State budget negotiations have run into a problem -- what, no gasp of surprise? -- and this time it's a chicken-and-egg thing: Should tax extensions be extended temporarily, as Gov. Brown wants, until an election can be held to let voters weigh in? Or should the election come first, say Republicans, and the taxes, if any, follow?
From Anthony York and Shane Goldmacher in the LA Times: "Republican lawmakers are prepared to let voters decide
whether to close California's stubborn budget deficit with higher taxes in
exchange for major changes in state spending, public pensions and regulatory
policies."
"But a week before the legal deadline for a spending plan, and with lawmakers'
pay hanging in the balance, a final budget accord between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republicans remains elusive amid disagreement
over which should come first — tax hikes or an election."
Both sides said Tuesday that the crucial stumbling block
is a demand by Brown that Republicans extend current vehicle and sales tax
rates to help balance the budget until voters have their say. Those rates will
otherwise expire July 1."
If the budget gets delayed, lawmakers won't get paid until a spending plan is approved. The Ventura County Star's Timm Herdt talked to one legislator about a potential impasse.
"Cameron Smyth is 39 years old and the father of three
school-age children. He earns a comfortable, if not extravagant, salary of
$95,291 a year.
Beginning next week, there's a possibility he may have
his pay suspended indefinitely."
"It's very real," he says of the possibility.
"My wife and I have talked about it. I'd be paying my mortgage on my
credit card."
"Smyth is a member of the California Assembly, one of 120
lawmakers who will have their pay and living expenses cut off if the
Legislature does not send a budget to Gov. Jerry Brown by a week from today."
"Smyth, a Republican whose district includes much of Simi
Valley, is one of a handful of key GOP lawmakers who could have an important
role in determining whether the deadline is met."
California is at risk of violating a federal court order to cut its prison population by some 30,000 inmates. The state says it can't do the deed unless it gets funding from the Legislature. The LA Times' Jack Dolan tells the tale.
"Corrections chief Matthew Cate said the state must
immediately begin overhauling the prison system to meet a November deadline to
lower its head count by more than 10,000 inmates. But without funding from the
Legislature for Brown's proposal to shift responsibility for some prisoners to
county jurisdictions, the state cannot take action, he said."
"If the state finds itself with no money and no viable
backup plan, the courts have the authority to order felons released, Cate said.
"We are out of time and out of room," he said. Without the funding,
"we're in trouble."
"The November benchmark is the first of four that were set in motion late last
month when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling
requiring the state to shed about 33,000 inmates over the next two years
because of severe overcrowding."
Blue Shield of California, meanwhile, announced that it was going to cap its profits at 2 percent, a statement that caught a lot of people by surprise.
From Victoria Colliver in the Chronicle: "A plan announced by Blue Shield of California on Tuesday
to cap its profit at 2 percent and give back anything over that amount to its
health care providers and policyholders was praised by some as the right step
during a time of rising health care costs, but criticized by others for not
going far enough."
"We need to focus on the overall cost of health
insurance and this isn't even nickels and dimes. This is one penny," said
Robert Laszewski, former insurance executive and now an industry consultant."
"The announcement by the San Francisco nonprofit health
insurer comes at a time when health care premiums are rising and insurers,
including Blue Shield, have come under growing scrutiny for their rate
increases. Elements of the federal health law, which was passed last year, are
starting to be enacted, but industry observers fear that coverage may become
too costly for most Americans by 2014, when the major provisions of the law go
into place."
As if the crazy weather this year hasn't been enough of a concern, now we've got a new worry: summer flooding.
From Peter Fimrite in the Chronicle: "More snow than has ever been recorded this close to summer is blanketing Donner Summit, creating a potentially dangerous situation when the snow begins to melt, hydrology experts said Tuesday."
"A summer heat wave could cause melting snow in the Sierra to cascade down from the mountains all at once, overwhelming reservoirs and river channels and causing widespread flooding, California water officials warned."
"The disastrous scenario is a distinct possibility, officials said, because unseasonably cold weather over the past month has frozen the Sierra snowpack in place long after it would have normally melted."
The Mercury News' Tracey Kaplan takes a look at political power -- and the lack of it -- of the Berryessa neighborhood and its interaction with Sacramento.
"To grasp just how little clout one of San Jose's most
politically organized neighborhoods wields in Sacramento, look no further than
a new law letting supermarkets give away free samples of booze."
"In the past, all Berryessa residents who opposed the bill
would have had to do was contact two officials -- their Assembly member and
state senator."
"But that was before politicians in 2001 carved the
14-square-mile neighborhood in northeast San Jose into a jigsaw puzzle, with
four Assembly and two Senate districts. Since then, a fragmented Berryessa has
longed for reconsolidation, partly because its now-divided 83,000 residents
can't command the attention of state politicians on issues such as the
alcohol-tasting bill."
"By and large, they don't even know who we
are," said Marc Liebman, superintendent of the Berryessa Union School
District. "On the tasting bill, only one -- (Assemblyman) Jim Beall --
bothered to respond, and the rest voted for it."
And now we open our "Any Port in a Storm" file to follow the naked Irishman who was rowing across the Indian Ocean. We don't make this stuff up.
"An Irish rower hoping to become the youngest man ever to
row solo across the Indian Ocean has been rescued off the coast of Western
Australia, after sustaining a minor head injury.
Kildare native Keith Whelan – a.k.a. the ‘Naked Adventurer’ – has had to put his
charity endeavour on ice after his boat was hit by a large wave last night,
banging his head against a bolt and leaving him with a substantial gash."
"A blog post on Keith’s website said
Whelan had been able to stop the flow of blood himself but decided to seek
medical help at first light this morning, when he made a call to a friend in
the UK through his craft’s satellite phone."
"That friend was then, in turn, able to make contact with
Australian maritime safety authorities who issued a call to nearby craft to
recue him."
"A cargo boat about 14 miles away was then diverted to
pick him up, an Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman told the Irish Echo."
