"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
unveiled a $9-billion bond package Tuesday that would pay for three new or expanded dams and amount to an unprecedented level of taxpayer financing for water projects," reports Nancy Vogel in the Times.
"With drought and court-imposed cutbacks looming, the governor's proposal kick-starts what is expected to be several weeks of intense negotiations with legislators to place a water bond on the Feb. 5 ballot.
"Schwarzenegger's insistence upon dam projects in the Bay Area and in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys puts him at odds with most Democratic legislators.
"The Republican governor's latest, most detailed proposal involves $3.6 billion more in borrowing than what Senate leader
Don Perata, an Oakland Democrat, has proposed in a bond measure of his own.
"Perata would not preclude local water districts from competing for state money to help build dams in his $5.4-billion proposal, but his plan would not earmark state money for specific dams.
"'We're not saying we're not for dams,' Perata said, 'but what we are saying is: Let the dams compete with other things. This is kind of ironic for me to say instead of the governor: Let the market run its course.'"
"Legislation to
ease the disclosure rules on the millions of dollars worth of politician-directed donations that unobtrusively flow to charities
has been yanked from the governor's desk," reports CW's John Howard. "
The head of the state's political watchdog agency raised an alarm about the bill--which was approved unanimously in both houses--and the governor himself expressed concerns before returning it to the Legislature at the Senate's request."
"Current law requires that behested payments of $5,000 or more be publicly reported within 30 days. Calderon's bill would have raised the threshold to $$7,000, added an annual, automatic increase pegged to inflation and extended the reporting period to 90 days.
The bill drew criticism from, among others, Johnson and Robert Stern, head of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, which tracks politics and campaign finance. Stern is a former general counsel of the FPPC. Calderon's bill was placed in the Assembly, where it is expected to be considered next year.
"'
It raises the real potential of abuse,' Johnson said."
"Blocked by powerful tribal opponents, gambling
agreements that authorized the Los Coyotes band of San Diego County and another tribe to build large, off-reservation casinos in Barstow have expired," reports the U-T's James Sweeney.
"
The passing of a midnight Monday deadline to have land eligible for the joint project rendered the compacts 'null and void,' said a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who negotiated the deals.
"
However, the bid by Los Coyotes and the Big Lagoon tribe of Humboldt County to build side-by-side casinos along a popular route to Las Vegas may not be dead.
"'Within the next few weeks we'll meet with Big Lagoon and Barstow and try to get a meeting with the governor's office . . . to see what options are open,� said Shane Chapparosa, vice chairman of Los Coyotes.
"With the regular legislative session complete,
the battle over eight gay rights bills, including one allowing same-sex marriage, has moved directly to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office," writes the Bee's Kevin Yamamura.
"Religious-based critics have asked volunteers to repeatedly dial the Republican governor to voice their opposition to the measures. In one e-mail, the Campaign for Children and Families asks supporters to call and write Schwarzenegger, with one piece of additional advice: 'Don't forget to pray to God.'
"At the same time, Oakland-based Marriage Equality USA organized statewide rallies Tuesday in 17 cities, including Sacramento, to demand that the governor sign the high-profile bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in California.
"If past years are any indication, Schwarzenegger will play it right down the middle.
"The governor has repeatedly said -- most recently Monday -- that he will veto Assembly Bill 43 by Assemblyman
Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, because he believes the marriage bill would thwart the will of voters who approved a 2000 initiative declaring that California recognizes marriage only "between a man and a woman."
"But Schwarzenegger has also signed bills in previous years that expanded civil rights protections to gays and lesbians in employment and housing, as well as domestic partnership rights such as the ability to check the "married" box on state tax forms."
"A
move by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration to transfer hearings from California's civil rights commission to a state office in Sacramento was delayed Tuesday amid allegations the administration was overstepping its legal authority," writes Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission, the same body the administration is proposing to dismantle, put off a decision on the controversial move in order to consult with the state attorney general's office.
"
Rosario Marin, a member of the governor's Cabinet and secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency, wants to transfer the functions of the commission that hears discrimination cases to the state's Office of Administrative Hearings. The commission's four lawyers, currently based in San Francisco, would be offered jobs elsewhere.
"In an interview on the eve of Tuesday's commission hearing, Marin defended the move, saying the state Supreme Court needs the agency's office space, and the move will improve efficiency.
"Marin was in the Capitol on Tuesday, meeting with Assemblyman
Dave Jones, chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, when the commission tabled the matter.
"Afterward, Commissioner
Patrick Adams said the decision was made to await a legal opinion by the attorney general's office."
"State Sen.
Darrell Steinberg, an architect of Proposition 63, California's landmark effort to overhaul its troubled mental health system, said Tuesday that he
would resign as chairman of the state commission that oversees the reform effort," write Scott Gold and Lee Romney in the Times.
"Steinberg (D-Sacramento) will step down from the 16-member Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission on Sept. 28 after the board's regular, bimonthly meeting in Sacramento, he said in an interview and in a letter to colleagues.
"'Mental health is going to continue to be one of my absolute, top-tier priorities because there is so much more to do,' he said.
"'
But this particular role -- it's time. You have to give up your baby at some point,' Steinberg said.
"In 2004, as he was being forced out of the Assembly by term limits, Steinberg helped write and win voter approval of Proposition 63. The act placed a 1% surtax on incomes above $1 million and dedicated the money -- more than $2 billion so far -- to treatment of the mentally ill."
"Whether it's backing a trendy Richmond neckwear designer or building loft-style apartments in downtown Sacramento, the investments of California's leading public pension fund
inject an estimated $15.1 billion a year into the state economy, according to a new study," writes the Bee's Gilbert Chan.
"The California Public Employees' Retirement System also helps generate more than 124,000 jobs statewide, researchers from the Applied Research Center at California State University, Sacramento, say in a report to be released this morning at an investment conference in Los Angeles. The report was commissioned by CalPERS.
"Overall, the nation's largest public pension fund delivers a bigger financial punch than Disneyland, the machinery manufacturing industry and California golf courses. CalPERS rivals the economic clout of California's two public university and college systems.
"The report dovetails with a similar study released in the spring that assessed the economic ripple effects of pension spending by CalPERS' 389,000 retirees in the state. That report said retirees sparked an estimated $11.8 billion in economic activity."
"State Sen.
Carole Migden is back on the highway after her wild ride through Solano County four months ago, but she had better keep her eyes on the road, a Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman said Tuesday," reports John Wildermuth in the Chron.
"The San Francisco Democrat had her license returned last week, but another moving violation could put her on the sidewalk again, DMV spokesman
Mike Marando said.
"Migden's license was suspended after her erratic drive on May 18 that ended when she rear-ended another car with her state-issued sport utility vehicle near Fairfield. She pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge last month and was fined $710 and given two years of court probation.
"Although she is allowed to drive, her license can be revoked if she receives another moving violation in the next 12 months, Marando said. 'We'll be monitoring her progress,' he added."
"The University of California board of regents
is being accused of quashing academic debate for withdrawing its invitation to former Harvard University President
Lawrence Summers to address the board tonight.
"Pressured by female professors concerned about gender and racial issues, regents Chairman
Richard Blum last week rescinded the invitation to Summers, who resigned from Harvard after suggesting in a 2005 speech that biological differences between the sexes might be one explanation for why fewer women succeed in mathematic, engineering and science careers.
This, of course, is the same Richard Blum who was
critical of the hiring, firing and rehiring of Erwin Chemerinsky at UC Irvine. But we digress...
"'The fact that the university capitulated to this is appalling. The administration is intimidated by a minority of faculty,' said
David Horowitz, a conservative writer who founded the activist group Students for Academic Freedom. 'Summers is a brilliant guy. I don't share his politics, but if you can't discuss ideas at a university, where can you discuss them?'
At the Donald Bren School of Law, of course!
"'The attack on Summers was conducted by anti-intellectual ideologues,' Horowitz said. 'Even if it was just a hypothesis, and a wrong one, it is outrageous to punish somebody for expressing an unpopular idea.'
"UC faculty members said it was inappropriate for the regents to have Summers as their guest at a time when the university is struggling to diversify its faculty.
"'Inviting a keynote speaker who has come to symbolize gender and racial prejudice in academia conveys the wrong message to the university community and to the people of California,' said an online petition circulated on all the UC campuses by the female professors.
"The petition was signed by 388 faculty and staff members."
Meanwhile, "Lt. Gov.
John Garamendi and Assemblyman
Anthony Portantino have sent letters asking California State University trustees not to approve executive pay raises averaging nearly 12 percent.
"Garamendi, an ex-officio member of the CSU board, and Portantino, D-La Canada-Flintridge, argued that it would be wrong to issue such pay hikes to 22 campus presidents and four top executives, including Chancellor Charles Reed, at a time when students are experiencing additional fee increases. Trustees will consider the raises today."
Finally, from our
Pina Colada Files, evidence that life doesn't end like
the song.
"A
married couple who didn't realise they were chatting each other up on the internet are divorcing.
"
Sana Klaric and husband
Adnan, who used the names "Sweetie" and "Prince of Joy" in an online chatroom, spent hours telling each other about their marriage troubles, Metro.co.uk reported.
"The truth emerged when the two turned up for a date. Now the pair, from Zenica in central Bosnia, are divorcing after accusing each other of being unfaithful.
"'
I was suddenly in love. It was amazing. We seemed to be stuck in the same kind of miserable marriage. How right that turned out to be,' Sana, 27, said.
"Adnan, 32, said: 'I still find it hard to believe that Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years.'"
