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Gov. Jerry Brown says California has a "wall of debt" that must be reduced – and is now using it as his chief rationale for a temporary boost in taxes. At the same time, however, he is proposing to borrow billions more by issuing some of the bonds that voters have authorized for public works projects. And therein lies a rub. Brown's "wall of debt" refers mostly to an estimated $35 billion in loans and deferred payments that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature adopted to paper over the state budget's chronic deficits. However, Brown's revised budget also notes...

Schools, taxes, state workers' pensions, prisons - all of these topics get plenty of airtime in Sacramento when our elected leaders are wrestling with the state budget. But there's one big line item that doesn't get much attention, even though it's eating California alive: the cost of our debt service. In the next budget, the state will spend $6.6 billion on debt repayment. According to Moody's Investors Service, California's debt has tripled over the past decade. We wouldn't have to talk about slashing children's medical insurance and older people's in-home care or closing state parks if we weren't paying off...

A month before the historic recall that drove Gov. Gray Davis from office in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in a TV commercial making a promise to the voters of California."Here's my plan," he said. "Audit everything, open the books, and then we end the crazy deficit spending. "... If you're happy with the way things are, keep your current leaders. If you want to change this state, then join me."Voters joined in droves. But as he prepares to leave office seven years later, Schwarzenegger's promises are a distant echo.He leaves a legacy of landmark environmental laws, public works spending and...

Arnold Schwarzenegger dished out make-believe mayhem during his action movie hero days, but he must be a closet masochist. Why else would he say, as he often does, that he'd love to remain governor of California? He's already one of the most unpopular governors in state history, and he's leaving behind an economy that's erased more than a million jobs and a state budget deficit that's worse than the one he inherited seven years ago. A rational man would jet to his ski lodge in Sun Valley and return to Sacramento just in time to hand the mess to successor...

This November California voters will be faced with a wide array of ballot measures, mostly looking for ways to raise taxes or borrow money. What does this tell you? It tells you that the appetite for state government SPENDING is voracious. These measures all come at voters during a time when an unprecedented amount of taxpayer funds are already being sent to Sacramento. The current state budget is well over a HUNDRED BILLION dollars, and this represents sharp increases of funds in the state budget over recent years. It is important for every FlashReport reader to join together in sending...

More good news for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the wake of Friday’s early morning passage of the $37.3 billion infrastructure bonds package, now set for California’s November ballot. He is getting major credit from Democrats for his role in making the deal happen. And major Democrats will be campaigning with him Monday on a flyaround tour of the state for the measure. Joining the former action superstar, according to multiple sources in both parties, on his jet will be Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, along with the Republican legislative leaders, Senator Dick Ackerman and...

[Update: Assemblyman Chuck DeVore just called to say that a late-scheduled session has been set in the State Assembly for 5:30 p.m. today...] The Democrats in Sacramento must be really enjoying themselves today. What could possibly be more enjoyable for them than to see Republicans boxed into a corner. In the downstairs office, you have a GOP Governor against whom almost all of the Democrats have endorsed, and across the aisle they have GOP legislators, who stand as their longtime opponents in their quest to massively grow the size and scope of state government. It is being reported in articles...

A bill requiring Central Valley property owners who live in flood-prone areas to have flood insurance has died without getting a vote in a state Assembly committee. The measure by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, failed Monday when none of the 10 members of the Banking and Finance Committee asked for a vote. The bill would have required valley property owners to buy coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program unless the state or a local agency certified that levees provided at least 200-year flood protection. An area with such protection has a one in 200 chance of catastrophic flooding in...

After a very promising beginning last week, another key deadline for getting a version of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s big infrastructure bonds package on the California ballot this year has been missed. But sources close to the Republican governor say he can run on the issue with or without the program actually making it to the ballot this year. This time it was the Democratic and Republican leaders of the state Legislature -- meeting without the governor himself, whose practice of serial separate meetings with the leaders had confused at times -- who missed their own target deadline of April 6th....

** Last night's "Big Five" meeting reported here, between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders on their next steps for moving some version of the big infrastructure bonds package forward, seems to have come up with little so far. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata summed up afterward saying the governor was urging a legislative solution. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez continues to hold out some hope for the school construction and levee repair bonds passed in his house. Republican sources say their caucuses are less than enthused.

This week the opportunity for a June vote by the citizens foundered in face of differences between Republicans and Democrats. I believe the failure to reach agreement last week was based on legitimate differences rather than partisan politics. I met briefly with the Governor last Thursday and he remains optimistic on achieving a deal for the November ballot. If anything, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an insufferable optimist and one of the most focused leaders I have known. Gov. Pat Brown was visionary touting his "responsible liberalism" when he became governor in 1958. His 1958 campaign platform sounds almost like contemporary...

Why should the Assembly and Senate Republicans support massive bond proposals, without any reforms? Just ask his legislative advisor, Richard Costigan--because Arnold needs this for re-election. Why should Republicans support Arnold for re-election? Just ask Matthew Dowd in Austin, Texas (the guv's chief consultant) or Steve Schmidt (the Guv's campaign manager); because Arnold is better than Westly or Angelides...they would have even worse legislation. Republicans should be happy that the Governor is appointing so many Democrats and non-Republicans to the bench and key government positions. Why? Because, according to the Governor, no Republicans are qualified. Nothing positive, just, "I am...

With the bond deal dead for June and in danger of not happening at all, Schwarzenegger now risks looking like a hapless governor. If that image sticks and intensifies over the summer, he will find it difficult to win reelection in the fall. What went wrong? He put a number on it too early. He would have been better off beginning with a description of the goals. He took Republicans for granted negotiating with the Democrats and always figuring he would be able to get the Republican votes for anything he and the Dems agreed to. He tried negotiating individually...

Facing a midnight deadline, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders tried to patch together a deal Wednesday that would put a record $50 billion public works bond measure on the June ballot. The governor's office scheduled and then abruptly canceled a news conference about the negotiations early Wednesday evening as Schwarzenegger and the top four legislative leaders decided to meet behind closed doors. But the Senate's leader said there was only a "billion to one" chance of an agreement Wednesday night and that sharp partisan differences also could keep a bond measure off the November ballot. "I think the fear...