"Democrats grew angry this week after Schwarzenegger
finished vetoing 35 percent of the bills on his desk , a modern record. They're particularly incensed that the Republican governor
issued a standard message for 136 of his 415 vetoes in which he blamed the state's 85-day budget delay," reports Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"Schwarzenegger's unusual veto approach capped a divisive two months
in which he turned combative with lawmakers as budget
talks broke down.
"The governor drew their ire in late July after signing
an executive order that laid off 10,000 temporary and part-time state workers and sought to reduce 200,000 others to the federal minimum wage until the budget
was signed. He vowed in August to veto every bill until
lawmakers passed the state budget. And he threatened
to impose a historic budget veto when lawmakers delivered
their first compromise spending plan in mid-September.
"The governor has talked about docking legislators' pay if they miss budget deadlines in the future. And
he will spend the next month running them down as he
campaigns for Proposition 11 to remove lawmakers' power to draw their own districts.
"'I think it's a pretty good indication of his frustration with
the Legislature,' said
Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at
California State University, Sacramento. 'He vetoed 10 percent more bills than the last record. It was such
a dramatic increase that it clearly indicates a new
attitude.'"
Capitol Weekly wraps up the year in health care legislation.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed three of the most
closely-watched pieces of health-care legislation this year, capping even what his top
advisers called a failed year on health reform.
"'To try to portray this as a successful or significant
year on health-care reform, it just wasn’t,' said Schwarzenegger
adviser Daniel Zingale. 'We did some good things, but overall, it was
just like
last year.'
"Among the bills rejected by the governor was legislation
that would have forced health plans to seek an okay
from a third-party before revoking a customer’s health insurance, a bill that would require health
plans to spend a certain percentage of health-care premiums on patient care, and a bill that sought
to ensure that doctors were reimbursed for health-care costs, even when HMOs refused to pay certain bills.
"One senator suggested the rash of vetoes may have been
personal.
"The governor’s health care reform bill, AB 1X, died in Kuehl’s Senate Health Committee earlier this year, a fact
that the outgoing Senator says may not have been entirely
forgotten.“I do think that he was particularly angry at me,” said Kuehl. 'Last year he signed nine of my bills and vetoed three.
This year, he vetoed 13, including little ones that were not related in any
way to health.'"
The Chron's Matthew Yi writes:
"Some lawmakers said Wednesday they are so angry at the governor that working with him
next year could be a difficult challenge.
"'I think he's going to have a tough time regaining credibility
in the Legislature,' said state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter (Kern County).
"Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), said she's heard complaints from many frustrated lawmakers.
"'I am concerned about how we work together,' she said, adding that she hopes in the end the interest
of Californians would outweigh any bitterness harbored
between lawmakers and Schwarzenegger.
"Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger, said 'the governor weighed each bill on its merits and acted
accordingly.'
"In interviews with The Chronicle and others, Schwarzenegger
has said he wants to go after big-ticket measures and is not interested in approving
what he called 'Mickey Mouse bills.'"
CW's John Howard looks at the veto of a $500 million climate change institute. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has sought to build
an international image as an environmental champion
in the fight against climate-changing carbon emissions, rejected an unprecedented
attempt to create the first-of-its-kind research institute into reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
"The proposal, authored by Senate Leader Don Perata,
a Democrat, would have created the California Climate
Change Institute at the University of California. The
institute would have been financed, in part, with roughly
a $1.20-a-year levy on millions of private and public utility
customers. The institute would have had an annual budget
in the neighborhood of
$50 million and financed research into the causes and
solutions of global warming, a phenomena that many
scientists believe is an irreversible result of modern
industrial expansion."
Meanwhile, we've got an election in 33 days.
Proposition 5, "[t]he Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, funded in
part by billionaire George Soros, would be 'the most ambitious sentencing and prison reform in
U.S. history,'" according to the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a primary
sponsor," reports Michael Rothfeld in the Times.
"By 2010, the measure would commit the state to spending at
least $460 million a year, mostly to increase treatment -- and eliminate incarceration -- for those who commit nonviolent crimes involving drugs
or fueled by them.
"Even when drugs aren't involved, the state no longer could seek to return
many ex-convicts to prison for low-level parole violations, as occurred nearly 18,000 times last year, or revoke parole for actions that
would qualify as misdemeanor crimes.
"Parole terms for some offenders would decrease from
three years to six months. A new prison bureaucracy
devoted to rehabilitation would be created. And possession
an ounce or less of marijuana would be an infraction,
instead of a misdemeanor.
"Opponents contend that the drug treatment offered in
lieu of
incarceration would be toothless, a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for
addicts. They say the Drug Policy Alliance Network
-- a spinoff of
Soros' New York-based Open Society Institute, which fights against
punitive drug laws -- is using the initiative to chip away at its true
agenda: legalizing drugs."
The LAT's Jessica Garrison looks at homemade political commercials for and against
Prop. 8 appearing on YouTube.
"The phenomenon poses both positives and negatives for
campaigns. The videos may reach voters who aren't seeing traditional commercials, but the campaigns
can't control the messages being delivered."
George Skelton looks at the costs of ballot measures on the November ballot, and writes that it's an opportunity for voters to show their priorities
in state spending.
"The state currently is paying $6.7 billion annually in principal and interest on bonds.
"It owes about $53 billion on infrastructure bonds, and still has $68 billion authorized but unsold. Each $1 billion borrowed requires an annual $65 million check written off the general fund.
"Voters hammer on Sacramento to prioritize. It's now their turn. What's really urgent? What can wait? What's a lousy investment?"
"Delivering a big victory for gaming tribes and the
Catholic Church, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation that outlaws non-Indian bingo machines while authorizing high-stakes bingo for charities and nonprofits," reports Ed Mendel in the U-T.
"Within perhaps a year, the Catholic Church and other
charities could be offering simulcast bingo games with
thousands of players competing for prizes of up to
six figures.
"The compromise will force another group of charities
and nonprofits to give up electronic bingo machines,
unless manufacturers can find relief in court.
"'There are some people talking today about what the
next steps are,' said Doug Bergman, president of United Cerebral Palsy
of Sacramento, which nets more than $200,000 a year from bingo machines. 'I'm hoping there's going to be further litigation.'
"Manufacturers, who have won favorable initial rulings
in state and federal courts, were mum yesterday. But
backers of the legislation said they expect the legal
fight to continue."
LA
Observed observes, "Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa upped the ante today in the traditional
jousting between mayors of baseball playoff cities. Chicago mayor
Richard
Daley previously wagered a “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
package of food, soft drinks and sporting goods from
Chicago companies,
including Vienna Beef hot dogs, Lemonheads and sunflower
seeds.
Villaraigosa's office countered in a release.
"'If the Dodgers win, Los Angeles gets Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid,' said Mayor Villaraigosa. 'If the Cubs win, Chicago can take
back Sam Zell.'
The Mayor added: 'It would be a tremendous blow to the City of Los
Angeles to lose such a great corporate citizen such
as Mr. Zell, so in
unlikely event that the Dodgers lose, I’d insist that as a consolation
he sell the L.A. Times back to an L.A. owner before
heading back to
Chicago.'"
