Free Republic

It was a priceless photo for a Republican governor running for reelection in a blue state: Him standing at the mike, the two Democratic legislative leaders at his side. All three grinning into the cameras in the Capitol news conference room — announcing their bipartisan agreement last week on a bill to raise the minimum wage. But that was not an abnormal picture in this atypical year. Bipartisan deals, aberrant in the past, have become commonplace: a $37.3-billion package of state bonds for public works, a rare on-time budget and — the most recent — legislation forcing drug companies to...

California must spend $107 billion on its roads, ports and other transportation infrastructure to keep its economy competitive and its quality of life decent, a member of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Cabinet said Thursday in Oxnard. Sunne Wright McPeak, California's secretary of business, transportation and housing, was one of the architects of Schwarzenegger's massive public works proposals, some of which will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot. McPeak spoke about those proposals and some of the other challenges facing the state at a dinner held by the World Affairs Council of Ventura County. Voters will decide on four bond measures worth...

The California Legislature has been on a one month hiatus after six months of session. I have often compared the legislative process to a roller coaster ride, and following that analogy, the first six months of session are sort of like the part of the roller coaster where the ride takes the riders higher and higher with the chain underneath. Everyone on the ride knows that the higher the ride goes, the wilder the ride will be when the car finally goes into free fall. This year the roller coaster ride had a couple of interesting dips, the largest being...

SACRAMENTO — Forget logic, this is politics. By far the two highest-profile supporters of public works bonds won't be campaigning together for the $37 billion package on the November ballot. Both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic challenger Phil Angelides back the bonds but made it clear they won't be jointly touting the proposal. So the political snarl in California and uncertainty over passage of the bonds grow larger, analysts say, even though the proposal is the pride of Republican Schwarzenegger and the Democrat-dominated Legislature this year. The clarification came after a little political poke at the situation by Senate leader...

Build highways, freeways and mass transit, he said, "so you don't get stuck in traffic all the time." Expand universities, build new classrooms and modernize old ones "so that our kids have the best place to go." Strengthen the state's levee system "to protect the people of California from a major disaster." But in his stem-winder on the banks of the Sacramento River, the governor mentioned nothing about the housing bond, a key component that helped him win votes from Democratic legislators for the bond package he has touted as a bipartisan triumph. Housing bond supporters such as Assembly Speaker...

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata sounded downright gloomy today as he discussed the fate of four bond issues on the November ballot. Speaking at a Sacramento Press Club lunch, Perata called the defeat of six local transportation bonds and the statewide library bond in this month's primary election "sobering." Other factors working against the bonds, according to Perata: continuing problems in launching stem cell research bonds approved by voters in 2004 and a cluttered November ballot full of spending measures, including a proposal to up cigarette taxes and one on oil. Frustrated voters may just say "no." Perata was...

The resounding defeat of two spending measures on the California ballot provides fresh evidence that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other supporters of a $37 billion public works bond package will have to make a strong case to voters. That was the assessment this week of politicians and pundits after voters rejected Propositions 81 and 82. The Republican governor has hitched his re-election campaign to the building plan. Democratic leaders, including gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides, also support the plan, as does the California Chamber of Commerce, which led the opposition to Proposition 82. "I think the lesson to be learned for...

To hear Governor Schwarzenegger tell it, he didn't need any convincing by Democrats to support a separate bond measure for more affordable housing. And he wishes the infrastructure package was much, much bigger. In one of the unreported tidbits from the Wednesday north state press bus interview, Schwarzenegger was asked why he didn't mention the $2.85 billion housing bond at his town hall event that morning in Redding. He blamed it on a simple oversight, not having his notes in front of him. But he didn't stop there. "To be honest with you," he said, "I don't even know why...

California voters turned frugal Tuesday, turning down several state and local bonds and taxes -- and raising questions about prospects for $47 billion in state bonds proposed for the November ballot. The failed statewide ballot measures would have used $600 million in bonds to build and refurbish public libraries, and raised income taxes on wealthy Californians by $2.4 billion annually for preschools. Their demise could give pause to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrat legislative leaders as they contemplate how to convince Californians to support the richest series of bond measures in the state's history. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata,...

Assembly Republicans stood united for four basic points that should be included in an infrastructure bond deal. Why did the GOP Caucus lose its resolve, putting up the votes without achieving policy victories in any of the four areas?

OAKLAND — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Legislative leaders barnstormed the state Monday to tout their agreement on a $37.3 billion infrastructure bond package likely to play a pivotal role in November's election. The tarmac at Oakland International Airport was awash in bipartisan praise as the "Big Five" — the governor and the Assembly's and state Senate's Democratic and Republican leaders — held their news conference before jetting to Burbank, Santa Ana and San Diego for similar events. "I think this is going to be terrific for the whole state of California," Schwarzenegger said of the plan lawmakers approved in the...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a bipartisan delegation of legislative leaders flew around the state yesterday to promote the $37.3 billion public works bond package approved last week for the November ballot. “When I ran for governor, people always said it would be impossible to bring Democrats and Republicans together,” the Republican governor told an airport news conference in San Diego. “But we've proven again that we can come together.” Schwarzenegger highlighted school construction money that would go to San Diego if the education component of the package is approved in the November election. “For San Diego, this means that for...

OAKLAND — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Legislative leaders barnstormed the state Monday to tout their agreement on a $37.3 billion infrastructure bond package likely to play a pivotal role in November's election. The tarmac at Oakland International Airport was awash in bipartisan praise as the "Big Five" — the governor and the Assembly's and state Senate's Democratic and Republican leaders — held their news conference before jetting to Burbank, Santa Ana and San Diego for similar events. "I think this is going to be terrific for the whole state of California," Schwarzenegger said of the plan lawmakers approved in the...

SACRAMENTO – State lawmakers early Friday approved a series of bills that would place a record public works spending plan before voters in November, reviving a proposal that had broad public support but failed to pass the Legislature earlier this year. The $37.3 billion package would be the largest bond issue in California history and now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor, who proposed an even larger spending plan in January, called the votes in each house “a landmark accomplishment that will yield benefits for generations to come.” “For the first time in a generation, we are making a...

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...

Sacramento -- Bleary-eyed lawmakers voted early today to put a $37 billion package of bonds intended to fix levees and build new highways and schools on the November ballot. "Today we made a giant step forward in terms of our commitment to the state's economy and in terms of strengthening our crumbling infrastructure," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. "We also showed what bipartisanship can look like." An attempt by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to put a larger bond on the June ballot failed two months ago. Of the four bonds, transportation is the largest, at...

Lawmakers may vote this week on a bond package of more than $35 billion to relieve highway congestion, build new schools and shore up the state's deteriorating levees. A Senate vote on four public works bonds, which also includes money for emergency preparedness and affordable housing, could come Thursday. If the measures are approved by both houses of the Legislature, voters would have their say on the borrowing program in November. Sources familiar with the closed-door negotiations say there is general agreement on the shape of the package and the size of the bonds. Lawmakers are trying to win agreement...

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...

SAN JOSE -- Legislative leaders Tuesday said they have reached a key compromise over an infrastructure bond plan for California, with Republicans giving up their demand for surface water storage projects and Democrats relenting on their insistence that the package include money for urban parks and natural resource protections. The movement was disclosed at a panel discussion in San Jose on the infrastructure plan that featured the Assembly and state Senate leaders. Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, in a the discussion held as part of the Bay Area Council's day-long look at California issues, predicted that a deal will...

IN JANUARY, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, wounded from total defeat in his special election two months earlier, announced a bold plan to rebuild California's infrastructure. His Strategic Growth Plan for California's Future called for $222 billion in federal, state and local spending, including $68 billion in bonds, in anticipation of the state's growth over the next two decades. "Let us commit to building California so that the (California) dream can remain alive for this generation, for the next generation, and for generations to come," he declared in his State of the State speech. It's now April, and Schwarzenegger's "Strategic Growth Plan"...