So, was this the last political punishment from the old regime, or the first spanking from the new one? Either way, Capitol Weekly reports,
there are two former candidates for Speaker without committee chairmanships.
"In a final act of political retribution against intra-party rivals, Speaker
Fabian Nu�ez stripped two former candidates to replace him of their committee chairmanships.
"Asemblyman
Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, lost his gavel of the powerful Assembly Rules Committee. He will be replaced by Assemblyman
Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, a Nu�ez loyalist and early backer of the speaker-elect
Karen Bass.
"Lieu will retain his chairmanship of the Banking and Finance Committee, according to Assembly sources.
"Assemblyman
Anthony Portantio, D-La Canada, had his chairmanship of the Assembly Higher Education Committee. No new chairman has been named."
"Nunez spokesman
Steve Maviglio said that it was an 'internal caucus matter,' and declined further comment."
But what did Karen Bass know and when did she know it?
"Faced with a projected $8 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
is touring California with the urgent message that the Legislature - which will go on vacation next week - needs to negotiate a budget immediately rather than wait to fix the looming crisis," reports Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
"And he says he also wants lawmakers to finally begin considering sweeping fiscal changes - including spending curbs and budget reform - to stabilize the state's future and reassure Wall Street that the Golden State is serious about the issue.
"In a wide-ranging interview with Daily News reporters and editors Thursday, Schwarzenegger said he's tired of waiting on lawmakers to act.
"'
I proposed my budget on Jan. 10. Now it's two months later and no one has come to my office even though my door is open,' Schwarzenegger said. '
I've invited them and said, 'Come down as quickly as possible because we need to resolve the problem now, not in July.' No one came down and talked about it.'
"'
So it's still all the kabuki. They're doing the song and dance.'
"Schwarzenegger said the law won't let him change lawmakers' calendars to force speedier discussions, but he said he wished lawmakers had given up their Easter break to deal with the budget."
"More than
10,100 teachers will see pink slips in their mailboxes over the next few days as districts up and down California meet a Saturday deadline to warn staff of anticipated layoffs due to the state's budget crisis," reports Jill Tucker in the Chron.
"With the governor proposing a $4 billion budget cut to state schools next fiscal year, local education officials are scrambling to adjust their spending plans. Given that 80 percent or more of a district's budget is spent on salaries, the only way to close the gap is to lose staff, many administrators said.
"This is the first round of pink slips, which are preliminary, and is designed to comply with a state law requiring notification. Districts must tell those teachers actually losing their jobs by May 15 - still well before officials know how much money they will actually get from the state. That won't happen until the Legislature and governor agree on a budget in July or perhaps even August.
"In the meantime, school districts have to guess about the number of layoffs they will need to balance their budgets and generally notify more teachers than they expect to let go."
Meanwhile, "Legislative Analyst
Elizabeth Hill, who once struggled in economics and statistics classes,
announced her retirement Thursday from her "dream job" as lawmakers' fiscal adviser," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"'It's time for a new chapter in my life,' said Hill, who joined the office in 1976 -- when employees could not wear beards or mustaches -- and assumed the reins 10 years later."
For the record, Hill still does not wear a beard or mustache.
"Hill will step down this fall from the $170,100-per-year post in which she acquired the nickname "Budget Nun" because of her fiscal acumen and no-nonsense style."
We at The Roundup truly hope that the 58-year-old Hill is given the two year bump in retirement that the Assembly is offering through its "golden handshake."
Evan Halper
reports "
John Ellwood, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, called Hill 'the last of the old generation,' a holdover from a time when lawmakers were more apt to work together across party lines. Hill's analyses were often used as a starting point for compromise.
"'
It used to be that the analyst would say things and people would do them because it was the analyst who said them,' Ellwood said. 'It is becoming harder and harder. Analysts are still saying things, but I don't think lawmakers often do them.'"
But good news for whoever replaces Hill. The Chron's Bob Egelko reports, "A city
can't require all job applicants to be tested for narcotics and must instead show why drug use in a particular job would be dangerous, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
"The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled against the city of Woodburn, Ore., which argued it was entitled to maintain a drug-free workplace by requiring job candidates to be screened for drugs and alcohol."
Because after dealing with this year's budget, anyone would need a few drinks.
"About 70 demonstrators -- mostly parents, students and teachers --
marched through the streets of Santa Ana on Thursday, protesting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts for California schools," writes the LAT's David Haldane.
"The gathering was one of about a dozen planned statewide in what organizers said was the kickoff of a series of events scheduled over the next several months in opposition to the $4.8 billion in education cuts proposed to offset the state's deficit.
"'This is ridiculous,'
Randy Maynor, a member of the Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the national grass-roots community-based group organizing the protests, told the crowd gathered at Lowell Elementary School.
"'To allow this to happen is criminal; our kids deserve better than this. We don't have a spending problem; it's a morality problem.'"
And from our
Democracy in Action Files, AP reports, "Every vote counts. But what happens when there are no votes at all? That's the situation city officials in Tamarac are facing.
No voters showed up Wednesday night to cast a ballot in an annexation referendum for an unincorporated Broward County community in Florida.
"There are 68 registered voters in the 200-person Prospect Bend neighborhood."
Maybe all of them were selected to be Florida's delegates to the Democratic National Convention. They were just practicing not having any voice.
