The newly-redesigned Capitol Weekly gets their mitts on a Legislative Counsel opinion that is sure to cause
a little bit of Republican consternation.
"As state budgeters look toward another multi-billion dollar budget deficit this summer, attorneys
for the Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger have issued
a new opinion reaffirming the legality of a plan passed
by Democrats last December that raised revenues without
requiring a two-thirds vote.
"The March 9 opinion from Legislative Counsel Diane Boyer-Vine, addressed to Gov. Schwarzenegger, reaffirms a
2003 opinion by her office that finds a bill that raises
one tax and lowers another by an equal or greater amount
only needs simple majority votes in each legislative
house.
"'We think that a tax bill is not subject to the two-thirds vote requirement if the cumulative effect of
the ‘changes in state taxes’ … when considered in their entirety would be neutral
or would produce a net decrease in state tax revenues,' her March 9 opinion states.
"The latest Legislative Counsel opinion is a reprise
of a May 2003 decision, which Democrats used as the basis for their
December budget proposal. Steinberg jokingly refers
to that 2003 decision as 'The Pelican Brief,' a reference to a legal crime thriller written by John
Grisham."
Capitol Weekly's Malcolm Maclachlan reports that tribes are among those scrambling for federal stimulus
dollars. "Indian tribes across the country are eligible
for up to $5 billion of the $787 billion federal stimulus package signed by President
Barack Obama in February.
"But this money has set up a new round of recriminations
between poor tribes and rich ones, and between favored
agencies and marginalized ones. While pretty much everyone
in Indian country agrees that the stimulus money could
generate huge returns, both in terms of providing economic
stimulus and alleviating misery, some claim that those
who need it most will have the hardest time getting
it.
"Martin Waukazoo, CEO of
the Native American Health Center in Oakland says big
casino tribes have the lobbying, public relations,
grant writers and other resources that will allow them
to have a chance in a rushed application process.
In addition, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) and other agencies that serve Indians have been so
chronically neglected and under-funded over the years, he said, many lack the resources
and know-how to go after the money."
Hmm...sounds familiar.
"California's guardian of the state's cash flow says there will be enough money to pay all the state's bills for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30," reports the Chron's Matthew Yi.
"That's good news considering that just last month the state
couldn't pay nearly $3.7 billion in bills, including tax refunds.
"Three things helped the state's fiscal cause in recent weeks, Controller John Chiang said Tuesday.
"First was a $500 million, short-term loan that Treasurer Bill Lockyer obtained. Such borrowing is typical for most states
to help cash flow, but getting loans of any kind has
been difficult given meltdowns in credit markets and
the state's budget woes.
"Second was the Legislature's passage of a package of bills last week to help California
grab more than $17.5 billion in federal economic stimulus funds. The bills
would immediately infuse the state's coffers with $1.6 billion, Chiang said.
"Third was that there are more special funds that the
state can dip into for internal borrowing than expected
because some money was not spent when California stopped
financing public works projects.
"But the state's fiscal crisis is far from over. The nonpartisan Legislative
Analyst's Office has warned that the state will likely be short
$8 billion in the new fiscal year. And if voters reject
a package of bills in the May 19 special election, the budget will immediately see
a nearly $6 billion hole on top of that."
"California food stamp recipients will receive 13.6% more benefits thanks to the federal economic stimulus
package, the state Department of Social Services announced
Wednesday," report Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Michael Rothfeld in the Times.
"The increase, effective immediately, was included in
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, approved
by Congress and signed by President Obama in February.
"John Wagner, the state social services director, said in a statement
that the increase 'will dramatically help families, while also boosting
California's economy in ways that benefit grocers, food manufacturers
and growers.'"
"A newly enacted $10,000 state tax credit for new-home buyers in California has already spurred 1,710 applications for $16.6 million in its first three weeks, the state Franchise Tax Board said Wednesday," report Jim Wasserman for the Bee.
"Few seem surprised.
"'We were anticipating it would be something that people
would take advantage of quickly,' said Franchise Tax Board spokeswoman Brenda Voet.
"The California Building Industry Association said updates
this week will show that 20 percent of the $100 million allocated for the buyer tax credit is "already spoken for." If applications continue at the same rate, the credit
would be used up during the summer months.
"The group is talking with lawmakers about adding to
the tax credit pool, said Tim Coyle, a CBIA lobbying executive. The trade association,
representing a statewide industry struggling through
its worst time in half a century, landed the tax credit
as a key concession for a Republican Senate vote during
February's budget standoff."
Speaking of building construction, CW's
John Howard has the latest on the flooding of the Board of Education
headquarters. And the mold. And, well, you get the idea...
"The repair bill stands at $29 million during the past three years alone, and state
employees are wondering whether the building is truly
jinxed.
"'It’s still wet,' said Anita Gore, spokeswoman for the Board of
Equalization,
the agency that sets utilities’ property-tax values, fields taxpayers’
appeals and collects the state’s sales taxes, among other chores."
George Skelton talks to Senate GOP leader Dennis Hollingsworth
about taxes, the ballot measures and bull semen.
"I asked Hollingsworth how Schwarzenegger could improve
his notoriously poor relations with Republican legislators.
'He really needs to listen to where we're coming from,' the senator replied. 'We're representing valid constituencies just as much as
he is.'
"Another curiosity for years has been about how he worked
his way
through college selling frozen bull semen to dairies," Skelton writes. "Hollingsworth is a short-timer as a leader. He'll be termed out next
year and isn't sure what he'll do next. Maybe run for the Assembly. He
probably won't go back to selling bull semen."
You sure about that, George?
"As California warms in coming decades, farmers will
have less water, the state could lose more than a million
acres of cropland and forest fire rates will soar,
according to a broad-ranging state report released Wednesday," writes the LAT's Bettina Boxall.
"The document, which officials called the 'the ultimate picture to date' of global warming's likely effect on California, consists of 37 research papers that examine an array of issues including
water supply, air pollution and property losses.
"Without actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions,
'severe and costly climate impacts are possible and
likely across California,' warned state environmental protection secretary Linda Adams.
"The draft Climate Action Team Report, an update of a 2006 assessment, concludes that some climate change effects
could be more serious than previously thought."
The AP's Don Thompson reports: "The head of California's prison system said Wednesday he will ask state legislators to approve expanding three
prisons as a way to relieve overcrowding so severe federal
judges may soon order the state to free inmates.
"The construction projects would be the first to draw
money from a nearly $8 billion bond measure approved two years ago. The money
was stalled, though, until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed the state budget into law in February.
"Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said he plans to seek approval within weeks to build
more cellblocks at two prisons near Delano and to convert
a juvenile lockup near Paso Robles. Those moves combined
would house 2,800 inmates.
"The $810 million Cate will seek from legislative budget committees
would pay for those three expansions, plus building
a re-entry center in Stockton for 500 inmates who are nearing the end of their prison terms.
It would be the first of several planned regional re-entry centers to help inmates adjust in the months
before they are paroled."
The Merc News's Mike Zapler writes that furloughing state employees that process disability
claims is actually costing the state money.
"Sending those employees home one day a month means
the state will forgo about $10 million — or 5 percent of the agency's $210 million annual budget — from Washington, without saving state government any
money. Meanwhile, it's taking the agency longer to process claims, delaying
disability benefits at a time when such requests are
soaring.
"'There really is no reason to do this, it's a no-brainer,' said Pete Spencer, the regional commissioner for the U.S. Social Security
Administration, which oversees the disability claims
program. 'If the governor is saying he wants to take all the
money the federal government is offering, this is one
area he's not doing it.'
"Spencer wrote to the governor twice since November
to explain the problem, and early last month received
from Schwarzenegger what appeared to be a form letter
in response.
"'To solve a budget crisis that reached monumental proportions,
I was forced to make some tough choices, including
furloughing state employees,' the governor wrote. The letter did not acknowledge
that furloughing the disability agency's workers would not shave state expenses because all
its costs are paid by the federal government."
"Legislation to freeze salaries for hundreds of California's highest-paid state employees cleared its first hurdle Wednesday," writes Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"Assembly Bill 53 would impose a two-year ban on raises for about 785 state employees – primarily managers or executives – who make more than $150,000 annually.
"The bill, sparked by projections of a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, passed the Assembly's public employees committee without a dissenting vote.
"Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who proposed the bill, said highly paid state employees
should share the fiscal pain of seniors, children,
college students and other taxpayers."
And finally, from our It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp Files, "Police say a 19-year-old who tried to rob a liquor store
sat down and cried after 76-year-old owner locked him in the store. The
man was accused of trying to rob Sykes Liquor Store
in Trenton Monday
night. Police said the owner, who was behind the counter,
triggered the
lock after the man grabbed a bottle of Hennessy cognac and bolted for the door.
"The
man then allegedly pulled out a handgun and demanded
to be released.
But the owner said he saw that the gun was a fake,
refused to unlock
the door and called police.
"Police said the suspect threw away the gun, slumped
to the floor and was crying when officers arrived to
arrest him".
Awwww . . .
