Looking to show off your skills at writing slogans? As our sister blog The Swarm says, Jerry "Gubernatorial Candidate" Brown could use a more imaginative pitch than "standing up for Californians."
Check out other people's suggestions for Jerry here, and write your own.
Farming and ranching collide with budget cuts today as the Senate Local Government Committee looks at the "past, present (and) future" of the Williamson Act.
That's the more common name for the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, which has its roots -- pun intended -- in the rapid urbanization of the state's rural areas starting after World War II.
The Williamson Act allows local governments to contract with private landowners who agree to restrict land to agricultural or open space use in return for lower property tax assessments.
Here's where the budget cuts come into play. The state paid the local governments to make up for the lost tax revenues -- until now. This year's state budget essentially suspended the payments, and some farmers and ranchers are worried they won't be able to keep working their land.
About 16 million acres are enrolled under contract statewide, according to the state Department of Conservation Web site. The department says that's about one-third of all privately held land in the state, and about one half of all the state's agricultural land.
Maybe the Williamson Act could use a slogan-writing campaign, too. The Local Government Committee hearing starts at 9:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 112.
This afternoon, with the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti still making headlines, the Senate Health Committee looks at hospitals' compliance with the state's seismic safety deadlines. That hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4203.
BIRTHDAY: Republican Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, turns 67 today. "I was born in Jurassic Park," he told The Bee when asked about his text-messaging practices. Check out her story on texting under the dome in today's Bee.
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