Budget problems expected again next summer -- Even as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a spending bill this week to end the state's record-long budget impasse, officials say a crisis of equal magnitude looms next year because of the weakened economy, uncertainties about the use of future lottery revenue and political gridlock among state legislators.
George Skelton: Blame all the players for the gimmicky budget -- Republicans and Democrats wreaked havoc across the state in the protracted negotiations. Democratic state Treasurer Bill Lockyer likens the budgeting process to 'banana republic financing.'
Democrats take aim at budget vote margin -- Frustrated by the longest budget impasse in California history, Democratic leaders are planning another ballot measure to end the two-thirds vote requirement in the Legislature to pass a state budget. Voters, by a 2-to-1 margin, defeated a similar effort in 2004 that would have also lowered the vote threshold to raise taxes from two-thirds to 55 percent.
State Prop. 3 would fund children's hospitals -- Voters will decide on Nov. 4 whether to pay for the construction and remodeling of children's hospitals through a new state bond. Proposition 3 would authorize $980 million in bonds, to be repaid from the state's general fund, to allow the hospitals to expand, improve facilities and purchase medical equipment.
Controversy surrounds sweeping 'safe neighborhoods' measure on November ballot -- California's police and prosecutors are asking voters for a guaranteed $965 million from the state each year and a slew of tough new penalties, but an unlikely figure is championing their anti-crime "Safe Neighborhoods Act" on the November ballot. The man who paid to put Proposition 6 before the voters now faces a possible 340 years in prison in a pair of indictments that accuse him of backdating stock options, supplying meth and cocaine to friends and prostitutes, and spiking colleagues' drinks with Ecstasy.
Ad Watch: Large utilities finance anti-7 coalition -- A No-on-Prop. 7 coalition is airing a television ad saying the November state ballot measure actually would undermine its stated objective of expanding renewable energy sources as solutions to global warming.
Dan Walters: Prison system mess isn't getting better -- The state's budget imbroglio had many casualties, and a big one was doing something about the festering mess we call a prison system. We have more than 170,000 inmates in cells designed for scarcely half that number, inmate health care is so bad that a federal judge has seized control, his receiver is demanding $8 billion from a state that's already hemorrhaging red ink, other judges are threatening to take over other aspects of the system, and the prison guards union is mounting a recall campaign against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger because of long-stalled contract negotiations.
California prison guards' resolve is tested by Schwarzenegger -- A few steps from the slot machines and blackjack tables here, Mike Jimenez asked for a final show of support from the men and women who had just placed their bets on him to fight on as leader of California's once feared, still proud prison guards union.
Gray Davis: Recall's no way to govern -- Take it from the man who's been there: Former Gov. Gray Davis. If the recall threat against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeds, forget about seeing any bold leadership from any future governor of the state.
Palin energizes California Republicans -- Post-convention swing state polls are tipping toward Sen. John McCain, the TV pundits are waxing about "The Palin Factor," and Sen. Barack Obama's California supporters are freaking out about a race Democrats were uncommonly confident about only a month ago.
UC president leans toward new rules for admission -- Even Mark Yudof, the former law school dean and accomplished higher education leader now guiding the University of California, confessed that he was a bit befuddled at first by a proposal to rewrite the UC's freshmen admissions rules. But Yudof told the UC Board of Regents last week that, after spending many hours studying the plan, he believes it is “headed in the right direction” and he is prepared to endorse it.
California's new 8th-grade algebra rule gets some poor marks -- The new state policy of requiring algebra in the eighth grade will set up unprepared students for failure while holding back others with solid math skills, a new report has concluded. These predictions, based on national data, come in the wake of an algebra mandate that the state Board of Education, under pressure from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, adopted in July.
CSU introducing online degrees -- When classes start at Cal State East Bay this week, they'll include dozens of students who will never need to set foot on campus. For the first time, students in a handful of programs will be able to complete master's degrees or the final two years of their bachelor's degrees online. No commuting, no dining halls, no searching for parking spaces.
Gay-marriage foes protest outside Kevin Johnson's church -- A church group from El Dorado County and a controversial minister from Los Angeles on Sunday protested outside mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson's church, saying he should be cast out of his congregation for opposing Proposition 8, the initiative to ban gay marriage.
George Skelton: Blame all the players for the gimmicky budget -- Republicans and Democrats wreaked havoc across the state in the protracted negotiations. Democratic state Treasurer Bill Lockyer likens the budgeting process to 'banana republic financing.'
Democrats take aim at budget vote margin -- Frustrated by the longest budget impasse in California history, Democratic leaders are planning another ballot measure to end the two-thirds vote requirement in the Legislature to pass a state budget. Voters, by a 2-to-1 margin, defeated a similar effort in 2004 that would have also lowered the vote threshold to raise taxes from two-thirds to 55 percent.
State Prop. 3 would fund children's hospitals -- Voters will decide on Nov. 4 whether to pay for the construction and remodeling of children's hospitals through a new state bond. Proposition 3 would authorize $980 million in bonds, to be repaid from the state's general fund, to allow the hospitals to expand, improve facilities and purchase medical equipment.
Controversy surrounds sweeping 'safe neighborhoods' measure on November ballot -- California's police and prosecutors are asking voters for a guaranteed $965 million from the state each year and a slew of tough new penalties, but an unlikely figure is championing their anti-crime "Safe Neighborhoods Act" on the November ballot. The man who paid to put Proposition 6 before the voters now faces a possible 340 years in prison in a pair of indictments that accuse him of backdating stock options, supplying meth and cocaine to friends and prostitutes, and spiking colleagues' drinks with Ecstasy.
Ad Watch: Large utilities finance anti-7 coalition -- A No-on-Prop. 7 coalition is airing a television ad saying the November state ballot measure actually would undermine its stated objective of expanding renewable energy sources as solutions to global warming.
Dan Walters: Prison system mess isn't getting better -- The state's budget imbroglio had many casualties, and a big one was doing something about the festering mess we call a prison system. We have more than 170,000 inmates in cells designed for scarcely half that number, inmate health care is so bad that a federal judge has seized control, his receiver is demanding $8 billion from a state that's already hemorrhaging red ink, other judges are threatening to take over other aspects of the system, and the prison guards union is mounting a recall campaign against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger because of long-stalled contract negotiations.
California prison guards' resolve is tested by Schwarzenegger -- A few steps from the slot machines and blackjack tables here, Mike Jimenez asked for a final show of support from the men and women who had just placed their bets on him to fight on as leader of California's once feared, still proud prison guards union.
Gray Davis: Recall's no way to govern -- Take it from the man who's been there: Former Gov. Gray Davis. If the recall threat against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeds, forget about seeing any bold leadership from any future governor of the state.
Palin energizes California Republicans -- Post-convention swing state polls are tipping toward Sen. John McCain, the TV pundits are waxing about "The Palin Factor," and Sen. Barack Obama's California supporters are freaking out about a race Democrats were uncommonly confident about only a month ago.
UC president leans toward new rules for admission -- Even Mark Yudof, the former law school dean and accomplished higher education leader now guiding the University of California, confessed that he was a bit befuddled at first by a proposal to rewrite the UC's freshmen admissions rules. But Yudof told the UC Board of Regents last week that, after spending many hours studying the plan, he believes it is “headed in the right direction” and he is prepared to endorse it.
California's new 8th-grade algebra rule gets some poor marks -- The new state policy of requiring algebra in the eighth grade will set up unprepared students for failure while holding back others with solid math skills, a new report has concluded. These predictions, based on national data, come in the wake of an algebra mandate that the state Board of Education, under pressure from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, adopted in July.
CSU introducing online degrees -- When classes start at Cal State East Bay this week, they'll include dozens of students who will never need to set foot on campus. For the first time, students in a handful of programs will be able to complete master's degrees or the final two years of their bachelor's degrees online. No commuting, no dining halls, no searching for parking spaces.
Gay-marriage foes protest outside Kevin Johnson's church -- A church group from El Dorado County and a controversial minister from Los Angeles on Sunday protested outside mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson's church, saying he should be cast out of his congregation for opposing Proposition 8, the initiative to ban gay marriage.
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