Pension reform crusader David Crane steps down today as a member of the University of California Board of Regents.
That's because the state Senate didn't confirm his appointment to the post within the year prescribed by law.
"Finally Some Good News for UC Students, Faculty, and Workers," blared the headline of an 1,100-word news release last week from Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, celebrating Crane's impending departure.
Former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named the millionaire investment banker to a 12-year term on the UC board. Democrats, unions and other public pension defenders saw it as a poke in the eye.
Crane, a Democrat, was Schwarzenegger's point man on public pensions. He contended that the state's three largest funds, including UC's, were committing "generational theft" by understating their liabilities and siphoning money from schools and social programs.
"I look forward to the day when the California Legislature stops privatizing the University of California and forcing painful fee increases on students," he said Friday via a spokesman.
It probably didn't help Crane's standing with lawmakers that he also heads Govern for California.
"Our state government isn't working," the group's website says. "We can fix it by electing a few courageous legislators."
>THE STATE WORKER
The flap in Congress over the Social Security payroll tax rate complicates things for new state retirees who won't be around to get a paycheck on Feb. 1 containing a refund for January. State workers who enter retirement in January will get a separate payroll tax refund check from the state, according to Jacob Roper, spokesman for State Controller John Chiang.
>WORTH REPEATING
"We get people who can't wait to sign the petition."
JOHN BERRY, member of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots, talking to the San Bernardino newspaper about Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly's push to overturn the Dream Act law, which will let undocumented immigrants apply for state-funded college financial aid.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.