Law gives fired whistle-blowers right to sue UC
NANETTE ASIMOV, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2010

University of California employees who believe they have been fired in retaliation for blowing the whistle on improper activities can, for the first time, sue for damages under a new law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The governor signed the bill into law Thursday over the objections of UC administrators.
Until now, UC employees could complain about retaliation only to the university's own administrative review panel, but could not go to court as other state employees may do. Employees of California State University and the community college system also have the right to go to court.
UC argued that employees should not be allowed to sue without first proving that the university's administrative review process was flawed. But Schwarzenegger disagreed.
"The governor believes in protecting whistle-blowers, and this legislation protects those at the University of California the same way other state employees are protected," said spokeswoman Andrea McCarthy.
The law's author, state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, said it was a conflict of interest for UC's administrators to have the last word on whether UC has to pay monetary damages in cases of workplace retaliation.
"This is the classic case of the fox guarding the hen house," Yee said. "Finally, we are able to close this legal loophole and restore some dignity for UC whistle-blowers."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/17/BALK1EFKLU.DTL&feed=rss.news#ixzz0u3hKMxzi

 

UC Regents barring of filmmaker draws protest
NANETTE ASIMOV, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2010
THE CHRONICLE
State Sen. Leland Yee wants the university system to explain its actions.
A state senator and an organization of journalists asked the University of California on Friday to explain why UC officials prevented a filmmaker from bringing his camera into a public regents meeting in San Francisco this week in apparent violation of the state's open meeting law.
"State law is clear - any member of the public has a right to film and record public meetings of state bodies," Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, wrote to UC President Mark Yudof.
Yee, who chairs the Senate's committee on Public Records and Open Meeting Laws, asked Yudof to explain not only why filmmaker Ric Chavez was barred from taking his video camera into the meeting, but why UC policy - which makes no provision for the public's right to film public meetings - "is in complete contradiction to state law."
Liz Enochs, president of the Society of Professional Journalists' Northern California chapter, addressed her letter to the regents, saying the group was "deeply concerned" that Chavez had been barred from the meeting.
She included a link to The Chronicle's account, published Thursday, of UC officials preventing Chavez from entering the meeting with his camera on grounds that he lacked a press credential.
The Chronicle story also revealed an e-mail exchange in which UC questioned Chavez about the content and purpose of his film, and asked for his full name as a condition of access, also in apparent violation of the state's Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
UC did not immediately respond to the senator and journalists.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/17/BALK1EFQAA.DTL&feed=rss.news#ixzz0u3hcjk7o

Sidestepping voter intent by siphoning away gas tax money?
July 8th, 2010, 3:00 am • 18 Comments • posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
So let’s start with the good news:
• The state’s sales and use tax rate on gas dropped from 8.25 percent to 2.25 percent, as of July 1.
Wow! So prices will plummet at the pump, right?
Not so fast:
• As of July 1, the good state of California also hiked the excise tax rate on motor vehicle fuel by 17.3 cents per gallon – from 18 cents to 35.3 cents.
That essentially makes up for the big sales tax drop, so it all seems like a wash. The consumer filling up his car isn’t supposed to see an iota of difference.
So, why bother? “The excise tax gives the state more flexibility,” said Anita Gore, spokeswoman for the state Board of Equalization.
The “gas tax swap,” as it’s being called, essentially allows the state to sidestep two voter initiatives designed to ensure that gas taxes are used for road projects. The new setup allows California to siphon money from its gas-tax piggy bank and use it to plug holes in its other piggy banks.
“It all springs from the state’s budget difficulties,” said Stephen Finnegan of the Automobile Club of Southern California. “From a consumer standpoint, there’s no change at pump. From transportation standpoint, they’re going to now be using gas taxes to repay general obligation bonds…. It will be a loss to transportation, both roads and transit.”
In 2002, Proposition 42 asked the question: “Should the California Constitution be amended to require gasoline and diesel fuel sales tax revenues be allocated for specified transportation purposes, including highways, streets and roads, and transit improvements?” Voters answered with a resounding “yes!” – it passed with 69 percent of the vote.
In 2006, voters went a step further with Proposition 1A, which asked the question, “Should the California Constitution be amended to further protect the state sales tax revenues for transportation purposes from general-purpose use and require any funds borrowed to be repaid to the transportation fund?” This time the answer was an even more resounding “yes!” – it passed with a resounding 79 percent of the vote.
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/07/08/sidestepping-voter-intent-by-siphoning-away-gas-tax-money/60305/

Editorial: Handouts + lax scrutiny = big fraud
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Even as the federal government continues its grandiose mission of redistributing your tax money, we continue to learn how unaccountable its corrupt system already is.
The Government Accounting Office, which monitors how Washington manages tax money, has uncovered yet another expensive boondoggle amid the well-intentioned federal giveaway of billions of dollars, this time in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, serving 8.3 million U.S. households.
The program is supposed to provide low-income households "energy assistance," another way of saying government-subsidized air conditioning and heating. But the feds paid $116 million in subsidies to applicants who used 11,000 dead people's Social Security numbers, to 725 imprisoned convicts and to 1,100 well-paid – and ineligible – government workers.
The ultimate massive scale of these improper payments is only hinted at by the GAO's report. The audit covered seven states – Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey – and found evidence of fraud in each. Even so, the investigation found 9 percent of applications contained invalid information. If that rate is representative, the total dollar amount for all 50 states would be monumental.
The GAO also found that about 260,000 applications receiving benefits contained invalid identity information, such as blank Social Security numbers, names or dates of birth. Many inaccuracies may be typos or incomplete sections, "making it impossible to determine whether these cases involve fraud," the report said.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/money-256740-government-paid.html

Morning Must Reads: Workaround
Reuters/Molly Riley
--Obama plans to use a recess appointment to get Donald Berwick in at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, avoiding what was sure to be a nasty confirmation fight in the Senate. In its spin, the White House makes at least two good points: CMS has been without a permanent chief since 2006 and the Harvard professor is well qualified for the post. But there are a few unusual things about the appointment. Berwick had not finished answering pre-confirmation questionnaires from the Senate, no hearings were yet scheduled and the short July break is not so often used for recess appointments. It looks like the White House made a calculation that Berwick's unabashed admiration of Britain's National Health Service was too tempting a target for hyperbolic Senate Republicans and that his cost-cutting expertise -- precisely the reason they think he's right for the job -- could be used against them politically. Their anxieties are apparent in the title of communications director Dan Pfeiffer's announcement: "Moving Forward to Protect Seniors' Care." Republicans, who were spoiling for a fight over Berwick, are upset.


Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/07/07/morning-must-reads-workaround/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fswampland+%28TIME%3A+Swampland%29#ixzz0t0pXwfUz

DWP officials spurn LA council meeting on audit
By Rick Orlov Staff Writer
Posted: 07/06/2010 07:06:32 PM PDT
Simmering tension between the Los Angeles City Council and the DWP erupted Tuesday after utility officials skipped a hearing scheduled to discuss an audit that accused the agency of lying in order to push through a rate hike.
An angry Councilman Paul Koretz threatened to use the council's subpoena power to compel Austin Beutner, a deputy mayor and the DWP's interim general manager, to appear before the full City Council within the next two weeks.
"I've been watching the city for over 40 years and I don't remember anything like this," said Koretz, who chairs the council's audits committee. "We asked them to be here before and they refused.
"They have 10,000 employees. They could have someone here."
Councilmen Bernard Parks and Greig Smith, each of whom has worked for the city for more than 35 years, said they could not recall a department refusing to appear before a committee.
"It just hasn't happened," Smith said.
During the afternoon session, the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee had planned to meet jointly with the Energy and Environment Committee to discuss a recent audit of the Department of Water and Power. In her report, Controller Wendy Greuel said the DWP lied when it said it could afford to transfer $73 million to the cash-strapped city only if the council approved a controversial hike in electric rates.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_15451506?source=rss

Schools trustees consider parcel tax
Measure could be placed on ballot
BY MAUREEN MAGEE, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2010 AT 9:12 P.M.
WHAT'S NEXT
The San Diego school board will consider placing a parcel tax on the November ballot following a public hearing on the proposal at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the school district headquarters, 4100 Normal St.
It might be a bold move during these bleak times, but the San Diego school district is poised to ask property owners to pay a new tax to help protect public education from the state’s worsening fiscal crisis.
The San Diego Unified School District has proposed a parcel tax for the November ballot to help pay for teachers, protect class sizes and maintain education programs. It would generate $58 million annually over five years.
If the measure is placed on the ballot and approved by voters, single-family homeowners would be charged $98 annually while condominium and apartment owners would be taxed $60 per unit. Low-income seniors would be exempt.
Commercial and industrial properties would be taxed based on parcel size, ranging from $450 for parcels up to 25,000 square feet and $25,000 for those more than 250,000 square feet.
The proposed “Emergency Teacher Retention and Classroom Education Measure” would help restore some of the $400 million in cuts that have been approved in the district during the past three years due to ongoing state reductions in education funding.
Parcel taxes can be used to pay for teachers and education programs that are vulnerable to further budget cuts. By comparison, school bonds, such as the 2008 voter-approved Proposition S, can only be used to cover specific expenses, mainly construction.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jul/06/schools-trustees-consider-parcel-tax/

Court backs Schwarzenegger wage order
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By Jon Ortiz
Published: Friday, Jul. 2, 2010 - 11:58 am
Last Modified: Friday, Jul. 2, 2010 - 12:06 pm
The 3rd District Court of Appeal has upheld a two-year-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.
The decision, published just moments ago, comes the day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Department of Personnel Administration gave Chiang the same pay reduction instructions the controller rejected two years ago.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/02/2865871/court-backs-schwarzenegger-wage.html#ixzz0sYW3wTjy

IN AN EFFORT TO MAXIMIZE PENSION, COUNCILMEMBER RESIGNS ONLY TO BE APPOINTED TWO DAYS LATER

Written by James Spencer
This one looks bad.

Earlier this week, the Pomona City Council allowed a councilmember to resign her seat, only to be appointed back onto the Council two days later - all in effort to maximize the councilmember's pension.

Councilwoman Cristina Carrizosa was eligible for pension when she retired on June 26 from her position with the Pomona Unified School District after 30 years. She was also eligible for pension when she retired from the city council.

According to David Allen of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Carrizosa's pension would have been affected if she didn't retire from both at the same time.

She stepped down from the Council to spike her pension.

... and the Council gave her the seat right back.

A source with knowledge on the subject told PublicCEO that since Carrizosa is retiring from two different public pension plans, she can increase her salary from the city of Pomona on the same day. Her council salary is dropped and replaced by the higher salary from the school district.

Since the council gives her the seat back, she starts another possible retirement plan that will be treated as an entirely new plan. http://www.publicceo.com/index.php/local-governments/151-local-governments-publicceo-exclusive/1662-in-effort-to-spike-pension-councilmember-resigns-only-to-be-appointed-two-days-later

PENSION SPIKING BILL DOESN’T CHANGE ONE-YEAR RULE

Written by Ed Mendel, Calpensions.com
July 1, 2010
For more, visit calpensions.com

A one-year rule that some say allows public pensions to be "spiked," boosted through the manipulation of final pay, is not being changed by a reform bill because a powerful union wants the issue to be "bargainable" during contract talks.
A rule said to be unique to California bases the final pay used to determine pension amounts, along with age and years of service, on one year rather than the average of pay during three to five years common in other states.
Using just one year, critics say, makes it easier to boost pension payments by briefly switching to a higher-paying job at the end of a career or by increasing the base salary through supplemental pay such as cashing out unused vacation time.
Sen. Denise Moreno, D-San Diego, received a swift response when she asked during a committee meeting last week whether the reform bill would "require everybody to do pension calculations based on a three-year average rather than a final year?"
"It does not," replied Terry Brennand, a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union. "That's a bargainable issue, and we have bargained it in different places. It's been bargained for and bargained away." http://www.publicceo.com/index.php/local-governments/151-local-governments-publicceo-exclusive/1660-pension-spiking-bill-doesnt-change-one-year-rule

 

Hemet paying $35,000 annually for health care for former City Council members
10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 30, 2010
By BRIAN ROKOS
The Press-Enterprise
At a time when Hemet is laying off police and fire employees to eliminate an approximate $5 million budget deficit, the city is paying more than $35,000 a year in premiums for lifetime, fully paid medical insurance for four former City Council members and their spouses.
Most of that amount pays the premiums of two council members who were voted out of office.
"That's insane for a council member to have lifetime medical benefits," said Councilman Robert Youssef, who said he considers the job to be public service.
Youssef was speaking in late June at a City Council study session, where he proposed a measure for the November ballot that would ban the city's current practice of offering fully paid medical benefits to sitting council members. The council is expected take up the proposal July 13.
"I don't know whether we necessarily need those," Youssef said. "We are not full time here."
Council members are no longer eligible for the lifetime coverage. The city appears to have last revisited that issue in 1994. http://www.pe.com/localnews/politics/stories/PE_News_Local_D_ecouncil01.23e22b9.html
Restore the Delta commentary on the National Heritage Area Designation: Be careful what you ask for!
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2010 at 7:10 am
From Restore the Delta, posted at IndyBay.org:
“In the June 15 edition of the Restore the Delta newsletter, we reported that Senator Feinstein was introducing federal legislation to create a National Heritage Area (NHA) in the Delta.
Early this year, the Delta Counties Coalition (representing the five Delta counties) sent a group of representatives to Washington, D.C. They went to request $2.5 million in technical assistance to keep track of the planning processes in the Delta and to provide increased local input. Counties need to closely monitor and provide feedback on the BDCP, the DSC, and the DPC, and that takes a lot of staff and resources. While in D.C., the coalition representatives visited Dianne Feinstein’s office and requested some help from their Senator.
This NHA bill being drafted by Feinstein is the result of that request. National Heritage Area Designation was not specifically requested.
Delta people question Senator Feinstein’s actions. We’ve seen her efforts to suspend the ESA and to facilitate water transfers for export contractors. That is why we don’t have much confidence that she has the Delta’s best interests in mind when she proposes a NHA for the Delta.
If Senator Feinstein wanted to build local support for her Legislative proposal, she should have engaged the local interests and started this process months ago with the public workshops and outreach that I am told are a prerequisite for National Heritage Area designation. She should have found out what locals hoped to get in the way of assurances and protection. That should have happened before she released bill language. … “ http://aquafornia.com/archives/27591

 

Q&A With Governor's Office On His Order To Reduce Pay To Federal Minimum Wage

by Jon Fleischman - Publisher http://www.flashreport.org/blog.php?postID=2010070210325120

 

House War Funding Bill Faces Fight in Senate
$80B Bill Passed by House Last Night Also Includes Domestic Spending Add-Ons to Afghanistan War Funds
(AP) A House measure blending money for President Barack Obama's Afghanistan troop surge with last-ditch moves by Democrats to salvage their faltering jobs agenda faces an uphill climb in the Senate.

After long delays, House Democrats muscled the approximately $80 billion measure to passage Thursday night as their final act before leaving for a weeklong Fourth of July break. But the Senate passed a significantly slimmer measure in May and it'll take additional weeks to reconcile the differences between the rival chambers of Congress.

It's just the latest disconnect between the battling House and Senate, which also have been unable to approve an extension of unemployment benefits and other economic stimulus steps. Repeated Senate filibusters are chiefly to blame, but Democratic leaders in the House and Senate also have disagreed on strategy and tactics, and long-simmering tensions have reached the boiling point.

House leaders went ahead with Thursday's measure despite ample evidence that they have limited leverage in forcing the Senate to accept the more than $20 billion in domestic spending add-ons, such as $10 billion in grants to school districts to avoid teacher layoffs, $5 billion for Pell Grants to low-income college students and $700 million to improve security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The White House weighed in with a veto threat over $800 million in cuts to education programs that would be used to help pay for the additional domestic spending under a "pay-as-you-go" culture that the administration itself advocates. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/02/politics/main6640680.shtml

Today's Commentary: Chiang Continues To Do The Bidding Of His Biggest Campaign Donors - The Union Bosses http://totalcapitol.com/?news_id=3247634&redirect=http://www.flashreport.org/blog.php?postID=2010070209542491

 

Greed of the Public Servant
by Roger Hedgecock
07/02/2010

Our political, media, and academic cultures are saturated with assumptions of "corporate greed." The motives of business from the community retailer to the titans of industry are uniformly known to be based in greed. Parodies confirm the stereotype. "Greed is good" says Gordon Gecko without a trace of self consciousness in the movie Wall Street.
"Corporate Greed," of course, is evil. To achieve wealth, the greedy will lie, cheat, and steal. Government exists to protect the unwary, the unwitting, the innocent from the greedy. The Roman poet Virgil expressed the thought nearly 2000 years ago. "The noblest motive is the public good," he wrote. Government, whatever its inefficiencies, cannot be evil like the greedy private businessman because the motive of those who serve the public is pure.
If this laughable notion was ever true in some far off fictional time, it is definitely not true now—nor was it true in Virgil's Rome.
In today's U.S. Congress, the greed of the plunderer prevails.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37850

June 29, 2010
State auditor details improper state worker activities
The state auditor's office received nearly 5,000 complaints of improper activities by state employees on its whistleblower line in 2009 and nearly 900 of them warranted more detailed investigation, the office said in its annual report today.
The reports and investigations were winnowed down to 11 "particularly significant" cases, including that of a Department of Industrial Relations investigator who misused $70,105 in state resources for her private safety instruction career for six years. She resigned during an internal followup investigation, and the department is determining whether to seek restitution.
Other problems outlined in the report include:
A supervisor in a Department of Water Resources field office improperly took $1,840 in stock car race tickets -- including a three-day trip to Florida for the Daytona 500 -- from a vendor that he had signed up as a department supplier.
A supervisor at the Herman G. Stark Correctional Facility made two psychiatric technicians perform clerical work for two and half years, wasting $110,797 in state funds by underusing the workers.
Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/06/state-auditor-details-improper.html#ixzz0sI8KvHEZ

 School board OKs Kowba, $100 million in cuts
BY MAUREEN MAGEE UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2010 AT 9:28 P.M.
Celebration over Bill Kowba’s promotion to superintendent of California’s second-largest school district on Tuesday was quickly tempered by the formal approval of $100 million in cuts to next year’s $1.1 billion operating budget.
The San Diego school board voted 4-0 to hire Kowba, offering the former interim chief a $250,000 salary on a three-year contract. That’s less than former Superintendent Terry Grier’s $269,000 annual pay and four-year contract. Trustee Shelia Jackson abstained from the vote to hire Kowba without explanation.
After months of budget hearings and community workshops, the divided board barely passed its budget, tentatively adopted last week. On the first vote, trustees John de Beck, Katherine Nakamura and Jackson rejected the spending plan.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/29/school-board-oks-kowba-100-million-cuts/

 

SEIU Funds New Book to Rewrite History
In the last five years, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has gone from being a media darling to generating more bad press for itself than any other labor organization. Some of SEIU’s negative publicity is a product of right-wing union bashing. But a huge amount is self-inflicted – the result of conflicts with other unions, internal corruption scandals, and unseemly battles with its own members in California. To bolster its fading progressive brand, SEIU commissioned a documentary film in 2008 called Labor Day. Several million dollars worth of membership dues money later, Labor Day was dead on arrival. Now, SEIU has produced a slick $25 dollar coffee table book called Stronger Together: The Story of SEIU. Among its questionable claims is that Andy Stern's meddling in the UNITE HERE divorce led to attacks on SEIU by other unions, a unique perspective on that dispute, to say the least.

Among true believers at SEIU headquarters in Washington, hope springs eternal in the self-promotion department, just as it does in Hollywood. The fact that one narcissistic project has crashed and burned doesn’t mean the next one will be a dog too. If people don’t want to watch a movie about SEIU, maybe they’ll buy book a book about it – like a 276-page, largely wart-free organizational portrait penned by the husband of the union’s general counsel?
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=8274#more

City scores another pension-related victory
BY CRAIG GUSTAFSON, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2010 AT 2:55 P.M.
The city of San Diego continues to score court victories related to pension benefits and slowly chip away at a $2 billion-plus debt that threatens to overwhelm the city budget.
The latest ruling by Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Barton targets one of the city’s most controversial benefits: the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, commonly known as DROP. The program, which began in 1997, allows employees to collect pension payments in a special account while still employed.
The city negotiated labor agreements in 2005 that eliminated the benefit for employees hired after July 1 of that year. But the City Council didn’t formally adopt the deals until February 2007 because then-City Attorney Michael Aguirre delayed creating the ordinance until then.
The board of the San Diego Employees’ Retirement System determined that it would allow the 956 new workers hired during that delay to remain eligible to use DROP. The city argued that they should be ineligible.
In a June 17 decision, Barton ruled that the benefit should have stopped in 2005 because it was clearly the city’s intent and the benefit can’t be considered a vested right for employees hired after that date. He also said the labor agreements reached that year assumed that there could be a delay in formal adoption of the deals.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/28/city-scores-another-pension-related-victory/

 

Court bolsters gun rights
State laws likely to face challenges
BY KAREN KUCHER, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2010 AT 10:12 P.M.
.
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that Americans have a constitutional right to own guns that overrides state or local bans, a ruling that likely will bring a wave of lawsuits challenging California’s gun-control laws.
“We are ecstatic,” said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, a gun owners’ rights group based in Folsom. “We believe that for the first time we are on offense. We fully intend to go against laws that are on the books in California and in local communities that we believe are unconstitutional to have them overturned.”
No California jurisdiction has a handgun ban, but the state bans the sale of some types of guns and has numerous regulations on owning guns.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/28/court-bolsters-gun-rights/

 


Catch 22: California Lawmakers to head home without budget deal
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3A
With California set to begin a new fiscal year Thursday with no budget, the Legislature had to decide between taking a scheduled recess throughout July or staying in Sacramento and collecting per diem with no deal to vote on.
Verdict? Pack your bags.
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Monday that they plan to let lawmakers go home and work in their districts, but be ready to return on short notice.
"Until we have a budget, I expect members to work – the question is where," Steinberg said.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/29/2856139/catch-22-california-lawmakers.html#ixzz0sG5rP4Hj

Owner: Ariz. boycott can cause local layoffs
June 29th, 2010, 4:25 am
“California politicians calling for boycotts of Arizona need to realize that the boycott will hurt California businesses and workers,” says Huntington Beach resident George Saffarrans who owns Rogers Poultry, a food processor with plants in Vernon and Huntington Park.

He was responding to another recent story about the local impact of calls to boycott Arizona. The state’s new immigration enforcement law requires police to ask for documentation of legal status of people they stop on suspicion of violating another law. The police must have a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country illegally.
Saffarrans is the third generation owner of a family business founded in 1927. He employs about 200 people, mostly Hispanic, “U.S. citizens and legal immigrants; we’re a union company, and my guys are union workers,” he emphasizes.
They’re members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, he adds.
Rogers Poultry supplies chicken to such hotels and restaurants as Claim Jumper, the Islands and Four Seasons and does about 5% of its business in Arizona. The company ships poultry products to Phoenix six days a week, according to its website. Orders placed before 3 p.m. will be delivered the next day.
http://jan.ocregister.com/2010/06/29/owner-ariz-boycott-causes-local-layoffs/40305/

 

Labor unions bargain
By Judy Lin/ Associated Press Writer
Posted: 06/29/2010 01:00:57 AM PDT
SACRAMENTO -- The Schwarzenegger administration and two more labor unions reached tentative deals Monday to lower salaries and roll back pension benefits for state workers.
The administration announced two-year agreements with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists and the International Union of Operating Engineers. The unions represent about 14,000 of the state's 235,000 workers.
The deals marked another victory for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his push for pension reform.
"I commend these two unions for stepping up to help bring our unsustainable pension and health benefits under control," the governor said in a statement. "These agreements, along with the four agreements announced last week, will bring much-needed relief to California taxpayers and our state budget."
The contract language must be approved by union members and the Legislature.
The two unions followed the lead of other unions representing 23,000 workers -- the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, California Department of Forestry Firefighters, California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Employees will contribute 5 percent more of their salaries toward retirement and for the first time send a fraction of their pay to retiree health benefits, starting in 2012. The International Union of Opera-ting Engineers also agreed to increase the number of years it takes for members to qualify for retiree health benefits.
http://www.thereporter.com/ci_15399571?source=rss

California's Summer Budget Wheel Spins
For the 24th straight year, California legislators have failed to deliver a state budget to the governor by the constitutionally-required deadline of June 15. This year, the date came and went without so much as whimper.
It's become business as usual in the not-so-golden state.
The danger in this delay will increase dramatically a few days from now, when the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
That's the time when the state starts spending money from the new budget, purportedly in accordance with how much money will be coming in. Meanwhile, the Big 5--the governor and the four major leaders in the legislature--have done nothing to build a balanced state budget. In fact, they have had exactly one meeting on the subject.
The most serious problem is that the state is $19 billion short of what it needs to provide current programs and services at current levels. Given that California now ranks 47th in per capita public school expenditures and 50th in transportation, the state hasn't been spending money like crazy. Still, we're short--very short--of what we need. What to do?
Democrats say that after two years of $64 billion worth of cuts, the state can't afford to pare anything more from its anemic $85 billion budget; we must find new revenues. Republicans counter that Californians are over-taxed and more cuts are in order, especially for the poor, disabled and K-12 public education, and higher education.
The federal courts prevent us from touching prisons, the fast growing expenditure in the state budget.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/blogs/prop-zero/Californias-Summer-Budget-Wheel-Spins-96751154.html

 


Spending high in bid to legalize marijuana in California
By Josh Richman/ Oakland Tribune
Posted: 06/20/2010 02:10:27 AM PDT
Win or lose, the marijuana legalization measure on November's ballot proves one thing: The pot industry has arrived in California politics.
Oakland's most prominent purveyor of medical cannabis has almost single-handedly financed the Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign -- a once-unthinkable occurrence. Election experts say it's a sign that the pot industry has reached a rarefied political pinnacle: Pot can afford to buy its way into voter-approved legitimacy.
Just as PG&E spent $46.4 million to push Proposition 16 and Mercury Insurance spent $15.9 million to push Proposition 17 to further their own interests this spring, so too is Oaksterdam University in Oakland shelling out millions to invest in its own economic future.
And Oaksterdam's owner, Richard Lee, could arguably make a mint if the measure passes.
Sure, the June primary's two corporate-backed measures failed. This one might, too: Early polling shows voter support is soft at best.
But legalized or not, marijuana, long an underground, counterculture province, is taking its place in California's political and business establishment alongside "The Man" -- traditional corporate interests such as power utilities and insurance companies.
For his part, Lee agrees, though he doesn't embrace being "The Man."
http://www.thereporter.com/ci_15337659?source=rss

 


civil-service life for California state workers
June 20, 2010
A.M. Reading: Pension bombshell; Pa. lawmaker gets prison for using state staff to campaign
You'll find these news stories of interest to State Worker blog users on the right side of this page under "Recommended Links":
Pension fund bombshell could worsen budget woes
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. (Click here for a plain-English explanation of the proposed rules.)
In Budget Crisis, States Take Aim at Pension Costs
Many states are acknowledging this year that they have promised pensions they cannot afford and are cutting once-sacrosanct benefits, to appease taxpayers and attack budget deficits.
More Pennsylvania corruption trials may follow Veon's conviction
Former State Rep. Mike Veon was sentenced to a six- to 12-year prison term for participating in an elaborate scheme to use state workers to help win political campaigns. His conviction signals that probes into Pennsylvania statehouse corruption are entering a new and dramatic chapter.

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2010/06/am-reading-pension-bombshell-s.html#ixzz0rQBOCRVJ

School board wants good fit, not shake-up
BY MAUREEN MAGEE, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2010 AT 12:01 A.M.
SAN DIEGO — The anti-incumbent sentiment that prevailed in the city school board election this month has not extended to the search for a new San Diego superintendent.
Interim Superintendent Bill Kowba is seen by many as the key to restoring stability in a district that has seen years of leadership churn. San Diego Unified has weathered four superintendents — and their reforms, personnel changes and management styles — in less than five years.
But will the desire for stability — and the first publicly vetted candidates — hurt the district?
“This has been a very disappointing process for San Diego. It’s resulted in San Diego not attracting some of the best and brightest education minds in the country,” said Scott Himelstein, director of the Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego. “We are left with candidates who have very, very little to lose by being vetted” openly.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/20/school-board-wants-good-fit-not-shake-up/

 

Laura Chick's mission: Root out waste and fraud
California's inspector general for federal stimulus funds believes in the 3 Ds: deter, detect and disclose.

The gig: As California's inspector general for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Laura Chick is the watchdog making sure that the state's $85 billion in stimulus dollars are spent wisely. Appointed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chick defines her mission as the 3 Ds: deter, detect and disclose any waste or fraud. California was the first state to create such an oversight position for federal stimulus funds. (Chick's position shouldn't be confused with that of California's other inspector general, David Shaw, who oversees the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.)
Chick, 66, served previously as Los Angeles city controller, auditing the city's finances and tackling problems in its governance.
Off the rack: After raising her children, Chick worked for nine years running Ruth Faye, a women's clothing store her father founded in Glendale. "Running a struggling small business really gives you an appreciation for the troubles business owners face," she said. "It's made me more empathetic."
Starting at the bottom: Chick worked as a stock and delivery girl for a stationery store near Beverly Hills. She peddled tickets and popcorn at the Picfair Theater at Pico Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. And she worked as a baby sitter — for 50 cents an hour. Chick said those jobs taught her a strong work ethic and to be punctual. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-himi-chick-20100620,0,2991492.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fbusiness+%28L.A.+Times+-+Business%29

 

Political posturing and gullible voters
By By J.F. Kelly Jr.
Sunday, June 20, 2010 at midnight
Thankfully, the primary season is over. Now the candidates can shed some of the extreme views they espoused in order to win over core party members and secure the nomination. They will now head unabashedly back toward the mainstream middle because they know that’s where most of the votes reside.
In the once-golden state of California , that means that Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina , Republican nominees for, respectively, governor and U.S. senator can quit pretending that they are more conservative than the late, great Ronald Reagan . While seeking the nomination, they courted hard-right conservatives within their party on nearly every hot-button issue. They promised, for example, to stop illegal immigration and oppose any kind of amnesty. Now, watch these positions soften as they campaign against the veteran Democrat Jerry Brown , who for some reason wants to be governor again, and the liberal incumbent senator, Barbara Boxer, in a state where liberals greatly outnumber conservatives and where Democrats backed by public employee unions generally have their way with voters.
Some justify this hypocritical behavior by the candidates because you can’t change anything if you don’t win. But the public shows signs of tiring of party politics. Witness passage in California of the open primary proposition where the top two vote-getters in a single primary, regardless of party affiliation, will be the only choices on the ballot in the general election. Voters, it seems, are also tiring of political promises that can’t or won’t be kept. Again, witness the decline in popularity of lame duck Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger. He came charging into office, replacing the recalled Gov. Gray Davis, on a promise to change things on Sacramento. Nothing changed much – except for the worse. After a while in office, he drifted back toward the moderate middle and the tax-and-spend liberals in the legislature took over again.
Most politicians must think that we voters are gullible. (There is, of course, considerable evidence to support that view.) The greatest affront to voter intelligence is the vicious attack ads they knowingly approve. In the bitter advertising duels waged by multi millionaires Whitman and Steve Poizner, the unsuccessful candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, each accused the other of harboring liberal views on immigration. They could have saved money by using each other’s ads and just changing the names and photos. But, of course, money was no object. Winning was.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/20/political-posturing-and-gullible-voters/

 
Dan Walters: Pension fund bombshell could worsen budget woes
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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
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.
The huge California Public Employees' Retirement System, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the University of California Retirement System and dozens of locally managed pension funds would no longer be able to minimize unfunded liabilities by adopting rosy scenarios of future earnings.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, through his financial aide, David Crane, has waged a war of words with the union-controlled Cal- PERS, alleging that the nation's largest public pension fund has been lowballing its long-term liabilities.
Schwarzenegger has said he won't sign a new state budget without pension reforms of some kind. A few days ago, the administration reached agreement with four state worker unions on some mild pension changes mostly affecting new workers.
But the unions may be just playing for time, hoping that if Democrat Jerry Brown is elected governor, the "two-tier" system will be rolled back, as it was after Democrat Gray Davis succeeded Republican Pete Wilson in 1999.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/20/2835040/dan-walters-pension-fund-bombshell.html#ixzz0rQDLDlCt

 







California government workers have built up $2.75 billion in paid time off
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jun. 20, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Working under one of the most generous state leave policies in the nation – and the country's harshest furlough program – California government employees have built up the equivalent of $2.75 billion of paid time off.
Data analyzed by The Bee show that state workers had 75.5 million hours on the books as of May 28. The time was spread across 17 types of leave employees can cash out when they quit or retire. That's equal to nearly 11 weeks of paid time off owed each of the 176,000 state workers whose leave data are tracked by the state Controller's Office. Average cash value: $15,655 per person.
"We expect much of this time will be used for its intended purpose," said Lynelle Jolley, spokeswoman for the state's Department of Personnel Administration. "We don't want employees hoarding their leave time like it's some sort of retirement benefit."
Prior to The Bee's request, the state had never calculated the aggregate value of employee leave or how many hours the state owes its workers.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/20/2835119/california-government-workers.html#ixzz0rQDX2HsG

 

Violence shows need for city to make a deal

What does the apparent outbreak of gang violence in Redding have to do with union negotiations in Sacramento? More than you might think.
A decade ago, the California Highway Patrol drove the pilot car down the road to the state’s catastrophically expensive pension mess, when the Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis — and they are the responsible parties, not the officers cruising Interstate 5 — passed a law allowing full retirements as early as age 50. The “3 percent at 50” pension formula, originally for the CHP, set a standard that nearly every police and fire union in the state decided its members needed. Most succeeded in winning it, saddling the state, counties and cities with huge bills that are especially burdensome amid the recession.
Now, the CHP is helping lead the way back. This week, the highway patrol officers’ union was one of four to announce deals with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would push back retirement ages five years, to 55, for newly hired officers; require all employees to pay a larger share of their pension costs; and base pensions on the average of final three years’ salary, instead of the highest single year. If all state workers agreed to similar deals, the governor’s office estimates, the total savings for the state in the coming year would be $2.2 billion.
http://www.redding.com/news/2010/jun/20/violence-shows-need-for-city-to-make-a-deal/?partner=RSS

Q&A: How four California state worker union agreements would work
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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jun. 19, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and four state employee unions reached tentative agreements Wednesday that include pension concessions. Here are some questions and answers about the agreements and what happens next.

Who is covered?

State workers represented by California Association of Highway Patrolmen (6,630 employees), California Department of Forestry Firefighters (4,280 employees), California Association of Psychiatric Technicians (6,543 employees) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (5,407 health and social services workers).

The contracts will take several weeks to ratify but would take effect retroactively to the beginning of July. The patrol and firefighters' contract would expire in July 2013. The CAPT and AFSCME deals would end in June 2012.

Another 173,000 state employees spread throughout 17 bargaining units represented by eight unions aren't covered by the agreements. Contracts for all those groups have expired.

Roughly 35,000 managers and supervisors and other workers are exempt without union representation. Their terms usually parallel the conditions of the employees they supervise.



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/19/2833785/qa-whos-covered-under-four-union.html#ixzz0rJMlwFbh

CalPERS state rate up 18%: how high will it go?
By Ed Mendel
CalPERS boosted the state’s annual pension payment 18 percent, up $600 million to $3.9 billion, and the question now is how big will increases be in the future?
The powerful CalPERS board, delaying action for a month, set the new rate this week after learning that it would have less impact than thought on the state’s huge budget problem.
Only $87 million of the increase would come from the state general fund that has a $19 billion deficit, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst estimated. The rest would come from special funds, such as transportation, and other sources.
“We feel that those contribution increases are needed,” the new CalPERS chief actuary, Alan Milligan, told the board. “We are expecting contribution increases in the next two fiscal years as well, very significant contribution increases.”
http://calpensions.com/2010/06/18/calpers-state-rate-up-18-how-high-will-it-go/

California Crime Lab Task Force decides to disband
By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jun. 18, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Friday, Jun. 18, 2010 - 6:35 am
In a time of trouble for some California crime labs, a state panel that oversees the scientific investigators who can make or break a court case convened this month and voted itself out of existence.
The June 3 decision to disband the California Crime Lab Task Force came as scandal and controversy dog the forensic side of the state's criminal justice system from one hot spot to the next.
Matters such as missing drugs and crooked criminalists have threatened thousands of cases in San Francisco and San Joaquin County. Shaky testimony from a purported DNA expert in Sacramento County, meanwhile, put its crime lab under scrutiny.
"I think this means that things will just continue the way they've been," said David Lynch, a Sacramento assistant public defender who was on the task force and opposed the decision to shut it down.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/18/2831638/california-crime-lab-task-force.html#ixzz0rDsnIaWv

 

Sac City Unified teachers approve new union contract
By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jun. 18, 2010 - 9:34 am
Last Modified: Friday, Jun. 18, 2010 - 9:59 am
Sacramento City Unified teachers approved a two-year contract that will allow the district to bring back pink slipped teachers and counselors.
The Sacramento City Teacher Association reported on its voice mail this morning that 1,607 qualifying ballots were counted, with 1,009 members voting yes and 598 voting no. That's a 63 percent approval rate.
SCTA's voice mail said the vote represented a high level of participation among its 3,000 members. The contract will now go to the Sacramento City Unified school board for approval.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/18/2832645/sac-city-unified-teachers-approve.html#ixzz0rE7YQNlh

Sacramento council approves economic sanctions against Arizona
By Ryan Lillis
rlillis@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jun. 16, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 16, 2010 - 8:28 am
The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to place economic sanctions against Arizona companies in response to that state's immigration laws.
The sanctions passed by a 6-1 council vote are on par with the broadest actions passed by other California cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland.
They include forbidding city workers from attending conferences in Arizona on the city's dime, boycotting companies based in Arizona "where practicable and where there is no significant additional cost to the city" and potentially canceling current contracts with firms from Arizona.
"For those who would criticize us for using our time to address this critical issue in our country's history, I would say this: How can we not?" said Councilman Rob Fong, who called for the debate.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/16/2825846/sacramento-council-approves-economic.html#ixzz0r22nbbZ5

June 15, 2010
Chairman of pay panel supports new cut to lawmakers' pay
The chairman of the California commission that sets legislative pay supports another reduction in salaries and benefits, which would mark the second consecutive year of targeting lawmakers' pocketbooks.
"I'm going to vote for it, as long as it's not punitive," Chuck Murray, chairman of the California Citizens Compensation Committee, said of a pay cut.
Murray said a previous proposal to cut legislators' $95,291 annual pay and their benefits by 10 percent remains on the table from April, although he said the percentage could rise or fall before a final vote Wednesday.
Murray said he also will propose adopting a monthly cap on state vehicle costs for legislators.
The Assembly now pays a maximum of 90 percent of a vehicle's lease costs up to $328 per month, while the Senate pays 90 percent of the monthly costs up to $500 for a two-year lease or up to $350 of monthly costs for a four-year lease. Legislators pay the remainder.
Gas and vehicle repairs are provided free to legislators, as well as a portion of insurance costs.
Murray said he will propose that the state pay a specified monthly amount per legislator, allowing each to decide how best to allocate that sum for lease, gas, repair and insurance expenses. He declined to elaborate on the amount.


Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/06/chairman-of-pay-panel-supports.html#ixzz0qy4tYZe8

Ariz. lawmaker takes aim at automatic citizenship By MICHELLE PRICE
Associated Press Writer
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010 - 11:15 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010 - 11:42 am
PHOENIX -- Emboldened by passage of the nation's toughest law against illegal immigration, the Arizona politician who sponsored the measure now wants to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in this country to undocumented parents.
Legal scholars laugh out loud at Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce's proposal and warn that it would be blatantly unconstitutional, since the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/15/2824421/ariz-lawmaker-takes-aim-at-automatic.html#ixzz0qxePKwF3

 


SHRA misused millions in federal funds, watchdog finds
By Robert Lewis
rlewis@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010 - 9:16 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010 - 12:37 pm
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency misused millions of dollars in federal funds that were supposed to help fix vacant and foreclosed homes, according to a federal watchdog.
The agency misspent more than $1.1 million on ineligible properties and costs - money SHRA might need to repay - and has budgeted another $5.3 million that should be redirected, according to an audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Inspector General. The money either went to or was budgeted for rehabbing eight fourplexes at Lerwick Road and another eight four-unit properties at Arcade Circle. EPO Development owns all of the properties.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/15/2824157/shra-misused-millions-in-stimulus.html#ixzz0qxfO1qNG

 

New Presidential Polls ala Rasmussen
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/obama_approval_index_history

California pension funds asks state for $600M more
By the Associated Press
Posted: 05/19/2010 01:00:35 AM PDT
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Facing massive investment losses, a key committee of California's giant pension fund voted Tuesday to make the state increase its contributions to employee retirement benefits by $600 million in the coming fiscal year.
The demand comes as California grapples with a $19 billion budget deficit and a threat by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to eliminate its welfare program.
The contribution increase would be for one year starting in July, but the California Public Employees Retirement System is likely to require similar increases in future years. Local school districts, facing their own budget struggles, also will see their pension contribution rates grow.
The development is driven largely by CalPERS' huge investment losses, but also because people are living longer and retiring earlier.
CalPERS, the nation's largest public pension fund, lost $55.2 billion, or a quarter of its value, during the 2008-09 fiscal year.
"The biggest reason why we need increases is the investment losses," said Alan Milligan, interim chief actuary for CalPERS. "Quite frankly, there's more to come." http://www.thereporter.com/ci_15115932?source=rss

Candidates for schools chief in California differ on reforms
By the Associated Press
Posted: 05/19/2010 01:00:25 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With thousands of California teachers facing the threat of layoffs, dealing with the state's persistent budget deficit has emerged as the top issue in this year's race for state schools superintendent.
A dozen candidates have filed for the nonpartisan, four-year post, which oversees state policies for local school districts. The top two vote-getters will face off in the general election in November.
The two most recognized candidates -- state Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, and state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles -- are educators-turned-politicians with long legislative careers in the Capitol.
Their most prominent challenger is retired schools superintendent Larry Aceves, who has won the support of school administrators across the state and the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times.
Aceves, who most recently led the Association of California School Administrators, is billing himself as an outsider who comes from the trenches of public education and is not beholden to political interests. Romero said she's the candidate who has bucked the influential California Teachers Association and can make changes that will ensure better quality teachers and give parents more choice in where to send their children. http://www.thereporter.com/ci_15115927?source=rss

Editorial: Unions above taxpayers
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Republican pension-reform legislation, Senate Bill 919, by Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, has lived to see another day, or at least another committee hearing, but there's little hope that the legislation will pass out of the Democratic-dominated Legislature.
On Monday, no vote was taken on the bill because the committee lacked a quorum, but the hearing generated a detailed and heated discussion by pension-reform advocates and government union leaders. Representatives from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs and the Orange County Employees Association were among the many union groups that oppose the bill.
FILE PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, urges lawmakers to reject one of several state budget bills before the Senate at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. California lawmakers began chiseling away at a $20 billion deficit as part of a special legislative session ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
SB919 is designed to reduce future pension liabilities, or debt, by creating a new, second-tier pension benefit for newly hired state employees. It also seeks to rein in some pension-spiking abuses and reduce the contributions that the state makes for its retirees' health benefits. Sen. Hollingsworth said his goal was to bring public employee retirement benefits more in line with the private sector.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/pension-248769-employees-new.html

Assembly backs food stamps for drug felons
By Cathy Bussewitz
Associated Press
Posted: 05/13/2010 03:32:08 PM PDT
Updated: 05/13/2010 03:46:16 PM PDT
SACRAMENTO — The California state Assembly approved a bill today that would allow convicted drug felons to collect food stamps without proving they are in treatment for their drug addiction.
Under the federally funded food stamps program, people convicted of drug felonies are banned from receiving the aid after they leave prison.
But states can opt out of that ban for certain drug felonies, as California has done since 2004, allowing drug offenders to apply — as long as they proved they were in a treatment program.
California lawmakers voted 42-23 today to remove the treatment requirement and add convicted drug distributors to the list of those eligible to apply for food stamps. The vote was mostly along party lines, with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing it.
About 900 California felons could become eligible for the food stamps, costing the federal government up to $1 million.
Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, who introduced AB 1756, said allowing drug felons to get food stamps will help prevent recidivism. He said letting them get food stamps would help church groups and others with efforts at rehabilitating them.
"How are we going to stop seven out of 10 people from going back to prison?" Swanson asked.
Opponents say the bill rewards bad behavior and sends the wrong message.
The food stamps ban, which was included in the 1996 federal Welfare Reform Act, was intended to discourage drug offenders from subsidizing their drug habits.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15080532?source=rss

California is still #1 ...
Posted by Jack Stewart, President on May 11, 2010
…..as the worst place in America to do business, a ranking it’s held since CEO magazine began surveying CEOs in 2005. Not only does California’s business climate rank worse than every other state, but California ranks far below the national average in every category tested, from taxes to regulations, to workplace quality to Living environment. In only one sub-category, Arts & Culture (ranked lowest in importance to CEOs), California surpasses the national average.

This is not new information, every few weeks we see a new poll or survey ranking California’s business climate at or near the bottom. Texas, on the other hand has consistently been ranked as the best place to do business by CEO magazine. One CEO’s comment was particularly revealing, “Texas is pro-business with reasonable regulations while California is anti-business with anti-business regulations.” That’s quite a reputation for a state that desperately needs a surging economy to make up a $20 billion general fund budget deficit, close a $500 billion public pension fund deficit, reduce a 12.6% unemployment rate and deal with a persistent $6 billion annual fund imbalance.

Well, if the state is doing badly, surely there must be positive signs of economic recovery in some of California’s world class cities and counties. Not so fast. While much of the nation is beginning to show signs of recovery, California is still trying to find the bottom. Two recent reports shed light on the economic growth potential for California’s regional economies.
http://www.cmta.net/mpowered_blog.php?id=157

 Advocates to baseball: Denounce Arizona law
May 11th, 2010, 12:25 pm · 164 Comments · posted by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief
A coalition of Latino, labor, civil rights, clergy and other advocacy groups wrote a letter Tuesday to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig urging him to denounce Arizona’s tough immigration law and to move next year’s All-Star game from Phoenix unless it’s repealed.
The new statute, which takes effect this summer, would allow law enforcement to check a person’s legal status when he or she is stopped for another crime or infraction. Critics say it is a recipe for racial profiling.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer insists that will not happen and that the law was necessary because the federal government has failed in its responsibilities to secure the nation’s borders.
This year’s All-Star game is July 10 at Anaheim Stadium. Latino activists say they hope Selig will respond to them by then.
A Phoenix official told the Associated Press that the city could lose $90 million over the next five years because of negative fallout from the law.
“Major League Baseball has a strong history of supporting minorities and civil rights in America, which began when Jackie Robinsonbecame the first African-American baseball player in 1947,’’ says the letter, signed by 30 different advocacy groups and posted on America’s Voice’s web site.
“As you are well aware, over a quarter of all Major League Baseball players are Latino, and almost 40% of your players are people of color,” the letter says in part. “These players – and baseball’s millions of Hispanic and immigrant fans – deserve leaders in this moment of crisis with a loud and clear message that this law is not acceptable to the League.”
The groups held a conference call Tuesday during which they said in one week an online petition at movethegame.org has passed the 100,000-signature mark. http://totalbuzz.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/11/advocates-to-baseball-denounce-arizona-law/34817/

Outrage: Obama Administration Targets Military for Pay Reductions
Sunday, 09 May 2010 11:27 PM
By: Newsmax Wires
President Barack Obama — who came to power with the help of government employee unions across the nation and has lavished on them hundreds of billions in stimulus funds to keep them on federal, state and local payrolls with no strings attached — is moving to cut spending on salaries for military personnel.

This weekend The Washington Post headlined story, "Pentagon Asking Congress to Hold Back on Generous Increases in Troop Pay,” disclosed that the Obama administration is “pleading” with Congress to give military personnel a much smaller increase in pay than lawmakers have proposed.

The Pentagon contends that Congress simply has been too generous with troops during the past decade.

In fact, lawmakers have lavished so much money on troops, according to the Post, that service members are now better compensated than workers in the private sector with similar experience and education levels.

For example, the military brass claims that an average sergeant in the Army with four years of service and one dependent would receive $52,589 in annual compensation, according to the paper. This figure includes basic pay, housing, and subsistence allowances, as well as tax benefits.

Meanwhile, a U.S. postal letter carrier, with no supervisory or hazardous duty, makes approximately $80,000 a year when all benefits are factored in.
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/pentagon-military-pay-obama/2010/05/09/id/358485?s=al&promo_code=9DD1-1

May 10, 2010
Schwarzenegger makes Arizona joke at commencement
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joked that he was afraid of being deported in Arizona during a commencement speech he delivered Monday at Emory University in Atlanta.
Schwarzenegger's office provided a copy of his prepared remarks and confirmed he made the Arizona joke.
"I was also going to give a graduation speech in Arizona this weekend," Schwarzenegger said. "But with my accent I was afraid they would try to deport me."
The Republican governor is opposed to Arizona's new immigration law and said last month, "I would never do that in California." Schwarzenegger has blamed the federal government for not securing the border.
Photo Credit: Justin Short/Office of the Governor


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/05/schwarzenegger-170.html#ixzz0nk3nGr00

 













State Deficit to go up by $6-7 billion--over $40 Billion in total.
Written by CA Political News on May 11, 2010, 08:25 AM
Deep cuts likely in updated state budget

Wyatt Buchanan, SF Chronicle, 5/10/10

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.

Unexpected gains in state revenues that leaders hoped would significantly cut the deficit evaporated in the last few weeks. State Controller John Chiang reported Friday that revenues coming into state coffers from personal and corporate taxes fell $3.6 billion short of what was projected in April, the month when the bulk of revenues are collected.

That means the state's budget deficit, which started the year at $20 billion and dipped to about $18.6 billion after some midyear actions by the Legislature, could exceed the original estimate.
http://capoliticalnews.com/blog_post/show/5090

 





County budget plan call for big cuts
'We know we're not through yet'
By Eleanor Yang Su, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Originally published May 11, 2010 at 3:04 p.m., updated May 11, 2010 at 10:04 p.m.
COUNTY'S PROPOSED BUDGET
•The county’s budget will shrink by about $145 million next year, prompted by dwindling property tax revenue and state funding.
•The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the elimination of nearly 600 positions, most of them vacant. Dozens of layoffs are included.
•Other proposed cuts include fewer operating hours at some county parks and preserves and longer waits for public services.
County executives on Tuesday laid out a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that proposes widespread cuts, including dozens of layoffs, reduced treatment for at-risk youths, longer waiting times for social services and shorter operating hours at some county parks and preserves.
“This is the worst budget I’ve seen since my very early years on the board,” said Pam Slater-Price, who was elected as a supervisor in 1992. “And we know we’re not through yet. Our hope is that the cuts won’t be worse next year, but they may be.”
The county’s proposed budget for next year is about $145 million, or 3 percent, less than the current one. To reduce expenses, county supervisors unanimously approved the elimination of 592 positions, most of them vacant.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/11/bn11countybudget/

State budget woes grow deeper as rosy projections come up short
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 12, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 12, 2010 - 9:13 am
Washington hasn't come to the rescue. Hopes for a tax windfall were dashed last month.
As the reality of a $20 billion deficit sets in, California leaders are bracing for another summer of difficult state budget talks.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will kick off serious budget discussions Friday with his May budget revision. The governor is likely to propose reductions in everything from social services to schools to state worker compensation.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/12/2744126/state-budget-woes-grow-deeper.html#ixzz0njVnpZPI

 






May 7, 2010

FOX POLL: 61 % agree that AZ had the right to inpose a strict immigration laws.

San Diego opposes Arizona immigration law
By The Associated Press
Monday, May 3, 2010 at 8:21 p.m.
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council has voted to formally oppose the new immigration law passed in Arizona.
The City Council voted 7-1 Monday in favor of a resolution to urge Arizona lawmakers to repeal the law.
Arizona's law requires local police to question people suspected of being in the country illegally.
The council's resolution states that the law encourages racial profiling and violates the Constitution.
Councilman Todd Gloria says the law is "fundamentally un-American."
Councilman Carl DeMaio says he voted against the resolution because Arizona passed a subsequent bill that specifically prohibits racial profiling. He also says the city's resolution should urge the federal government to act to secure the nation's borders.
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State given OK to take local funds for schools
Judge: Redevelopment agencies’ money to serve ‘public purpose’
By Michael Gardner, U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
Originally published May 4, 2010 at 10:38 a.m., updated May 4, 2010 at 11 p.m.
K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (seen at an appearance in Chula Vista earlier this year) says the state "dodged a bullet" with Tuesday's ruling.
At stake
County Redevelopment Agency: $956,522
Carlsbad: $1,628,318
Chula Vista: $5,016,491
Coronado: $6,135,902
El Cajon: $6,026,685
Escondido: $10,316,105
Imperial Beach: $3,216,155
La Mesa: $1,304,677
Lemon Grove: $1,236,484
National City: $6,225,445
Oceanside: $4,384,673
Poway: $16,518,924
San Diego: $67,160,167
San Marcos: $24,379,801
Santee: $3,935,333
Solana Beach: $253,123
Vista: $6,551,117
Total: $165,245,921
Source: California Redevelopment Association
SACRAMENTO — Siding with education in a $2 billion funding battle, a Sacramento County judge Tuesday cleared the way for the state to dip into redevelopment agency coffers to pay for schools.
The decision, if upheld on appeal, will cost the 17 San Diego County redevelopment agencies $165.2 million over two years ending June 30, 2011. Statewide, the transfer totals slightly more than $2 billion.
“This is a terrible decision by the court that will have far-reaching consequences,” said John Shirey, executive director of the California Redevelopment Association. “These are moneys that could be used to jump-start projects and put people to work.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/04/judge-rules-calif-can-take-2b-from-local-funds/

Top policy analyst for Los Angeles City Council calls for 1,000 more job cuts
May 11, 2010 | 1:35 pm
The budget roller coaster at Los Angeles City Hall took another sharp turn on Tuesday, with the City Council’s top policy analyst calling for the elimination of 1,000 jobs on top of the 761 targeted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in his proposed annual budget.

Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller said the additional positions would need to disappear if the council decides that it cannot rely on parking revenue included in Villaraigosa’s budget.

Public employee union leaders have been lobbying against the plan to eliminate 761 jobs, some of which could disappear through layoffs. But because of labor contracts renegotiated last year, if any member of the Coalition of L.A. City Unions is laid off, the city would need to provide $32.3 million worth of raises to its remaining members next year.


Villaraigosa’s plan, which covers the fiscal year starting July 1, called for the city to lease 10 parking garages and borrow against future parking meter money. Proceeds from those initiatives would replenish the city’s emergency reserve and send $53 million into the city’s general fund, which pays for basic services such as parks and public safety, the plan said.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/05/las-top-city-policy-analyst-calls-for-1000-more-city-job-cuts.html

Senate Bill 919: Overhauling state pensions
by Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Apr. 24, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 4A Last Modified: Saturday, Apr. 24, 2010 - 12:15 am

Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth has rolled out a bill that would curb retirement benefits for new state workers, trimming an estimated $110 billion from the state's retiree obligations over 30 years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has supported the idea but hasn't commented on the bill's specifics.
Here are some of the major changes in the measure and arguments for and against them.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/24/2702546/senate-bill-919-overhauling-state.html#ixzz0m2GSv9Kj

From Temple of MUT, Leslie Eastman

It was just not in Illinois:

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/04/union-marchers.html

Union marchers propose $40 billion in tax hikes, other revenue


The public employee-union backed marchers arrived at the Capitol this week after 48 days on the road from Bakersfield, and Thursday presented lawmakers with their state budget recommendations -- $40 billion in tax increases and loophole closures they said will avoid service cuts and balance the budget for years to come.


Among the solutions, and the estimated annual revenue boost:

• A 10 percent tax increase on alcohol ($1.4 billion)

• A $1.50 per pack increase in the tobacco tax (1.3 billion)

• A requirement that 3 percent of payments to independent contractors paid more than $600 a year be withheld. ($2 billion one time; $250 million annually thereafter)

• An expansion of the sales tax to services, but reduce the rate by 2 cents on the dollar. ($18.8 billion)

• Ratcheting up the top income tax brackets to 10 percent on income over $250,000 and 11 percent on income over $500,000. ($4 billion)


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/04/union-marchers.html#ixzz0lwmkiYk0

PS. As a registered Democrat, if you could give a tip-of the hat to the independent Democrat running against Babs Boxer in the primary who notes the above story, that would be awesomely awesome. It would annoy Babs and I would be grateful. Thanks.

http://kaus.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com/sbcc/blog_permalink.php?seq=1&id=682http://kaus.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com/sbcc/blog_permalink.php?seq=1&id=682

Money quote: “Revving up the base isn’t the solution for the Dems. The base (unions, the Latino amnesty lobby) is the problem.”

CA Dream Act cleared legislative hurdle to get passed by the Senate Education Committee Bill SB 1460! Gives student aid financial benefits to illegal immigrants!

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_1451-1500/sb_1460_bill_20100317_status.html

We need to let Arnold know to veto this horrible bill!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160 ( new number )

Good article: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35785_Page3.html