Sacramento: July 2008 Archives

The California Department of Motor Vehicles, infamous for long lines, has cut its wait time in half to get a driver's license. AP in the Daily News.

A big part of the reason is its hiring of part-time employees. Of 9,017 DMV employees statewide, 1,345 - or 15 percent - could be gone by Friday after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs an executive order to deal with the state's fiscal crisis.

The department also has 751 contractors who could be terminated. And that won't be good news for customers, said Amber Carlson, 25, who would lose her $14.75-an-hour part- time job answering phones and processing paperwork at the DMV's Sacramento headquarters.

A coalition of local government, transportation and labor leaders on Monday urged state lawmakers to abandon a rumored plan to raid local coffers to help address California's $15.2 billion budget deficit. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Local officials fear that state legislators are considering allowing the state to use $1.1 billion set aside for transportation projects and at least $1.4 billion in funds that are supposed to go to local governments under Proposition 1A.

Los Angeles County would lose an estimated $128 million to $144 million in local government funds, and cities throughout the county would lose $250 million in funding designed to maintain local streets and roads.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday postponed his plan to eliminate about 22,000 temporary, part-time and contract workers and impose a hiring freeze because of the state budget impasse. AP in the Daily News.

As more than 100 union workers picketed outside the state Capitol, the governor opted not to sign an order to implement the cuts immediately.

Instead, he's hoping legislative leaders are making progress on the overdue state budget, which has a $15.2 billion shortfall.

Community clinic operators in the San Fernando Valley and countywide say they will be forced to turn away new patients, cut services and limit hours if state payments don't come through before the end of the summer. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

The failure of state lawmakers to pass a budget means the California Department of Health Care Services had to halt Medi-Cal payments Thursday to thousands of clinics statewide.

Those in Los Angeles County lose an estimated $385 a minute at a time when more people are turning to smaller health facilities, according to the Community Clinic Association.

"We call this the perfect storm because there is rising demand (in clinic visits) and diminishing resources," said Kim Wyard, CEO for Northeast Valley Health Corp., a nonprofit that operates 10 licensed clinics throughout the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering an order that would slash the paychecks of hundreds of thousands of state workers to the federal minimum wage until the state budget impasse is resolved. Mike Zapler in the Mercury News.

The workers would be entitled to recover the difference between their salaries and the minimum wage - $6.55 an hour - once the state enacts a budget and appropriates the money, under an executive order that the governor's office has drafted and that he is considering signing next week.

But the delay would help the state through an immediate cash crunch, as well as add pressure to legislators who failed to resolve their differences and pass a budget, as required, by the July 1 start of the fiscal year.

As the stalemate over California's long-overdue budget continues, Los Angeles officials are alarmed that some lawmakers want to borrow local government funds to close the deficit, a move that could sap $150million from city coffers this year and cut funds for street paving, parks and other city services. Daily News.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa already has sent a letter to the governor, pleading with him to protect local funds even as the city grapples with its own budget squeeze amid a faltering economy.

The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution Wednesday calling on the state to avoid borrowing from funds that will impact the city's budget. And several members said they need more than resolutions - they need to intensify lobbying quickly - before the state adopts any final plan.

There has been no improvement in voter impressions of the job Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature are doing. While more disapprove (46%) than approve (40%) of the governor's performance, voter assessments of the state legislature are even worse, with more than twice as many holding a negative (57%) than positive (27%) view. California Poll in the San Francisco Sentinel.

An increasing proportion of Californians (68%) views the state budget deficit as a very serious problem. There is also declining confidence in the governor and state legislature in resolving the deficit situation. Currently 41% of voters do not have much confidence in Schwarzenegger to do what is right to resolve the deficit, while 52% say this about the state legislature.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has named actress Bo Derek to the California Horse Racing Board.
The actress, who now lives in Santa Ynez, long has been active in protecting horses, serving as spokeswoman for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.
She has served as chair for the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Rehabilitation Special Events since 2000. Additionally, Derek has served as the special envoy of the Secretary of State on Wildlife Trafficking and has served on the board of WildAid and the Galapagos Conservancy, Ecuador.
Also named to the board is David Israel, 57, of Los Angeles. A writer and television producer, israel served onthe Coliseum Commission and the California Science Center Board of Directors.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday proposed a $9.3 billion bond to shore up California's water supply through a combination of reservoirs and conservation projects. AP in the Daiiy News.

Billions also would be spent to help the ecologically fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state's intricate water-supply system.

Schwarzenegger hopes to win approval from leaders in the state Legislature and put the plan before voters in November.

California lawmakers have missed the deadline to approve a state budget for the fiscal year that starts today.AP in the Daily News.

Republicans and Democrats in both houses of the Legislature remain far apart on how to close the state's $15.2 billion budget shortfall.

Republicans, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, favor wide-ranging cuts to services and programs. Democrats want to raise taxes by anywhere from $6 billion to $11 billion.

Lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a budget by June 15 and give it to the governor to sign by July 1. That's happened only a dozen times over the last 30 years. The last time lawmakers passed a budget by June 15 was 1986.