California's U.S. Senators are high on the seniority ladder and moving up steadily -- with rewards for California.
From the LAT's Richard Simon: " Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer have served longer together than any other pair of California senators — 20 years — and will soon replace Iowa's team as the current longest-serving tandem."
"In a chamber where the presence of spittoons and snuffboxes testifies to the power of tradition, that historically would have meant they could exert more influence on behalf of the state."
"But Feinstein and Boxer are poised to move up at least to Nos. 11 and 12 in the 100-member chamber — and higher in their Democratic Party ranks — in an era of austerity, when Congress is under pressure to rein in spending. And they are doing so at a time when newcomers feel emboldened to take on the veterans, at times publicly."
An issue at CalPERS is whether dramatically raising the level of employer contributions will trigger a backlash from members.
From Ed Mendel in Calpensions: "Now actuarial methods adopted by CalPERS will raise many employer rates to what Seeling worried could be “unsustainable costs of between 25 percent of pay for a miscellaneous plan and 40 to 50 percent of pay for a safety plan (police and firefighters).”
"The official CalPERS view ignores the possibility that the big rate increase could squeeze funding for other programs enough to trigger a backlash, perhaps even rekindling fear among public pensions of a switch to 401(k)-style individual investment plans."
"Instead, the rate hike is said to be needed to put CalPERS back on the path to full funding in 30 years and build a cushion against another deep economic recession, which could slash investment earnings and pension funding levels."
The Koch brothers, billionaires as well as conservative political activists, are interested in purchasing all or part of the The Tribune Company, which publishes the Los Angeles Times.
From Amy Chozick at the NY Times: "Other than financing a few fringe libertarian publications, the Kochs have mostly avoided media investments. Now, Koch Industries, the sprawling private company of which Charles G. Koch serves as chairman and chief executive, is exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant."
"By early May, the Tribune Company is expected to send financial data to serious suitors in what will be among the largest sales of newspapers by circulation in the country. Koch Industries is among those interested, said several people with direct knowledge of the sale who spoke on the condition they not be named. Tribune emerged from bankruptcy on Dec. 31 and has hired JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners to sell its print properties."
"The papers, valued at roughly $623 million, would be a financially diminutive deal for Koch Industries, the energy and manufacturing conglomerate based in Wichita, Kan., with annual revenue of about $115 billion."
The LA mayoral runoff election is in four weeks and Eric Garcetti has opened up a signficant lead, according to the latest poll.
From the LAT's Michael Finnegan: "Eric Garcetti has opened a commanding 10-point lead in the Los Angeles mayor's race over rival Wendy Greuel, whose dogged fight to win the backing of public employee unions appears to be undercutting her on her home turf in the San Fernando Valley, according to a new USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll."
"A month before the May 21 runoff, likely voters favored Garcetti over Greuel by 50% to 40%."
"The survey also found no sign of success for Greuel's effort to gain an edge among women by highlighting her potential to make history as the city's first female mayor. Women preferred Garcetti, 50% to 41%."
A conservation coalition has proposed a major crackdown on development as well as other environmental controls to preserve the qualities of life in Marin County.
From the Marin IJ's Nels Johnson: ""A coalition of conservation groups, saying a sweeping crackdown on development is required to preserve Marin's community character, is urging strict limits on the size of new homes, tighter zoning, a ban on new big-box stores and other moves aimed at making environmental protection the priority in all land-use decisions."
"Among the proposals detailed in the past week by the Marin Conservation League and others just in time for Earth Day are policies limiting the size of homes to 3,500 square feet, doubling or tripling West Marin's 60-acre lot size on agricultural land, outlawing additional big-box retail stores and avoiding any net increase in the county network of trails..."
"Joining the league in promoting the "Community Marin 2013" plan, which was outlined for Marin County supervisors on Tuesday and will be presented to other agencies this spring, were the Marin Audubon Society, Sierra Club Marin Group, Marin Baylands Advocates, Salmon Protection and Watershed Network and San Geronimo Valley Planning Group."
