No matter what happens on May 19, lawmakers are preparing new rounds of budget cuts
, reports the Bee's Kevin Yamamura. "As tax revenue
plunges below expectations, state leaders will break out the carving
knives when they revisit the state budget later this
month, regardless
of what happens in the May 19 election.
"Lawmakers and Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger could consider taking money from already-strapped cities
and counties, releasing low-level criminals from prisons, cutting
Medi-Cal services and furloughing state workers.
"State leaders are eyeing a possible $5 billion reduction in school
spending allowable under the state's constitutional education guarantee
when revenue drops. Education groups say that could
threaten valuable
programs and prevent schools from rescinding layoff
notices they issued
this spring.
"State Controller John Chiang
said Friday that revenue already has dropped $2.1 billion below what
the state expected in the February budget. That shortfall
is on top of
the LAO's $8 billion projection.
"If voters reject Propositions
1C, 1D and 1E on the May ballot, as polls suggest they might, the state
would have to find an additional $5.8 billion. The February budget
expected $5 billion of that to come through borrowing against
future
California Lottery revenue in Proposition 1C."
The Bee's Peter Hecht reports on continuing fallout for GOP lawmakers who voted for
the budget deal . "As California voters go to the polls May 19 to decide on
initiatives crucial to the budget deal, most of the
half-dozen GOP
lawmakers who voted with Democrats and Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
endure colleagues' scorn or furious calls from talk radio listeners.
Two face recall bids.
"They are feeling the heat of an angry,
fractured state Republican Party. They embody political
arguments over
the costs of yielding to compromises of governance
or refusing to
surrender no matter what."
Here's a shocker -- it now looks as if SEIU -- gasp -- lobbied the Obama administration to link home healthcare worker
pay to federal stimulus dollars.
The LAT's Evan Halper reports, "Officials in the governor's office say a politically powerful union may
have had inappropriate influence over the Obama administration's
decision to withhold billions of dollars in federal
stimulus money from
California if the state does not reverse a scheduled
wage cut for the
labor group's workers.
"SEIU was among the biggest donors to President Obama's campaign,
contributing $33 million. The union is also consistently among the
biggest donors to Democrats in Sacramento and had aggressively
fought
the wage cut during state budget negotiations."
And one of those two actually did something the union
wanted...
Hey, sure, green energy sounds good. And maybe you're ok with the fact
that it costs a bit more to produce. But Ed Fletcher
reports there's one thing that may slow down the greening of California's energy portfolio -- power lines.
Fletcher describes "an emerging, nationwide fight over green power that
pits environmental concerns against each other."
The LAT's Teresa Watanabe reports a tranformation in state politics is underway . " California's 300,000 new citizens accounted for
nearly one-third of the nation's total and represented a near-doubling
over 2006, according to a recent report by the U.S. Office of
Immigration Statistics.
"The new citizens are reshaping California's electorate and are
likely to reorder the state's policy priorities, some political
analysts predict. Several polls show that Latinos and Asians are more
supportive than whites of public investments and broad
services, even
if they require higher taxes.
Most Latinos, for instance,
support all five budget propositions on the May ballot
while most
whites oppose them, according to recent polls by the nonpartisan Public
Policy Institute of California. Although viewed as
largely
conservative, most Asian Americans supported a 2004 measure requiring
large businesses to provide health insurance to employees,
even as it
failed at the ballot box, according to an analysis
by the Asian Pacific
American Legal Center in Los Angeles."
Meanwhile, the LAT endorses the May 19 ballot measures,
And so do the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants. Apparently, there's some additional bond funding for middle relief for
their bullpens if the measures pass.
Yup, it looks like everyone loves those ballot props.
Oh, everyone except the voters, that is ...
And there are some divisions among the gubernatorial
wanna-bes. The U-T's John Marelius looks at where they all are on the May 19 props.
"The candidates for governor of California in 2010 have about as
many positions on the May 19 special election ballot propositions as
there are candidates.
"Two candidates support all six measures. Another opposes
all six. The others mix and match in different ways."
"And then there are the sounds of silence. . "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also says she is considering entering
the race for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Although Feinstein
frequently weighs in on California ballot measure campaigns,
she has
taken no position on any of May 19 propositions.
And finally, from our Where's Antonio files, the La Mayor was out schmoozing this
weekend at the White House Correspondents Dinner, and
rubbed some elbows with celebs. But not everyone knew
who he was, judging from this photo caption.
That's gotta hurt.
