Oil-Company Backed AB 32 Suspension on November Ballot

The November ballot will be a battleground over a key part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s legacy – AB 32, the landmark law requiring a steep rollback in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

Qualifying for the ballot June 22 is the “California Jobs Initiative,” backed chiefly by oil companies, which would suspend the law until California’s unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or less for four consecutive quarters.    Read more »

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A Look at How Public Schools Fared Over the Last 13 Budgets

Michael Hulsizer, head of legislative affairs for the office of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, compiled the following comparison of the state’s general fund revenue growth and public school spending from July 1, 1998 through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011.

There is also a percentage comparison of the increase in public school spending compared to other areas of the budget for the same period.    Read more »

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June Tax Collections Closer to Estimates But Still Fall Short

With nine days left in the month, state budget writers are waiting to see if June revenue projections hit their mark.

In his revised budget in May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated more than $5.5 billion in income tax receipts and $2.1 billion in bank and corporation tax payments for June.

If June payments come in above estimates, the state’s $17.9 billion budget hole shrinks.    Read more »

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Senate Democrats Pitch Major Changes in State County Roles

Counties would be given a bigger share of responsibility for California’s welfare system as well as some public safety, drug treatment and elderly care programs currently run by the state under a budget plan proposed June 21 by Senate Democrats.

The plan, which would impose nearly $4.3 billion in current state costs on counties over four years, proposes covering the new county obligations through a combination of tax increases including a new tax on oil extraction and postponing the effective date of two tax breaks benefiting mainly large corporations approved as part of the 2009 budget compromise.    Read more »

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In the Interest of Full Disclosure, Don’t Forget Proposition 57

On June 17, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger invoked Proposition 58, approved by voters in March 2004, saying it prohibited the sort of borrowing contemplated in the budget plan of Assembly Democrats.

His comments came in response to an opinion, sought by the GOP governor, from Attorney General Jerry Brown saying the Assembly Democrats’ plan could be “suspect” under Proposition 58’s provisions.    Read more »

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Correction…

In the post below regarding campaign solicitations by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, California’s Capitol erroneously stated that the Attorney General wants donors to contribute $20 each WEEK between now the November election to counter spending by his GOP rival Meg Whitman.

In fact, the solicitation sought is $20 PER MONTH.    Read more »

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Jerry Brown Appeals to Donors Asking Them to “Match Meg”

Dear XXXX,

Last week, we challenged Meg Whitman not to repeat the Republican primary’s poisonous tone by agreeing to a series of constructive joint town-hall appearances — to put aside the marathon of negative TV ads and instead have a real conversation with Californians about the issues.

So far, it’s not looking promising.    Read more »

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Memo to the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee

In the future, if the committee’s Democratic majority wishes to make a substitute motion on a piece of legislation, such as it did June 15 on Senate Bill 889 relating to suction dredge mining, the rules of the lower house state such a motion should be made before the bill is killed.    Read more »

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The Morning After Isn’t Always An Unpleasant Experience

In fact, state budget writers are rejoicing the morning after the June 15 filing deadline for quarterly tax payments.

Through the 15th, the state had received $1.1 billion in personal  income tax payments — $723 million of it arriving June 14 and June 15 — and $516 million in bank and corporations tax payments.    Read more »

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There’s a Key Senate Race June 22. One Candidate’s Views:

Dear friend,

By now I’m sure you’ve seen the attack ads targeting me. These misleading ads are funded by some of California’s biggest corporations, who have spent over $700,000 trying to buy this election on behalf of my opponent, Sam Blakeslee.

Corporate money is being funneled through PACs like JOBSPAC, whose major donors include big tobacco company Phillip Morris, big insurance company Anthem Blue Cross, and big oil company Chevron.    Read more »

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