"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday
ordered all state departments to draft plans for deep spending cuts after receiving word that California's budget is plunging further into the red -- largely because of the troubled housing market," reports Evan Halper in the Times.
"State officials have warned the governor that
the likely deficit for next year has jumped from a few billion dollars to as much as $10 billion, threatening to wipe out the progress Schwarzenegger has claimed in getting the state's accounts in order.
"In response, Schwarzenegger's finance department
has ordered agency directors to formulate plans to cut budgets by 10 percent for the spending blueprint the governor will unveil in January, according to administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That would mean substantial cuts in all state programs, including education, transportation and healthcare, the officials said."
And you thought
2007 was fun...
Meanwhile, as the state struggles to pay its bills, legislative leaders are getting closer to the governor on a
$14 billion plan for universal health insurance.
"After months of little movement, Democratic leaders on Monday
agreed to significant parts of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's universal health care plan, including requiring individuals to purchase insurance," reports Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"At a briefing with reporters, Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, also outlined a funding proposal designed to bridge the difference between Democrats and the Republican governor on how much employers would be required to contribute.
"'The governor has proposed that employers pay zero to 4 percent of their payroll based on a sliding scale. Núñez and Sen. President Pro Tem
Don Perata, D-Oakland, had countered with 7.5 percent.
The new proposal calls for a 2 to 6.5 percent sliding scale."'Firms with payroll of $100,000 or less would be required to pay 2 percent. Those with payrolls between $100,000 and $150,000 would have to pay 4 percent. And those with payrolls of more than $150,000 would have to pay 6.5 percent.
"The new proposal also includes a new tax on tobacco products,
including a $2-a-pack tax on cigarettes. Voters would have to approve all the funding elements in the plan, which would be placed on the November 2008 ballot.
"'
We're a hop, skip or a jump from a deal we hope the governor can embrace,' Núñez said. '
If he doesn't, Senator Don Perata and I will have to sit down and figure out what more movement we could possibly make."
That doesn't exactly sound like a man who's bargaining from a position of strength, does it?
Dan Walters writes that, even if universal health care is implemented,
a new report finds that there might not be enough health care workers to serve the newly insured.
Capitol Weekly reports that
Steve Poizner is ready to open his wallet in the
fight against Speaker Fabian Nunez's effort to tweak the state's term limits law.
"A public announcement was expected Tuesday at a Capitol news conference at which Poizner was expected to attend. On Monday evening,
Kevin Spillane, a spokesman for the No on Proposition 93 campaign, declined to confirm or deny Poizner's role.
"
The level of Poizner's anticipated financial support was unknown. But the Republican Poizner spent some $15 million on his own 2006 race for insurance commissioner. Two years earlier, he spent some $8 million on an unsuccessful race for a Silicon Valley Assembly seat."
His donations to defeat the leaders' term-limits initiative, is also likely to be in the seven figures.The U-T's Greg Moran reports, "A federal jury
convicted Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes yesterday for his role in engineering the
biggest bribery scheme in congressional history, a verdict that closed another chapter in the scandal surrounding former Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham."
"Under orders from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to issue an unvarnished report,
fire officials today will launch a review of lessons learned from the infernos that swept across Southern California late last month," writes Michael Gardner in the U-T.
"The governor proposes to broaden traditional post-fire reviews to address some divisive philosophical issues, such as more restrictive building codes and tougher zoning laws in wild-land regions.
"He also is expected to ask officials to explore complex questions over the role of the military and the balance between state and local funding for firefights.
"
Schwarzenegger wants the task force to address criticism over delays in deploying some aircraft, engine availability and whether layoffs of seasonal firefighters slowed containment."
"The
field was set Monday for an election to fill the state Assembly seat vacated when Laura Richardson was elected to Congress, with the Democratic primary featuring two candidates with close ties to organized labor and friends in high places," writes the LAT's Patrick McGreevy.
"The special primary election Dec. 11 for the south Los Angeles County 55th Assembly District seat is a match between Carson City Councilman
Mike Gipson and Los Angeles Community College board member
Warren Furutani.
"Gipson is endorsed by Richardson and a host of state and local elected officials, while Furutani, who is on leave from a job as senior consultant to Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez, has the backing of Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa, a potent force in a predominantly Latino district.
"
Gipson, 41, works as an area organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles, but Furutani, 60, has won the backing of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and several local unions."'
This race has split labor,' said
Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. 'It's nip and tuck, too close to call.'"
Meanwhile,
don't expect election results from San Francisco tonight. "Concerns about the reliability and accuracy of San Francisco's aging voting system persuaded Secretary of State
Debra Bowen to order the city to take special measures to ensure that all the votes are tallied correctly.
The efforts, which include visual inspections of every ballot, will dramatically stretch out the count."'We'll release the absentee votes we've counted at around 8:30 p.m., and that will be it for election night,'
John Arntz, the city's elections chief, said Monday.
"As of today, that looks like about 50,000 votes - the 48,000 absentee ballots that arrived at City Hall by Monday morning and about 2,000 votes that were cast early at the polling place in front of the city election offices.
"Those votes amount to nearly one-quarter of the 209,723 ballots cast in the 2003 mayoral election. But because virtually every local observer expects a lower voter turnout than the 46 percent of four years ago, the votes tallied tonight could be an even larger chunk of the final count.
"The slow vote count probably won't stop any of the top candidates from declaring victory tonight. Mayor Gavin Newsom and Sheriff
Michael Hennessey are facing little significant opposition in their re-election bids; District Attorney
Kamala Harris is running unopposed."
And from our
Necessity is the Mother of Invention Files, congrats to two 8-year-old twin brothers who are being credited with
inventing wedgie-proof underwear.
"Using rigged boxers and fabric fasteners to hold together some seams, Jared and Justin Serovich came up with the "Rip Away 1000," reports the AP.
"
When the person tries to grab you like the bully or the person tries to give you a wedgie they just rip away," Justin explained Thursday by phone from Los Angeles.
We know what we're getting the legislators on
our Christmas list this year...
