By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Furloughs are back.
Less a month after ending unpaid days off for more than 200,000 state workers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is bringing back a scaled-down version of the policy that will take effect on Sunday.
10:49 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010
By JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest boosters Tuesday when officials triggered the demolition of the first building to make way for the proposed $3.7 billion March LifeCare campus.
The project could ultimately bring as many as 7,200 permanent jobs to the former March Air Force Base, at a health-care complex that will be anchored by a medical center, the project developer said. The ambitious plans call for a wide range of other medical buildings on the grounds of the former base, including facilities for senior citizens and retirees for ambulatory care patients.
The two parties are staging stunts as the state’s unpaid bills pile up heading into the fifth week without a spending plan.
By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times
July 28, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento —
As California staggers toward the fifth week of the fiscal year without a spending plan, a month of closed-door talks in the Capitol have produced little but tension and finger-pointing. The calendar is flipping toward August with no resolution in sight.
Top officials don’t even publicly agree about what they agree upon. The two parties are staging stunts at the Capitol and trading barbs in dueling radio addresses, each side accusing the other of being dug in or disengaged, or both.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 42
Status: Legislature on summer recess
By PE Politics
on July 27, 2010 6:45 AM
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will participate in a 10 a.m. demolition ceremony today for the March Lifecare project.
The project, at the former March Air Force Base, is being billed as the Inland area’s largest health care center. It will cover more than 3.5 million square feet once buildings are built on the base’s northeast corner. Projections show at least $80.1 million in work over 10 years.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 26, 2010 | 3:54 pm
Nearly four weeks into the fiscal year without a budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested Monday that California might have to wait until his successor is sworn in next year to get a spending plan — unless lawmakers give him everything he wants.
Schwarzenegger says the Legislature must curtail public pensions and change California’s taxation and budgeting systems before he will sign a budget this year, his last as governor. He leaves office in January.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 26, 2010
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he’s against reducing the state’s supermajority budget vote requirement to a majority threshold, essentially voicing his opposition to Proposition 25 on the November ballot.
The Republican governor spoke during a “budget roundtable” he convened at the offices of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. In response to a question on ballot initiatives, he first said taxes and fees should not be increased by a majority vote, a restriction the California Chamber of Commerce is attempting to strengthen in Proposition 26. He then said he’s not only against approving taxes and fees on a majority-vote basis, but also a state budget.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 41
Status: Legislature on summer recess
Published: Monday, Jul. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
When California faced a major budget crisis in the early 1990s, thanks to what was then the worst recession since the Great Depression, a Republican governor – Pete Wilson – and the Legislature enacted a big, albeit temporary, increase in state taxes.
Despite the boost in sales and income taxes, however, state revenue continued to decline as the recession deepened, touching off years of political debate over causes and effects.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 39
Status: Legislature on summer recess
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 38
Status: Legislature on summer recess
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 37
Status: Legislature on summer recess
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 36
Status: Legislature on summer recess
Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, 50, would be the first Asian American to lead the state’s judiciary and give the court a female majority for the first time in history.
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
July 21, 2010
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to name 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye as the next chief justice, making her the first Asian American to lead the state’s judiciary and giving the California Supreme Court a female majority for the first time in its history.
Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Sacramento native who rose through the trial courts, served as deputy legislative secretary and deputy legal affairs secretary under former Gov. George Deukmejian. He plucked her from the Sacramento district attorney’s office and later appointed her to the Sacramento Municipal Court.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 35
Status: Legislature on summer recess
Ronald Reagan
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
July 19, 2010 | 6:46 pm
What do Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk and Ronald Reagan have in common? They each get a day named in their honor under California law.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills Monday honoring the conservative icon, one declaring Feb. 6 as Ronald Reagan Day, the other establishing a state commission to plan celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Reagan’s birth in 1911.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 34
Status: Legislature out on summer recess
State Controller John Chiang
They say it should not be as hard as the controller says it is to reprogram the computer system to cut state employees’ pay to the minimum wage as Schwarzenegger has demanded while there is no budget.
By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
July 19, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento —
For the last seven years, demands that state worker pay be reduced when California has no budget have been met with a consistent response from union-friendly state controllers: Their computer can’t do the math.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 33
Status: Legislature out on summer recess
Schwarzenegger
By Kevin Yamamura and Jon Ortiz
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Five years ago, the state correctional officers’ union paraded a mobile billboard around the Capitol bearing an unflattering picture of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bathing suit.
That demonstration seems mild compared to the frustration state employees feel this year toward the Republican governor. Schwarzenegger has incurred the wrath of rank-and-file employees through efforts to reduce pay and benefits, particularly his latest push to impose minimum wage.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 31
Status: Legislature out on summer recess
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 30
Status: Legislature out on summer vacation
Chief Justice Ronald George
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 14, 2010
CHIEF RONALD GEORGE.JPGCalifornia Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George announced today that he will step down in January instead of seeking another term on the bench.
George, who served in the courts for nearly four decades, has been chief justice since 1996. He was first appointed to the state supreme court in 1991 by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.
Brown
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 14, 2010 | 11:30 am
Jerry Brown may not be up with any paid TV commercials, but he’s been active on the free talk circuit, making his case for California governor with local and national stations alike.
On Wednesday he was in San Diego on the local Fox affiliate’s morning program talking about the gubernatorial campaign, the man he hopes to succeed and the woman standing between him and his old Capitol office, Republican nominee Meg Whitman.
Schwarzenegger
06:55 AM PDT on Wednesday, July 14, 2010
By GENE GHIOTTO
The Press-Enterprise
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s job approval rating among California voters is the lowest since he took office in 2003 and equals the lowest given in the more than 50 years the Field Poll has been conducting the assessments.
Today’s Field Poll places Schwarzenegger at the same level as former Gov. Gray Davis just before Davis was recalled.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 28
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 27
Editor’s Note: When I first read this quote, what came to mind was how can anyone have their head this far up someone’s rear-end?
Then I saw who said it.
“He clearly goes down as the biggest political reformer in modern history of California,” said Jim Brulte, a Republican and a former lawmaker who has not always agreed with the governor.
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: July 9, 2010
LOS ANGELES — If the mark of a real independent is lack of friends, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the quintessential nonpartisan in American politics right now.
His approval rating has not risen above 30 percent since May 2009. California remains in deep fiscal distress. He is despised by the state’s workers (whose pay he cut), Democrats (who loathe his aversion to new taxes and his desire to cut entitlements) and Republicans (who wish those respective aversions and desires were stronger), as well as college students, public school parents and people who hate the smell of cigars.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 26
Edward Roski, Jr.
Sponsored bill got special treatment
Karen de Sa, San Jose Mercury News
Created: 07/10/2010 07:08:15 AM PDT
Before Southern California billionaire Edward Roski Jr. could satisfy the Los Angeles region’s craving for the return of pro football, he needed a stadium.
And before that stadium could be built on 592 acres of land in city of Industry on the edge of Diamond Bar, Roski needed to resolve a pair of lawsuits over whether the project complied with the state’s environmental laws.
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Created: 07/09/2010 03:20:00 PM PDT
As he listened to pension reform talks, David Sanchez’ thoughts wandered off to 2005, when a fellow correctional officer Manuel Gonzalez was stabbed to death by an inmate at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
“Manny will never get his pension,” Sanchez said. “Benefits should commensurate the danger we face. It’s not a desk job.”
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 24
Share
By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jul. 9, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 4A
With former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown at his side, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a new demand Thursday that a specific change in state worker pensions be made before he signs off on a budget.
At a minimum, the governor said he wants legislators to roll back current pension terms to those that existed before 1999 legislation created more generous rules.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 23
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/07/2010 05:23:25 PM PDT
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Controller John Chiang tussle over whether state workers should take a pay cut until the Legislature approves a budget, lawmakers are considering a bill that would make sure those workers get their full pay whether or not a budget passes.
The new fiscal year started July 1, but the legislature has yet to pass a new budget. Because of that budget impasse, Schwarzenegger last week ordered Chiang to cut the wages of about 200,000 state employees to the minimum wage – $7.25 per hour. Chiang has refused the order, but might have to comply.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 22
Arnold Schwarzenegger
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 6, 2010 | 3:45 pm
The court battle over the size of state worker paychecks continues.
The Schwarzenegger administration submitted a court petition Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court seeking an injunction to force state Controller John Chiang to slash the wages of roughly 200,000 state workers.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 21
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 20
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 19
By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times
July 4, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento —
Many of the pressures that can push California’s leaders toward a budget accord are absent this summer as the state lurches into yet another budget year without a spending plan.
The lack of acute suffering from the budget stalemate may help explain why talks between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers show no signs of agreement on how to tackle California’s $19.1-billion deficit.
Controller John Chiang
By Jon Ortiz and Kevin Yamamura
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jul. 3, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Saturday, Jul. 3, 2010 – 12:12 am
The decision is in. The fight isn’t over.
Sacramento’s 3rd District Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a 17-month-old ruling allowing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to order state workers’ pay reduced to minimum wage in the absence of a budget.
Although the state is now three days into the new fiscal year with no budget and the governor has instructed more than 200,000 government employees’ pay lowered to the federal minimum, the ultimate impact of the court decision is far from clear.
Published: Saturday, Jul. 3, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
With the ballyhooed July 1 milepost having come and gone, expect slow going for a while on the budget.
Republican and Democratic legislative leaders met privately Thursday to discuss their next steps. They are interested in working out as much as possible without Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they want to reconvene the joint budget conference committee next week.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jul. 2, 2010 – 11:58 am
Last Modified: Friday, Jul. 2, 2010 – 1:08 pm
The 3rd District Court of Appeal has upheld a 17-month-old ruling allowing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce state workers to minimum wage in the absence of a budget.
The court, agreeing with a Sacramento Superior Court ruling, said State Controller John Chiang overstepped his authority by refusing to issue minimum-wage paychecks to state workers during the 2008 budget impasse.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 17
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 1, 2010 | 6:30 pm
In a strongly worded rebuke, state Controller John Chiang said Thursday that he would defy Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s order to slash the pay of state workers until “the courts hand down a final resolution.”
Chiang, a Democrat, said the pay cuts will “do nothing to solve the budget deficit” because state employees are entitled to their back pay once a budget is in place. “In the absence of the leadership needed to bring the Legislature to an agreement on his budget, the governor again resorts to political tricks,” Chiang said in a statement.
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 1, 2010
(07-01) 17:37 PDT Sacramento, Calif. (AP) –
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered about 200,000 state workers to be paid the federal minimum wage because the state Legislature has not passed a budget.
Department of Personnel Administration Director Debbie Endsley sent the order Thursday in a letter to the state controller. Most state employees will be paid the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour for the July pay period.
District Attorney Mike Ramos / Attorney General Jerry Brown
.
Thursday, July 1, 2010 – 10:00 a.m.
Once thing is for certain.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos drawing Attorney General Jerry Brown into his crusade against his political enemies was a smart move.
Even though Defendant Jim Erwin pushed him into it.
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 16
Number of days past constitutional deadline: 15
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
June 29, 2010 | 3:09 pm
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday asked the Legislature to take the $11 billion water bond off the November ballot.
“It’s critical that the water bond pass, as it will improve California’s economic growth, environmental sustainability and water supply for future generations,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement Tuesday. “For that reason, I will work with the legislature to postpone the bond to the next ballot and avoid jeopardizing its passage.”
Schwarzenegger
By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 26, 2010
ANAHEIM, CALIF. — When Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, the Dream Team of the California GOP, joined hands at a rally celebrating their primary victories this month, there was one broad-shouldered Republican conspicuously missing from the scene: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Organizers said the actor-turned-politician declined an invitation to the event. The truth is, he would not have been welcome. After nearly six years in office, Schwarzenegger has few friends left in either party. The state budget deficit hovers around $20 billion; his approval rating has sunk below 25 percent.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Sunday, Jun. 27, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jun. 27, 2010 – 10:02 am
With the 2010-11 fiscal year set to begin Thursday, state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remain far from a budget deal that would eliminate an estimated $19.1 billion deficit.
The Republican governor outlined his budget blueprint in May. Democrats in each house responded with their own proposals that block the most drastic social service cuts in his plan. Republican lawmakers have not issued a proposal, instead getting behind Schwarzenegger’s budget and reiterating their opposition to new taxes.
Schwarzenegger
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/21/2010 08:14:45 PM PDT
Pension reform hinges on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s promise that he’ll veto any budget proposal that does not include “two-tier” retirement benefits, according to Republican lawmakers.
“There is a really good chance he will keep his promise,” said state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga. “He’s got nothing to lose.”
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 22, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Budget, budget, who’s got a budget?
The governor has a state budget that his fellow Republicans more or less support. Assembly Democrats have a budget whose centerpiece is a complex scheme to borrow billions of dollars. And Democratic senators have a budget that’s based on raising taxes and shifting some programs from the state to counties.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Sunday, Jun. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
California’s fiscal pickle – state and local budgets that are many billions of dollars out of balance – may have just gotten worse by hundreds of billions of dollars.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has dropped a bombshell with preliminary new rules that, if adopted, would force governments to increase projections of pension liabilities by using tighter “discount rates” – effectively, lower assumptions of pension fund earnings.
Schwarzenegger
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
June 7, 2010 | 11:03 am
On the day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his May budget proposal, he warned state lawmakers that “I will not sign a budget if we don’t have pension reform and budget reform.”
Ever since, his administration has tried to insert a comment about public pensions — and the need to curb them — into nearly every story coming out of Sacramento. Schwarzenegger reiterated his budget threat Sunday — and then some — in an interview with Politico.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Monday, Jun. 7, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
It’s a week before the June 15 constitutional deadline for enacting a state budget, an appropriate moment to consider the status of this year’s version of the annual fiscal drama.
And that is? Up the proverbial creek without the proverbial paddle.
San Bernardino City Attorney Jim Penman donating $500 to District Attorney Mike Ramos’ reelection campaign?
Yes indeed. What a surprise, especially for these two politicos.
Ramos’ latest campaign finance disclosure filed this week shows Penman coughing up the cash.
By Anthony York | 05/27/10 12:00 AM PST
A News Analysis- The battle lines have been drawn for this summer’s budget fight, with Senate Democrats touting plans for new tax increases and cuts and Assembly Democrats unveiling an elaborate budget maneuver that leads to new taxes on oil production and virtually no cuts to the state’s safety net. The trick, now, is figuring out which pieces of these proposals – and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May budget revision – are real.
Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and his staff came up with the most creative of the budget proposals, revealed in a press conference this week in the Capitol.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
May 20, 2010 | 6:36 pm
An aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent campaign material from her state e-mail account and appeared to be soliciting opposition while at work to a proposed initiative that would suspend California’s anti-global warming law, according to documents released by a taxpayers’ group Thursday.
Lisa Kalustian, a chief deputy director at the governor’s Los Angeles office, sent an e-mail at 11:09 a.m. March 30 that included an “endorsement form” with the letterhead and address of Californians for Clean Energy & Jobs, the name of a political committee formed to fight the initiative.
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 05/17/2010 09:31:56 PM PDT
Hundreds of public school teachers in the Inland Valley will receive final layoff notices this week informing them they will not have a job after June 30.
While school boards scrambled to save as many jobs as possible, the current economic climate has forced many districts to lay off teachers and increase class sizes.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped the hammer on San Bernardino County’s budget last Friday, with what is referred to as the “May Revision” to the upcoming budget for the fiscal year commencing on July 1.
The Governor is slamming local governments by transferring responsibility for many social services onto the backs of counties.
This was the first shoe to drop.
REVISION: Schwarzenegger proposes cutting $12.4 billion to help cover a gap that is estimated at more than $19 billion.
11:10 PM PDT on Friday, May 14, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – California’s welfare-to-work program would disappear under a revised budget plan put forward Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said the state is out of easy options to fix its finances.
The governor now wants $12.4 billion in cuts, almost $4 billion more than he proposed in his January package. They would help close an estimated budget gap of $19.1 billion, which includes a $1.2 billion reserve.
James Rufus Koren and Sandra Emerson, Staff Writers
Posted: 05/14/2010 06:42:17 PM PDT
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest budget proposal calls for eliminating the state’s main welfare program, making other deep cuts and not raising taxes – ideas that will surely force a showdown between Democrats and Repubilicans over the state’s priorities.
After days of promising unpalatable cuts, Schwarzenegger on Friday called for eliminating CalWORKs, a program that provides money to poor families with children. Schwarzenegger said the program must be eliminated because federal judges have prevented the state from making incremental cuts.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, May. 15, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
The economy is improving, all right – just not quickly enough to fix California’s budget mess.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s revised budget predicts tax revenue will grow 5.7 percent in the coming fiscal year, a gain of nearly $5 billion. But a projected deficit of $19.1 billion prompted the Republican governor to propose dramatic cuts in spending on social programs.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, May. 15, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
A $19 billion state budget deficit. A lame-duck Republican governor proposing major reductions, especially in health and welfare services. Democratic legislative leaders declaring his budget dead on arrival. Capitol demonstrations demanding funds for particular programs – or opposing new taxes.
A recipe for another gimmicky, unworkable budget that drives the state’s credit rating even lower and subjects it to more international derision? It would seem so, and based on recent history, the most logical outcome.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, May. 14, 2010 – 1:06 pm
Last Modified: Friday, May. 14, 2010 – 1:11 pm
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers Friday to eliminate the state’s welfare program starting in October and dramatically scale back in-home care for elderly and disabled as part of his May budget revision to close a $19.1 billion deficit.
The Republican governor also proposed cuts to state worker compensation. Besides asking for a 5 percent pay cut, 5 percent payroll cap and 5 percent increased pension contribution, Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting one day per month of pay in exchange for leave credit.
James Rufus Koren and Sandra Emerson, Staff Writers
Posted: 05/13/2010 05:26:49 PM PDT
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today will release a revised budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, and the plan will call for “really awful cuts,” especially to social service programs.
Schwarzenegger’s initial budget proposal, released in January, called for severe cuts to programs such as In-Home Supportive Services for seniors and adult day care for the disabled. The state’s finances haven’t improved since then.
By Dan Morain, Senior editor
dmorain@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, May. 13, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 13A
Prepare for the comparisons to Greece, the politicians’ proclamations that they’ll never raise taxes or cut aid for poor children and the Capitol demonstrations by people who rely on the state for survival.
The budget season opens in all its dysfunction Friday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers his revised spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Anthony York | 05/13/10 12:00 AM PST
Anyone looking for clues as to what the future holds for the California budget negotiations just needs to look back on the week that was.
It began Friday when the state controller’s office released revenue figures that show cash for April came in $3.5 billion below projections. Then, on Monday Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth unveiled his proposal for overhauling state pensions, with Schwarzenegger adviser David Crane as his star witness. Sen. Darrell Steinberg accused Republicans of wanting to double the state’s deficit through tax cut proposals, while Assembly Speaker John Perez saw some of his members pass $5 billion in tax increases.
By Ed Mendel
The state contribution to CalPERS should increase to $3.9 billion in the new fiscal year beginning July 1, up $600 million from the current year, actuaries for the giant public pension fund calculate.
The recommendation to the CalPERS board next week comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to issue a revision Friday of the state budget he proposed in January, which assumed a $200 million CalPERS increase to $3.5 billion.
Report hopes to limit cutbacks
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/10/2010 06:18:58 PM PDT
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger looks at revising his budget, the California State University system released a report on Monday hoping to help it avoid additional cuts to its operations.
The report – titled “Working for California: The Impact of the California State University System” – emphasized the benefits that the system’s campuses provide to communities as well as the state.
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Monday, May 10, 2010
(05-10) 04:00 PDT Sacramento –
The state budget crisis has been quiet for the past few months but will return to center stage this week as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prepares to belt out some bad news.
The governor is scheduled to release an updated budget plan Friday that will probably include even deeper cuts than those he proposed in January, when he called for reductions in health and human services, prisons, education and state worker pay, among other areas.
Similar transfers have been struck down, but judge says payments to schools ‘benefit redevelopment’ and are valid. The move saves the state $1.7 billion in this budget year, $350 million in the next.
By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
May 5, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento
State officials dodged a $2-billion bullet Tuesday when a judge ruled that last year’s shift of funds away from redevelopment agencies to pay for schools was legal.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Apr. 30, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger again gave a rare Republican stamp of approval for federal health care reform Thursday, and said California will prepare to enact its sweeping changes.
“I’m not a party servant, I’m a public servant,” Schwarzenegger said to applause from doctors and others at the University of California, Davis, Cancer Center in Sacramento.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 29, 2010
With two days left in April, California needs $3.4 billion in income tax revenues to meet Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s projection for the month.
The most the state has received on any given day this month is $777 million on April 16, according to state Controller John Chiang’s online revenue tracker. The state so far has collected $6.8 billion in April, while Schwarzenegger’s January budget projected California would receive $10.2 billion.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Apr. 29, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Thursday, Apr. 29, 2010 – 8:49 am
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg accused Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday of leveraging legislative pay to pressure lawmakers in budget talks over a projected $18.6 billion deficit.
“I have no doubt that the administration’s imprint is all over that decision,” Steinberg said of a proposal being considered by the state’s independent salary-setting commission to cut legislative pay and benefits by up to 10 percent.
The dispute over California public employee payouts is growing. Republicans blame Democrats, who see the problem but fear alienating labor.
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
April 29, 2010
No question: California public employee pensions are a big problem — especially for Democratic politicians.
Republicans pound them on the issue, claiming it’s emblematic of the majority party’s extravagant spending and subservience to patron labor unions.
Posted: Friday, April 23, 2010 6:01 am | Updated: 6:30 am, Fri Apr 23, 2010.
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR
Friday, April 23, 2010 |The call came late Wednesday night to Kristina Dodge, who had to step out of a movie premier. On the other end was a message from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“They just requested we don’t take action today,” Dodge said Thursday morning after pulling the plug on a proposal by the Orange County fair board that would have left fair board members in charge of the county’s fairgrounds in exchange for sending some vendor revenue to the state.
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A state appeals court prolonged furloughs Tuesday for tens of thousands of state employees, requiring them to take three days off without pay each month and keeping the agencies that issue driver’s licenses and jobless benefits closed most Fridays this spring.
The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco extended a temporary stay it issued March 30 that maintained the furloughs. Tuesday’s order keeps the employees off work for the first three Fridays each month until the court decides whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s furlough orders were legal.
By Ed Mendel
Republican candidate for governor Meg Whitman has a proposal on her campaign website to cut state worker pension costs, but her Republican primary opponent, Steve Poizner, and Democrat Jerry Brown do not.
Whether public pensions will become a significant campaign issue is not clear. But on the campaign trail the candidates are getting questions about the pensions, which critics say are “unsustainable” and threaten funding for basic government programs.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2010 – 7:44 am
A San Francisco appellate court applied the brakes Tuesday to a judge’s order to end “Furlough Fridays” for tens of thousands of state workers, keeping furloughs in place.
The 1st District Court of Appeal’s decision temporarily maintains Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s furlough policy for employees in about 70 state departments who were supposed to resume a regular work schedule this week.
By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Mar. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
Nearly 32,000 California homebuyers can claim state tax breaks of up to $10,000 starting May 1 under a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But the hopes of thousands of Californians for a shield against state taxes on forgiven mortgage debt will have to wait until at least April 5, when lawmakers return to Sacramento.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 23, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 4A
Responding to a demand by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state lawmakers Monday sent him bills establishing another homebuyer tax credit and a sales tax exemption for environmental technology firms, satisfying him enough to win his signature on a transportation funding bill.
Schwarzenegger last week threatened to veto a Democratic gas-tax maneuver that would save the state $1.1 billion as it tries to close a nearly $20 billion deficit. The proposal was similar to a gas-tax swap Schwarzenegger first proposed in January, but the Democratic version provided ongoing funding for transit programs.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Monday, Mar. 22, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California six-plus years ago on his pledge to balance the deficit-ridden state budget, vowing to root out “waste, fraud and abuse” with a massive overhaul of state government that would “blow up the boxes.”
It was a popular notion. But the budget remains chronically unbalanced, state government is not noticeably smaller or more efficient, and Schwarzenegger should know it’s impossible for him or any other governor to clean up the mess through management alone.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Capitol and California – State Politics
By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Mar. 21, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Mar. 21, 2010 – 2:28 pm
A new Field Poll shows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s public opinion rating has sunk to a new low – as low as it was for former Gov. Gray Davis shortly before voters recalled the Democrat and voted in the Republican movie star in 2003.
Results released today found Schwarzenegger’s approval rating had dropped to 23 percent from 27 percent in October. It was at a high of 65 percent in late 2004.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 16, 2010
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, suggested Tuesday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bears blame for budget inaction after the governor rejected the most significant parts of a budget package Democrats have sent him in recent weeks.
The Republican governor on Monday told legislative leaders that he would veto a gas-tax swap that would have cut about $1 billion from the state’s $19.9 billion deficit through June 2011, saying that he wanted a bill that would have cut gas taxes by 5 cents per gallon.
10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, March 9, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed longtime Inland lawmaker Bill Leonard on Tuesday as secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency.
Leonard, a Republican member of the Board of Equalization since 2002, resigned Tuesday morning.
He becomes the latest Inland politician in recent weeks given administration posts as Schwarzenegger finishes his term.
By Jon Ortiz and Phillip Reese
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
State workers last year used nearly a third less of their paid vacation time than in 2008, a tangible sign that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s furloughs will carry a deferred cost to the state for many years to come.
It’s impossible to know that eventual cost, since individual employees handle their accrued vacation differently. But it’s clear that furloughs have pushed many state workers to sock away time, producing a larger state liability at a higher eventual price.
Schwarzenegger
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
(03-09) 17:11 PST Sacramento, Calif. (AP) –
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he vetoed the largest piece of legislation in a package of budget bills because it did not take immediate steps to cut spending.
Democratic lawmakers said the bill would have shaved $2.1 billion from the $20 billion shortfall projected for California’s budget through June 2011. So far, the Legislature and governor have agreed to just $200 million in spending cuts.
Meg Whitman
By JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 9, 2010 – 1:22 pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Former eBay chief Meg Whitman’s campaign for governor of California has a familiar ring to it: She’s an outsider from the business world who promises to sweep the Capitol clean of politics-as-usual and deliver fiscal common sense.
California voters have heard that before. It’s roughly the same message fellow Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pitched during the 2003 gubernatorial recall election that elevated him to power.
Schwarzenegger
Schwarzenegger and fellow Republicans had criticized the bill as a parlor trick because it would make cuts to a budget that the Legislature hasn’t passed yet.
By Michael Rothfeld
March 8, 2010 | 11:12 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday afternoon vetoed the largest piece of a $4-billion package of bills lawmakers approved in recent weeks to reduce the state’s nearly $20-billion budget deficit.
The bill contained an estimated $2.2 billion in spending reductions, according to Democrats, some of them proposed by the governor himself.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Sunday, Mar. 7, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
If you find yourself in a hole, the old adage advises, the first thing you should do is stop digging.
California is buried in a deep economic and fiscal hole, but our politicians seem bent on burrowing even deeper.
The state has tens of billions of dollars in unsold bonds, and Treasurer Bill Lockyer has warned that with the state’s lowest-in-the-nation credit rating he may market new debt only sporadically.
Gov. Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver received more than $235,000 for appearing in spots for the state’s tourism commission. Aides say the couple didn’t know about the income and have paid it back.
By Michael Rothfeld
March 5, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who often speaks of his love for California, has promoted the state with his wife Maria Shriver in television commercials over the last five years. And as they invited viewers to visit, California’s first couple got paid.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, Mar. 4, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request Tuesday for the California Supreme Court to take over seven key furlough lawsuits caught state employee unions off guard.
Schwarzenegger wants to legally leapfrog two appellate courts now considering those cases and go straight to the state’s highest legal authority, sort of like skipping the playoffs and going straight to the Super Bowl.
Many of the gifts come from groups lobbying state government. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger collected $585,000, mostly to cover travel expenses. Watchdogs decry the appearance of influence.
By Patrick McGreevy and Jack Dolan
March 2, 2010 | 9:16 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers received more than $929,000 in gifts last year, including overseas trips, boxes of cigars, bottles of wine, clothes and tickets to sporting events and concerts. Many of the gifts came from groups lobbying state government.
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
(03-02) 04:00 PST Sacramento –
Reforming the state’s overburdened pension system is popular refrain in Sacramento, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get done.
Case in point: Supporters of a ballot measure to slash retirement benefits for future state employees say the initiative has died, eight months before the election, from a lack of support.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Mar. 1, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Mar. 1, 2010 – 12:12 am
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened last week to veto a bill that would reduce a corporate tax break, calling it a tax increase. He says requiring Amazon.com to collect tax dollars already owed is a new tax burden.
But he believes a new surcharge on property insurance is a “fee” that Californians ought to pay.
The Republican governor has pledged not to raise taxes in his final year in office, but whether that holds true depends on what your definition of a tax is. Legislative counsel already has drafted the insurance fee as a tax bill.
By James Quinn, US Business Editor in New York
Published: 8:20PM GMT 26 Feb 2010
California is a greater risk than Greece, warns JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan Chase, has warned American investors should be more worried about the risk of default of the state of California than of Greece’s current debt woes.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
An Alameda County judge on Thursday ordered back pay for tens of thousands of state workers who he had previously ruled were illegally furloughed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Judge Frank Roesch told the state to “immediately pay all employees of respondent departments and agencies their full salary without any reductions … and cease and desist the furlough of such employees.”
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Facing a deadline to act on the state’s fiscal crisis, lawmakers on Monday sent a handful of budget solutions to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Democrats and the Republican governor remain divided on tax-related proposals.
The governor declared a fiscal emergency in January and called a special session of the Legislature to tackle part of the state’s $19.9 billion deficit within 45 days, the last of which was Monday. Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers to resolve $8.8 billion of the gap, while the Legislature on Monday sent about $2.3 billion in solutions to the governor.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators don’t appear to be in any hurry to address this year’s version of the state budget crisis.
By this time last year, they had not only dealt with a deficit in the current year’s budget but enacted – four months early – a 2009-10 budget that included hefty tax hikes.
Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger
PolitiCal
Schwarzenegger: Fellow GOPers ‘say no to everything,’ but they should support the president
February 21, 2010 | 1:02 pm
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning criticized fellow Republicans for being hypocritical when they trample on the federal stimulus program, and he dismissed the “tea party” movement as “just an expression of anger and dissatisfaction.”
Schwarzenegger appeared Sunday morning with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, on ABC’s “This Week.” The host, Terry Moran, played a clip of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who sought the GOP nomination for president in 2008, attacking President Obama and saying the stimulus didn’t create any private-sector jobs.
Meg Whitman
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 17, 2010
Governors Race
Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman made her clearest stand yet in distinguishing herself from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday night, calling the results of the Republican governor’s time in office “not good.”
Whitman was speaking to a Commonwealth Club of California gathering in Lafayette where written audience questions probed her views on everything from the North American Free Trade Agreement to Indian gambling. The billionaire former CEO of online auction firm eBay spoke on the same day a Democratic group debuted its first radio ad accusing Whitman of trying to buy the election.
CAPITOL JOURNAL
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
February 15, 2010
From Sacramento
Very, very ugly. So much for a new-look Legislature.
You remember, the Legislature that had recognized its rotten public image and vowed to clean itself up. To reform.
Just where are those promised reforms, anyway? A lot of talk. The lawmakers apparently can’t agree on many.
Never mind. Even if some internal operating procedures ultimately change, partisanship and pettiness haven’t — at least in the Assembly, among Democrats.
By JUDY LIN, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, February 14, 2010
(02-14) 09:00 PST Sacramento, Calif. (AP) –
Last year, California furloughed state workers, froze spending on public works projects and issued IOUs to state contractors, becoming the poster child for fiscal disasters undercutting state budgets across the country.
More News
This year’s forecast: more of the same unless Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers learn to get along.
February 15, 2010 | Erica Perez
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Wednesday will review a request from Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to audit the University of California – a move that Yee said was bolstered by reports from California Watch and Spot.us.
California Watch reported last week that UCLA had hired a consulting firm that is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission because of major accounting errors that resulted in a $57 million overstatement of the company’s income.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010 – 9:25 am
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and several state employee unions have restarted long-dormant contract talks aimed at a long-shot breakthrough during the roughest economic patch California has seen in the three decades that the state work force has been organized.
At first glance, the sensitive discussions seem like a fool’s errand.
PolitiCal
February 11, 2010 | 4:15 pm
What was supposed to be a relatively quick debate over the confirmation of the appointment of Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) as lieutenant governor turned into a drawn-out, five-hour affair that could wind up being decided in the courts.
Fred Aguiar
10:00 PM PST on Monday, February 8, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inner circle has taken on an Inland flavor as he begins his final months in office and tries to shore up his legacy.
Since November, Schwarzenegger has appointed a trio of people with San Bernardino County roots to high-ranking posts in his office.
Former county supervisor and Republican lawmaker Fred Aguiar returns for another stint with an administration he first joined in 2003. This time, he is Schwarzenegger’s deputy chief of staff.
PolitiCal
February 5, 2010 | 3:23 pm
Just days before state lawmakers convene to discuss legalizing Internet poker in California, a coalition of Indian gaming tribes is bracing to fight the proposal and has hired a former top advisor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to help make its case.
By Kate Henka | 02/04/10 12:00 AM PST
The Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal adviser says the total $2.7 billion in cuts in Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget plan involving state employees may be too deep to implement without a serious struggle.
The governor’s proposal for the 2010-11 budget includes shifting a portion of pension contributions from the state to employees, cutting personnel costs and making across-the-board salary reductions.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
THE LATEST ON CALIFORNIA POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
February 2, 2010
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday sent another letter to California’s congressional delegation asking for more federal dollars after President Barack Obama released a budget that provided only $1.5 billion of the $6.9 billion in new money that Schwarzenegger wants.
The governor wrote that Obama’s budget “represents only a down payment on what we are owed,” but described the president’s plan as “the first step in a lengthy and complicated process that can result in the fair and equitable treatment of California’s taxpayers — with your help.”
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Scarcely three weeks ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his final budget, predicated on the outlandish notion that the federal government would cough up almost $7 billion more to cover California’s budget deficits.
Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders then jetted off to Washington to lobby for a federal bailout, but received – at best – a cool reception even from the state’s congressional delegation, much less other federales.
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
(02-02) 04:00 PST Sacramento — California’s leaders have been looking to Washington, D.C., for budget money they say is owed as a matter of law and fairness, but President Obama’s spending proposal released Monday shows he largely disagrees with those assertions.
The president has proposed giving California $1.5 billion of the $6.9 billion that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders had sought during a highly publicized trip to the nation’s capital two weeks ago, according to the state Department of Finance.
By Dale Kasler
and Jon Ortiz dkasler@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
CalPERS billed it as a sober, factual discussion of pension fund costs, aimed at toning down the rhetoric over an explosive political issue.
But there was no shortage of emotion during the daylong forum – particularly when a panel discussion including a prominent labor leader and a key aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned personal.
LEGISLATURE URGED TO BYPASS UNIONS IN REDUCING SALARIES
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 – 7:46 am
The Legislature’s budget analyst on Wednesday recommended that lawmakers go along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut state employee pay, even without labor unions’ consent, saying the state’s fiscal distress warrants the action.
The report by Diego Martin and Jason Dickerson of the Legislative Analyst’s Office suggests that the state’s finances are so grim and Schwarzenegger’s bargaining position so weak that the Legislature should use its wage-setting powers to reduce state workers’ pay.
10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Press-Enterprise
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of two Inland area residents to state boards Wednesday.
Bruce Barton, 49, of Menifee, has been appointed to the Commission on Emergency Medical Services, according to the governor’s office.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Arnold Schwarzenegger, with 11 months remaining in his star-crossed governorship, says it’s “a little bit too early to reflect” on his legacy – but California voters appear to be rendering their verdict already, and it’s not a positive one.
Schwarzenegger once enjoyed some of the highest approval ratings ever recorded for a California governor – 65 percent during his first months – but the latest Field Research poll, released on Sunday, found that just 27 percent of registered voters approve of his performance, and 59 percent say he’ll leave state government in worse condition than he found it.
Legislative leaders know they have to act, but they can’t agree on what to do.
CAPITOL JOURNAL
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
January 25, 2010
From Sacramento
Legislators — the leaders, anyway — know they must change the way they operate. The sooner the better. But they still can’t agree on exactly how.
The problems are clear: Bleeding, gimmicky budgets that lead to more deficit spending. Incessantly late budgets that cripple the state’s credit. Lack of prioritizing or long-range planning. Trivial pursuits. Petty partisanship.
His proposals to privatize prisons, curtail teachers’ seniority protections and reduce the number of in-home care workers would be major blows to powerful labor interests. They’re girding for a fight.
By Shane Goldmacher
January 25, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has put organized labor squarely in his cross-hairs in 2010, opening a fight that will largely determine the shape of his final year in office.
Schwarzenegger’s proposals would cut the size of the union workforce, reduce pay, shrink future pensions and roll back job protections won through collective bargaining.
11:22 PM PST on Sunday, January 24, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
Job-approval ratings for the governor and Legislature continue to hover near record lows as voters see no end in sight to the state’s economic woes, a new poll shows.
Only 27 percent of registered voters approve of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s job performance and nearly two-thirds disapprove, according to a Field Poll released today. Those numbers are virtually unchanged from October.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
59% IN POLL SAY SITUATION’S WORSE
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
This was hardly what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger envisioned seven years ago.
The movie-star governor, who took office in 2003 on a promise to “clean house” in Sacramento, remains mired at a personal-low 27 percent approval rating, according to a Field Poll released today.
10:00 PM PST on Thursday, January 21, 2010
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – After repeatedly criticizing California’s congressional delegation for failing to procure more funding for the cash-strapped state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger played a different role this week when he met with the same federal lawmakers in Washington.
It was a kinder, gentler Schwarzenegger who spent the last two days making his pitch to federal officials for an additional $6.9 billion in federal money to help close the state’s $20 billion budget gap.
Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/20/2010 09:12:13 PM PST
At a time when the salaries and retirement benefits enjoyed by public employees in California are among the most generous in the nation, a growing number of prominent leaders are calling on elected officials to cut government pay, perks and pensions rather than reducing services to poor, sick and disabled people.
In an attempt to close a $19.9 billion shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget calls for cutting or eliminating health and welfare services to millions of seniors, children and low- income residents.
By John Howard | 01/21/10 12:00 AM PST
The Schwarzenegger administration, like others before it, knowingly includes items in its budget proposals that deliberately overestimate revenue and ease the pressure for cuts, loans or new taxes – or all three.
“When the governor proposes these things, there is a huge incentive for everyone, including the Legislature, to go along with it because it saves pain, even though everybody knows it’s a fiction,” said one veteran Capitol fiscal expert and an adviser to three governors. “It’s pretending the budget is in balance when it isn’t.”
The pretense is more than semantics.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Five years ago, California’s local government officials were hailing Arnold Schwarzenegger as their fiscal savior for championing a ballot measure to protect their treasuries from raids by the state.
Now they’re denouncing him as a bandit who steals money they need for providing police, fire and other local services because he exercised a loophole in that ballot measure.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Brace yourself for another long year of budget talks.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency and demanded swift action to eliminate nearly half of the state’s $19.9 billion deficit by March.
But the Legislature, divided as ever along partisan lines in an election year, doesn’t inspire much confidence that it will solve the budget anytime soon.
For starters, California should have enough cash to pay its bills until July. That means lawmakers and Schwarzenegger can negotiate all spring without the immediate specter of embarrassing IOUs.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was insistent at his January budget presentation that his spending plan does not raise taxes.
He said, “I refuse to raise taxes, because there are so many other areas where Sacramento can be smarter, more efficient and save precious taxpayer dollars.”
But Schwarzenegger again proposed a 4.8 percent surcharge on all residential and commercial property insurance to help pay for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Department of Finance estimates that the surcharge would cost about $48 per policyholder and relieve the general fund by $200 million through June 2011.
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
January 15, 2010 | 6:30 pm
A state appeals judge today granted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request to block State Controller John Chiang from restoring full pay for prison guards.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch issued a decision last month ordering the state to restore full pay to members of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. Their salaries were reduced by three days a month, though many had to work those days because they could not be spared in the prisons.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Staff and Wire Reports
Created: 01/14/2010 09:39:56 PM PST
The Schwarzenegger administration filed an appeal Wednesday in a lawsuit over his furloughs of state workers, contesting a decision by the state controller to restore pay for prison guards.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered some 200,000 state employees to take three days off a month without pay, cutting their paychecks by 14 percent to help close the state’s budget gap.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/13/2010 05:24:24 PM PST
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will travel to Washington next week to ask federal officials for nearly $7 billion to help balance the state’s budget – a plan lawmakers and the state’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst say won’t pan out.
Schwarzenegger says the feds owe California $6.9 billion because of the state cost of federal programs and because California creates more federal tax revenue than the state ultimately receives from Washington. Over the weekend, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he plans to push for that money by meeting with California’s Congressional delegation, which he said has not been “representing us really well in this case.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
NEW LETTER USES FEINSTEIN QUOTES TO BOLSTER HIS CASE
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent another letter to California’s congressional delegation Wednesday asking for help in securing $6.9 billion, this time including past quotes from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein that the governor implies were contradictory to her criticisms of him last week.
In his budget plan and his State of the State address, Schwarzenegger attacked the federal health care overhaul and blamed Washington for not paying California its fair share in reimbursements and for overburdening the state with Medicaid regulations. Feinstein said in return, “California’s budget crisis was created in Sacramento, not Washington.”
