Pundits from Alturas to San Ysidro say using the 100-day benchmark to rate a politician's performance in office is a shopworn, over-used device. But that doesn't stop them from doing it. The latest to give it a try is the LAT's George Skelton.
"Brown has been acting as a civil adult. And the
importance of that cannot be overstated in this era of political polarization
and hate-mongering."
"But, of course, the new spirit and style have
resulted in only partial success so far. He's still probing — groping — for an
answer to what began three months ago as a $26-billion budget deficit."
"His answer is half spending cuts, half taxes, but
he couldn't cajole or coerce enough Republicans into
putting the tax question on a special election ballot in June. Both sides
finally called off negotiations."
"Jerry did the right thing by giving the
Republicans a time-out," says veteran Democratic strategist Darry Sragow."
Back in the real world, Brown started laying out the consequences of an all-cuts budget, which include a doubling of UC tuition. The AP's Juliet Williams tells the tale.
"In an address to the California Hospital Association,
Brown said UC undergraduate fees could hit $20,000 to $25,000 a year if the
Legislature approves and he signs an all-cuts budget. Current fees are nearly $12,000 for in-state students,
plus thousands of dollars more for books and other fees. They are scheduled to
rise by more than $900 a year next fall."
"Brown said California's universities and colleges are its
"engine of creativity and wealth and well-being."
"Tuition that high would make the UC system the most
expensive public universities in the world," said Terry Hartle, senior vice
president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Council on Education."
And there's more bad news for higher education: Colleges may have to cut more classes because the tax extensions that had been sought for the June ballot aren't going to happen.
From Jean Cowden Moore in the Ventura County Star: "Without the tax extension,
CSU faces a potential $1 billion total cut in state funding. For the community
colleges, officials say it could be $800 million."
"Even before the tax
extension fizzled, Gov. Jerry Brown's
budget already had cut $500 million from the CSU and UC systems and $400
million from the state's community colleges."
"Now the 23 CSU campuses
may have to cut enrollment even further, raise tuition yet again, or impose
furloughs or pay cuts. Because most employees belong to unions, any furloughs
or pay cuts would have to be negotiated."
The woes of redevelopment remain in the news, this time with the redevelopment agency in San Jose slashing half its staff.
From Tracy Seipel in the San Jose Mercury News: "Short of a miracle, city officials say, most of the 31 that are left may be let
go by the end of June, leaving only a handful of people to oversee the few
projects left."
"It's a historic moment for San Jose and the
Redevelopment Agency," said Terry Christensen, a San Jose State political
science professor. He said the agency, born 11 years after World War II ended,
played a central role in the city's maturation from a sleepy suburban town into
the nation's 10th largest city. Its investment in what is now North San Jose's
tech corridor, Christensen added, "helped us become the capital of Silicon
Valley."
"The stunning turn of events had been hinted at in the
agency's own budget projections last year, well before Gov. Jerry Brown's
proposal in January to kill 425 redevelopment agencies statewide and seize the
$5 billion they annually collect in property tax, diverting that money to
schools and local governments."
Brown, a former attorney general, has approved a new way for the state to bill for legal services, which he says is going to save money. Under the new law, state agencies will be billed directly, instead of through a revolving fund in the AG's office. Capitol Weekly's Malcolm Maclachlan has the story.
"The Legislative Analyst’s Office did a two-page analysis in February of a proposal along these lines from Brown. It noted that the Fund “has sometimes not been sufficient to accommodate all of the legal services requested by various state agencies.” In 2008, the DOJ authorized agencies to seek outside counsel “due to a lack of resources.” Outside attorneys, the report noted, generally cost about twice what DOJ attorneys bill: $170 an hour for an attorney, $140 an hour for a paralegal."
"The LAO gave qualified support for the idea, noting the current system is “potentially inefficient.”
“State agencies would be likely to spend less money,” it states, and would “better utilize ‘in-house' attorneys who work directly for state agencies. “In some cases, agencies might also find it more cost-effective to settle some cases early rather than using their limited resources to pay for expensive litigation.”
And for a brief snippet from our "Toilet Travail," file, here''s the tale of some students who wound up flushed with victory.
"Students at a Massachusetts prep school claim to have
broken a world record by folding a 13,000-foot length of toilet paper in half
13 times."
"The 15 students from St. Mark's School in Southborough
executed the feat Sunday in the so-called Infinite Corridor, an 825-foot
hallway that connects many of the main buildings at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology."
"The 4-hour operation broke the record of 12 folds set in
2002."
"It was hard, backbreaking work," math teacher
James Tanton told The Boston Globe. "It's like Mount Everest. Of course we
had to try."
Brutal...
