Tuesday, March 3, 2009

California News Roundup - February 3, 2009

State to stop imprisoning some illegal-immigration repeat offenders California corrections officials say the state will no longer spend the estimated $10 million a year it costs to lock up undocumented immigrants with prior convictions who reenter the country illegally after being deported.


The governor's gifts: Antiques, clothes, wines and cigars Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year received more than $32,000 in gifts, including a Mongolian shield, a bronze bust of a California condor, a replica of a high-speed train, antique dumbbells and lots of wine and cigars.


State's in a drought, but it's not the worst ever The warnings have been ominous this winter: California is headed into the worst drought in modern history. The water supply is drying up. Or, as one water association declared last week, "Things just keep getting worse and worse."


California delegation to try a bipartisan meeting In a story that has circulated around Capitol Hill for years, California's famously fractured delegation gathered for a rare bipartisan meeting and decided to send for pizza -- only to get into a fight over what toppings to order.


Assemblywoman Diane Harkey accepted $16,600 from firms borrowing from husband's company California Assemblywoman Diane Harkey accepted $16,600 in political contributions from real estate developers who had received loans from her husband's business, now under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.


Peter Schrag: California's broken budget The way the budget deal was reached in Sacramento, and what's in it, shows how bad the system has become.The latest refrain in Sacramento's inner wonkdom is that it's time to eliminate the "big five" system, under which the governor and the majority and minority party leaders in each house of the Legislature disappeared behind closed doors to cook up the state budget deal late last month.

GOP recruiter's pay, results questioned The head of an upstart group that aims to recruit California Republicans to run for statewide offices earned $900,000 in salary and benefits in the 2007-2008 election cycle, angering some Republicans who wondered Monday if the cash is being well-spent.


Field Poll shows early backing for budget items on ballot Likely voters in the May 19 special election initially support six ballot measures designed to complete the budget recently approved by lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday.


California farms, cities warned they may lose access to state's creeks, rivers Thousands of California farms and cities have been warned that their permission to pump water from rivers and creeks could be cut back if the drought worsens.


The Buzz: Bass gave present to Parra, before the fall Premonition? Perhaps. Former Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, recently filed disclosure documents listing a $64 gift she received last year from Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, several months before such bad blood erupted between them that Parra was banished from the Capitol to an office across the street. Bass' earlier gift to Parra? A "Falling Slowly Orchid."


Dan Walters: California politicos try to fix election via ballot title When someone proposes an initiative ballot measure, the attorney general gives it an official title and summary. There's always been much political angst, as well as legal wrangling, over the wording of controversial issues.

Capitol Alert: Cal's uninsured motorist rate still highPosted by Dan WaltersTwo decades ago, it was estimated that as many as a third of California's motorists were driving without insurance, but a series of get-tough laws reduced the rate by more than half to 18 percent, according to a new nationwide survey by the Insurance Research Council.


Capitol Alert: California isn't toughest in imprisonment Criminal corrections - prisons, jails, parole and probation - have been California's fastest growing public expense in recent years with the state's correctional costs doubling in the last decade to about $10 billion a year.

Wet February helps water supply, but not enough The storms pounding the Bay Area and blanketing the Sierra Nevada with snow have brought California back from the brink of the worst drought in state history, but the drenching is not enough to assure adequate water supplies this summer, state water officials said Monday.


Opposition forms for state spending-cap Prop 1A A coalition of strange bedfellows already is getting together to fight against Proposition 1A, the state spending-cap proposal that is the long-sought centerpiece of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget-reform effort.

Sean Penn joins campaign for 'Harvey Milk Day' in California Fresh from his Oscar-winning portrayal of the iconic San Francisco gay rights leader, Sean Penn is joining in the call to create "Harvey Milk Day" in California.

Legislature backs fight against Prop. 8 Both houses of the state Legislature passed resolutions Monday endorsing the legal effort to overturn California's same-sex marriage ban, just days before the issue goes to the state Supreme Court. The resolutions passed along party lines, 18-14 in the Senate and 45-27 in the Assembly, with several members absent in both chambers.


Dissatisfied with state budget, voters envision bleak future, poll indicates Most California voters dislike last month's state budget package, with the frustration highest among people likely to vote on the May special election ballot measures integral to the $40 billion plan, a new poll shows.

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