"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a bipartisan group of
lawmakers are wasting no time rallying support for a slate of
special-election ballot measures they say will stabilize the state's finances, even as they ask Californians to pay higher
taxes in exchange for the safety net," reports the AP's Julliet Williams.
"During a news conference Thursday to kick off the campaign
for the six initiatives, Schwarzenegger said he believes
voters will see past the higher costs. He said the
taxes and fee increases will protect the programs they
care about.
"'People will vote yes on stability in education, stability
in prisons, stability in law enforcement and stability
in health care and all of those things,' the Republican governor said.
"'I think the people know that you can't continue with one year having the money and the next
year not having the money, or in a state of bankruptcy.
I think the people know that the state has been suffering
because of that, and for a long time.'
"Schwarzenegger appeared with Senate President Pro Tem
Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, former Senate minority leader Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, a California business leader, construction
workers and two county sheriffs."
"With California's budget crisis resolved for the moment, state lawmakers
Thursday turned their attention to another emergency: a three-year drought that has left key reservoirs at 35% of capacity," reports Patrick McGreevy in the Times.
"Legislators stepped forward with plans to ask voters
to borrow as much as $15 billion for projects to expand and improve the state's water supply.
"'This is the session to aggressively solve California's water challenges,' Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Thursday.
"He added, however, that the state should spend some
of the $7 billion in bonds previously approved for water projects
before going back to voters for money needed to complete
the work.
"The issue has renewed urgency after the California
Department of Water Resources last week said it may
be unable to provide more than 15% of the water sought by contractors such as the Metropolitan
Water District of Southern California, which supplies
water districts throughout the Los Angeles area."
"State workers' pay can be cut to the federal minimum wage when lawmakers
miss California's annual budget deadline, a Sacramento Superior Court judge has tentatively
ruled," reports Jon Ortiz in the Bee.
"Assuming the ruling stands, it's a win for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fight that
started last summer when Controller John Chiang refused
to cut paychecks that paid about 200,000 hourly state workers $6.55 per hour, the federal minimum. Exempt or salaried
employees would get $455 a week.
"'(The tentative decision) is encouraging, and it's important so that the state has the ability to control
spending in tough economic times,' said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. 'But we're awaiting the court's final decision.'
"SEIU spokesman Jim Zamora said the union was 'disappointed in the decision, and our attorneys are
reviewing it. Beyond that, we don't have anything to say at this time.'"
In other labor news, "In a setback to Orange County officials, a judge tossed out a lawsuit Thursday that sought to roll back
the retirement benefits of sheriff's deputies -- a move government officials insist would save the
county tens of millions of dollars," writes the LAT's Christine Hanley.
"But county officials said the fight over the benefits
will continue and most logically should be decided
by the state Supreme Court.
"If the county ultimately prevails, the county says
it could save as much as $187 million in the coming decades. But it has come at
a cost already, driving a wedge between county bureaucrats
and one of the county's most politically powerful unions.
"At the heart of the legal dispute is the structure
of a labor contract between the sheriff's union and the county that has been adopted by government
agencies throughout the state for police, teachers
and other public employees. The 2001 contract increased pensions by one-third and granted the benefit retroactively.
"Last year, the Board of Supervisors, led by Supervisor
John Moorlach, filed the suit arguing that the retroactive portion
of the agreement was unconstitutional and should be
repealed because it violated a state prohibition on
pay for work already performed. The supervisors also
argued that the benefit exceeded the county's debt limit."
The Bee's Steve Wiegand looks at Pete Stahl, who submitted the lone argument against Proposition
1F, the ballot measure that would prohibit salary increases
for state officers when the state is running a deficit.
"...Stahl says the measure itself is 'petty, vindictive and childish.' He argues that legislators are not motivated by their
salaries, and will not be persuaded to vote against
their political natures (Republicans hate taxes; Democrats hate cuts) in future years simply to get a few more bucks in
their pay envelopes.
"'It's ludicrous,' he wrote, 'to think that the mere threat of a salary freeze will
somehow cause our polarized elected officials to rush
into each others' arms and magically overcome their political differences.'"
True, but it may force the legislative spouses to lean
on them...
The Chron's Wyatt Buchanan looks at a Republican proposal to slow down AB 32.
"Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga (San Bernardino County), has
introduced a bill to halt the California Air Resources
Board from
developing regulations to implement the plan to reduce
greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
"He wants the delay until June at the earliest. The
bill also would
mandate myriad studies on the economic impact of the
measure and
require that the state unemployment rate be lower than
5.8 percent for
three consecutive months before the delay would be
lifted.
Dan Walters looks at the race between Gil Cedillo and Judy Chu
to fill Hilda Solis's congressional district.
"Organization and voter mobilization will be the keys.
The 32nd District, like other urban congressional and legislative
districts, is too small a piece of the media market
to justify expensive television advertising, and the
special election, likely to be called for late June
or early July, would naturally have an extremely low
voter turnout.
"If Cedillo does pull it off, it will spark another
special election for his seat. If Chu makes it, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger would appoint her successor to
a very powerful, if very obscure, seat on the tax board
– subject to confirmation by both houses of the Legislature.
"So the drama is just beginning."
"Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente's California workers have signed a petition to leave United Healthcare Workers
West and join the newly formed National Union of Healthcare
Workers, officials announced Thursday," reports the LAT's Evelyn Larrubia.
"The 50,000-employee bargaining unit is one of the largest among
the nation's private-sector employers, and taking it over would be a significant
coup for the newly formed NUHW. The group was created
last month by former leaders of the UHW after the Oakland-based local was placed under trusteeship by its parent
organization, the Service Employees International Union,
marking the culmination of a long-running feud."
"Whistle-blowers in state government received protection Thursday
from the California Supreme Court in a case in which a low-level employee reported that her superior had violated
a regulation she was supposed to enforce," writes Maura Dolan in the Times.
"The state high court gave whistle-blowers who suffer retaliation the right to sue for
hefty damages in court even if they lose their case
before a civil service board.
"'The Legislature enacted the California Whistleblower
Protection Act to protect the right of state employees
'to report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violation
of law or threat to public health without fear of retribution,' ' Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote for a unanimous court.
"'In adopting the act, the Legislature expressly found
'that public servants best serve the citizenry when
they can be candid and honest without reservation in
conducting the people's business.'
' "
"Nell Soto, a former assemblywoman and state senator, died Thursday in Pomona after a trailblazing career
in Latino politics. She was 82.
"Soto was politically engaged for six decades, dating
back to the 1940s, when she walked precincts for Edward Roybal, the first Latino elected in a century to the Los
Angeles City Council.
"Her husband, Phil Soto, won election to the state Assembly in 1962 along with John Moreno, the first Latinos in the modern era to serve in the
Legislature.
"He died in 1997 and the New York Times described him and his wife
as 'at the forefront of virtually every Hispanic movement.'
"Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said in a prepared statement announcing
Soto's death that the Pomona Democrat was 'a champion for the people of Pomona and her entire
district, for the Inland Empire and, in fact, for all
the people of California.'"
From our, Oh, Sure. Blame It On The Octopus Files, AP reports, "Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California
say the
trickster who flooded their offices with sea water
was armed.
Eight-armed, to be exact. They blame the soaking they discovered
Tuesday morning on the aquarium's resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny
female known for being curious and gregarious with
visitors. The
octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed
hundreds of
gallons of water to overflow its tank."
And finally, "Irish carrier Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline, might start charging passengers for using the toilet
while flying, chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Friday.
"'One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking
at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin
slot on the toilet door so that people might actually
have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future,' he told BBC television.
"He said this would not inconvenience passengers travelling
without cash. "I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on
board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound."
"O'Leary has a reputation as a cost cutter, expanding
Ryanair by offering low headline fares and charging
extra for items such as additional luggage."
Oh, the times, they are a changin'...
