"California Republican Party leaders voted Saturday to oppose all six measures on the May
19 ballot, including a spending limit and temporary tax hike
proposal championed by GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines," reports Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"The California Republican Party's decision highlighted the rift between its top elected
leaders and the conservative base well represented
among the 61 executive committee officials who voted Saturday at
the Sacramento Convention Center.
"Committee members portrayed Saturday's vote as a rejection of the budget deal state leaders
reached in February. The six measures would complete
the budget package.
"'We're against the budget deal, we're against these taxes, and we need to communicate
that to our rank-and-file, who to be quite honest are mad and upset,' said Mike Spence, head of the initiatives committee,
describing the reasons for opposing all of the May
19 proposals."
Meanwhile, the Democrats are set to gather in Sacramento this weekend, where there will be a showdown over the ballot props, reports the Chron's John Wildermuth.
"Most of the party leaders are at least nominally in
favor of the
six-measure package, which was put together as a "hold-your-nose"
budget compromise with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and
GOP legislative
leaders in February. But as Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin
Vista (Los Angeles County) said, there's something in the final package
for everyone to hate.
"There will be groups on both sides of the issues but
that's the way democracy works," said Roger Salazar, a party spokesman.
Eric Bailey looks at Propositions 1D and 1E, which ask the voters to undo voter-approved tax hikes for specific programs.
"Proposition 1D would shift nearly $1.7 billion over the next five years -- about 70% of the cigarette tax's revenue during that period -- to help balance the state general fund.
"Proposition 1E, meanwhile, would siphon money from mental health
programs financed under a 2004 ballot measure, Proposition 63, which put an extra 1% tax on personal income over $1 million. That measure, pushed by state Senate President
Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), garnered a victory with 54% of the votes.
"Under 1E, about $460 million over the next two years -- roughly a quarter of the extra income tax's revenue during that time -- would be diverted to help balance the state's books.
"The early childhood and mental health programs became
prime targets for budget negotiators working to solve
the state's $42-billion deficit. They were sporting a budget surplus
of about $2.5 billion each at a time when health and welfare programs
funded the old-fashioned way -- through the state's general fund appropriations -- were being stripped.
"Backers say those surpluses were a fiscal mirage, because
the money had been committed to future programs or
was being saved for tough times."
George Skelton talks to Jerry Brown about what he would do as governor.
"The next governor is likely to find Sacramento in a
horrible financial mess, especially if the budget fixes
on the May 19 ballot fail.
"'For a while you'll have to borrow,' Brown says. 'You're not going to cut or tax your way to absolute [budget] balance. I don't think it's possible. You hopefully get money from the federal
government. . . . You can sell some assets to pay back
accumulated debt.'
"'You're going to have to curb spending. That's going to be extremely frustrating.'
"'I'm not going to advocate raising taxes. There's no limit to the taxes. When you say, 'Just get the money,' you get new programs.'
"Brown seems to be calibrating his political persona
to fit what he gauges to be the public mood.
"'So much of it is the times,' he says. 'What makes sense after Arnold?'
"'I kind of think a guy who knows his way, is pretty
down to earth, no bells and whistles, just meat and
potatoes. That's kind of where I am.'"
Ah, how things change. Gov. Moonbeam is now down to
earth...
While Jerry Brown can hypothesize what type of governor
he would be, reality faces another possible candidate.
The LAT's David Zahniser reports: "Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa plans to unveil a budget proposal today that calls
on nearly every city agency to scale back salary costs
by 10% as part of his effort to eliminate a $530-million budget shortfall, officials said Sunday.
"The mayor is expected to seek reductions even at the
police and fire departments, which traditionally have
been shielded from cuts, while moving to merge three
other city agencies and find private companies to run
city parking garages."
The Bee's Peter Hecht reports on John Burton's campaign for California Democratic Party chair, and his lone opponent, Chris Finnie.
"The little-known activist from Santa Cruz is the lone remaining
challenger to Burton's quest to be elected party head at the Democrats' convention in Sacramento this weekend. Finnie said
Burton told her pretty clearly what her chances were
for beating him.
"Finnie said he growled at her in a phone conversation,
saying, 'I'm going to win this thing and, if anybody doesn't like it,' they could go perform some unnatural acts.
"'I'm rarely speechless,' Finnie said. 'He wasn't teaching me any new language. It was just the sheer
arrogance of the man.'
"Burton disputes her account. But the leader of the
California Senate from 1998 to 2004 said his salty, pugnacious nature reflects a sheer
determination of a man who demands action, pushes hard
bargains and stands up for California's most vulnerable citizens.
"'I am what I am,' he said in an interview. 'People would have bet a million I would never have
been elected (Senate president) pro tem. I think I was very effective in protecting
Democratic principles and backing them. I've proven over the years where my heart goes. I've proven that I can get the job done.'"
Eric Bailey profiles the Humane Society's Jennifer Fearing.
"The statehouse point person for the Humane Society
of the United States plucks her iPhone from a bedside
table and launches the first of hundreds of e-mails she'll send today. Fearing, raised an Air Force brat, calls
her schedule"a wartime blessing and a peacetime curse."
"But it is routine for the 37-year-old, whose career took off with the landmark ballot
measure California voters passed last fall easing the
confinement of hens and other factory farm animals.
Fresh from her victory as manager of that campaign,
with its 19-hour days, she set up shop as the Humane Society's lobbyist in the Golden State.
"Fearing stands out in the Capitol's animal rights corps -- a passionate but sometimes scruffy lot -- with her stylish blond hair, high heels and a resume
jammed with achievement. She has a Harvard graduate
degree, a highly paid past with a Los Angeles consulting
firm and service at all ranks of the animal-protection movement."
Cue the hate mail, in three different flavors. But
let's continue..
"She was reared a Midwest Republican and a Presbyterian.
As a teenager, she was president of Christian singer
Amy Grant's fan club. She interned for the first Bush administration
and voted once for the second. Among the liberal-leaning true believers at the Humane Society, Fearing
is still considered the token Republican, though she
grew disillusioned with the GOP several years ago and
registered independent."
"California's two biggest public employee pension funds handed out millions of dollars in bonuses last year
to their top executives and investment managers, despite losing billions of dollars," writes Jon Ortiz in the Bee.
"The biggest bonus check, $322,953, went to Christopher Ailman, chief investment officer of the California State
Teachers' Retirement System. It nearly doubled his base pay
of $330,000 for fiscal 2007-08.
"Ailman's counterpart at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, Russell Read, received a $208,677 bonus to his $555,360 base pay in August, more than a month after he had
resigned from the fund's top investment job.
"Despite continued losses in the market, both funds
expect to cut more bonus checks, which they call "incentive awards," this summer.
"Retirement fund officials say bonuses like those paid
to Ailman and Read help attract and retain top talent.
It's also cheaper than hiring outside help to manage investments,
they say."
And finally, look out Oprah. Here comes Hugo Chavez.
Reuters reports, "A book that inspired a generation of Latin American
leftists is ringing up big sales after Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez gave it to U.S. President Barack Obama in an effort to ease diplomatic tensions.
"Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," a manifesto decrying centuries of imperialism in the
region, was No. 2 on Amazon.com's bestseller list on Sunday after Chavez presented
it to Obama at the
Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.
"In response, Chavez jokingly proposed a business partnership
with the
new U.S. president, marking a sharp distinction from
nearly a decade of
feuding with Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, whom he called "the devil."
"So I said, Obama, let's go into a business. We'll promote books -- I'll give you one, you give me another," Chavez said.
