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Policy
November
20, 2005
Case
for state bond is strong, but with caveats
The stars appear to be aligning for a massive
infrastructure bond to help California's freeways, ports,
levees and water-supply systems catch up after decades of
neglect.
November
14, 2005
Massive
state bond possible
SACRAMENTO — Coming off a losing campaign to
curb state spending, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is promoting a
statewide public works program that may be financed by a bond
sale so large it would dwarf previous state borrowings.
Beatty:
Contender or pretender?
LOS ANGELES – Warren Beatty may enjoy the
limelight of a movie set, but when it comes to politics, the
veteran actor and Democratic activist says he's happiest
behind the scenes.
October
17, 2005
Agencies
facing loss of leaders
Hundreds of public agencies in California and
other states will soon face a shortage of senior managers
because they have not identified future executives and moved
them through "a leadership pipeline," a new study
warns.
October 16, 2005
Gov.
to woo Dems in '06
SACRAMENTO — Even as his battle with
Democrats and their union supporters continues, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is preparing to adopt some of his opponents'
most important issues as his own next year, when he will be
campaigning for reelection.
September
28, 2005
Schwarzenegger
fires flood control panel
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday fired all six
members of
the state Reclamation Board, an agency that oversees flood control
along California's two biggest rivers and had recently become more aggressive
about slowing development on flood plains.
August
22, 2005
Gov.
enacts few reform proposals
One year after the California Performance
Review listed 279 ways to increase efficiency and reduce
costs, not many have been carried out.
August
19, 2005
Bid
to forge special vote deal collapses
Last-minute talks on a possible compromise over
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives
collapsed Thursday night with the Republican governor vowing
to take his government overhaul measures directly to voters.
August
15, 2005
Special
election may steal the show
State lawmakers return today from a month long
summer recess to face a slate of proposals diminished by the
prospect of a special election that has dominated the
Capitol's political debate this year.
July 22, 2005
Gov.'s
remap bid ruled invalid
SACRAMENTO — Delivering a substantial blow to
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "year of reform"
agenda, a judge Thursday struck from the special election
ballot an initiative that would have wrested away the
Legislature's power to draw political districts.
July 15, 2005
Cunningham
won't seek reelection
SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Rep. Randy
"Duke" Cunningham, an eight-term congressman whose
$1.675-million home sale to a military contractor is under
federal investigation, said Thursday that he would not seek
reelection next year.
July 12, 2005
Gov.
uses veto pen in signing budget
SACRAMENTO — After using his blue pencil to
nix a number of healthcare, environmental and schools
programs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed the
state budget, putting in place a spending plan with no new
taxes and limited borrowing.
June 24, 2005
Special
election issue waylays budget OK
SACRAMENTO - Nine days after the Legislature missed its
deadline for passing
a state budget, lawmakers left the Capitol for their districts
Thursday still without a deal, after budget talks veered into
issues that will appear before voters in November.
June 19, 2005
Special
election rattles '06 races
The governor's 'planned political earthquake' unsettles the budding
campaigns of statewide candidates in the hunt for money, attention.
June 17, 2005
Political theatrics aside, state budget process is seriously broken
It was apparent months ago that the annual theatrics surrounding the state budget would be submerged into the power struggle between Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature's dominant Democrats, one headed for a ballot showdown in November.
June 14, 2005
UNION-TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL
Troubling questions
Did an ambitious defense contractor purchase Republican
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's Del Mar house for
$700,000 more than it was worth, in exchange for the
congressman's help in winning tens of millions of dollars in
Pentagon business? Both Cunningham and the military
contractor, Mitchell Wade of MZM Inc., deny any impropriety in
the sale of the property.
June 8, 2005
Cities and Counties Balk at Plan for State Spending Cap
SACRAMENTO — The spending curbs at the center of Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans for a fall special election
could deprive cities and counties of hundreds of millions of
dollars for police, firefighters, healthcare and social
service programs, local government leaders say.
June 7, 2005
OPINION
Daniel Weintraub: Term limits change still a possible deal closer
Adopted by voters in 1990, California's term limits
allow legislators to serve up to three terms in the Assembly
and two in the Senate. The law has been a mixed bag for the
state. Aside from the fact that term limits are
anti-democratic, depriving voters of the right to elect
whomever they choose for the Legislature, their effect on the
institution is difficult to pinpoint.
May 28, 2005
Field of 15 candidates will vie for mayor job
The field of candidates hoping to succeed Mayor Dick Murphy came into sharp focus yesterday, the close of the nominating period and a day when the city's fiscal outlook darkened after more bad news from Wall Street.
Sore winners
In this environmental quiz, guess who won in each case below: the conservationists or their opponents?
May 27, 2005
New mayor names team
Los Angeles Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa announced Thursday that he had appointed a transition team of 81 business, artistic, religious and civic leaders to serve as a "recruitment army" to build his administration.
Activist launches mayoral run, vows to get tough with unions
Taxpayer activist Richard Rider announced his bid for San Diego mayor yesterday, portraying himself as the only candidate with the mettle to talk tough to City Hall's labor unions.
May 18, 2005
Villaraigosa landslide
Antonio Villaraigosa romped past incumbent James K. Hahn to make history Tuesday, winning election as the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since the city's pioneer days.
Nuñez, Gov.tune up for special election fight
SACRAMENTO — In a further sign of deteriorating relations between lawmakers and the governor — just when they need to come together to agree on a state budget — Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traded barbs Tuesday over elements of a special election expected this year.
Running mate
For Jerry Brown, times are changing.
May 17, 2005
Analyst sees risky assumptions in gov.'s budget
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's state spending plan relies on as much as $2.5 billion in revenue that may never reach state coffers, the nonpartisan legislative analyst's office said.
3 San Diego city officials quit after deficit furor
SAN DIEGO — Three high-ranking city employees involved with controversial financial dealings that have left the city under investigation and with a pension deficit of nearly $2 billion have resigned, the city manager announced Monday.
May 15, 2005
Frye promises reform if elected S.D. mayor
Councilwoman Donna Frye kicked off her second campaign for mayor yesterday with a pledge to restore San Diego's shaky finances while tearing down a "culture of secrecy" and corruption at City Hall.
May 11, 2005
Special election ballot taking shape
SACRAMENTO — The outline of a possible special election ballot crystallized Tuesday with eight potential initiatives that could shift the balance of power in California's Capitol. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet to call the election he has been considering all year. But his allies said they have submitted petitions to place on the ballot three measures he favors. They would curb state spending, strip legislators of the power to decide the boundaries of their districts and delay tenure for public school teachers.
May 10, 2005
Governor seeks consolidation of energy agencies
SACRAMENTO — The Schwarzenegger administration is proposing to consolidate parts of California's diffuse energy bureaucracy in an effort to avert blackouts and other potential crises, aides said Monday.
May 4, 2005
Governor shelves plan to reorganize Cal/EPA
After months of discussions, officials have decided against going forward this year with a reorganization of the state's environmental agency, according to an internal administration e-mail obtained Tuesday.
May 2, 2005
Editorial: San Diego's mayorality play
Los Angeles' ongoing mayoral sludgefest seems unusually nasty, but voters should be grateful they're not casting ballots in "America's Finest City."
April 29, 2005
Lockyer won't run for governor
SACRAMENTO — Despite a deep personal ambition to become governor and $11 million backing him up, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer announced Thursday that he would not challenge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger next year and instead would run for state treasurer.
Union attacks Schwarzenegger pick for state education secretary
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed the superintendent of San Diego schools Friday to be state education secretary, a pick that alarmed the teachers union and signaled continued friction between the governor and organized labor.
April 27, 2005
Jockeying to take reins in San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Embattled Mayor Dick Murphy may have announced his resignation, but the turmoil gripping California's second-largest city is far from over.
Editorial: Bring back the old Arnold
One day, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is off addressing a rally, railing at a do-nothing Legislature, at greedy teachers and nurses, saying he'll fix their wagon with a special election this fall. On another day, addressing a newspaper association in San Francisco, as he did on April 19, Schwarzenegger declares that "the thing I am most proud of is that I was able to bring the Democrats and Republicans together, because this is the only way we can accomplish things."
April 26, 2005
Under fire, San Diego mayor quits
SAN DIEGO — Mayor Dick Murphy, who won a disputed election five months ago, abruptly announced his resignation Monday amid mounting criticism of his handling of the city's pension deficit and threats of a recall.
April 14, 2005
Westly to test the water for '06
State Controller Steve Westly will announce this week that he is forming an exploratory committee to run for governor in 2006, potentially launching a battle among three Democratic statewide officials to challenge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger if he runs for re-election, sources close to Westly said Wednesday.
March 16, 2005
Governor faces widening network of opposition
SACRAMENTO — Inspired by what began as an isolated protest by California nurses, opponents of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are working in a loose but widening network to thwart his policy proposals.
March 2, 2005
Governor revs up ballot drives
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger began gathering signatures Tuesday on petitions for redistricting and pension initiatives he says are crucial to his plans to change state government in California, but he appeared to be backing away from a ballot effort to require merit pay for teachers.
February 22, 2005
Legislators rush to file final bills
SACRAMENTO — With only one day left to propose new legislation, California lawmakers are preparing to launch debates over several highly charged social issues and renew confrontations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over bills he vetoed last year.
February 18, 2005
Governor pulls plan to abolish panels
SACRAMENTO — Admitting defeat in one of his first concerted efforts to reshape state government, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday withdrew his proposal to abolish 88 independent boards and commissions, including ones that regulate doctors, accountants and other California professionals.
February 15, 2005
Washington blamed for fiscal woes
SACRAMENTO — Frustrated by their inability to solve California's financial woes — and perhaps tiring of pointing a finger at one another — state lawmakers are increasingly laying the blame thousands of miles away, in Washington, D.C.
February 14, 2005
Congressional challenges in 2005 — An ENN commentary
With the official start of the second Bush administration, much of the environmental community's focus is on the actions of the Executive Branch. However, the expanded Republican majority in both chambers of Congress has the potential to seriously weaken the nation's environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, and severely restrict the public's access to the courts by confirming ideologically extreme judges.
February 12, 2005
Former GOP legislator named to replace Shelley
SACRAMENTO — Choosing a Republican ally whose politics mirror his own, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday nominated former state Sen. Bruce McPherson as California's chief elections officer.
February 8, 2005
Bush seeks nearly six percent cut in environment funding
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration Monday proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency budget by nearly 6 percent to $7.57 billion in fiscal 2006 by targeting a program that helps cities replace aging sewage systems.
February 7, 2005
2 options in finding Shelley replacement
SACRAMENTO – In the most political decision he's faced since taking office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has basically two choices when it comes to naming a successor to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, political scientists and consultants said.
February 3, 2005
Commentary: Capitol primed for war, not solutions
"There is very little action going on over there at the Capitol, may I remind you," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger complained to reporters last week. "A lot of excuses, a lot of complaints and a lot of finger-pointing. That's all the action we have seen so far."
February 1, 2005
State's new federal clout
California has sought more federal dollars for years, mostly in vain. As governor, Republican Pete Wilson unsuccessfully sought an increase in federal compensation for imprisoning illegal immigrant criminals and other costs associated with failed border control. Nowadays, state water programs are being shorted, and California gets less per capita in homeland security funds than most red states.
January 26, 2005
17-cent fee on bags OKd by environment panel
The San Francisco Commission on the Environment unanimously approved a proposal Tuesday evening asking the city to charge grocery shoppers 17 cents for every paper or plastic bag they take home.
January 17, 2005
State's clout climbs in D.C.
WASHINGTON - Californians in the U.S. House of Representatives control the guns, the taxes and the land.
Now they command the money.
January 15, 2005
Governor seeks to divert transit funds again
Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget plan, more than $700 million for transportation projects in Southern California would instead be diverted to other uses.
January 7, 2005
Arnold sets deadline for lawmakers to act
SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday gave the Legislature just eight weeks to work out the details of a massive reform of state government before he takes his plan to voters in a special election in November.
January 6, 2005
Governor lays out ambitious agenda certain to draw fire
SACRAMENTO — In a broad challenge to California's entrenched special interests, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger implored the Legislature on Wednesday to restrain spending, revise "out of control" pensions, reward the best schoolteachers and "expel" the worst.
January 3, 2005
Figueroa to lead critique of state plan
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should cooperate with state lawmakers to fine-tune his government reorganization plan and not try to impose it unilaterally, two new Senate leaders warned Monday as lawmakers returned to work for the new year.
January 2, 2005
Governor's first year was quite a ride, and '05 promises more turns
California politics, which had become predictable and dreary, were reinvigorated when Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose previous gig was portraying a gun-toting movie robot, was elected governor - and the E-ticket ride continued in 2004.
December 20, 2004
Credit card bill for state skyrockets
SACRAMENTO — The bills from California's record borrowing binge are coming due, and they are so staggeringly high that financial experts warn paying them back threatens to stall the state's economic recovery.
December 16, 2004
Frye's unofficial margin widens
SAN DIEGO — As an unofficial tally of ballots increased Councilwoman Donna Frye's lead over Mayor Dick Murphy on Wednesday, attorneys on all sides of the disputed election began planning their legal strategy as voters weighed in on the question central to the contest: When should a vote count?
December 13, 2004
Governor considers a power play
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose ambitious plans to overhaul state bureaucracy face opposition in the Legislature, is considering a change that would make it far more difficult for lawmakers to reject his ideas.
December 11, 2004
Panel offers reform advice
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decides which of hundreds of suggestions to pursue next year through his initiative to streamline government, a report out Friday offered some advice:
* Don't be overly optimistic about how much money can be saved through government reorganization.
* Tackle the job in pieces, in order of priority, rather than all at once.
December 10, 2004
Suit to block bond sale may add to state budget deficit
SACRAMENTO — A lawsuit filed Thursday by a conservative legal group stands a strong chance of adding $800 million to California's budget shortfall, experts say.
December 4, 2004
Governor seeks easing of endangered species act
LA JOLLA — Western governors gathered here Friday to plan with the Bush administration and members of Congress how to change the Endangered Species Act, the 31-year-old law they say has imposed costly hardships on the energy industry, developers, loggers and property owners.
December 3, 2004
Justices uphold lawyer fees in advocacy suits
SAN FRANCISCO — Lawyers for advocacy groups and others who file cases that achieve a public benefit should be rewarded by requiring defendants to pay their legal fees, a sharply divided California Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
November 2004
Report of the California Performance Review Commission
November 29, 2004
Editorial: Time to get real, Governor
Happy holidays, Gov. Schwarzenegger. You have about a month left to compile a spending plan for a state that operates like a miraculous but defective ATM, continuously spewing out more than comes in. You'll finally have to be candid with the people who elected you about how little can be done through cuts alone or "blowing up the boxes" of the bureaucracy.
November 23, 2004
Commentary: Spending outpaces state revenues
With the economy on the mend, employment up and corporate profits booming, California's tax base is growing smartly again. But state government spending is programmed to grow twice as fast as revenues over the next two years. The gap between the two represents the structural budget shortfall that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger inherited and has so far been unable to tame.
November 22, 2004
Is 'hydrogen highway' the answer?
SACRAMENTO – When a beaming Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger steered a futuristic hydrogen-powered Hummer into a prototype filling station at Los Angeles International Airport, he illustrated both the promise and pitfalls ahead for the emerging alternative fuel.
Coalition to lobby for more local taxing power
SAN DIEGO – Leaders of a local government coalition that helped push state lawmakers into accepting a constitutional amendment banning the state from what counties called "stealing" local revenues say they now plan to lobby for increased taxing power for counties, cities and special districts.
November 19, 2004
Perata promises to cooperate in any probe
OAKLAND — State Sen. Don Perata, the incoming leader of the upper house, vowed Thursday to cooperate with any investigation into his business affairs but also said federal agents have not contacted him or his aides.
November 18, 2004
Perata shaking things up in Senate
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to blow up the boxes of state government. Now, incoming Senate leader Don Perata is giving the upper house a makeover.
November 17, 2004
State EPA post's vacancy spurs talk
SACRAMENTO - With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's promotion of his environmental secretary, a retiring senator from Santa Cruz is trying to line up support to assume that key Cabinet-level post.
November 16, 2004
New group to handle water issues
SACRAMENTO — The state Senate's incoming leader has placed water issues
under one of California's most outspoken environmentalists.
Don Perata, the Democratic president-elect of the Senate, announced that
water legislation will now be handled by a committee chaired by Sen. Sheila
Kuehl, D-Santa Monica.
Judge OKs vote count in San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Declaring "let the people be heard," a judge Monday refused to block the vote count in a disputed mayoral election that has gripped this city while garnering national attention for the unlikely leader — a last-minute write-in candidate, Councilwoman Donna Frye.
November 6, 2004
From pool guy to the halls of power
Thirteen years ago, Terry Tamminen was a Malibu pool cleaner and part-time actor with a gift for charming influential people and a resume that chronicled more rambling than a Jack Kerouac novel.
November 5, 2004
State could raise $4 billion by selling property, study shows
SACRAMENTO — A Malibu beach house once used by MTV, the aging San Quentin State Prison and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum have been included on a list of properties estimated to be worth more than $4 billion that California could sell or remake into more profitable enterprises, state officials announced Thursday.
October 21, 2004
Panel supports many parts of California government overhaul
IRVINE - A proposal to reform California's government by privatizing some functions and eliminating others won a qualified endorsement from the group charged with collecting public testimony on the massive overhaul.
October 18, 2004
State reform plans imploding
SACRAMENTO – Despite initial promises of saving billions by overhauling state government, it now appears likely that only a fraction of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to "blow up the boxes" of California bureaucracy will see the light of day.
October 9, 2004
Commentary: Schwarzenegger is on a political roll
By any objective standard, Arnold Schwarzenegger's first year as California governor has been a mixed bag of limited successes and some obvious failures – such as his inability so far to make a serious dent in a chronic state budget deficit.
September 28, 2004
What's next with the California Performance Review process
Public testimony and recommendations on the review ends Sept. 30.
State overhaul plan blasted
Plans to streamline California government by eliminating one-third of
its boards and commissions, including ones that shape standards for
automobile emissions and workplace safety, go too far, critics said
Monday.
September 17, 2004
Plan to eliminate air board worries clean air advocates, farmers
FRESNO — Environmental advocates, public health officials and farm groups, often on opposing sides of the debate on how to clean the Central Valley's air, are united in opposing the elimination California's Air Resources Board.
September 16, 2004
Commentary: Special interest may be hitching a ride in state reform plan
The great thing about a 2,500-page blueprint for the reorganization of state government, if you are an industry lobbyist, is that it presents an infinite number of cubbyholes in which to hide benefits for your clients that you can't secure any other way.
September 9, 2004
Commentary: True colors, shining through
Arnold Schwarzenegger's exuberant speech last Tuesday at the Republican National Convention suggested that the Governator may be less the moderate Republican than advertised. Hailed by some during the convention as the Obama of the right, the California governor came across as a devout, rock-ribbed Bush lover.
August 28, 2004
Plan won't fix budget, analyst says
SACRAMENTO — The plan to overhaul California's bureaucracy ordered up by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vastly exaggerates the amount of potential savings and would do little to reduce the state's ongoing budget shortfall, the state nonpartisan legislative analyst's office reported Friday.
August 23, 2004
Sorting out reform ideas
When R. Richard Hauck first went to Sacramento in the mid-1960s, he was a Coro Foundation fellow assigned to write a plan to consolidate California's scattered tax collection agencies into a new state revenue department. It was, like so many well-intentioned reform proposals, ignored. Now, four decades later, Hauck has a chance to see his idea go into effect.
August 22, 2004
Our cluttered constitution
Californians have a constitutional right to go fishing. That sounds like a slice of paradise, but it's actually a small part of a big problem, a state government slowed to near standstill by its own rules and restrictions.
August 18, 2004
Governor's review panel mostly ignores messy tax system
If someone was performing a top-to-bottom "performance review" of state government with the declared goal of making it more efficient, effective and accountable, a critical examination of its system of levying and collecting taxes would be, one would think, a cornerstone task.
August 16, 2004
A perfect political storm
SACRAMENTO — Forget the 2004 election cycle. The big campaigns in California could occur next year. Two issues simmering this summer could boil over onto the political scene with special elections in 2005. One is the perennial partisan battle over drawing legislative and congressional district lines; the other is the vast reorganization of state government proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review panel, his version of blowing up the boxes of state government.
August 15, 2004
Crisis of governance now official, but Rx falls way short
Californians were in denial for many years about the deterioration of their state and local governments, but no reasonable person can now deny that the state is afflicted with a massive crisis of governance at all levels - one that has become, in fact, official dogma.
August 14, 2004
First public meeting on Calif government overhaul draws crowd
RIVERSIDE — Frustrated at tangled bureaucracy and worried that important services would be slashed, hundreds of Californians on Friday crowded the first public hearing on a proposal to overhaul state government.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for "many reforms" in an energetic but brief appearance before a panel he appointed to begin the laborious task of trudging through 1,000-plus recommendations in the California Performance Review report.
August 14, 2004
OVERHAUL: The governor touts the detailed plan to streamline government
Riverside — Gov. Schwarzenegger kicked off the first hearing on restructuring state government Friday with a pledge to listen to the public before recommending how to "blow up boxes" of bureaucracy.
August 14, 2004
Schwarzenegger begins stumping for state-reform plan
Riverside — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took his 2,500-page plan to change California on the road Friday, but quickly found that his two-month statewide tour will be anything but a victory lap.
August 13, 2004
Reform plan gets more respect than it deserves
For the most part, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corpulent 2,500-page California Performance Review, or CPR, has gotten respectful, if not admiring, attention. It doesn't deserve it.
August 12, 2004
Cutting state government down to size
The report of the California Performance Review was recently released and is already drawing fire. But it's difficult for critics to argue with the report's central premise – that California government is too big.
August 9, 2004
Schwarzenegger's power grab
The proposal to reorganize state government, unveiled last week, contains some elements that are reasonable and some that aren't. Most disturbing in the plan — buried deep in the 2,500-page report — is an agenda to bolster Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's grip on power.
August 8, 2004
New disaster agency proposed
The state panel that has called for sweeping reform of California government wants to create a new disaster-response agency that would combine flood management, fire suppression and emergency services.
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