Free Republic

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on Friday were trying to agree on what would be the largest bond issue in California history, pressing to meet a March 10 deadline for placing a proposal on the June ballot. Any agreement between the governor and leaders from both parties requires support from two-thirds majorities in the Assembly and Senate. The governor has vowed to work through the weekend if necessary, even though the secretary of state had set Friday as the deadline to reach an agreement. Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, said Senate Republicans were ready to vote for a...

Parties tangle over bonds Democrats release $47.3 billion proposal, but GOP is balking. By Andy Furillo and Kevin Yamamura -- Bee Capitol BureauPublished 12:04 am PST Saturday, March 11, 2006 Progress slowed late Friday on a massive state infrastructure bond, as Democratic leaders released a proposed $47.3 billion plan that Republicans said was still too sketchy on details to win their votes. The Democratic proposal, released shortly after 10 p.m., would ask voters this year to approve $6 billion for flood protection and water projects, $18.9 billion for transportation, air quality and housing, $10.3 billion for education and $3 billion...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A debate over dams and reservoirs emerged Friday as a major sticking point preventing agreement on a record $45 billion public works bond package as time was running out for lawmakers to meet a June ballot deadline.

Today and over the weekend, high-level nogotiations are taking place among the legislative leadership and the Governor - the focal point of these discussions - infrastructure investment. LOOK CAREFULLY at what comes out of the negotiations. Were the Republican Governor and Republican legislative leaders able to hold the 'line in the sand' against the big-government, spend-a-holic Democratic leaders? Does the plan: 1) HAVE A SIGNIFICANT PAY-AS-YOU-GO COMPONENT FOR FY '07-'08 AND BEYOND?2) HAVE A 6% BORROWING CAP?3) CONTAIN CEQA AND OTHER NEEDED REFORMS?4) LIMIT THE BORROWING TO MORTOR-AND BRICK REAL INFRASTRUCTURE?*From Senator McClintock:5) LIMIT GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDING TO STATE SCHOOL...

The Dems say they have a unified infrastructure plan they are presenting to the governor, but representatives of both the speaker and the Senate leader say they won't or can't make it public at this time. They apparently fear that doing so would jeopardize the negotiations. The Senate leader's office won't even confirm reports that Perata met with the governor last night. That kind of secrecy is usually a sign that a deal is very close, or at least people think they are close to making a deal. It's unfortunate, though, that the leaders of the state's majority party don't...

The Infrastructure Bonds are going to conference committee next Thursday. Some are asking, "but they never passed an Assembly or Senate Committee". In normal circumstances, bills are introduced, hearings held, legislation debated on the floor of both bodies and then passed. At that point the competing bills go to Conference Committee for compromise and approval. Then back to the legislative floors for an up or down vote, without amendments. Be doing it in this way, only the Conference members will be able to make amendments, leaving over 100 Members, elected by the people of California to represent them, without the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders went behind closed doors Saturday in hopes of resolving the last obstacles to an agreement on the state budget.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders in the California Legislature are trying to reach compromise on issues that revolve around how the state spends money. - Budget reform: Schwarzenegger's (wants) ....greater authority (to cut budget). Democrats (want legislative authorized) ....midyear corrections. - Redistricting reform: Schwarzenegger wants ...a panel of retired judges (to redraw by 2006). Democrats say they would be willing (to cooperate) ... as long as the new maps are not drawn until after the next census in 2010. - Pension reform: Schwarzenegger (wants) ... to shift the state's multibillion dollar public pension program into 401(k) style accounts ......

Guerra says inflated revenue projections for federal prison have caused more budget cuts Two former Willacy County commissioners pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting bribes for their votes on federal prison contracts, the Associated Press reports. Precinct 1 commissioner Israel Tamez, 58, of Raymondville, and Precinct 4 commissioner Jose Jimenez, 67, of Sebastian, waived indictment and admitted accepting more than $10,000 each from companies competing for work on the Willacy County Adult Correctional Center. The $14.5 million prison was built to house federal inmates. In 2000, Willacy County commissioners voted 5-0 to select Corplan Corrections, an Argyle consulting firm, and Hale...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Still pushing to get a budget agreement as soon as possible, negotiators from both the administration and legislative leaders went behind closed doors to work on remaining issues - including money for schools and universities, public health programs and local government. Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday appointments to a new state commission that will promote his much-anticipated reorganization of the state government. In January, Schwarzenegger promised to "blow up" the bureaucracy to eliminate inefficiency and waste. Since then, a team of about 300 state employees and consultants have been working on the reorganization plan. Although the...

SACRAMENTO - Five months into his term, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is struggling to fulfill his campaign pledge to bring a new era of openness to California's Capitol. Instead of eradicating closed-door deals, Schwarzenegger has brought the smoke-filled room back into style by pitching a deal-making smoking tent outside his office. That is where he helped broker his workers' compensation reform plan, which, contrary to his campaign promise, was rushed through a legislative committee last week in the dead of night with no public comment. Tuesday, the Schwarzenegger administration abruptly pulled the first plank of its political-reform package from a key...

<p>Sacramento -- On a Friday night just two weeks into his administration, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a round of last-ditch phone calls to try to persuade Democratic lawmakers to vote for his first big budget proposal. As midnight approached, the lawmakers stopped returning his calls.</p>

<p>Gov. Schwarzenegger, using a Sacramento middle school as his backdrop, today officially unveiled his proposal – supported by the education lobby – to give schools $2 billion less in the next fiscal year than they would have been entitled to by a strict reading of Proposition 98. The schools will still get more next year per pupil than they got this year, enough to cover enrollment growth and cost-of-living increases. And the $2 billion they will forgo remains part of the base upon which their future budgets are determined. But Schwarzenegger saves that money this year and can use it for other programs. The deal has two advantages for Schwarzenegger. The first is mathematical: it gives him $2 billion he can use to help close the budget gap. The other is political. By taking education funding off the table, he makes it much tougher for Democrats in the Legislature to argue for a tax increase. They cannot say they need the money for schools, the most popular program provided by state government. Instead, they’ll have to argue for higher taxes to fund health and welfare programs for the poor. Fair or not, that’s simply a tougher sell with the voters.</p>

<p>It was nearing midnight on Arnold Schwarzenegger's third Friday as governor when the former bodybuilder and actor faced his first legislative defeat, the rejection by Democrats of his plan to refinance the state's debt and place a new spending limit on the ballot next March. With a deadline for getting his measures on the ballot just minutes away and the outcome clear, Schwarzenegger left his office on the Capitol's first floor to visit Republican lawmakers who had stood by him through a disappointing round of negotiations.</p>

Arnold's Budget Deal Sealed with Stories, Cigars 40 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Daniel Sorid SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As an actor and bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) fought his way to victory by destroying his enemies, but it was old-fashioned backroom haggling by the newly minted Gov. Schwarzenegger that won Democrats over to a critical state budget proposal this week. Over bottles of wine and water and the occasional cigar, Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders spent five hours late Wednesday night hammering out a compromise budget deal that appeared close to death...

By JAMES RISEN WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 — As American soldiers massed on the Iraqi border in March and diplomats argued about war, an influential adviser to the Pentagon received a secret message from a Lebanese-American businessman: Saddam Hussein wanted to make a deal. Iraqi officials, including the chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, had told the businessman that they wanted Washington to know that Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction, and they offered to allow American troops and experts to conduct an independent search. They also offered to hand over a man accused of being involved in the...