Without fanfare, Governor Brown Wednesday signed the $115.4 billion budget that had earlier been negotiated with legislative Democrats. Now, the focus turns to the special session. David Siders, Sacramento Bee:
“The total amount of spending vetoed, $1.3 million, was the lowest for a California budget since 1982, when Brown was governor before and vetoed nothing.
“This year, Brown’s signature was never in doubt. The Democratic governor and legislative leaders announced a budget deal last week, and rank-and-file lawmakers ratified it Friday. The spending plan increases funding for state-funded preschool and universities and will expand Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented children starting in May 2016.
“The budget’s enactment comes a week before the July 1 start of the next fiscal year. But Brown and the Democratic-controlled Legislature have significant work to do outside the budget process. Brown called a special session last week to address funding shortfalls in health care, roads and infrastructure.”
Sunday ‘s meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in San Francisco showcased three California pols with big ambitions: Eric Garcetti, Antonio Villaraigosa and Gavin Newsom. Cathleen Decker digs in to their aspirations for the LAT:
“Most major political figures in California inhabit the same ideological turf -- they are more or less moderate-to-liberal Democrats, with policy distinctions a rarity. So it is personality and approach that can be the most compelling distinctions when their ambitions collide.
“All three men, who delivered remarks Sunday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting, are looking ahead to 2018. The governor’s office will be open and, if Dianne Feinstein decides against seeking a new term, a U.S. Senate seat would also be available.
“Newsom has already begun raising money to run for governor. Villaraigosa also sees a governor when he looks in the mirror. Garcetti has been raising money for his reelection but is widely seen as coveting a higher office after that.”
Two family leave expansion bills faced tough tests today, but each emerged from committee after clashes. Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee:
Assembly Bill 908 would increase paid family leave payments on a sliding scale for up to 10 weeks, with the aim of making them more meaningful to low-wage workers… With no listed opposition, it sailed through the Assembly on a 60-17 bipartisan vote.
“On Wednesday, however, the California Labor Federation and other unions that had been silent on the bill declared their opposition in the Senate committee.
“The CLF’s opposition clearly discomfited the committee’s dominant Democrats, who are ordinarily aligned with the union organization, but the support of women’s groups prevailed in a 4-1 committee endorsement of the bill….
“Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara… is carrying the other controversial family leave proposal, Senate Bill 406, which faced a test in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee a few hours later, and gained its approval on a 4-2 vote.”
How much do legislators need to raise to run for office? If you guessed “more than $1000 a day,” you win. Marissa Lagos, KQED:
“An analysis by the nonpartisan campaign finance organization MapLight.org of money raised from the beginning of 2013 through the November 2014 election shows it cost, on average, $1.1 million to win a seat in the state Senate. Successful members of the state Assembly raised slightly less — around $837,000, on average.
“If you break those sums down to a daily fundraising rate, senators had to bring in about $1,521 per day over the two-year cycle, while Assembly members needed to raise about $1,147 — 365 days a year.”
Lawmakers are advancing plans to mandate that 50% of California’s energy will be supplied by renewable sources by 2030. Jeremy Siders, Sacramento Bee:
“The full force of California’s political establishment backs the goal: Gov. Jerry Brown pitched the idea, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, has promoted it aggressively, and bills enshrining the new standard passed both the Senate and the Assembly with strong Democratic support.
“The question now seems less whether the new goal will be enacted than how utilities will get there. With the clean energy industry anticipating an opportunity for more business, California’s rooftop solar firms are fighting to be included – and meeting resistance from other industry players.
“’The rooftop solar is going to be a big policy issue,’ said Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, who chairs the committee overseeing utilities and energy. ‘It’s also going to be a big political issue.’”
The Capitol Morning Report offered up a nice profile of Senate photographer Lorie Shelley, who has been documenting the upper house for a quarter century.
Video of the day: dashcam footage of the luckiest motorcyclist in Russia.
“In the clip, captured from the dash cam of another vehicle, a small car is seen turning left at a four-way junction.
“But seconds later, a motorbike appears from the right hand side of the camera's frame and smashes into the side of the car.
“[The] biker flips into the air before suddenly landing on the car's roof.
“Thankfully, it appears no one was injured in the accident as the biker immediately sits up on the roof and slides down onto the pavement.”
