Point break

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders resumed closed-door talks Monday in an effort to close California's $42 billion budget gap, with employee furloughs just days away and taxpayer refunds already on hold," writes the AP's Judy Lin.

"State leaders are trying to strike a compromise on an annual spending plan as California runs dangerously low on cash reserves. Officials have already missed a self-imposed Feb. 1 deadline for a budget deal.

"The governor and lawmakers can't agree on a mix of tax increases and spending cuts to solve the deficit over the next year-and-a-half. They also disagree over whether the state should impose a spending cap and on elements of what they call an economic stimulus plan. Such a plan could include provisions for flexible work hours so businesses would save on overtime pay and regulatory rollbacks that Democrats fear will weaken existing environmental laws.

The Chron's Matthew Yi reports on new calls for the state controller to kickstart tax return payments. "A taxpayer group blasted state Controller John Chiang's decision to hold up income tax refunds this month, saying Monday that putting refunds into taxpayers' hands would help stimulate the economy.

"Republican lawmakers also jumped in. One assemblyman likened the move to consumers not getting change after buying something at a store.

"Added Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks (Sacramento County): 'This is the ultimate injustice. ... This is taxpayers' money.'"

But to help budget talks along, "a top GOP official has submitted a resolution for the Republican Party's convention later this month to formally censure any Republican who votes for new or higher taxes in a state budget deal," reports Shane Goldmacher in the Bee.

"'If the Republican party loses the ability to say that we're the party against higher taxes, then we've been dealt a grievous blow,' said Jon Fleischman, author of the resolution and a Southern California vice chairman in the California Republican Party.

"Fleischman, who publishes the conservative FlashReport Web site, said the resolution is meant as a "stick" to dissuade GOP legislators from agreeing to any budget with higher taxes crafted with majority Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"'I think it is fair to say that if you are a Republican and, between now and the February convention, you vote for tax increases, you are likely to be censured by your party and cast out among the unwanted,' he said.

You know, like, with the Democrats and the decline-to-states, and the other 65 percent of Californians...

"The proposed censure comes less than a week after one union leader threatened recall campaigns against any legislator who votes to roll back labor protections as part of a budget deal.

"'This kind of stuff reminds me of the fellow, who is not too bright, who walks into his bedroom and sees his wife with another man,' [former GOP communications Patrick] Dorinson said. 'Then he points the gun at his own head. His wife and the guy start laughing. And the guy says, 'What are you laughing at? You're next.' ' "

Speaking of the unwanted, the Chron's John Wildermuth writes that the governor plans to stay away from the GOP convention.

"Given that the convention is often showtime for the party's most conservative members, it's not surprising that the pro-choice, pro-tax and not-all-that-conservative governor has found somewhere else to be at convention time, as he has at times in the past.

"But the governor might have to stay out of the elevator to avoid this convention - which takes place in the Hyatt Regency, not too many floors below the rented suite he's lived in since taking office in 2003."

"A regional team of law enforcement specialists that helped crack high-profile Bay Area crimes by digging into cell phones and computer hard drives shut its doors Friday, another victim of severe budget cuts that threaten similar teams across the state," reports John Simermon in the Merc News.

"The Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force, which included agencies from Contra Costa, Solano and 11 other counties north to the Oregon border, was among five teams statewide that lost more than 40 percent of their funding in a freeze on public safety grants that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered this month. No new funding was projected for next fiscal year.

"The four other teams also face closure without new funding, officials said, including a San Jose task force that pursues identity thieves and high-tech criminals in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda and other counties through much of the Bay Area. State programs for gang enforcement, crime prevention and sexual assault also are threatened under a wide range of cuts to public safety grants and proposed funding shifts designed to save the state general fund hundreds of millions of dollars annually."

Shane Goldmacher reports that the sluggish economy is taking its toll on political contributions.

"The price for top-flight donors to attend one of the California Democratic Party's biggest annual fundraisers – a May weekend of golf at Pebble Beach – has been slashed by $10,000 from a year ago.

"One of California's political movers and shakers, the 76-year-old California Retailers Association, last week decided to simply turn off the donation spigot for the "foreseeable future."

"The California Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, says small contributions to its political action committee have plummeted by 20 percent in recent months.

"'Everyone, from what I am seeing and hearing, is going to be cutting back this year,' said Rob Lapsley, the political director for the chamber.

"The same pillars of the national economy that have either fallen or cracked – the home-building, construction and financial industries – have long been the foundation of political fundraising. Their difficulties are now beginning to affect the balance sheets of campaign committees."

"A tech guru from Facebook may jump into the Democratic race for state attorney general, joining potential candidates Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney, and Rocky Delgadillo, Los Angeles' city attorney," reports Carla Marinucci in the Chron.

"Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer at the social networking site and former education adviser under ex-President Bill Clinton doesn't have traditional AG credentials like Harris and Delgadillo.

"But supporters say Kelly is well-versed in information technology, white-collar crime, identity theft and other Internet-related issues."

And all sorts of people have written on his wall...

"Opponents and supporters of Proposition 8 pumped a total of $85 million into November's measure to ban same-sex marriage in California, the most money ever raised for a social-issue campaign in the nation," writes John Wildermuth for the Chron.

"The money was split relatively evenly, according to campaign financial reports filed Monday with the secretary of state's office. Backers of Prop. 8 collected nearly $40 million for their successful campaign, while opponents of the measure brought in more than $45 million for their losing effort.

"'In this case, people really knew what they were voting for,' said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. 'They were interested in this issue, it was important to them, and they gave money.'

"More than 155,000 people and organizations gave contributions ranging from $5 or $10 to well over $1 million as the California initiative campaign became the focus of the raucous and deeply felt debate over whether marriage should be between only a man and a woman."

"Facing yawning budget gaps, California's public universities are shifting thousands of applicants into a community college system already swamped by newly unemployed adults and students priced out of other schools," reports Gale Holland in the Times.

"By holding down enrollment, the shift would help balance budgets at UC and CSU campuses. But officials say the move seems likely to worsen problems at the state's 110 two-year campuses, many of which already face budget shortfalls that have them chopping courses, laying off part-time faculty and cramming classrooms so full that students have to perch on windowsills.

"'We hope to serve as many students as we can get in, but we're near the breaking point,' said Jack Scott, statewide chancellor of the California community college system.

"In particular, many educators fear that an influx of new students will further reduce the ability of many community colleges to prepare students for transfer to four-year schools. The more savvy newcomers may shove aside some of the existing 2.5 million community college students, who are struggling to work toward a university degree from the bargain-priced, but strained, two-year system, officials say."

And finally, from our I Want My MTV Files, AP reports, "A Brazilian judge awarded $2,600 in damages to a man who sued a store for not replacing his faulty television set, ruling that it was an "essential good" needed to watch soccer and a popular reality TV show.

The customer took Casas Bahia, Brazil's largest furniture and home appliances retail chain, to court for "moral damages" inflicted by not being able to watch television.

"'In modern life, you cannot deny that a television set, present in almost all homes, is considered an essential good,' ruled the judge from Campos, a town north of Rio de Janeiro.'Without it, how can the owner watch the beautiful women on 'Big Brother,' the national news broadcast or a football game,' the judge quipped."

Hard to argue with that...