California Insider

The San Diego Union reports here that the Schwarzenegger Administration and a group of Indian tribes are nearing a deal that could produce $1 billion or more for the state in the first year while opening the door to a major expansion of tribal gaming in California. The big early payment would be generated by a private bond measure the Indians would float, which they would then repay from their future earnings.

Jason Kinney, a former chief speechwriter for Gov. Gray Davis, has joined Burson-Marsteller as a director and head of public affairs in the company's Sacramento office. Kinney, 33, is also the former communications director for Sen. Don Perata and had formed his own public affairs firm after leaving the Davis Administration.

As the final debate nears in Congress over the new transportation funding bill, your best source for how it all affects California is the California Institute, which has reports, spreadsheets, analysis and more on every possible angle. In addition to the ultimate size of the transportation bill, the big debate in DC this year is over whether states should be guaranteed the current 90 percent return on their gas tax paid or if that should be raised to 95 percent. It's always seemed to me that that whole debate ignores the more fundamental question, which is why should the states be sending all this gas tax money to Washington so that Congress and the transportation bureaucracy can then send it back, with restrictions and after taking their cut. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to lower the gas tax to whatever level is needed to finish and maintain the interstate highways, then let the individual states decide whether they want to use their own money to build light rail or add an extra lane to the highway from the suburbs to downtown?

Last week I ordered a new laptop over the Internet, and I watched online as its progress was recorded. I knew when the kit was prepared, when the machine was tested, boxed and shipped. But the real fun started when it was shipped. I saw when the package reached Sparks, Nevada, outside Reno, and when it got to West Sacramento. On Tuesday, it was sent out for delivery, and at 2:20 p.m., the driver reported that no one was home when the first attempt was made to deliver the computer. I noted that a second attempt would be made today, and I knew no one would be home for that one, either. Then I saw that there was a way for me to go online and change the delivery instructions. I was able to request that the box be pulled from the truck and held at the warehouse for me to pick up that same night. Although the shipper closes at 6 p.m. for normal business, they re-open at 9:30 p.m. for folks who want to come in late and pick up their packages. A few minutes after I made the request online, a woman from the shipping company called to confirm, and at 9:30 p.m. I showed up at the security booth outside the warehouse. I was ushered inside. They asked for my picture ID and had me sign my name on one of those electronic recorders. Then they handed me the box, and I was home by 10 p.m. No fuss, no muss. It's amazing that they can provide this kind of personal service, given that they move thousands of packages into and out of Sacramento every day. The technology is what makes it possible, letting them track packages in real time and posting it online so the customer can do most of the work. You can imagine how the same tools that made my life a little bit easier have become absolutely crucial in the business world, where shipping and receiving products efficiently can make the difference between a profit and a loss.

Gov. Schwarzenegger did a round of interviews with the print media Tuesday, his first since taking office. He told the Bee he thought a deal on workers comp was near. And he told both the Bee and The Los Angeles Times that he might have to reconsider his opposition to tax increases at some point, suggesting to the Los Angeles paper that his position against raising revenues might represent "wishful thinking." He told the Chronicle, meanwhile, that he had taken the state's sexual harrassment sensitivity course after becoming governor.