Archives - June '07

Harman hosts Schwarzenegger, GOP lawmakers for Wednesday dinner

Last Updated 11:48 am PDT Thursday, June 28, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, reports that he hosted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for dinner last night at his Sacramento home, along with various members of the Senate and Assembly GOP caucus....(more)

Lucas, Martin to leave Chronicle -- only two remain

Last Updated 5:18 pm PDT Tuesday, June 19, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
The Capitol bureau of the San Francisco Chronicle is dramatically shrinking because of cost-saving cuts. Two more veteran reporters, Greg Lucas and Mark Martin, announced they will be leaving the paper this week....(more)

Florez measures fall in silence

Last Updated 3:29 pm PDT Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By Capitol Alert Staff
Democratic Sen. Dean Florez and Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra have overlapping districts in the southern San Joaquin Valley and have been engaged in a bitter political feud for years, one that has involved other members of both legislators' families as well....(more)

Schwarzenegger, Davis put past behind

Last Updated 12:51 pm PDT Tuesday, June 19, 2007

By Kevin Yamamura -- Capitol Alert
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday appeared to be the best of political friends, nearly four years after the recall that ousted Davis from office....(more)

Curb's enthusiasm

Last Updated 10:57 am PDT Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher Capitol Alert
Nashville music mogul and former California Lt. Gov. Mike Curb has stepped into the presidential race, hosting a fundraiser on Tuesday night for actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

It is the first fundraiser for Thompson, still an undeclared candidate, in his home state. Top of the Ticket....(more)

Big Four gets more done in Perata's office, Ackerman says

Last Updated 1:34 pm PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007

By Judy Lin - Capitol Alert
Maybe the Big Four - a.k.a. Quatro Formaggio - will strike a budget deal faster if party leaders convene in the Senate leader's office....(more)

GOP names Christiansen to replace embattled Kamburowski

Last Updated 3:52 pm PDT Thursday, June 21, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
The California Republican Party has named Bill Christiansen to served as the interim chief operating officer, after the sudden resignation of Michael Kamburowski....(more)

Cohen to leave Dept. of Insurance

Last Updated 9:51 am PDT Monday, June 25, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert A holdover from Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's term as insurance commissioner, general counsel Gary Cohen, announced Friday that was leaving the Department of Insurance for the industry after working to help transition Steve Poizner into the job....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Friday, June 22, 2007

The 75th U.S. Conference of Mayors opens today in Los Angeles with some high-profile speakers, including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who is expected to tackle the topic of urban issues and economic challenges faced by African American mayors.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to prevent Gun Violence, will participate in a forum on crime and social justice. Other topics under discussion include "Helping city employees secure financial survival in retirement," the "High school dropout crisis" and "Bringing in new city revenue by tapping new tourism markets." The first day at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza ends with what the program calls the "quintessential L.A. gathering -- a poolside party under the stars."

Saturday speakers include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Also in Los Angeles today, the state Air Resources Board continues its discussion of greenhouse gas emissions. At the Capitol, the Veterans of Foreign Wars holds a "Support Our Flag" rally.

And with Schwarzenegger skeptical about signing a budget by July 1, the Budget Conference Committee will meet upon call of the chair....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The Senate Rules Committee is scheduled to take up the confirmation of Dave Gilb as director of the California Department of Personnel Administration.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association has made a show of opposing Gilb as the union has worked without a contract since last year. Gilb serves as a negotiator in those contract discussions.

The confirmation hearing happened last week, but Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata put off a vote until today.

Plenty of other committees meet in the Capitol, as well, including the Senate Elections Committee.

That's where a bill to give the California Republican Party a name change will be heard.

Make that the Republican Party of California, which Assemblyman Joel Anderson is trying to officially remake into the "California Republican Party."

Meanwhile, the California Democratic Party holds a hearing in Sacramento to discuss the selection process for delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007

More than a decade of fighting and arguing and litigating and alibiing about California's prisons might be coming to an end today. Well, maybe not, because whatever the judges do on the issue of a state prison population cap is bound to get appealed and lead to even more fighting and arguing and litigating and alibiing.

But it's still going to be a big day in the world of prison litigation, when two federal judges convene a hearing at U.S. District Court in Sacramento to decide whether to empanel a "three-judge court." The court would be the first step toward the judges laying a prison population cap on the state.

Plaintiffs' lawyers are looking for an early release order for up to 35,000 inmates.

In a prison world already overrun by special masters, receivers, court monitors and the like, the imposition of a population cap would be one of the most significant decisions to hit the prison system ever.

Or at least since San Quentin first opened for business in 1852.

Judges Lawrence Karlton and Thelton Henderson could rule from the bench today on the issue of the three-judge court.

The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m.

If that weren't enough prison talk for one day, James Tilton, the secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, is up for confirmation in the Senate Rules Committee.

Also, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets to consider new requests for audits, including a request by Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas of the Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata's Iraq War resolution will garner its first official policy hearing after being whisked straight to the floor in the Senate. The Assembly Elections Committee meets today to discuss the measure.

And the so-called Big Four - the legislative leadership minus Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - is scheduled to meet to continue negotiating the budget at 4 p.m....(more)

Dear Garamendi, please name the smelt

Last Updated 10:10 am PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi had his busiest day yet as acting governor on Monday, declaring a state of emergency in El Dorado County as the Angora fire burned near South Lake Tahoe.

But Sacramento satirist Sara Nichols has one more natural disaster she wants to put on Garamendi's plate: Naming the dying delta smelt....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Monday, June 25, 2007

With less than a week before the new fiscal year begins, prospects appear dim for an on-time budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said as much last week, but legislative budget negotiators will continue to work through the issues today.

The governor is off to Europe for a two-day trip, meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and short-timer British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In a matter not necessarily related to the budget talks or the Governor's Travels, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell holds an L.A. press conference to tell parents how to keep children engaged in their work during the summer.

Paris Hilton is scheduled to get out of jail, but Sen. Carole Migden and Assemblyman Jared Huffman are going to prison. They'll appear at a press conference outside of San Quentin to tout legislation that would audit death row housing.

It's a day off -- sort of -- for a handful of Democratic Assembly and Senate staff members who "volunteered" to take a vacation day to campaign in the 37th Congressional District. Assemblywoman Laura Richardson is facing state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, among others, in Tuesday's special election for the seat left vacant by the death of Democratic Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald.

Committee action includes an Assembly Transportation hearing for Sen. Gil Cedillo's SB 60, another attempt to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for state driver's licenses.

The 3rd District Court of Appeals in Sacramento will hear arguments at 9 a.m. over the state's approval of $560-million in pension obligation bonds in 2004. Opponents argue --- and a Sacramento Superior Court judge agreed --- that the approval was unconstitutional because the bonds were never ratified by voters....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Friday, June 29, 2007

The Los Angeles County Superior Court is set to hear arguments today in the case American Civil Rights Foundation v. Los Angeles Unified School District.

The case, filed by Ward Connerly's American Civil Rights Foundation, charges the school district with racially discriminatory policies.

Nurses from the California Nurses Association will promote Michael Moore's new film, "Sicko," across the state, including in Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco, as the movie opens nationally.

The budget conference committee will meet today, possibly for the last time, as Assemblyman John Laird and Sen. Denise Ducheny, the respective chairs of the two house's budget committees, host an afternoon news conference.

They met in preparation for the beginning of the new fiscal year, which starts Sunday.

Sunday also marks the first day of California's new Department of Public Health, a spinoff of the old Department of Health Services.

Mark Horton, the state's new top public-health official, previews the new department in Richmond today.

This Sunday marks the first day that a handful of new laws in California will go into effect.

So those of you who love your portable DVD players better buy, buy, buy because a new e-waste recycling fee goes into effect, bumping the price up $6 to $10 per unit.

That's for those of you who aren't buying the new iPhone, whose first full day of sales is today....(more)

Broder gives California some national ink

Last Updated 11:34 am PDT Thursday, June 21, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
Washington Post columnist David Broder writes about the post-partisanship of California and how redistricting - particularly the opposition to congressional districts being included from Speaker Nancy Pelosi - could throw a wrench into the term limits debate....(more)

Schwarzenegger lobbied by Netanyahu on divestment bill

Last Updated 9:50 am PDT Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled across Europe on a mini-tour this week, a major foreign policy decision came a step closer to his desk. Legislation to divest from Iran California's public retirement account investments - which together account for $400 billion - passed out of a state Senate committee unanimously on Monday....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007

It's Election Day again!

Voters in the Long Beach area head to the polls today to vote on a replacement for the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald.

OK, more like one in five eligible voters - and that's if turnout's "good."

The two leading Democratic candidates are Assemblywoman Laura Richardson and Sen. Jenny Oropeza, who have battled it out in a shortened special-election campaign.

The biggest spender in the race, however, was neither Richardson nor Oropeza, but the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which the Associated Press reported had spent $400,000 as of Sunday.

The money all went to help Oropeza, who just happened to have voted for the Southern California gambling tribe's compact.

Also, today the 29-member governing board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine meets.

Item No. 2 on the agenda is "consideration of CIRM presidential candidates and compensation."

What does that mean? It means the board, which is searching for a new leader following the departure of Zach Hall, is considering changing the salary of its president.

The assumption is that the next CIRM president's salary -- the current range is $275,000 to $412,500 -- will be higher, but CIRM spokesman Dale Carlson was mum on the possibility on Monday.

In the Legislature, the "flood fives" are up (that's AB 5 and SB 5, authored by Lois Wolk and Mike Machado, respectively) in each house's natural resource committees.

On the Senate side, Assemblyman Joel Anderson, a Republican, presents his AB 257 to provide lifetime state parks passes to disabled veterans and Congressional Medal of Honor recipients.

The Assembly Public Safety committee will take up Sen. Gloria Romero's SB 1019, the public access to police officers' files bill. Sen. Gil Cedillo will fight for his SB 275, the patient dumping bill, in Assembly Health.

In the evening, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine continues to rub salt in the wound of Assembly candidate and former chief of staff Stuart Waldman by co-hosting a fundraiser for Waldman's opponent, Bob Blumenfield....(more)

The AM Alert

Last Updated 5:50 am PDT Tuesday, June 19, 2007

As talks in the Capitol heat up about a possible Indian gambling compacts deal -- using memoranda of agreement -- UNITE HERE, the main union opposing the deals, is organizing a rally outside the Capitol to protest the compacts.

"These compacts guarantee billion-dollar monopoly gaming rights to the few and completely disregard basic rights for workers," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary of the California Labor Federation in a statement.

Inside the building, both houses continue to hold committee hearings.

Here's one to watch: The Senate Transportation Committee meets today and will consider two bills by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk that deal with how the state creates highway double-fine zones.

Originally, Wolk's AB 112 established such a zone along Highway 12, known as "blood alley," which happens to be where Sen. Carole Migden rear-ended a car last month.

The problem was the Senate Transportation Committee has had an informal policy against double-fine zones.

So Wolk has amended her bill to do establish more of a system for creating double-fine areas.

For good measure, she has a resolution to name a portion of Highway 12 after a fallen CHP officer. And because she had to amend out the double-fine zone from her original bill, legislative intent language to create a double-fine zone has been inserted into her Senate resolution.

The whole package has been the subject of heavy, behind-the-scenes debate, which is expected to spill over into the committee hearing this morning.

Meanwhile, at USC's Ceasefire! Bridging the Political Divide conference, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be this morning's keynote speaker.

Schwarzenegger will be introduced by, of all people, former Gov. Gray Davis, the man he ousted in the 2003 recall....(more)

Spitzer and The Police

Last Updated 9:43 am PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007

By Shane Goldmacher -- Capitol Alert
It should come as little surprise that Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, the law-and-order lawmaker from Orange County, would like the band "The Police." So go and read his review of the band's concert here....(more)

Senate Republicans ax foster-care bill, citing budget woes

Last Updated 12:42 pm PDT Thursday, June 28, 2007

By Judy Lin -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Senate Republicans on Thursday killed a foster-care bill they said would have continued unchecked state spending. Senators voted along partisan lines, 23-13, failing to receive the necessary two-thirds vote....(more)