Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 17, 2013
Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor projected state revenues Friday that are $3.2 billion higher than those projected by Gov. Jerry Brown this week in his revised budget proposal.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, May. 16, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Thursday, May. 16, 2013 – 8:14 am
On Friday two state agencies will release the results of their probes into departments giving salaried managers secondary jobs that pay an hourly wage.
By Michael Gardner7:06 p.m.May 15, 2013
California’s counties are leery of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget maneuver to immediately siphon money from local coffers, leaving behind an IOU that would be repaid through savings realized much later.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 14, 2013 – 5:07 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 15, 2013 – 8:02 am
Gov. Jerry Brown, dismissive of a surge in state tax revenue that stirred optimism at the Capitol, moved Tuesday to blunt appeals for increased spending, downgrading his budget proposal from January.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 15, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 15, 2013 – 8:02 am
Twenty-five years ago, California voters approved – albeit very narrowly – the education community’s ballot measure that engraved a complex school finance structure into the state constitution.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
By Paige St. John
May 13, 2013, 3:59 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown has, as promised, filed legal papers to appeal federal court orders to reduce the state’s prison population with the U.S. Supreme Court.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 14, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Tuesday, May. 14, 2013 – 7:58 am
With California income tax revenue running about $4.5 billion ahead of expectations through April, Gov. Jerry Brown finds himself today in an unusual position: Releasing a revised budget proposal highlighting better numbers, not worse.
LAURA OLSON, Associated Press
Updated 10:13 am, Saturday, May 11, 2013
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California schools are expecting a boost from the $900 million to be raised over the next year through the closure of a corporate tax loophole, but Gov. Jerry Brown is locked in a disagreement with state lawmakers over how to hand out that money.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 12, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 12, 2013 – 7:33 am
There’s absolutely nothing wrong, per se, with incurring debt, whether it’s by families, businesses or governments. A functional credit market is absolutely vital to a modern economy.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 10, 2013
One day after a civil rights leader accused him of using racially charged politics in his criticism of California’s prison realignment, former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado said this afternoon that Gov. Jerry Brown and “his buddies are trying to make it about race.”
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 6, 2013
Gov. Jerry Brown today called “mystifying” the continuing legal pressure on his administration to reduce California’s prison population, as he reiterated his pledge to appeal the case as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 6, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, May. 6, 2013 – 7:56 am
Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers are on a collision course over restoring cuts to California’s safety net, marking a key test of vows to hold the line on state spending.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 6, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, May. 6, 2013 – 5:18 am
One of the questions that Capitol veterans often field from those newer to the political arena is whether today’s Jerry Brown is markedly different from what he was during his first governorship three-plus decades ago.
By Denny Walsh and Torey Van Oot
dwalsh@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, May. 4, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Saturday, May. 4, 2013 – 12:41 am
A plan for inmate population reduction in California’s prisons that was submitted Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown and his corrections department to three federal judges may be dead on arrival.
May 01, 2013; 06:35 PM
SACRAMENTO — A pair of influential Riverside County tribes with casinos are trying to scuttle a gaming compact between the state and a Central Valley tribe that could come up for an Assembly ratification vote as early as today.
To read story by Jim Miller in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
By Dan Walters
April 30, 2013
California’s state and local governments are at least $648 billion in debt and the total could surpass $1.1 trillion — depending on how pension liabilities are calculated — according to a data compilation by a conservative think tank.
By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2013, 4:14 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Arnold Schwarzenegger persuaded voters nine years ago that if they let him borrow money to cover the budget deficit, California’s financial woes would end for good. A key part of his plan was a new rainy-day fund to insulate the state from further crisis.
“It will be a whole new ball game,” Schwarzenegger said. “Trust me.”
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 23, 2013
Despite relatively robust income tax returns and a projection that the state will finish April billions of dollars ahead of estimates, Gov. Jerry Brown today dismissed a reporter’s suggestion he must be “pretty happy,” suggesting any overage may be tied up by Proposition 98, California’s school-funding guarantee.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
By Chris Megerian
April 19, 2013, 7:00 a.m.
SACRAMENTO — By now it’s a safe bet that California tax revenue will surpass expectations during the current fiscal year. But the question of what that means for the state’s bottom line is far from settled.
By Patrick McGreevy and Anthony York, Los Angeles Time
April 19, 2013, 8:50 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Jerry Brown returned this week from his trade mission to China, his decision to have his travel and that of 10 staffers paid for by special interests was raising eyebrows.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Apr. 19, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Jerry Brown spent the first two years of his second governorship dealing with a chronic budget crisis and finally persuaded voters to raise sales and income taxes to narrow the budget gap.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 – 04:30 p.m.
The defense in the highly-publicized Colonies case accuses the State Attorney General and San Bernardino County District Attorney of using an “novel charging scheme” to bring its case against Rancho Cucamonga Developer Jeffrey Burum, Former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin, Former County Supervisor Paul Biane and Mark Kirk, former chief of staff to Supervisor Gary Ovitt.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 16, 2013
SHENZHEN, China – Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday his administration will prepare to release as many as 10,000 state prisoners if the state is unable to get out from under a court order demanding it reduce California’s prison population.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Apr. 12, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
A couple of years into Jerry Brown’s first governorship Dow Chemical Co. abandoned plans to build a $500 million petrochemical plant, citing regulatory red tape.
By George Skelton
Capitol Journal
April 10, 2013, 4:37 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — You know things are going splendidly for a governor when he can arrange a weeklong jaunt through China and not have to pay a cent himself — or even dip into the public till.
By Denny Walsh and Sam Stanton
dwalsh@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Apr. 6, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
In a sharp rebuke of Gov. Jerry Brown, a federal judge Friday rejected his administration’s bid to end federal court control of mental health care in California’s prisons, finding that treatment has not attained a constitutional level and “systemic failures persist,” which are leading to inmate suicides and other problems.
By Daniel Borenstein, staff columnist
Posted: 03/29/2013 04:00:00 PM PDT
Updated: 03/30/2013 03:56:56 PM PDT
That was then, this is now.
When Gov. Jerry Brown signed pension legislation last year, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System applauded the “comprehensive set of reforms.” Its board president, Rob Feckner, said they marked “a more secure era for public pensions.”
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 28, 2013
Were California’s state government a business, it would be a candidate for insolvency with a negative net worth of $127.2 billion, according to an annual financial report issued by State Auditor Elaine Howle and the Bureau of State Audits.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013 – 04:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 – 10:15 p.m.
The California Supreme Court rendered a ruling Wednesday afternoon that will impact the highly-publicized Colonies criminal case.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 20, 2013
browncarpet.jpgGov. Jerry Brown said this evening that the commission that sets pay packages for lawmakers and constitutional officers, including the governor, should not further reduce any officials’ pay.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Mar. 21, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Thursday, Mar. 21, 2013 – 7:58 am
Californians have a legal right to view court files of criminal and civil cases, but here’s the catch: It soon may cost $10.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Mar. 18, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
California’s legislative leaders vowed to act with austerity after voters passed billions of dollars in tax hikes last November.
More than two dozen bills introduced in the current session, however, take aim at Californians’ pocketbooks.
The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
By Jon Ortiz
March 14, 2013
California paid more than a quarter-billion dollars to cash out state employee leave last year, according to a new state report, in part because furloughed state workers haven’t been taking as much paid time off.
By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
March 8, 2013, 8:06 p.m.
SACRAMENTO—California unions, accustomed to getting their way in the Capitol, lost some ground last year when Gov. Jerry Brown pushed through the Legislature a series of public-pension cuts that affect their members.
Friday, March 8, 2013 – 08:55 a.m.
Defense attorneys for Developer Jeffrey Burum filed a motion in the California Supreme Court on Wednesday, in an effort to move forward the criminal case involving the controversial $102 million settlement between the County of San Bernardino and Colonies Partners, L.P.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Mar. 4, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Mar. 4, 2013 – 6:23 am
Gov. Jerry Brown did another victory lap in Washington late last month, suggesting during a national governors’ conference that California had shown the way to resolve the federal government’s budget woes by balancing the state budget after years of deficits.
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
March 3, 2013
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers accepted a trip to Brazil, fine cigars and crystal ducks, among many other gifts from corporations, trade groups and other special interests last year.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 – 7:10 am
WASHINGTON – Following the success of his November ballot initiative to raise taxes and his declaration that the state budget is balanced, Gov. Jerry Brown said California could become a model of good government for the rest of the nation.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 19, 2013
State leaders have pushed the legal envelope trying to solve California’s financial woes, and Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget is no different even as the state heads toward firmer ground.
By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times
February 18, 2013, 7:02 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The surge of revenue that showed up unexpectedly in state coffers last month may well be offset by a revenue dip in coming months, according to Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.
By Amy Wong | 02/18/13 1:00 PM PST
It’s Round 3 in Jerry Brown vs. the locals.
The governor’s efforts to reform California’s 29-year-old enterprise zone system, an ongoing tax-break program that encourages business investment and promotes new jobs in economically distressed areas of the state, is his latest attempt in a series of major moves targeting local businesses and governance.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Jerry Brown is forever cautioning California residents and politicians about the need to balance the state budget and pay down debt.
But the other day, in talking about the costs of extending medical insurance coverage to millions of Californians, he thanked the federal government for going more deeply into debt to pay for it.
By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
February 17, 2013, 7:01 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — When Gov. Jerry Brown needed help pushing his tax plan last year, public-worker unions rallied to his side with millions of dollars and thousands of campaign foot soldiers.
By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
February 13, 2013
Millions of Californians remain stuck in the state’s increasingly expensive rental markets, unable to buy homes as they deal with tight credit markets and damage to their finances from the Great Recession.
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff columnist
Posted: 02/08/2013 12:00:00 PM PST
Updated: 02/09/2013 05:49:07 PM PST
Gov. Jerry Brown’s claim that he balanced his proposed 2013-14 budget ignores that he’s driving the state teacher pension system deeper into debt by shortchanging it at least $4.5 billion.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013 – 8:32 am
Much – probably too much – is being made of the newly minted Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature and the prospects of doing this or that.
By David Siders and Phillip Reese
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 – 6:59 am
As the Rick Perry-Jerry Brown spitting match entered its fourth day, the Republican governor of Texas announced Thursday that he will travel to California to recruit businesses from the Golden State.
By Jim Cameron | 02/06/13 2:10 PM PST
Ann Ravel, California’s political watchdog, captured public attention in November when she squared off against an obscure but well-heeled group calling itself Americans for Social Responsibility.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 – 6:52 am
An amusing – or appalling – incident occurred in the Legislature in 1995 involving the state’s Education Code, the body of law that purports to manage how 6 million school kids are educated.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 – 8:01 am
Gov. Jerry Brown was in a forgiving state of mind last year.
The Democratic governor pardoned 128 convicted criminals in 2012, six times the number of pardons he granted the previous year, according to a report Brown made to the Legislature on Friday.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 31, 2013 | 7:00 am
Gov. Jerry Brown received a record high approval rating after introducing his latest budget proposal, according to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 – 7:32 am
Nearly a dozen state departments have allowed hundreds of employees to hold more than one job, confirming CalPERS officials’ claims that the practice is widespread, according to January state jobs data The Bee obtained.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has reported – with no small elation – that it has recouped virtually all of the $95 billion in investment losses it sustained during the global financial crisis.
Joe Garofoli
Updated 10:39 pm, Saturday, January 26, 2013
With the state budget balanced for the first time in years, Gov. Jerry Brown is roaring that “California is back,” painting a rosier future for California with gauzy predictions of its “rendezvous with destiny.”
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/25/2013 03:39:12 PM PST
Gov. Jerry Brown has been among the most iconic Democrats in one of the nation’s most Democratic states over the course of four decades, but his State of the State speech on Thursday suggested that some of his plans may actually be in line with Republican priorities.
By Anthony York and Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2013, 5:40 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Seeking to reclaim the state’s identity as an innovator and engine of growth, Gov. Jerry Brown declared in a sweeping State of the State address that “California did the impossible” in emerging from financial crisis poised to lead again.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Jerry Brown uttered more than 3,000 words in just under 25 minutes Thursday, telling the Legislature – and 38 million other Californians – that the state is in good shape, getting better every day and can look forward to a bright future.
By Steven Harmon
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 01/23/2013 02:36:42 PM PST
Updated: 01/23/2013 02:57:31 PM PST
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown will take center stage Thursday morning when he gives his State of the State address. But he’ll have to keep his eye on restless Democratic lawmakers — fresh off winning two-thirds majorities in both chambers of the Legislature — who consider themselves equal partners in a brand new era of political dominance.
Carla Marinucci
Updated 11:03 pm, Tuesday, January 22, 2013
In an age of caustic partisan division, Gov. Jerry Brown sits in the political catbird seat as he prepares to lay out the agenda for the rest of his term in a State of the State address to Californians on Thursday in Sacramento.
By Christopher Cadelago
Jan. 21, 2013 – 12:44 p.m.
When Gov. Jerry Brown last year signed legislation to trim public pension costs, he signaled that he would build on the momentum.
By Steven Harmon
San Jose Mercury News
Posted: 01/20/2013 06:57:46 AM PST
Updated: 01/20/2013 06:57:57 AM PST
SACRAMENTO — As he prepares to deliver the third State of the State speech of his third term on Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown will be peering down from a lofty political perch that he may never ascend to again.
Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013 7:00 am | Updated: 12:18 pm, Thu Jan 17, 2013.
BY NORBERTO SANTANA JR.
A committee set up by the Orange County Fair Board is recommending that the board urge Gov. Jerry Brown to investigate a shadowy statewide organization, the California Construction Authority, in connection with the failed effort during the Schwarzenegger administration to privatize the fairgrounds.
Governor says budget is balanced, but tenuous
By Michael Gardner6:43 p.m.Jan. 15, 2013
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed path toward fiscal solvency could be quickly driven off course by forces both within and outside his control.
Brown acknowledged as much when he unveiled his 2013-2014 spending plan last week.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 – 7:50 am
When Capitol politicians and others talk or write about “the budget,” they are referring to the “general fund,” which Gov. Jerry Brown proposes to be a bit over $97 billion in the next fiscal year.
However, that’s never been the entire budget.
Wyatt Buchanan
Updated 10:45 pm, Monday, January 14, 2013
Sacramento –Signaling an end to an era of budget gimmicks that masked California’s deep financial problems, the state’s independent fiscal analyst said Gov. Jerry Brown should be commended for offering a fiscally responsible spending plan for the year starting July 1.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 – 8:17 am
Former Catholic seminarian Jerry Brown is prone to including obscure theological references in his political pronouncements, often embellishing them with Latin phrases.
By Evan Halper and Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
January 13, 2013, 5:01 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown proclaimed last week that California, which now has enough cash to pay its day-to-day bills, can no longer be described by naysayers as a “failed state.”
By Steven Harmon
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 01/11/2013 06:36:14 PM PST
Updated: 01/12/2013 06:24:55 AM PST
Document: 2013 California budget plan, full summary
SACRAMENTO — Call it the Amazing Vanishing Deficit.
Capitol observers were shocked Thursday when California Gov. Jerry Brown revealed that his administration had produced only the second balanced budget in the last decade. But it turns out producing the deficit-free budget was a tricky feat for Brown and his finance team.
Wyatt Buchanan
Updated 10:38 pm, Friday, January 11, 2013
If you’ve ever wondered how to make a billion dollars vanish, see Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.
Published: Jan. 10, 2013 Updated: 9:24 p.m.
By BRIAN JOSEPH / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SACRAMENTO – True to his word, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday proposed a budget for 2013-14 that eschews dramatic, across-the-board spending increases, despite new revenue, and instead offers modest gains to California schools.
By Anthony York and Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
January 9, 2013, 5:32 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The days of catastrophic deficits behind him, Gov. Jerry Brown is set to propose a state budget Thursday that would shift the Capitol’s focus from fiscal triage to sweeping policy changes in education, criminal justice and healthcare.
By Sam Stanton, David Siders and Denny Walsh
sstanton@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 – 8:03 am
Gov. Jerry Brown’s declaration Tuesday that California has solved its prison overcrowding problem is part of a bold move to wrest control of the nation’s largest corrections system back from the federal courts and their appointed overseers.
But experts say there is a slim chance of that.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 – 7:58 am
Jerry Brown knows firsthand that crime is a political minefield.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 7, 2013 | 5:28 pm
When Gov. Jerry Brown releases his budget proposal Thursday, he will include his plans for $500 million in new spending on energy efficiency and related programs.
Published: Jan. 2, 2013 Updated: Jan. 5, 2013 10:40 p.m.
By BRIAN JOSEPH / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SACRAMENTO – In the ongoing drama that is the California state budget, the November election got all the attention, but the governor’s presentation this week may be even more important.
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