California Insider

Congressman Darrell Issa doesn't seem to know whether or not he is going to help finance the Davis recall effort and run to replace the governor if the recall qualifies. The Vista Republican and former U.S. Senate candidate told the Sacramento Bee in Thursday's editions that he was inclined to do both. On Friday, he was quoted in the Oakland Trib saying he would finance the effort indirectly and figured he was qualified to replace Davis. But he told his hometown paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, that he didn't intend to "write a check" to help finance the recall and he hadn't decided yet whether he would run. Democrats aren't going to wait for Issa to make up his mind. Party operative Bob Mulholland has already begun circulating a dossier reminding reporters of legal problems and other blemishes in Issa's less than spotless past.

April income tax payments, which in past years have produced huge surpluses or revealed massive shortfalls, are coming in fairly close to projections this time around. The latest numbers from the Franchise Tax Board suggest actual receipts might be about $500 million short of the $5.5 billion expected to arrive with this month’s returns. Combined with earlier shortfalls, that could put the state another $1 billion in the hole. Not fun, but compared to disasters in prior years, not the end of the world.

Desperate to win approval for a plan to borrow $2.2 billion to pay next year’s state obligation to employee pension funds, legislative Democrats have offered up a new list of potential budget cuts to entice Republicans to go along. The proposed cuts include $500 million that would be taken from city and county governments, and the suspension of cost of living increases for the aged, blind and disabled. But it’s amazing how many of the cuts appear to be relatively pain-free, even at this late date in the budget crisis. The Dems, for example, propose saving $200,000 by eliminating a marketing program in the Trade and Commerce Agency, cut $22,000 by trimming the equipment budget in the Office of Criminal Justice Planning, gain $58,000 by cutting an executive assistant position in the Department of Corrections. The proposal goes on like this for 24 pages, only occasionally turning up something that appears even remotely close to the bone. The Democrats’ describe their $50 million reduction in Medi-Cal dental benefits as bringing the program “more in line with private dental insurance plans.” The Legislature, meanwhile, still refuses to adopt hundreds of millions in cuts proposed by the governor, many of which need to be approved now in order to take effect in time for the July 1 start of the fiscal year.