California News Roundup - February 11, 2009

California budget talks marked by secrecy Under the gilded dome of the state Capitol, the Cone of Silence has descended. A veil has been drawn. Secrecy has prevailed as the wizards have labored behind the green curtain to find a way out of California's $42-billion budget hole.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Whitman outlines stands A day after launching her campaign for governor, former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman on Tuesday unveiled a sharply conservative approach to California's fiscal crisis and offered a fusillade of positions on other issues that are likely to complicate her run for office in 2010.

Governor threatens to lay off 10,000 state workers As legislative leaders Tuesday moved toward a deal that could wipe out the state's $42-billion deficit with temporary tax hikes on retail sales, cars, gasoline and personal income, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to lay off as many as 10,000 state employees if a new budget is not passed this week.

Anthem Blue Cross agrees to take back clients, pay $1-million fine Anthem Blue Cross, the state's largest for-profit health insurer, has agreed to pay a $1-million fine and offer new coverage -- no questions asked -- to 2,330 people it dropped after they submitted bills for expensive medical care.

Smaller grape harvest could help state's winemakers Mother Nature gave California's winemakers a break last fall.

Budget proposal raises income, sales, gas taxes, and car fees Californians' pocketbooks would be hit in at least four ways under a wide-ranging budget proposal that is being pushed toward a floor vote within days in the Senate and Assembly.

Court to hear California prison health care showdown California prison health care has already grabbed front-page headlines this week, but the issue will be front-and-center again on a separate matter before different judges.

Cut community college recreation classes, California legislative analysts The Mardi Gras Lanes bowling alley on Madison Avenue is alive on Friday mornings, buzzing with the energy of more than 40 college students. They sing along to old-school hip-hop, munch on pretzels and onion rings and slap high-fives after each strike.

Calif. inmate release prompts public safety Unless California gets a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court, it will have to free roughly a third of its prison inmates within the next few years.

Schwarzenegger: Layoffs coming if no budget soon Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration warned Tuesday that it will start the process of laying off thousands of state workers if the governor and legislative leaders do not reach a budget deal by Friday.

Dan Walters: Corporate tax sweetener to seal deal? In terms of complexity and longevity, few state Capitol conflicts surpass the decades-long struggle over how California taxes multistate and multinational corporations.

Daniel Weintraub: Governor has a shot at spending reform If every crisis provides an opportunity, then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a chance this month to shape his legacy. Depending on how California's budget mess is resolved, the actor-turned-governor will be remembered either as a man who was overmatched by the office and the state's polarized politics or as a leader who bridged a partisan divide to help bring the state back from the brink of insolvency.
Capitol Alert: Solis makes gains but isn't out of the woods Politico.com reported today that the nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis as labor secretary won't be derailed by Republicans over her husband's tax problems.

Capitol Alert: State's revenues continue decline The state's tax revenues in January continued to run well below those of a year earlier, Controller John Chiang reported today, but were slightly higher than last year's budget forecasts.

Capitol Alert: Don Henley rocks a donation to Jerry Brown Don Hennley, the singer who co-founded the Eagles, donated $13,000 to Attorney General Jerry Brown last Friday, according to new campaign filings.

Capitol Alert: Dutton can't support 'billions in new taxes but no budget reform' Sen. Bob Dutton, the Republican vice chairman of the budget committee, has penned an op-ed in the San Bernardino Sun today about his stance on the budget.

Prisons: Settle, don't appealThe wholly predictable outcome to California's refusal to address prison overcrowding has occurred.

John Chiang: California crisis by the numbers - 12, 5, 30, 2, 732, 5.5, 121 No, these are not lottery picks or a plot-twisting code on the TV show "Lost." But they do tell a story of how the Golden State - once revered for its pioneering leadership - is now so desperate that it no longer pays its bills, or cares for the sick and elderly. These numbers also indicate what kind of California - one that offers opportunity or shackles us with debt - is on the horizon.

Out of space, out of excuses, out of time California cannot say it was not warned. Back in July 2005, long before the state was dealing with furloughs, IOUs and budget shortfalls in the tens of billions, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson warned that conditions in the state's overcrowded prisons were reaching dangerous proportions. Seven months later, finding that one inmate "dies needlessly" every week, Henderson placed the medical-care system of California prisons in the hands of a federal receiver.

Gov's plan to kill CCC draws fire Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to scrap the California Conservation Corps is coming under fire from four former governors and other critics who say it would be a mistake to kill the popular jobs and skills training program in the midst of a deepening recession.

Governor's plan to tax green fees has golfers in rough Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't making any friends on the golf course these days. In fact, his proposal to tax green fees, among other things, is being received like a slice into the rough.