Capitol Weekly lets members of the Legislature vote on the members of the
lobbying corps. And the results are in.
"This week, Capitol Weekly asked all 120 legislators to turn the tables. We delivered surveys
to every Capitol office and put the lobbyists themselves
before the voters. We asked lawmakers to give us their
picks for the best lobbyists in more than a dozen categories.
We’ve printed the top vote-getters from those surveys on the following page.
Voter turn-out for this particular election was vigorous, but
not quite Obama-esque. Some lawmakers demurred from filling out our
survey, citing a lack of time, interest or knowledge
about the entire lobbying core. But most members and
chiefs of staff we spoke to were eager to participate.
Many of the winners will be familiar to some close
watchers of California politics, but are probably unknown
to many of our readers. In fact, in tallying these
surveys, we were surprised at how many lobbyists were
unknown to us, but received votes in a number of different
categories from the people they are paid to influence.
Like all elections, this is not perfect science. But
by and large, we think the results reflect a pretty
good summary of some of the state’s most effective advocates."
Click here for a full list of winners.
John Howard says not only is this year's budget a mess, but we're going to have bad budgets straight through the next summer olympics.
"California’s budget, rarely pretty, is getting uglier. Personal
income-tax collections are weak, courts are intervening, one-time fixes
are exhausted, the economy is grim and grimmer,
borrowing money is dicey, forced furloughs continue.
The Capitol’s partisan politics is more entrenched than ever, and
in the background looms the 2010 gubernatorial election – in which the
state’s unraveling finances are likely to take center stage.
“Given what we projected back in the summer and given
the other pressures, the gap we’re going to have to close in the coming budget is likely
to be in double digits,” said Finance Department spokesman H.D. Palmer.
Even for a state accustomed to budget meltdowns, the
new numbers are daunting."
The Chron's Nanette Asimov reports on a new PPIC poll that shows
people like colleges, but don't want to pay or them . "About 53 percent oppose raising taxes to offset any new cuts
on top of
the tens of millions of dollars already taken out of
the universities'
budgets this year, the survey found. Those views split
along partisan
lines, with Republicans most strongly against taxes
(74 percent),
followed by independents (58 percent) and Democrats (44 percent).
"Nor do Californians want to raise student fees, although
universities are already doing that. The University
of California
raised fees 9.3 percent in May and is expected to approve an additional
32 percent boost next week. The California State University
system has
raised fees 32 percent since May."
Malcolm Maclachlan looks at the shake up in the Capitol's bible study group,
"The California chapter of Capitol Ministries, the Christian
group led for years by pastor Ralph Drollinger, has
dissolved to join a new organization.
"Drollinger, known for controversial statements about
religion and the role of women in public life, continues
to run what remains of his ministry from his home in
Santa Clarita.
"Reached by email, Drollinger offered the following
statement: “Scripture commands the believer to “… not speak evil of one
another.” (James 4:11) Because I have dedicated my life to proclaiming
the
truth of the Word of God and have attempted to live
by it in everything that I do, I have chosen to obey
Scripture and to remain silent on this matter. Rather
than become embroiled in accusations, I have chosen
to be obedient to 1 Corinthians 6:6-7. “Why not rather be wronged? Why
not rather be defrauded?”
Wow. Nobody says 'no comment' quite like a Christian...
And no, that smell is not your trash from last night.
It's the stench coming from CalPERS . Marc Lifsher reports, "With the fortune he has made using his connections
with public pension
funds, it's hardly a surprise that Alfred J.R. Villalobos owns a
sprawling, 9,100-square-foot home overlooking the emerald-blue waters
of Lake Tahoe.
"But the way in which Villalobos financed construction
of the
$2.7-million mansion is fueling new questions in an investigation
by
the California Public Employees' Retirement system into the activities
of so-called placement agents such as Villalobos."
Steve Wiegand syas all-nighters in the Capitol leads to bad policy . Not to mention Dave Cox's Sunggie...
"until recently, such all-night escapades were relatively rare and were relegated
to the ends of legislative sessions.
"It's
just not good lawmaking, to do things in the dead of
night with no
public input or scrutiny" said Bob Stern, president of the Los
Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies. "Unless there is an
emergency, every bill should be available in print
for (at least) three
days."
"Stern, a veteran politics-and-government attorney who
helped draft the state's landmark Political Reform Act in 1974 and
served as counsel to the Fair Political Practices Commission,
said that
intentional or not, the all-night sessions serve to obscure just what's
being done.
And finally, wondering what to get that gorilla on your holiday
shopping list? Well look no further. AP reports, "One of the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta has been under pressure
lately. Zoo keepers, along with undergraduate students
from Georgia Tech and reseachers from Emory University, got a western lowland gorilla named Ozzie to voluntarily have his blood pressure
taken by a machine students designed called the Gorilla
Tough Cuff. Zoo
officials say it's the first time a gorilla has ever voluntarily had
its blood pressure taken in any zoo in the world.
"Zoo
keepers trained Ozzie for months on how to use the
cuff before he did
it on his own. Zoo officials say the machine can be
used to detect
heart problems in aging gorillas like Ozzie, who is
48 years old."
