Temporarily Closed Roseville DMV Office to Close Permanently — In Theory

Among the state property slated for disposal in the indefinite future is the Roseville Field Office of the Department of Motor vehicles.

It was added to the state’s “For Sale” list in 2010. The state hopes to reap $1 million from the sale.

This is the same office that was closed July 26th through August 1 after a student driver crashed into the building, creating a 4-foot by 5-foot hole.

According to the DMV – as noted in the state’s 2010 annual report on properties to be sold – the Roseville office is “undersized, functionally deficient and presents health/safety issues due to its [....]

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More Properties Placed on the State’s Not Exactly Brisk “For Sale” List

Six sites have been added to California’s list of surplus properties and two removed under legislation signed August 4 by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The measure – AB 1272 by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, a Torrance Democrat – is the annual compendium of properties the state Department of General Services wishes to dispose of.

Revenue from the sale of surplus properties purchased using state general funds is earmarked to pay down principal and interest on the $15 billion in deficit reduction bonds approved by voters in March 2004 as part of a plan by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger which he said would permanently erase the state’s budget [....]

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Good to Know…

NEWS RELEASE – Insurance Commissioner Jones Urges Californians to Protect Their Vacation Investments with Travel Insurance Tips for Purchasing Travel Insurance

The Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer travel season. With that in mind Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today urged California travelers to make sure they are protected against possible vacation losses. While considering holiday destinations, he encourages Californians to also evaluate their needs for travel insurance.

“Whether your family is headed to Disneyland or Lake Tahoe travel insurance can protect against possible financial losses if you are forced to cancel, delay or interrupt your vacation,” [....]

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US Supreme Court Calls for Release of 33,500 State Prison Inmates

A sharply divided US Supreme Court has upheld a 2009 order by a special three-judge panel ordering California to significantly reduce its prison overcrowding in order to provide adequate medical care to inmates.

The 5 to 4 ruling, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, gives the state two years in which to lower the population in its 33 prisons from 143,434 to 109,805 – roughly 33,500 inmates.

State GOP lawmakers — and several dissenting justices — say such a move will imperil public safety. The court’s majority says the releases won’t but suggests the state and the three-judge panel consider allowing more time to decrease the inmate [....]

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The Story’s Lead is in the Third Paragraph. There Should Be a Video Game Called “Death Master.”

Insurance Commissioner Jones, Controller Chiang Launch Investigation Into Death Payment Practices Subpoena issued to MetLife; hearing to take place on May 23, 2011

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and State Controller John Chiang today announced the issuance of a subpoena and joint investigative hearing into the practices of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, also known as MetLife.

The hearing will focus on MetLife’s practices regarding payment of benefits under life insurance policies after MetLife learns of an insured’s death – either to the beneficiaries or, if they cannot be located for three years or more, to the State’s Unclaimed Property program. MetLife learned of [....]

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Board of California’s First-in-the-Nation Health Insurance Exchange to Hold First Meeting

One of the most powerful and far-reaching boards most Californians have never heard of meets for the first time April 20.

Within a short three years, the state’s five-member Health Benefit Exchange must become a clearinghouse for lower income Californians and small businesses shopping for the health coverage the federal government requires them to own beginning in 2014.

The exchange is the first created by a state since passage of the federal Affordable Care Act in 2010. Massachusetts created an exchange previously, which was used, in part, as a model for California’s.

Such exchanges are the lynchpin of the legislation and are [....]

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Governor Thanks State Air Board for Taking an Illegal Action

Governor Schwarzenegger Applauds Adoption of 33 Percent Renewable Energy Standard

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today (September 23) applauded the California Air Resources Board for adopting the Renewable Energy Standard regulation requiring that one-third of electricity sold in California comes from clean, renewable sources by 2020: “I applaud the Air Resources Board for adopting regulations to increase California’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard to 33 percent. This action further establishes the Golden State’s legacy as a worldwide environmental and economic leader. “We are already seeing increased investment in renewable energy projects in California. There are currently over 200 renewable energy projects looking to build and do [....]

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An Issue That Can Be Resolved WIth a One-Word Law Change

(Editor’s Note: A long-time friend of the chief correspondent of California’s Capitol is a public information officer with a state agency. Her observation about the efficacy of complying with California’s Public Records Act inspired this post.) State agencies have 10 days to respond to a Public Records Act request. The presumption would be 10 “working” days. That’s not the case.  It’s 10 calendar days. Here’s what Government Code Section 6253 (c) says: “Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall, within 10 days from receipt of the request, determine whether the request, in whole or in part, [....]

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Legislative Analyst Predicts Short Term Job Loss from AB 32

Implementation of AB 32, California’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law, will cause job losses in the near term, according to the state Legislative Analyst. In a 10-page letter dated March 4 requested by Sen. Dave Cogdill, a Modesto Republican, the analyst questions the modeling used by the state Air Resources Board in its assessment of the law’s long-term impact and predicts that, at least in the short term, energy prices will rise as a result of the law. “It seems most likely to us tha the implementation of AB 32 … will result in the near term in California job losses,” the [....]

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Your Tax Dollars At Work — Small, Man-Made Lake in Granite Bay Violates California’s Constitution, Water Board Staff Says

A hearing of the State Water Resources Control Board is scheduled for Monday, February 1, on the claims of two homeowners in Placer County’s upscale Granite Bay that the leaking of one of the man-made lakes in their subdivision is a misuse of water and violates the state constitution. The hearing caps an investigation by the state dating back to April 2005 when Tony and Donna Wood and their neighbors, Ted and Cheri Allegra, filed a water right complaint against the Hidden Lake Estates Homeowners Association, documents at the water board’s website show. The two couples allege that water seepage from [....]

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