Dan Walters' Capitol Q&A

Question: In the past week there was a short news announcement that that the California Lottery Corp. was sold , or is in the process of selling, to a foreign company. That was all of the report, and I haven't a word on this since. If true, I believe we taxpayers have some stake in the Lotto and they were created by "we the taxpayers" and we should stop this raping of our state's assets.
-- Jack Azevedo, Fort Bragg

Answer: Today's Bee carried extensive story on legislative hearing into the situation. It's available at this Web address: http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/96653.html
--Dan Walters

Question: It seems to me there was a famous quote from then-Gov. Jerry Brown about gun control that spoke to an admonishment from his father to "not mess" with people's xxx and their guns. Now that he is going to be AG, does this portend a potential retrenchment on gun regulation from where the Lockyer AG administration has gone?
-- Andres Soto, Richmond

Answer: Although the quotation you cite probably was uttered by another politician, Jerry Brown, unusual for a Democrat, has not been a hard-line gun control advocate. He's voiced support or the 2nd Amendment rights of gun owners while endorsing "some reasonable restrictions" but also attacking his Republican opponent, Chuck Poochigian, for voting against controls on .50-caliber rifle. While governor, Brown resisted calls for more gun controls, often mentioning that he was a gun owner himself (he used to hunt waterfowl with his father). Brown is unpredictable, certainly, but my guess would be that he'd be less militant about expanding gun controls that predecessor Bill Lockyer, but also not likely to seek a rollback on existing controls.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Since the governor plans a $10 billion cost for prisons , jails etc., why doesn't he ask the federal government for a $5 billion grant? In checking our prison cost data and discussion with several prison guards, we have almost 50,000 prisoners who have illegal status. The federal gov't is responsible for allowing them in the USA in the first place , so why should we pay with our local costs?
-- Carl Lynch, Napa

Answer: No one really knows how many illegal immigrants are in California prisons because until recently, state prison officials didn't even ask incoming inmates about their status. While the question is being asked now, there's no way to verify whether the responses are accurate. Prison officials say that about 5,000 of the states 170,000-plus inmates do have immigration holds from federal authorities, indicating that they, indeed, are in the country illegally, and will be turned over to the feds after serving their terms. It would be safe to assume that the true number of illegals is something above 5,000 but how far above is uncertain. The number of 25,000 has kicked around political circles, but it's just a guess on someone's part. That's not to say that the state couldn't ask the feds for more money to deal with the impacts of illegal immigration, not only in the prisons but in health care, education and other public services. Estimates of the total impact on public services have ranged beyond $5 billion a year at state and local levels. From time to time, California has received some impact aid, but not anywhere close to the total cost, and other states with large immigrant populations also claim shares of whatever money Congress appropriates. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once pledged to become the "Collectinator" to get the feds to pony up more, but so far to no avail.
-- Dan Walters

Question: There appears to be some politicians using public pension reform as the main frame of their political platform. I do agree there are some adjustment needed to the system, but it seems that they are working toward full-on dismantling. Even to the point of creating a class war between public and private sector employees. What are your thoughts on this subject?
-- Bill Macauley, Bakersfield

Answer: The increasing gap between private and public pensions creates that tension, as well as the burden of ever-rising costs for pensions and retiree health care, which generates friction with other claimants on the public treasury. The system will not and cannot be dismantled for those already in it. The question is whether the growth of benefits will be moderated for new public employees, perhaps through a two-tier system that California embraced in the 1990s and later abandoned.
-- Dan Walters

Question: There was a bill before the Legislature this year to impose a "port use" fee on all cargo containers arriving at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, a $20 or $30/20-foot-equivalent unit. Was this bill enacted, and what was the final bill number, if you can find it for me?
-- Steven Rhodes, Louisville, Colo.

Answer: The bill was Senate Bill 927 by Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, It cleared the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger with these words:

"Improving the quality of life for all Californians through congestion relief and environmental improvement has been one of my top priorities as evidenced by the introduction of my Strategic Growth Plan resulting in the enactment of Senate Bill 1266 (Chapter 25, 2006).

"Senate Bill 1266 (Chapter 25, 2006) is the largest transportation and air quality bond in the history of the United States. It provides $1 billion in new funding to improve air quality in California which will directly benefit the communities in and around the Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports. Senate Bill 1266 also provides $1 billion to address port mitigation issues, $2.1 billion for trade infrastructure and $100 million in port security funding. This is in addition to the $140 million ann ually for air quality mitigation contained in Assembly Bill 923 (Chapter 707, 2004) which I sponsored and signed.

"Although the policy objectives of Senate Bill 927, to develop more secure ports, congestion relief and environmental mitigation, are laudable, this measure is flawed in its construction, application, lack of accountability and failure to coordinate with other public and private financing sources ignoring opportunities to leverage additional funding.

"Senate Bill 927 provides no mechanism for the usage of the fees collected to favorably leverage the billions of dollars in available funding to develop public private partnerships. Although SB 927 does generate funds, if done in a more coordinated fashion with the public and private sector, funding for additional congestion relief and mitigation could be increased geometrically. Additionally, this measure is drafted to include only two ports and applies only to goods shipped in containers, ig noring all other forms of shipping and ports of entry.

"Public safety is and has been my top priority which includes increasing the security at all California ports. My Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services has aggressively worked with the U.S. Office of Homeland Security and all our local counties and cities to support them as they develop their local plans for port security and identify their needs. Over 127 million dollars has been awarded and allocated on a competitive basis to California ports for security. These grants are bein g used for port security training, communications equipment, cameras, lighting underwater surveillance and protective equipment for port first responders. We have an additional 100 million dollars included in the strategic growth plan specifically for port security. Additionally, we are working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on their just announced award investing over 1 billion dollars on radiological and nuclear detection capabilities.

"As Governor, I have traveled to both China and Japan working to improve our trading relationships with these nations trade that includes both imports and exports. It is very important that any measure that increases fees that impact exporters not have the unintended consequence of negatively impacting the sale and delivery of goods grown and manufactured in California. SB 927, unfortunately could negatively impact these exports as well.

"Finally, my goods movement task force is developing a comprehensive report that will provide more thorough and strategic direction and insight on what the best options are to address goods movement and port related challenges. This report will be available by the end of this year."
-- Dan Walters

Question: Bill Lockyer provided some very impressive attorney general opinions and rulings in his tenure What do you think he will do next? What special qualities will Jerry Brown bring to the office.
-- Cathryn Hilliard, Mill Valley

Answer: Mr. Lockyer was elected state treasurer last month and presumably will maintain an equally high profile there. One also assumes that he hasn't given up his once-burning desire to become governor, even though he took a pass this year. Jerry Brown certainly brings a wealth of political experience to the AG's office, but also a reputation for a certain, shall we say, flightiness. He'll also be a high profile AG and can't be counted out as a possibility for the governorship in 2010.
-- Dan Walters

Question: When are you going to retire?
-- Araby, Sacramento

Answer: Not anytime soon. My intention is to stick around at least until I have 50 years in harness.
-- Dan Walters

Question: What pots of money are potentially available for local communities to make major upgrades to their sewer system? Our system is near the headwaters of the Sacramento River, and is over capacity in the winter.
-- Steve Funk, Mt. Shasta

Answer: The State Water Resources Control Board does have a local financial assistance program which is explained at this site: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/funding/index.html#currentlyaccepting
-- Dan Walters

Question: Does the State Department of Social Services conduct statewide audits to see if funds are being distributed to qualifed recipients. A contact that once worked there has been very concerned about this.
-- Carol Joyal, Los Gatos

Answer: To our knowledge those kinds of audits are not conducted. But when the department receives complaints about fraud, there are investigations.
-- Dan Walters

Question: On April 4, 2004, the Economic Bond Act was passed for a voter authorization amount of $15 billion with about $9.49 billion of bonds outstanding, leaving $3.746 billion unissued. What is this bond money used for? Could it be used to help eliminate the annual budget deficit?
-- Carl Lynch, Napa

Answer: The 2004 bond issue was sought by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to refinance the state's short-term debt that had been acquired to cover several years of budget deficits under his predecessor, Gray Davis - much like a consumer might take out a second mortgage on his house to cover credit card debt. There is, as you note, something in excess of $3 billion in borrowing capacity remaining, which could be used to cover additional deficits in 2007-08 and beyond. Using it, however, would not "eliminate" the deficit, merely cover it for one year. As long as expenditures exceed revenues each year by several billion dollars, the "structural deficit" will continue to haunt the state.
-- Dan Walters

Question: I noticed that Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico, was absent from yesterday's swearing-in ceremony. Do you know what happened that caused him to miss such an important event?
-- Alice Mecham, Redding

Answer: We've been informed that Assemblyman Keene was visiting Mexico that day, in Mazatlan specifically. But he saved the taxpayers a bit of money by his absence because he was not entitled to state expense payments for the day.
-- Dan Walters

Question: Do you know why Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill regarding letting news media into prisons? It seems to me a good "sunshine" bill and I just can't figure why he would veto it.
-- Judy Mitchell, Bakersfield

Answer: This is what the governor said when he vetoed the bill, SB 1521, by Sen . Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles:

"Last year I vetoed a similar measure because it would have allowed the media to glamorize murderers and thereby once again traumatize crime victims and their families. I am vetoing this bill for the same reason. I believe California must provide greater access to our prisons through the media, especially now as we address problems with overcrowding, medical care and high recidivism rates. There are portions of this bill that would facilitate greater media access and let the sun shine in; however I do not believe violent criminals should be able to traumatize their victims a second time by having unfettered access to the media. Therefore, I have directed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to immediately issue new regulations to implement the provisions of this bill to allow media access, but limit media access to specific violent criminals in order to protect crime victims and their families."

It's difficult for the media to explore the prison crisis without access to the prisons themselves. That makes us utterly dependent on the conflicting and self-serving versions of reality offered by various interest groups such as administrators, the unions and prisoner rights groups. We'll have to see whether the governor follows through on his pledge to improve access.
-- Dan Walters

Question: What are your thoughts on including Workers Comp medical coverage in a single payer health insurance plan for CA? I think that having single-payer insurance, which includes the health part of Workers Comp, would solve the Worker Comp problem in CA. This would seperate the liability/disability legal problems from the health care part.
-- Javan Reid, McKinleyville

Answer: Yes, it would "solve" the medical portion of the work comp situation but probably not to the liking of many medical care providers who see comp as the last vestige of highly profitable, fee-for-service medicine. It would not affect other and perhaps more important aspects of work comp, such as eligibility for benefits and the benefits themselves. And one should remember that single-payer health insurance is a concept that's a very long way from becoming reality.
-- Dan Walters