Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.
More independent money is continuing to flow into the race to represent the 8th Congressional District this week.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 22 May 2012 06:56 PM
A high-stakes showdown with national implications is brewing in the San Bernardino Valley, where six candidates are vying to represent California’s newly drawn 31st Congressional District.
No House race in the country on the regular 2012 election schedule has attracted more outside spending than the 31st, which stretches from Redlands to Rancho Cucamonga and includes San Bernardino, Loma Linda, Grand Terrace, Colton and parts of Fontana and Rialto. Special interests have pumped more than $900,000 into the race.
Kristina Hernandez, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/22/2012 08:55:18 PM PDT
MENTONE – The economy and possible tax increases under Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration were two hot topics Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro addressed Tuesday night at the Mill Creek Cattle Co.
The talk was part of the party’s bus stop tour to address voters in other counties throughout the state and answer their questions and concerns about government on a state and local level.
By PE Politics
May 22, 2012 12:15 PM
Calling for an “honest conversation” about spending cuts, Assemblyman Brian Nestande and others Tuesday proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit lawmakers from deferring scheduled payments to schools from one fiscal year to another.
The state has built up more than $10 billion in school-funding deferrals as lawmakers try to avoid permanent general-fund cuts.
Wyatt Buchanan
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Sacramento — California’s public schools could see as much as a month of classroom time slashed from the calendar if voters reject a plan to raise taxes in November.
Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed giving school districts the option of cutting up to 15 days from the school year if voters reject his proposed income and sales tax initiative. The significantly shortened year would help offset a multibillion-dollar automatic midyear cut that would be implemented upon rejection of the taxes.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
As the state budget’s deficit widens, Gov. Jerry Brown is being thrust into a three-front political battle.
He must not only persuade voters to pass his sales and income tax package, but, implicitly, persuade them to reject a rival tax measure just for schools.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 – 08:30 a.m.
Another Super-PAC committee has weighed in on the hotly-contested 8th Congressional District.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
One week after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed slicing state workers’ pay by 5 percent, the Democratic governor and legislators find themselves targeted for a “share the pain” salary cut.
Members of California’s Citizens Compensation Commission said Monday that a pay-cut proposal for statewide officeholders will be on the table when the panel meets May 31.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 21, 2012
Four months after a California assemblyman was cited and released for carrying a gun into an airport, the Assembly passed legislation today that would require offenders to be taken into custody in such situations.
Democratic Assemblywoman Norma Torres said her Assembly Bill 2182 did not stem from the January incident involving Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, which occurred at an Ontario airport on the first day of this year’s legislative session.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 20 May 2012 07:52 PM
You know that old political joke, “Vote early, vote often”?
Yeah, Riverside City Councilman Mike Gardner’s heard it. And he’s been hearing it more lately, after his first mailer in his mayoral campaign assured people their vote counts … on June 4. (The election is June 5.)
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 20 May 2012 05:38 PM
In San Bernardino County’s safely Democratic 47th Assembly District, Joe Baca Jr. wants to return to the job he held for a single term several years ago.
And in the county’s safely Republican 33rd Assembly District, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly is trying to avoid becoming a one-term lawmaker himself.
Election 2012
Neil.Nisperos and Benjamin Demers, Staff Writers
Created: 05/20/2012 07:05:00 AM PDT
Donna Lowe will have her work cut out for her if she wants to represent the newly redrawn 41st Assembly District.
The Claremont resident and Tea Party supporter will be going up against three well-connected and better-funded Democrats – Pasadena Councilman Chris Holden, South Pasadena Mayor Michael Cacciotti and businesswoman Victoria Rusnak.
Wyatt Buchanan
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sacramento– Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget proposal attempts to close a formidable $15.7 billion deficit, but the real debate at the Capitol in the next few weeks probably will be over how to cut just a fraction of the big amount.
That’s because about $2 billion in the governor’s budget represents permanent reductions in spending on state welfare, child care and other programs that Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly have pledged to protect.
BY JIM MILLER AND BEN GOAD
STAFF WRITERS
jmiller@pe.com | bgoad@pe.com
Published: 19 May 2012 06:16 PM
Fueled by new political boundaries and court rulings, campaign committees representing special interests have revved up spending this election cycle, and much of that largesse is focused on Inland Southern California candidates.
Independent expenditures committees, known nationally as super-PACs, have been a fixture of legislative and statewide elections in California since 2001. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision brought the same type of unlimited spending to federal contests, from president to Congress.
Election 2012
Neil Nisperos and Benjamin Demers, Staff Writers
Created: 05/19/2012 07:08:49 AM PDT
Democrats Cheryl Brown and Joe Baca, Jr. could easily be considered the favorites to make it though June’s primary for Assembly District 47 and face each other in November.
The have name recognition in local communities.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 20, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 20, 2012 – 8:30 am
Legislative Democrats aren’t organizing a bake sale just yet, but they say they will desperately search for cash in the coming weeks to avoid the most severe cuts proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Saying the state’s budget deficit has risen from $9.2 billion to $15.7 billion, the Democratic governor has proposed more cuts to programs that serve the state’s poorest residents.
Saturday, May 19, 2012 – 11:00 a.m.
USPS delivery of campaign mail improves
Something must have happened at the USPS earlier this week.
By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
May 19, 2012
SACRAMENTO — California’s budget deficit may be more than $1 billion larger than even Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest estimate, the Legislature’s financial advisor said Friday.
Brown announced last weekend that the deficit had swelled from $9.2 billion to almost $16 billion. But the nonpartisan legislative analyst’s office said there may be less money available than the governor assumed, possibly increasing the budget gap to at least $17 billion.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, May. 19, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
The pile-on was in full effect within hours of Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement this week that California’s budget deficit had grown to $15.7 billion, with The Week giving its national audience a summary of the Golden State’s financial affairs.
Friday, May 18, 2012 – 10:00 a.m.
The sauce pan is simmering in the race for San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor.
The three-way race consisting of Supervisor Neil Derry, Former Twenty-Nine Palms City Councilman Jim Bagley and Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos is heating up heading into the home stretch to the June 5th primary.
By Howard Mintz
hmintz@mercurynews.com
Posted: 05/18/2012 05:41:38 AM PDT
Updated: 05/18/2012 05:42:00 AM PDT
California’s judges will now have to post all their financial disclosure information in cyberspace.
In a unanimous decision, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission on Thursday approved a rule that requires California’s more than 1,700 judges to post their disclosure forms on the Internet, despite objections from judicial leaders that it could jeopardize their privacy and security.
By Alejandro Lazo
May 17, 2012, 2:22 p.m.
From the Southland to the Bay Area, California’s housing market showed strength last month as median prices rose and sales outperformed the same month last year.
The Golden State’s median home price popped 6% in April to $264,000, according to real estate information firm DataQuick of San Diego. The median is the point at which half the homes in the state sold for more and half for less.
By Ed Mendel
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The CalPERS board yesterday raised the annual state payment for state worker pensions $213 million to a total of $3.7 billion, rejecting Gov. Brown’s request for a bigger increase to avoid a “loan” costing “$145.9 million over the next 20 years.”
Unions asked the board to spread out higher pension costs mainly caused by a lower investment earnings forecast. Paying part of the new rate over two decades, instead of the full amount now, makes an extra $149 million available for worker pay and other programs next fiscal year.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 16, 2012
A political committee that Service Employees International Union California created to support moderate Republican candidates for the Legislature reported its first expenditure of the 2012 election Wednesday, dropping more than $15,000 on mail pieces opposing Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s bid for re-election.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 – 10:30 a.m.
The National Association of Realtors is approaching the $750,000 mark in its independent expenditure campaign supporting Congressman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) according to current filings with the Federal Election Commission.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 15 May 2012 06:03 PM
Neither U.S. Rep. Joe Baca nor state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod has had trouble getting elected in San Bernardino County, where the Democratic stalwarts have held public office for a combined 50 years.
Now Baca, D-Rialto, and Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, are set to do battle in territory both have represented before: California’s newly drawn 35th Congressional District.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 15, 2012
As Standard & Poors urged lawmakers Tuesday to pursue “credible” budget solutions to bridge the state’s $16 billion deficit, the ratings agency did not approve of Senate leader Darrell Steinberg’s idea to forego a reserve this year.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 – 6:26 am
One day after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed sweeping changes to state government work schedules, many employees were still deciphering what it means for them.
Brown wants to move most of California’s 214,000 workers to four-day workweeks and 9.5-hour shifts starting July 1. The change would reduce state workers’ hours and pay by 5 percent each month and cut state payroll by about $839 million, $401 million of it from the deficit-ridden general fund. Many departments would be closed on Fridays, some on Mondays.
By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Poker players often use the phrase “betting on the come” to describe a willingness, if instincts and odds indicate, to wager big on the hope that they will draw winning cards.
That’s a perfectly valid tactic when one is playing with one’s own money and therefore bearing the risk.
By Judy Lin, Associated Press Writer
Posted: 05/15/2012 09:21:09 PM PDT
Updated: 05/15/2012 09:22:38 PM PDT
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown is pleading with Californians to raise their taxes as part of his solution for solving the state’s budget deficit, but it’s uncertain whether voters will be in an accepting mood come November.
Polls show voters want more money for schools but don’t want to tax themselves to pay for it. They continue to be pessimistic about the economy in a state with one of the highest jobless rates in the nation. And they distrust the Legislature, which oversees the budget.
By Steve Lopez
May 16, 2012
In March, when I wrote that the tax increase proposals by Gov. Jerry Brown and civil rights attorney Molly Munger were unimaginative if not doomed, I got an email from Munger.
She did not agree, at least with regard to her initiative.
By Marc Lifsher
May 15, 2012, 9:05 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The state government’s contribution to employee pensions is expected to jump to $3.7 billion from $3.5 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
On Tuesday, a committee of the board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System recommended the increase as well as a $29-million drop to $1.2 billion for non-teaching school and community college district workers.
Even with the increase, the state’s contribution is lower than the $3.9 billion paid in fiscal 2010-2011, CalPERS said.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Watching the sad spectacle of Governor Gandalf yet again expounding on California’s budget horrors Monday was like going to see one of those dreadful, anemic sequels to a long-ago tapped-out blockbuster franchise.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 – 04:50 p.m.
Here is some news reverberating across the transom this week.
Brown wants portion of Harris foreclosure settlement
You gotta love it.
California Governor Jerry Brown, in an effort to cobble together more money to blow, wants to steal hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help distressed homeowners. The dough, a part of a national foreclosure settlement obtained by Attorney General Kamala Harris, is meant for distressed homeowners.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 – 08:30 a.m.
Was it the plan all along or just plain incompetence?
Governor Jerry Brown’s screwing over of the California budget that is.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 15, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, May. 15, 2012 – 6:17 am
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday that the state budget deficit had grown by a remarkable 70 percent since January, but fiscal experts said the economy had little to do with it.
They instead blamed a bad marriage of volatile capital gains and political intransigence that led state leaders last year to count on a huge upswing in revenues that never materialized. At the same time, corporate tax changes from 2009 appear to have cost California more than state officials ever realized.
May 14th, 2012, 8:18 am
Posted by BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento Correspondent
UPDATED: 2:45 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday implored voters to approve his tax proposal as he presented a revised budget plan to address a deficit that has ballooned to $16 billion.
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
May 14, 2012 | 1:29 pm
State judicial leaders warned Monday that the proposed cuts for the California courts may jeopardize public access to the justice system.
By Dan Walters
Published: Tuesday, May. 15, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Just a few months ago, Gov. Jerry Brown chastised “declinists” and “dystopian journalists” for their pessimism about California, particularly about emerging from a deep recession.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 14, 2012
The Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation petitioned the 3rd District Court of Appeals today to remove from the November ballot a proposal to abolish the death penalty in California, arguing it violates the state’s “single-subject rule” for initiatives.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/13/2012 01:52:32 PM PDT
A flap over a gun has provided fodder for Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s opponents in a battle for the hearts and minds of voters in the 33rd Assembly District.
For his opponents in the June 5 primary election, Donnelly’s arrest for carrying a loaded gun into an airport was a vital lapse in judgment.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 05/13/2012 01:54:51 PM PDT
Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Chino, faces three opponents in the June 5 primary race for the 52nd Assembly District seat, including a former Republican who has now registered as a Democrat.
Torres, a former Pomona mayor, is being challenged by Chino resident and restaurant owner Ray Moors, a Democrat; Pomona Planning Commissioner Kenny Coble, a Republican; and Ontario-Montclair School District board member Paul Vincent Avila, a Democrat.
By Jean Merl, Los Angeles Times
May 14, 2012
In the first broad test of California’s new “top-two” election system, many candidates in heated races for Congress and the state Legislature have been campaigning earlier, spending more money and downplaying their party affiliation as they try to widen their appeal.
Gone are the party primaries, except in the presidential race. Now all state candidates appear on a single ballot. Only those who come in first or second on June 5 will move on to the November general election, in which no write-in or other added candidates will be allowed.
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
May 13, 2012 | 2:01 pm
Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement that the state’s deficit has swelled to $16 billion (from a $9.2-billion estimate in January) means that a new array of budget cuts are likely.
But where to cut?
By Ed Mendel
Monday, May 14, 2012
A superior court judge this month upheld a voter-approved initiative giving lower pensions to all city of Menlo Park new hires except police, the first court ruling as unions challenge similar measures in Pacific Grove and Bakersfield.
Voters in the three cities approved cost-cutting pension reforms in November 2010 that bypassed bargaining with unions. California is one of only several states where public employee retirement benefits are set by labor negotiations.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 14, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
When Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008, one collateral consequence was a years-long political duel in the Capitol between lobbyists for local governments and those for unions representing their workers.
Unions pushed legislation that would have required local governments to get permission from an obscure state agency before filing for bankruptcy – an agency that is and probably always will be dominated by union-friendly Democratic politicians.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 13, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 13, 2012 – 10:48 am
In a gloomy preview of his May budget release, Gov. Jerry Brown said Saturday that California’s deficit has mushroomed to $16 billion, nearly $7 billion higher than he last estimated.
The Democratic governor blamed a slow economic recovery, as well as federal judges and administrators who blocked cuts to health care for the poor. Brown had previously pegged the deficit at $9.2 billion.
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 11 May 2012 10:04 PM
Michael Fine, Riverside Unified School District’s deputy superintendent for business services, can tick off the hard numbers of what four years of recession-era state budgets have meant for his 42,000-student district.
The district has lost $110 million and confronts an annual $20 million gap between revenue and spending. The school year, which spanned 180 instructional days before the recession, is now 176 days.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/11/2012 05:23:52 PM PDT
An estimated 93,000 Californians lost unemployment benefits as of today when the federal government cut off funding that allowed the state to provide extended aid to the jobless since 2009.
The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
May 11, 2012
Government accountability advocate Common Cause is against the a measure aimed at restricting union political fund-raising that goes before California voters in November.
Michel Nolan, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 05/10/2012 09:30:11 AM PDT
Former Cal Poly Pomona administrator Tomas D. Morales on Thursday was named president of Cal State San Bernardino.
By David Siders and Torey Van Oot
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, May. 11, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
In one choreographed appearance at the office of the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters, Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to raise taxes appeared on Friday to take shape.
A week after announcing he had collected enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot, Brown – accompanied by a new political consultant, the first lady and his dog – turned several boxes of them in.
By Chris Megerian and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
May 11, 2012
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown warned Californians on Thursday to brace for another round of difficult budget cuts as he hand-delivered boxes of petitions to election officials requesting that his proposed tax hike be placed on the November ballot.
Brown, who is expected to unveil his revised budget proposal Monday, said he needed far more than the $4.2 billion in spending reductions he asked for in January. And he continued to raise the specter of even deeper wounds to public schools, colleges and other state services if his bid for tax hikes fails.
By Amanda Becker
Roll Call Staff
May 10, 2012, 6:23 p.m.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s re-election campaign can’t approach donors who already contributed the maximum amount permitted by law in order to replace roughly $4.5 million that was siphoned from its accounts in an embezzlement scheme — at least for the time being.
Thursday, May 10, 2012 – 04:30 p.m.
Mayor Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) has pick up some desperately needed campaign help in his quest to represent the 31st Congressional District.
Aguilar just received over $48,000 in independent expenditure help from the Restoring Our Community PAC.
The expenditure was reported to the Federal Election Commission today.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 09 May 2012 06:54 PM
WASHINGTON — Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack is leading the formation of a new congressional caucus intended to raise the stature of female GOP lawmakers and bring a greater woman’s touch to the party more commonly associated with men.
This week’s launch of the Women’s Policy Committee comes as Democrats attempt to paint Republicans as engaging in a “war on women” through their positions on issues ranging from health care to disparate pay for men and women.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, May. 10, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Thursday, May. 10, 2012 – 7:29 am
State workers’ pay is back on the budget chopping block.
Officials representing Gov. Jerry Brown met with state employee union leaders last week and delivered the news: A budget revision he’ll release Monday includes a new proposal to cut payroll costs in the upcoming fiscal year.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 – 02:30 p.m.
Big money is starting to flow in the race to represent the 31st Congressional District.
Two major Super-PAC’s weighed in heavily for Congressman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) Wednesday afternoon, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
By PE Politics
May 8, 2012 9:29 AM
Newly posted Federal Election Commission reports show more than $21,400 in spending in support of State Sen. Bob Dutton, who is vying to represent California’s 31st Congressional District.
The money came from a group called Inland Empire Taxpayers for Jobs, a so-called SuperPac allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money through independent expenditures.
By Ed Mendel
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Actuaries recommend a $213 million increase in annual state pension payments to CalPERS in July, bringing the total to $3.7 billion.
But $149 million would be added to the increase if the impact of a lower earnings forecast, dropped by the board in March from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent a year, is not phased in over 20 years.
Kelly Puente, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/07/2012 03:07:22 PM PDT
LONG BEACH – The California State University Board of Trustees today will again consider freezing CSU presidents’ salaries in an attempt to curb public outcry over recent pay hikes.
But critics aren’t satisfied.
By Dan Walters
Published: Tuesday, May. 8, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
California is struggling to emerge from the worst recession since the Great Depression and has more than 2 million unemployed workers, plus countless others who have given up seeking work out of frustration and/or have fled to other states.
Clearly the state needs many billions of dollars in job-creating investment. But its attractiveness to that investment is, to say the least, problematic, given its relatively high tax burden, its dense regulatory structure, its deficiencies in education, transportation and water supply, and its tangled government finances.
In Session
By Ben Pershing
Published: May 7, 2012
Rep. Mary Bono Mack is all over the map.
In Washington, the longtime Republican lawmaker from California is an increasingly prominent player on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, while also trying to be a voice for two constituencies — moderates and women — that she believes don’t always receive the requisite attention within the House Republican Conference.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 06 May 2012 07:26 PM
When it comes to Internet prominence, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stands out as a potential running mate for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
So says a survey by PeekYou, a company specializing in online people searches. PeekYou recently ranked possible GOP vice presidential candidates based on how often they’re mentioned on the Web, the amount of Web content they generate, their participation in social networks and other factors.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 06 May 2012 08:34 PM
California’s primary next month will be dress rehearsal time in the 36th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack and challenger Raul Ruiz will square off in the first of two contests for the Riverside County seat.
Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, and Ruiz, an emergency room doctor and Democrat from the Coachella Valley, are the only two candidates in the race, so they are both assured to move on to November’s general election. Still, Republicans and Democrats will be watching closely to see whether Ruiz shows signs that he is a serious threat to Bono Mack’s bid for an ninth term.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/06/2012 03:28:51 PM PDT
Millions of Californians who prefer voting by mail can begin casting their ballots as early as the next few days.
Voters can cast June 5 ballots through the mail, drop them off at any polling place within the voter’s county, or vote in person at county elections offices.
County elections officials will begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots on Monday.
May 06, 2012 6:54 PM
From Staff Reports
As the June 5 primary approaches, the Daily Press asked the 13 candidates running for the newly drawn 8th Congressional District representing the High Desert to weigh in on this question, in 50 words or less: What are your ideas for reducing the federal debt? Where specifically would you cut?
By Dan Walters
Published: Monday, May. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Let’s get ready to rumble.
In this corner is California Gov. Jerry Brown.
In that corner is Molly Munger, a very wealthy civil rights attorney.
Brown and his union allies want voters to raise their own sales taxes, plus income taxes on the most affluent, to narrow a chronic budget gap.
By Ed Mendel
Monday, May 7, 2012
The mayors of San Jose and San Diego are backing local measures on the June ballot that aim to make the change critics of costly public pensions say is the key to major reform — cutting the cost of pensions earned by current workers in the future.
Using different methods, Measure B in San Jose and Proposition B in San Diego would allow current workers to keep pension amounts already earned, but pensions earned in the future could be cut or cost workers more.
Sunday, May 6, 1012 – 01:00 p.m.
The Chambers of Commerce of Big Bear, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and Running Springs are hosting a two-hour moderated forum for all 13 Candidates seeking to represent the newly-formed California 8th U.S. Congressional District.
Sunday, May 6, 2012 – 10:30 a.m
Ramos struggles through final candidate forum.
Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman and San Bernardino County Board of Supe’s candidate James Ramos showed up for the final candidate forum held at Copper Mountain College on Friday night.
Nothing changed.
Sunday, May 6, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.
Hats off to Asssemblyman Paul Cook (R-Ycca Valley) and Mayor Ryan McEachron (R-Victorville).
Both men have actually made it into voter mailboxes in the open 8th Congressional District.
Will Evans, California Watch
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Leading financial firms donated $1.8 million to successful school bond measures in California over the past five years, and in almost every instance, school district officials hired those same underwriters to sell the bonds for a profit, a California Watch review has found.
The practice is especially pronounced in California, where underwriters gave 155 political contributions since 2007 to successful bond campaigns for school construction and repairs. One major underwriter, Piper Jaffray, has said it gets more requests for campaign contributions in California than in any other state where it does business.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
When Jerry Brown occupied the governor’s Capitol suite nearly four decades ago, he frequently talked about an “era of limits.”
Whatever Brown meant – he often spoke cryptically – the phrase was widely interpreted as meaning California’s powerful, post-World War II spurt of population and economic growth was over and public policies should adjust accordingly.
Saturday, May 5, 2012 – 10:15 a.m.
State Senator Bob Dutton’s support of Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos was front and center Thursday night.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Apr | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
| |