Well, this can't be good.
"Budget negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and four
Legislative leaders fell apart Tuesday when one of the Republican
leaders stormed out of the meeting, angrily charging
that the talks
"are not helpful."
Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, apparently,
was channeling John Burton, or the Villines equivalent.
""Frankly, I was very frustrated when leaving that meeting," Villines said in an
interview. "I'm tired of walking into (these meetings) and the only
thing that's being talked about is more tax increases."
"The governor just has not been helpful. The only thing
that the governor wants is to make sure he can raise
taxes," he said.
The LAT's Evan Halper gets some time with the governor to talk budget.
"Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken on an unlikely role
as one of the
Capitol's most steadfast champions of a tax hike, spurning
his fellow
Republicans' uncharacteristic effort to borrow their way out of
budget
trouble.
"The GOP lawmakers, preferring debt to a tax increase,
say Democrats might have agreed to close the $15.2-billion budget gap
with loans by now if not for Schwarzenegger.
"The legislative leaders understand we will not
support a tax increase," said the leader of the Assembly's Republicans,
Mike Villines of Clovis, who stalked out of budget talks in anger
Tuesday afternoon. "I don't think the governor understands that. . . .
It is so frustrating to sit through these meetings
in his office. How
many times can we say no to taxes?"
We don't know, but we're sure we'll hear it again before this is over.
"I think the sweet spot is a sales tax
increase," Schwarzenegger said in the interview, "with the Democrats
compromising on the budget reform in such a way that
we have a real
spending limit here. . . . Not everyone sees it that
way. That's what I
see."
Meanwhile, the budget gap just got a little bigger , reports the Bee's Jim Sanders and Kevin Yamamura.
"A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt in the
state's 10
percent reduction in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, improving access to
care for 6.5 million low-income patients but throwing a new wrench in
already difficult budget negotiations.
The U.S. District Court
decision forces the state to reimburse most Medi-Cal providers at rates
prior to the 10 percent cut, which lawmakers and Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger made effective July 1 as a cost-cutting measure to help
resolve a $15.2 billion budget shortfall this year.
"The move
increases reimbursement rates the state pays to doctors,
dentists,
pharmacists, adult day-care centers and other providers who serve
Medi-Cal patients. It excludes some hospitals who do not
contract with
the state and do not provide emergency care.
With the budget in stalemate, the Senate had other business to attend to , reports LAT's Patrick McGreevy.
"State lawmakers took action on various scourges of
Southern California
life Tuesday, including gun violence, traffic congestion
and bandit
taxicabs.
With less than two weeks left to act on legislation,
the state Senate sent dozens of bills to the governor,
including a
measure sought by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca
to outlaw the
carrying of loaded firearms in vehicles in unincorporated
areas of the
county.
And other big deals began to come together.
Groups representing optometrists
and ophthalmologists have finally reached a compromise
on a scope of practice bill governing the two eye care
professions, according to the bill's author.
The new language in Sen. Lou Correa's SB 1406 has been approved by Legislative Counsel and is scheduled
to go into print this morning. If it passes and is
signed by the governor in its new form, the bill will
allow optometrist to perform several procedures they
were previously barred from. Meanwhile, ophthalmologists
were able to protect some of the procedures they say
they alone are qualified to perform-notably, anything involving cutting into the eye.
California's politically powerful Indian casino tribes and the
state's major charities have worked out a "win-win" deal that would
allow the charities to expand their bingo operations
while preserving
the tribes' constitutional monopoly on slot machines," the Bee's Steve Weigand reports.
"But the
compromise, which has attracted a swarm of lobbyists
in the waning days
of the Legislature's session, might be a lose-lose for some small
charities, particularly in the Sacramento area, and
for manufacturers
of electronic games that look and play like slot machines
but are
advertised as "electronic bingo" machines."
Just because the interest groups have a deal, doesn't mean the Speaker's on board...
"The deal would
specifically ban charities from operating such machines,
which have
been a bone of legal contention for two decades and
which tribes claim
violate their exclusive right to operate slot machines
in California."
And it looks like Don Perata isn't the only elected official in the FBI's crosshairs. The LAT reports, "Federal authorities investigating Los Angeles City
Atty. Rocky
Delgadillo and his wife are seeking information about her consulting
business and taxes, according to sources familiar with
the inquiry.
"Federal
prosecutors and FBI agents have expressed interest
in at least two
firms that hired Michelle Delgadillo -- California Litho-Arts, a
printing company based in Los Angeles, and Diane Castano-Sallee &
Associates, according to sources familiar with the
case who spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized
to discuss the
ongoing investigation.
"Velasquez says a "political agenda" lies behind any allegations
made against Delgadillo, who is said to be interested
in seeking
statewide office when his term expires next year.
"Any
allegation of wrongdoing is nothing more than garbage
being shoveled by
the city attorney's political opponents hiding behind the cloak of
anonymity," Velasquez said in one such comment. "This is a classic
political smear."
Meanwhile, in political injury news, "Sen. Dianne Feinstein will be
sitting out the Democratic National Convention in Denver
next week
after breaking her left ankle while hiking up at Lake
Tahoe," report Matier and Ross.
"This time, Feinstein was walking on the Meeks Bay trail
with Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, when she slipped."
Won't that broken ankle make it hard to run for governor?
Meanwhile, M&R also report, "Gavin Newsom's exploratory bid for governor just got a bit more serious,
with the hiring of former Gov. Gray Davis' chief strategist and attack dog Garry South as a senior adviser. Also coming on board is the polling
firm BSG, the folks crunching numbers for Barack Obama's presidential campaign."
And finally, look out for grannies packing heat. AP
reports, An 85-year-old woman boldly went for her gun and busted a would-be
burglar inside her home, then forced him to call police
while she kept
him in her sights, police said. "I just walked right on past him to the
bedroom and got my gun," Leda Smith said.
Smith heard someone break into her home Sunday afternoon and grabbed the .22-caliber revolver she had been keeping by her bed since
a neighbor's home was burglarized a few weeks ago.
"I said 'What are you doing in my house?' He just kept saying he didn't do it," Smith said.
After the 17-year-old boy called 911, Smith kept holding the gun on him until state police arrived at her home.
