The real 2013-14 state budget ultimately may not look anything like the document that the governor unveils today, but for now the watchwords are temperance, moderation and restraint.
From Greg Lucas in Capitol Weekly: "But even with passage of Proposition 30 and a brighter picture, the Brown administration is attempting to keep expectations low: “While the state has made dramatic progress over the last two years to close its budget gaps, risks still remain to the economic forecast,” said H.D. Palmer, longtime spokesman for the Department of Finance."
“One of the most significant could come as early as next month, as the federal government nears the deadline to take action to address the impending debt ceiling.”
The Legislative Analyst, which predicts the state may enjoy budget surpluses as early as 2014, also suggests restraint: “Our multiyear budget forecast depends on a number of key econo0mic, policy and budgetary assumptions. Changes in these assumptions could dramatically lower – or even eliminate – our projected out-year operating surpluses.”
Like Mr. Smith, Hilda Solis went to Washington -- and she'll be coming back. The former California lawmaker who President Obama appointed as Labor Secretary has resigned her post and is returning to L.A.
From Peter Fullam in the LA Daily News: "Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who rose from humble beginnings in La Puente to become the first Hispanic woman to serve in a Cabinet post, announced her resignation Wednesday."
"After serving four years with President Barack Obama, Solis, 55, said she thought is was a good time to step down. Her resignation continues an exodus from Obama's Cabinet that has included the Secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury..."
"Solis' life in politics may not be over though. She could seek the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors' First District seat held by Gloria Molina, who will be termed out in November 2014. The seat encompasses most of the East Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley area Solis represented when she served in Congress (32nd District) from 2001-09.
The Obama administration's attempt to keep a woman on the no-fly list has earned the wrath of a San Francisco judge.
From the Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "A federal judge in San Francisco has indignantly rejected an attempt by the Obama administration to use secret evidence to derail a former Stanford student's challenge to her apparent inclusion on the government's no-fly list."
"The government must halt its "persistent and stubborn refusal" to follow the applicable laws, said U.S. District Judge William Alsup."
"Rahinah Ibrahim's name on the confidential no-fly list has barred her and one of her four children from returning to the United States for nearly eight years. She was a Stanford graduate student in January 2005 when she was first stopped at San Francisco International Airport and prevented from boarding a flight to her native Malaysia. She was arrested and jailed briefly by San Francisco police but was allowed to take the flight the next day, with her 14-year-old daughter. When Ibrahim tried to return two months later, however, she was again stopped and told she was subject to arrest. "
The teachers' huge pension fund is taking a new look at its investments in firearms companies, a reaction from the mass killing of students at a Newtown, Conn., school.
From Calpensions' Ed Mendel: "The California State Teachers Retirement System found that it owned stock, apparently in violation of its own policy, in the maker of a semi-automatic rifle, banned in California, that was used to kill 20 first-graders and six adults in an elementary school."
"Teachers on the CalSTRS board seemed emotionally moved yesterday before a unanimous vote that may result in the sale of $2.9 million worth of stock in Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson, makers of some guns and large ammo clips banned in California."
"Through its holdings in a private equity firm, Cerberus, the pension fund also owns stock valued at $8.8 million in the Freedom Group, maker of the Bushmaster rifle used by a lone gunman in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn."
Authorities in Southern California have decided not to accuse Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, of domestic violence, saying there is no evidence to support the allegations from a former girlfriend.
From the LA Times' Patrick McGreevy: "The decision by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office stems from an argument the couple had at the Lazy Dog Cafe in West Covina. The district attorney's report said Hernandez said during the argument that "he was going to call police about [the woman] threatening a member of the state Assembly."
"The woman, Carolina Taillon, called police, "considering the comment as a threat to her," the report said."
"Taillon told responding officers that Hernandez had assaulted her on two separate occasions in July. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Manuel Garcia Jr. wrote that there were no independent witnesses to the alleged assaults and Taillon was late in reporting them. He also wrote that she was arrested in 2002 on domestic violence allegations, "creating possibility of self-defense claim" for Hernandez."
