The fiscal year
deadline for a new budget came and went Saturday night. The Bee's Judy Lin reports: "Unless Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature strike a compromise within the month, the state won't be able to make hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to vendors supplying food to prisoners, schools offering summer classes for remedial students, and the salaries and per diem of elected state officials and their staff.
"Most of the impact would not be felt until the end of July, because that's when the state's bills come due.
"'A budget stalemate that persists until the end of July will threaten California's ability to meet many significant financial obligations,' state Controller
John Chiang said in a statement Friday."
"California motorists, farmers and boaters
would pay an estimated $130 million a year in new fees for alternative-fuel research and other clean-air programs under a proposal by Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nunez," reports E.J. Schultz in the Bee.
"Assembly Bill 118 -- which recently passed the Assembly -- would make the state a major investor in green technology, alongside venture capitalists and energy companies that already are pouring billions of dollars into research.
"The bill comes less than one year after lawmakers passed legislation to aggressively cut the state's greenhouse gases in an attempt to curb global warming. That effort will fail if 'we as government don't do something to help jump-start the alternative fuels market,' said Nunez, D-Los Angeles.
"Under AB 118, annual fees that most auto owners pay would rise by $10 -- an $8 increase for smog abatement and a $2 increase for vehicle registration. Driver's license renewal fees, typically paid every five years, would increase by $1."
"Sen.
Edward Vincent and Assemblywoman
Nell Soto have missed a combined six months of the 2007 legislative session due to illness, but the
absences didn't prevent them from collecting more than $35,000 in 'per diem' pay between them while they were gone," writes the Bee's Shane Goldmacher.
"The two Democratic lawmakers collected the extra money -- earmarked in the state constitution for "travel and living expenses" -- despite the fact that both were house-bound hundreds of miles from the Capitol.
"The daily $162 tax-free allowance is paid to state lawmakers on top of their nation-leading $113,098 salary.
"Now, taxpayer advocates are raising questions about whether California lawmakers should be allowed to continue their longstanding practice of collecting per diem while out sick.
"'If you are unable to travel to Sacramento or do the job due to medical reasons, it would seem like you wouldn't need the per diem,' said
David Kline, a spokesman for the California Taxpayers' Association. 'It does not seem to fit the definition of what per diem is for.'
"The state constitution provides that lawmakers get travel and living expenses, as long as the Legislature is not in recess for more than three days in a row. The elected officials must attend sessions, though legislative rules allow for 'excused absences' such as illness, family illness or official legislative business outside the Capitol."
Kevin Yamamura writes that the deportation of the state GOP's chief operating officer
highlights the greater difficulties faced by the party.
"'
It just shows their basic political incompetence,' said
Tony Quinn, a political analyst and former Republican legislative aide. '
Why would anybody with really big bucks, the really heavyweight players in California, give to a party that does something like that?'"
"During his brief tenure at the CRP, Kamburowski's first order of business was to climb out of debt. At the end of 2006, the party had $220,000 in cash and owed $4.4 million, much of which went toward helping Schwarzenegger win re-election.
"In a campaign finance statement filed Thursday, the party still had nearly a $4.4 million debt and $1.2 million in cash through June 23, a $3.2 million deficit. CRP leaders voted Friday to extend repayment through the summer on a $3 million loan from GOP contributor
Larry Dodge.
"Former state Senate Republican leader
Jim Brulte said the party faced a difficult fundraising environment even before the hiring flap. Republicans have given heavily for five straight years, including the 2003 recall and 2005 special election, both expensive endeavors in what were supposed to be off-years.
"'The party leadership has acknowledged the incident was a mistake and I think everyone I know said, 'Fine, it's time to move on,' ' said Brulte, whom the party owes an estimated $200,000. '
But unrelated to this, I think 2007 is going to be a difficult year for the California Republican Party. We lost in the last election both houses of Congress ... and I think in California there's donor fatigue.'"
The Chron's Tom Chorneau reports on "a growing number of people who believe that
the state of California and its agents have been too aggressive in the past decade in seeking out private property -- from bank and brokerage accounts to safe-deposit boxes and payouts from insurance policies -- that is thought to be lost or unclaimed."
"
The state's collection program has since been shut down until changes can be legislated that meet the constitutional standard, although courts have not specified what that should be. The proposed solution would provide the controller's office with $8 million for a new outreach program. The controller would also wait at least one year before converting securities into cash.
"Meanwhile,
there is increasing concern among lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration that a federal ruling could expose the state to enormous liabilities for mishandling property in the past."
"Landmark California reforms enacted nearly 20 years ago to protect unwary students from 'diploma mills' making false promises about how their training will lead to good-paying jobs,
expired at midnight Saturday," reports the LAT's Henry Weinstein.
"A stopgap measure to extend the protections -- while debate continues on a long-range solution -- could be passed in several weeks by legislators grappling with how best to protect students and improve the operations of the state agency that oversees trade schools.
"There is intense debate about what to do next. Consumer advocates think that legislation to create a new regulatory scheme is not strong enough, while the trade association representing the schools maintains that it is too draconian."
Dan Walters
writes about the state's misplaced priorities. "UC's regents and administrators want to establish a new law school at Irvine because it would, in their view, enhance the school's prestige and, by extension, their own, not to meet any true educational or societal need. It's the same syndrome that drives the state Senate to, as it did a few weeks ago, dump another $5.5 million in precious transportation funds down a bottomless pit called the North Coast Railroad Authority.
"As those in political office waste our money on unneeded law schools and inoperable railroads, thousands of would-be nurses are being turned away and vital transportation projects are going unfunded.
"Go figure."
Meanwhile, George Skelton argues that
now is the for health care reform. "Republicans want to be seen as politically relevant, but not obstructionist. They'll need to be more conciliatory. But Schwarzenegger can't afford to dismiss them, as he did on global warming. This time, they can help scuttle any legislation in court or at the ballot box.
"Whatever ultimately passes, it must be produced this year. The Capitol likely will turn into a pumpkin after the term limits election in February.
"The stars are aligned now, but the politicians shouldn't be just staring up and fantasizing. They need to act. That means compromising and not shooting for the moon."
What do
Al Gore, Oprah Winfrey and Kofi Annan have in common? The three "
are best suited to champion work to fight climate change, a 47-nation opinion poll said on Monday.
"The three were most picked by more than 26,000 Internet users from a list of more than 20 politicians, actors, singers and soccer players to highlight links between celebrities and the environment before Live Earth pop concerts on Saturday."
We're sure Adam Mendelsohn is on the phone berating the poll publishers as we speak...
Actually, the guv finished second behind Annan among respondents from China.
