tell NBC News,
CBS has offered him his job back. Discussions ongoing.
Not a done deal."
"Rossen follows with a second tweet,
"Per my sources: CBS is happy to have Charlie Sheen back on show...IF
Warner Bros, Chuck Lorre, and Sheen can settle differences."
Rossen has
reported extensively on Sheen. At about 3:21 p.m., Rossen sent a third
tweet for clarification, noting that there are two
companies involved.
"CBS would be happy to take Charlie back, but he still
needs to reach deal
with WB," he writes."
"CBS declined comment."
"Since being fired from "Two and
Half Men," Sheen has sued Chuck Lorre and Warner
Bros. for
$100 million, planned a live concert tour and talked to
many, many news and
television outlets."
Liked him in Hot Shots, Part Deux, though, co-starring Jerry Haleva....
