Dan Walters' Capitol Q&A

Question: On Nov. 29 you wrote, "I would personally prefer that all three branches of higher education be merged into one seamless system answerable to a single oversight board." Are you sure that's such a good idea, especially considering distribution of funds? If the 11 percent allocated by Proposition 98 were moved into a combined UC-CSU-CC system and combined with the current higher ed budget, would the CC's receive 70 percent of the budget because the CC's have 70 percent of the students enrolled in higher education? Heck, the CC's never received the 11 percent of the Proposition 98 funds.
-- Lin Fraser, Sacramento

Answer: Were the CCs part of the state's overall system, though, perhaps their stature would increase and the board of the combined system would feel responsible for the CCs' financial well-being, rather than what happens as a result of their hybrid, near-fish-nor-fowl status now.
-- Dan Walters

Question: What do you see are the positives and negatives of term limits? Do you think lobbyists and the more experienced staff have too much power? Do you think "super staffers" know what they are doing or has power corrupted them? Have you observed that term limits has brought to the Capitol young, campaign staffers who believe that if they read a one-page document that says what they want to hear they can make public policy?
-- Mike M., Sacramento

Answer: There are positives and negatives - breaking up the somewhat corruptoligarchy that controlled the Capitol and bringing more cultural diversity to the Legislature are positives, but shortening the Legislature's attention span and and losing both institutional knowledge and staff expertise are negatives. It is, however, difficult to separate the effects of term limits from those of gerrymandered legislative districts. I would say that the overall impact of term limits is about 50-50 plus and minus. The Legislature was dysfunctional before term limits and remains so because its problems are more deeply structural than any one-shot approach such as term limits can solve.
-- Dan Walters

Question: With the lights on the prison crisis, do you see any real help coming and true solutions reached with the current administration? Who in Sacramento is capable of addressing the pressing issues regarding inmates serving indeterminate sentences that have prepared their lives to be eligible for parole under guidelines set up by the Board of Parole hearings?
-- Nedra Stribling, Los Angeles

Answer: I'm not certain anyone wants the political onus for turning inmates loose before they have served their full terms.
-- Dan Walters

Question: The governance structure of the community colleges has a state agency with limited authority overseeing college districts with elected boards. Some in the Capitol seem to want more central authority for systemwide policy. This would require more resources. Serving eight times more students, the Community College Chancellor's Office is 1/15 the size of the UCOP and 1/4th the size of the CSU Chancellor's Office. Do you think the system's governance structure should be changed to be more like the UC or CSU system or should it be put more directly under the administration as recommended in the California Performance Review?
-- Mike M., Sacramento

Answer: You strike close to the heart of the CC governance problem which is that the system is neither fish nor fowl, neither state-operated nor locally controlled. The state chancellor's office and state community college board, lacking real power, exemplify the problem. That said, it does, overall, a fantastic job of bringing low-cost, high-quality instruction to upwards of two million students. But it could do a better job were it to have a stronger place at the higher education table, assuming that most of its money would still come from the state. I would personally prefer that all three branches of higher education be merged into one seamless system answerable to a single oversight board.
-- Dan Walters

Question: As a follow-up to the question of legislators' pay, I wonder if the original questioner is right. Do legislators make as much as Silicon Valley CEOs. I tend to think the answer is no, but I'm not sure. Do you know?
-- Bob Schilling, Long Beach

Answer: Only if CEO is running a very small startup. Taking into account salaries, per diem payments and cars, legislators receive taxable equivalent of around $150,000-$160,000 a year.
-- Dan Walters

Question: In your view, just how much effect will the infrastructure bonds that were recently passed have on the future tax levels of this state? Secondly, what will be the initial moves, overall thrust of Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown in the AG seat?
-- Dale R. Molesworth, Buellton

Answer: I doubt whether the bonds will affect the level of taxes, although repaying them will have a dampening effect on other expenditures. Brown, one must assume from his past record, will do everything he can to maintain a very high profile.
-- Dan Walters

Question: I am hearing rumblings of a prop for 2008 that would dismantle our existing state legislature and replace it with a non partisan unicameral legislature. It would not allow its members to accept contributions.
On the surface this sounds like a good idea. Voters are tired of the fighting inherent in the two party structure, fed up with the heavy handedness of party leaders, and nauseated by the clout bestowed upon donors whether they be corporate or labor. What are the positive and negative aspects of this idea?
-- David Reimer, Reedley

Answer: Overall, I wouldn't be opposed to such a move because I believe the current structure of the Legislature is incompatible with the social and economic reality of California. But there are a couple of caveats: True nonpartisanship is impossible, as the experience with local government indicates. De facto parties arise in one--party areas such as Orange County and San Francisco, and factionalism of one kind or another is inevitable. Also, not allowing legislators and candidates to accept campaign contributions, as noxious as the practive may be, doesn't solve the corruption problem and may make it worse. Legislators make decisions with huge economic consequences and those affected will, in their own interest, attempt to influence that decision-making. Banning contributions, or even severely limiting them, merely drives the influence-peddling undergrond and gives rise to so-called "independent expenditures" which are largely unaccontable. You can't take politics out of politics.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Mr. McPherson is widely respected on both sides. Many people in the Capitol respect and admire him. Senator Bowen is known for her intelligence and arrogance. Did McPherson just run a bad campaign or was his support of Diebold machines a factor? Is he California's version of Lincoln Chaffee - not moderate enough to fight the anti-Rep tide? Do you think there is a role in the administration which would maximize his use of his talents? OSE? Chancellor of a college?

Also, the Donna Arduin "audit" of the state's budget supposedly found billions in "waste, fraud, and abuse," but there was no physical report to identify specifics. At a budget hearing, Mr. Genest, then Deputy Director, could only identify "generous employee pensions as an example of abuse. The end result of the "waste, fraud and abuse" marketing ploy was the California Performance Review. There were some good ideas, but they were lumped with "poison pills." Do you think that the Governor should revisit his "blow up the boxes" promise and pick out the good ideas from the CPR one at a time?
-- Mike M., Sacramento

Answer: McPherson did not campaign vigorously. Bowen was advantaged by her party designation and being the only woman seeking a statewde state office. There is some talk, however, of McPherson's becoming Schwarzenegger's education adviser.

Yes, the good ideas in the CPR should be extracted and adopted by the governor as part of an incremental program of reform. It wouldn't save a lot of money but it would keep the bureaucracy on its toes and demonstrate to Californians than someone is trying to make government work better.
-- Dan Walters

Question: A newly elected assemblyman, Jim Beall, bemoned the fact that when he transitioned from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors he took a pay cut from $120,000 to $113,000. I don't believe Mr. Beall. There are many ways politicians can add to the already substantial incomes which include a multitude of perks that go far beyond us normal taxpayers. I'm sure that he will make more than most normal size company CEOs in Silicon Valley.
Is Jim ignorant or lying to us about how hard it is to be a congressman in California, NOT?
-- Dennis Go, San Jose

Answer: In additon to their salaries, California legislators receive tax-free "per diem" payments of more than $800 a week as long as the Legislataure is in session, a car and a gasoline credit card (perks that U.S. congressmen don't get). That's the equivalent of another $50,000 or so per year in taxable income.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Dan, it seemed to me at the time that Steve Westly would have given Arnold a run for his money but that Angelides was a loser right out of the box. Do you think the Dem braintrust -- if that term can be used with a straight face -- now realize what a colossal blunder it was to line up behind Angelides? And if so, might the Dems actually wake up and free themselves from the old guard and union hacks who, like their poster boy Phil, seem to want to reinstall the '70s?
-- Murray Powers, Oakland

Answer: Political parties are not monoliths but rather collections of ideological, ethnic and economic interest groups which often are more interested in their positions and power within the party than in fielding the most viable candidates. That explains why Republicans have often nominated right-wing candidates incapable of winning and why Democrats field left-wingers who cannot win all-important independent support, such as Angelides. It was more important for liberal blocs, such as unions, to maintain their authority within the party than to get behind a candidate such as Westly who stood a better chance of defeating Schwarzenegger. The ability of left- and right-wingers to delude themselves about their appeal to the larger body of voters never ceases to amaze me. Polls indicate that about 25 percent of voters are self-pro-claimed liberals and about 30 percent are self-identified conservatives and about 50 percent, including most independents, are moderates. It ain't rocket science.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Gov. Schwarzenegger during his first term brought renewed focus on the importance of career technical education (CTE) for high school students. I have heard rumblings that during his second term he is going to try and set in motion a structural change in the K-12 system that would place CTE and the current UC academic orientated system on an equal footing and/or a possible melding of the two into a new approach of perparing students for life, study and careers. Your thoughts.
-- Ron Johnson, Tulare

Answer: AS has been a strong supporter of voc ed by word and deed, the first governor of modern times to be so inclined, and wants to make education reform a hallmark of hsi second term. He's said nothing about the approach you mention, but based on past actions I believe he would be amenable to it.
-- Dan Walters

Question: How can the concerted efforts of the two main political parties to keep others out of the political process be constitutional? Where does it say Democrat or Republican party affiliation is a requisite of legitimate candidacy? How can it be constitutional to restrict a voter's choices in a primary election? Shouldn't anyone be able to run for office with the expectation that his or her voice will be heard? Wouldn't it make sense to have, say, the top four candidates in the primary election progress to the general election and include all four in any scheduled debates?
-- Joshua Kewish, Rancho Cordova

Answer: The parties control the process because they can. The open primary system was voided by the courts, which agreed with the parties that primaries are in effect private internal matters for the parties to control. Debates are purely private events.
-- Dan Walters

Question: My clients are withering with the Draconian effects wrought by Worker's Comp "reform." Not only the medical denials but the limit on temporary disability payments and elimination of vocational rehabilitaion have removed hope to a return to a normal life. Any indication the governor has a conscience on this issue? After all his contributors from the insurance industry are making 40 percent profits. Thank you
-- Bill Ferchland, Santa Rosa

Answer: The administration is doing a study of effects which should be completed soon. I think AS might be willing to tweak the administrative rules that are the source of much of the angst, as long as it didn't seriously threaten his relationship with the business community, which has enjoyed large decreases in comp costs and premiums in last couple of years. That relationship, rather than any ties to insurers, is the most important factor.
-- Dan Walters

Question: I have noticed a lot more CCPOA commercials on TV. Do you know what there intentions are? They love to flood the airways with there propaganda agenda. Their moto is they get paid for what they might have to do, "not what they do." Do you think they hold as much political power as they did several years ago? They continue to get raises much higher that any other state agencies (except the legislature). What are your thoughts on CCPOA and where they stand politically today?
-- Sherry, Folsom

Answer: The prison guards' political power has waned a bit because for the first time in a long time, California has a governor who's not politically beholden to them and there is some pushback developing in the Legislature.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Michigan recently voted down affirmative action. What do we have to expect as California did the same thing. How bad is it going to get?
-- Sue Lepper, Union City, Mich.

Answer: Not nearly as bad as the opponents of the measure depicted. Actually, institutions have largely adjusted -- if reluctantly in many cases -- to the voters' decrees.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Do you think the new year holds out any hope of nay boxes being blown up, or are we just going to see maneuvering for the gov's race in 2010?
-- Jake Mackenzie, Rohnert Park

Answer: More likely the latter than the former.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Baby-boomer politicians and their constituents are running up public debts, underfunding pensions and health care benefits for public workers, pursuing unsustainable status quos on social security and medicare. Some give lip service to how bad it is to pass on these debts to their children. What is Gen X/Y doing, if anything, to hold the boomers accountable for these unsustainable policies? Anything brewing in Sacramento? If not yet, why not, and when do you expect the inevitable generational conflict to begin?
-- Philippe Melin, Sacramento

Answer: I can't disagere with the thrust of your comments. The reaction will come when the bill is presented in terms of higher taxes and lower programs and benefits. And the response may be to run up the credit cards some more.
-- Dan Walters

Question: The state has special revenue fund bonds approved 4/10/04 & still have $3,746.000,000 left unsold. These were to bail out state budget deficits and almost $10 billion have been sold already. Do you think that the remaining unsolds bonds will be sold , rather than cutting back on expenditures? The governor says he will not raise taxes.
-- Carl Lynch, Napa

Answer: If push comes to shove, using the bonds is much more likely than raising taxes and at least somewhat more likely than cutting spending to balance budget.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Since voters who decline to state a party affiliation represent nearly 20 percent of the state's electorate and are the fastest-growing category of voter registrations, why are there no candidates appearing on the ballot without a party affiliation?
-- Fred Pilot, Camino

Answer: It's difficult to get on ballot without party designation and, of course, an independent candidate doesn't have access to a party's financial resources. Finally, legislative seats are gerrymandered to have candidates of one party or the other.
-- Dan Walters

Question: As you have pronounced: "I am a declined-to-state voter and have been for many years. -- Dan Walters," I ask, therefore, are you inclined to particularly encourage Independent nonpartisan candidates to work to qualify their position on the General Election ballot? FYI - There were many such candidates that were write-in candidates because they fell short of gathering the required voter signatures to qualify their name on the November ballot.
-- Connor Vlakancic, Campbell

Answer: I write about politics, not engage in them.
-- Dan Walters

Question: One of our local county supervisors keeps blaming Prop. 13 for local and state budget tightness. In your view, is that the reason or has spending just gone up, or both?
-- Michael Haley, Napa

Answer: Mostly spending has gone up, especially personnel costs including pensions. Prop. 13 does limit property taxes, but the red-hot real estate market has made property taxes one of the faster-growing segments of public finance in recent years.
-- Dan Walters

Question: On Prop. 90., they spent very little money, yet it came very close to passing. Do you think they will come back with another proposition in 2008, perhaps narrower in scope?
-- Terry, Sacramento

Answer: The cleaner version passed in other states and probably would have passed here. The sponsors overreached.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Angelides spent 10s of millions campaigning for governor and got 39% of the vote. Do you believe he could have gotten the same percentage if he did not campaign at all? i.e., You would think he could have gotten 39% of the vote simply by virtue of being on the ballot as the Democratic candidate.
-- CRN, Sacramento

Answer: He might have gotten more. The Democratic base vote is somewhere above 40 percent and Angelides didn't get that. The more more he campaigned the worse he did.
-- Dan Walters

Question: What's the latest with the Feds taking over the California CDCR department? I know they've addressed the health care. How about other issues?
-- Ken, Long Beach

Answer: It's the big question surrounding the prisons, and no one really knows the answer. I would guess that newly re-elected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have perhaps one more year to get a handle on the prison crisis before the courts step in big time.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Prior to the election, were there $30 billion unsold bonds authorized by the state? I read this in the LA Times.
-- Carl Lynch, Napa

Answer: That well could be true. When voters authorize bonds, they are not automatically sold. Generally, projects are built with temporary financing (like a construction loan for a house) and then when finished, bonds are issued to provide long term financing (like a mortgage). And the bonds are restricted to particular purposes. In fiscal terms, it doesn't matter how much in bonds has been authorized, but how much has been activated and sold, thereby requiring repayment.
-- Dan Walters

Question: I've been reading your columns for 25 years, and you are untiring, never boring and always spot-on, even though I've moved across country to warmer ( and weirder) climes. Are you ever going to give away your own affiliation after all these years of observing and commenting?
-- Michael Beattie, Key West, Fla.

Answer: I am a declined-to-state voter and have been for many years.
-- Dan Walters

Question: How many people work for Nancy Pelosi now, how many will as speaker and who are they? What kind of "political" staff does the speaker have access to to build the party around the country. Does she get along with Howard Dean? How much credit does he get for the D's success?
-- Joel Blackwell, Tiburon

Answer: I have my hands full keeping track of what happens in Sacramento and can't really answer any questions about what happens in Washington.
-- Dan Walters

Question: What possible new sources for general fund revenue have not yet been explored and why?
-- L.B., Sacramento

Answer: The "why" is simple: No one wants his or her taxes to increase and the two-thirds vote requirement on taxes in the Legislature and on specific taxes at the local level make it easy to stop new taxes at those levels while voter skepticism generally blocks them in balalot measures at the state level, as this week's election demonstrated. The goal shouldn't be raising taxes, per se, but in tax reform that would more fairly allocate tax burdens and align the tax system more closely with the economy, avoiding mercurial ups and downs in revenues.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Since when have nurses become a political force in California? We have been overrun by mailers from them this election, and they even took out a number of full page political support ads in the San Jose Mercury News. They recommend only liberals, some of which seem grossly incompetent. Are the Democrats paying them off and What do the nurses expect in return? Why not stick to medicine and where does the money come from? Do you think the California public unions should participate in public elections when they are paid by tax dollars?
-- Phil Russell, Saratoga

Answer: California Nurses Association aspires to become a national nurses union and to do so, adopts a very militant attitude to attract new members. It had hoped that by spsonsoring a ballot measure to limit corporate involvement in ballot measure campaigns (Proposition 89) it would set the stage for a universal health care measure and further enhance its national standing. Ditto for its in-your-face opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Schwarzenegger won in a landslide and Proposition 89 was overwhelmingly defeated, so one would conclude that the nurses suffered a big setback this week.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Bob Mulholland hasn't been able to do much for Democrats in Chico, where he lives. What has he been able to do for Democrats at the state Capitol? What role did he play in Angelides campaign?
-- J.M. Miller, Davis

Answer: Mulholland obviously didn't do much for Angelides. Bob's problem is that he's such a partisan polemicist that he's lost much of his credibility with the media.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Why do we allow 30-second political TV ads and posters on telephone poles to influences our vote in polictical races? Why don't we make the media give up time during the political season and let people make up their minds by watching debates about the issues? We seem to sell our issues like Bud Lite commercials. I guess the money that the TV industry makes on commercials would never be passed by congress or legislators. Has anyone ever seriously brought this up?
-- Lee Landry, Fair Oaks

Answer: It's brought up all the time. But any efforts to dictate political speech inevitably run afoul of the first amendment.
-- Dan Walters

Question: I have nothing but terror about Nancy Pelosi and movement of the Democrats in the House. That woman appears to me to not even be a worthwhile woman. Do you have any information that might change my opinion?
-- Mickey Mathis, Brownwood, Texas

Answer: Nancy Pelosi is a member of a family that has long been prominent in Baltimore politics and is fundamentally a pragmatist who, interestingly, is considered to be a moderate by San Francisco standards. That makes her a liberal by national standards, certainly, but Democrats won the House by fielding centrist candidates in swing districts and the Senate may continue in Republican hands. Those factors, plus the fact that Bush will be president for two more years, severely limits Pelosi's ability to make any sharp changes in national policy. The system just doesn't allow hard turns one way or the other.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Within the plethoric blizzard of "Voter Information" pamphlets, there is not a word on the Judiciary nominees. Where is a good source information regarding these candidates?
-- Vic Merson, Fair Oaks

Answer: The Bee's voter guide covered the Supreme Court justices up for confirmation to new terms. In general, however, the media don't cover judicial offices unless there is an actual contest or a campaign to unseat a judge, which are both quite rare.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Today, C-SPAN glossed over this question twice. Just who pays for a sitting president to travel to campaign for members of his party, i.e. John Doolitle. etc.? Thank you.
-- Donna Wilson, Sacramento

Answer: As I understand it, the government is reimbursed from campaign funds, either those from the sponsoring organization, or someone else, based on a formula. Does that cover all the costs of presidential travel? No. If there are presidential aspects to the overall trip, those are factored in.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Dan, I am a 23-year resident of the area and was reared in Kansas. I would like to know if you think the Sacramento Bee and other media outlets are really being fair and honest about presenting the truth during this mid-year election. I heard that a recent ABC poll indicated that the major media outlets are 77 percent biased toward the Democrats favor in their slant of the news.
-- James D. Adams, Fair Oaks

Answer: I'm certain that political reporters do their level best to be fair and balanced. There may be lapses, but they don't stem from ideological biases so much as human frailty. What happans is that those on the losing or defensive side of any political clash look for scapegoats, and the media are handy.

Bill Clinton railed against the media when he was in trouble - largely because the media were investigating his personal and financial conduct - and Republicans are doing it now. Moreover, consumers of media view what they read and hear throught he prism of their own biases. If a story reflects poorly on someone the reader happens to support, he or she sees it as biased, while anything that discomfits those on the other side is viewed as objective and fair.

The clearly biased elements of the media, such as radio talkers, preach to the choir of sycohants who see their screeds as fair when, in fact, they are terribly slanted.
-- Dan Walters

Question: When Bruce McPherson makes comments about Bowen being "aggressive" or "combative," does it come off as being sexist? Honestly, my wife and I have had several conversations about it and it honestly seems like he is trying to claim that her determined personality and strive for excellence is somehow unprofessional and/or bad. And we both think it seems a little sexist; we just want to know if we're off base.
-- Sam Harris, Sacramento

Answer: Those are not particularly sexist terms, and during campaigns all sorts of things are said. Furthermore, there's no reason for any poltiician to utter sexist comments since there are at least as many female voters as male ones. Finally, there's nothing in McPherson's background to indicate that he harbors sexist motives.
-- Dan Walters

Question: You have spoken of influence of the public employee unions in the CA legislature. What is the percentage of the total contributions to the electeds is given by the public employee unions? What is the percentage of the public employee versus the total workforce?
-- Reed Youmans, Davis

Answer: Until the election is over one could not answer the first question, but in a regular election such as this one, it's not a huge percentage. Something over $500 million is being spent on campaigns in California this year and it's doubtful whether public employee unions are contributing more than a tenth of that - especially since the truly big bucks are being spent on ballot measures and the unions are not heavily involved in them this year. But the important fact about public worker unions is that they are heavily involved in Democratric primaries and that's where the real action is, especially in legislative districts. There are 2.5 million government employees of all kinds n California, more than half of whom are members of unions, out of a total workforce of 15 million.
-- Dan Walters