Sacramento: May 2008 Archives

PACOIMA - In what supporters of charter schools hailed as validation of their efforts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday announced $463 million in state funds will be made available for construction and modernization projects. Daily News.

The funding from Proposition 1D will help 29 charter schools throughout the state.

"This is exactly what the voters had in mind when they passed $10.4 billion for schools," Schwarzenegger said at an event at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima.

The Los Angeles City Council is expected to take an official position today on a statewide initiative that would require youths as young as 14 to be tried as adults if charged with gang-related crimes. Daily News.

The proposed Safe Neighborhoods Act -- authored by Sen. George Runner, R- Lancaster, San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt and Mike Reynolds, author of the "Three Strikes" law -- is expected to be on the November ballot. It would boost penalties for gang-related crimes and raise funding for criminal justice programs.

City Councilmen Bernard Parks and Tony Cardenas will urge their colleagues to oppose the initiative. They say the Safe Neighborhoods Act would cost too much, make prisons even more overcrowded and have a negative impact on youths.

Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, saying he now can speak more openly, is blasting accusations that he spent lavishly on overseas trips and retail purchases as racially motivated. Sacramento Bee.

Núñez, who is termed out of the Assembly in December, lashed out Saturday during an interview on Spanish-language television.

The Los Angeles Democrat said he has no regrets over his spending of campaign funds, despite controversy over tens of thousands of dollars spent on high-priced hotels, wine, gifts and other purchases.

The Legislature's budget analyst on Monday called Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's lottery proposal "flawed" and warned lawmakers that money for public schools could fall short of current levels under the plan.Sacramento Bee,

Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill issued a critical reaction to the governor's proposal to obtain $15 billion from future lottery revenues over the next few years to help fill a widening budget gap, now at $15.2 billion.

Currently, lottery profits benefit public schools, from kindergarten to community colleges. Hill wrote that the Schwarzenegger administration made "overly optimistic" assumptions about the potential growth in lottery sales. She warned that public education funding "would fall well short of their current levels -- perhaps by $5 billion over the next 12 years combined."

Faced with a faltering economy and a worsening budget deficit, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the first time in his five-year tenure opened the door Wednesday to a potential tax increase in his proposed 2008-09 budget. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.

Schwarzenegger said he will first ask lawmakers and voters to authorize the state to borrow up to $15 billion against future state Lottery earnings over three years. But if that fails on the November ballot, it would trigger an automatic one-cent increase in the statewide sales tax for at least three years.

The proposal contrasts with promises Schwarzenegger has made from the beginning of his term to refuse to raise taxes, while also ending borrowing for normal government operations.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday released a $144.3 billion state budget that eliminates a massive deficit by selling lottery bonds and cutting billions in state programs. AP in the Daily News.

The spending plan for the fiscal year that begins in July is austere, a byproduct of a slowing state economy.

Tax revenue has been falling far short of what California needs to keep pace with spending obligations, leading to a $15.2 billion shortfall.

"As everyone knows, we are facing an extremely tough budget year," Schwarzenegger said during a news conference at the Capitol. "Our crisis is real, and it is very serious."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilman Herb Wesson -- both former speakers of the state Assembly -- are scheduled to be in Sacramento on Tuesday to witness the historic swearing in of Assemblywoman Karen Bass.
They are to be joined by former San Francisco Mayor and Speaker Willie Brown to see the passing of the gavel from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to Bass.