With all of the hoopla surrounding the now official special election, it was easy for political reporters to miss a new little glimpse of the initiative process from the communications staff of Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

First, a new record. The AG's office reports that it has received a total of 86 proposed initiatives this year, breaking the prior record set in 1997. And 2005 is still young.

A couple of other interesting factoids, courtesy of Lockyer spokesman Nathan Barankin:

* 76 initiatives are still in the "pipeline" and could possibly appear on a future ballot.

* Since the 2003 recall election, the AG's office reports receiving 205 proposed initiatives. How huge is that number? Consider this: that's the same number proposed from the creation of the initiative process in 1912 until 1948-- a whopping 36 years, equaled now in less than 2 years.

Expect a lot of debate about those two numbers next week. They reflect the new and the old estimates of the cost for a special election from Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

The governor's office released a letter from McPherson late today that claims his new estimate of the special election's cost has been adjusted down to $44,686,420. That's in stark contrast to an estimate provided by the new chief elections official last month in a speech to the Sacramento Press Club: $80 million.

As for an official response to the discrepancy... well, the Secretary's spokespersons were already gone for the day, a half-hour after the governor's office released the letter.

But the letter hints that part of the lower estimate may be due to a decision that the money being spent by counties conducting municipal elections this November 8th shouldn't be counted as part of the "extra" cost.

Either way, local officials say they don't have any spare change lying around to foot the added bills... and are demanding that the state pick up the tab.

In a late-afternoon news conference, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez announced they would send a budget to the floor for a vote next week... a budget without the money they claim the schools are due.

The move may have as much to do with politics as policy: get the many other budget items off the table on time, and force a separate up-or-down vote on an estimated $3.1 billion more for K-14 education, as well as a tax hike on higher wage earners.

Nunez told reporters the decision may give Democrats the upper hand from a "moral compass" perspective.

But that also assumes Republicans will do their part by voting for the conference committee-crafted budget. Senator Dennis Hollingsworth (R-El Cajon), who represented his caucus on the conference committee, quickly released a statement calling the strategy a "political drill."

And the governor's finance director, Tom Campbell, told reporters he thinks the decision is "transparent" as to its motives in trying to force a squabble that links tax increases to school spending. Campbell also criticized Democrats for a budget plan that directs $2.3 billion dollars of one-time money to ongoing expenditures.

The final ballot measures touted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as key to his self-proclaimed "year of reform" have officially made it on the next statewide ballot.

The Secretary of State's office has certified the signatures gathered for the budget control initiative known as "Live Within Our Means" (read it here) and the initiative to take political redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature (read it here).

The announcement means the stage is now set for the governor to call a special election on November 8th... a proclamation that virtually the entire Capitol community expects will be made by Schwarzenegger on Monday.

While redistricting has been pushed by the governor for months, the ballot measure is actually the work of recall proponent Ted Costa.

Meantime, the budget initiative is widely seen as the most controversial of the governor's proposals-- not only because it would change the budget process by averaging state spending and possibly allowing the governor to erase deficits on his own, but also because of the possible impact on funding for education and some local services.

Another step has been taken toward a special election this fall, as two big initiatives are now officially on the ballot-- including one of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposals for government reform.

The Secretary of State's office announced late Monday certification of the initiative to increase the length of time on the job for a teacher to get tenure from two years to five years. It would also authorize school boards to fire teachers who receive two negative performance reviews in a row. You can read it here.

The other initiative would force public employee unions to get permission every year from members before their dues could be spent on political activities. And while Schwarzenegger hasn't formally endorsed that measure, now that it's on the ballot both sides expect his political presence to play a role in what will probably be the most expensive campaign of the season. You can read it here.

If you're keeping score, that's now three initiatives on the ballot for a likely November 8th election (parental notification for a teenager's abortion was the first to qualify). Others still pending: Schwarzenegger's proposals for changing the state budget process and political redistricting; competing initiatives on affordable prescription drugs; and a plan from Democrats to reregulate the state's energy market.

Expect to hear a lot more tough talk about a special election in the next few days, especially as the deadline for the governor to formally call that election is now one week away.

Today's deadline for bills to make it out of their house of origin will come and go without any real movement on the issue of campaign finance reform... an example of why people on both sides of the aisle say only a ballot initiative will ever really change the way money makes its way through the political system.

On this week's newsmagazine version of The California Report, we're looking at the governor's record on the issue, and the death two years running of bills he's endorsed that would change the system.

Last year, it was AB 3006 (Haynes); this year, it was AB 16 (Huff). Both bills featured blackouts on fundraising during portions of the legislative year, an idea Schwarzenegger advocated in his 2003 campaign. But both also went nowhere in the Assembly, with some critics saying the governor could have done more to make it a part of his agenda.

Of course, campaign finance reformers say the Legislature wanted no part of the issue either, and must share in the blame. Most of the legislation to change the role of money in politics will die a quiet death at the end of today, including a plan for public financing of campaigns under AB 583 (Hancock).

In fact, the only real bill dealing with donation limits that is still alive is AB 709 (Wolk), which would reinstate contribution limits on ballot measure committees controlled by candidates. The bill is now in the Senate, but is unlikely to ever become law... considering the man who would have to sign it, the governor, successfully had those same contribution limits overturned in court a few weeks ago.

In the most clear sign yet of how much things have changed since Bruce McPherson became Secretary of State almost four months ago, federal elections officials have released the final installment of California's share of election reform cash.

McPherson announced this morning that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has handed over $169 million in funds from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)-- money that was held back, in part, because of the cloud of controversy over how former Secretary Kevin Shelley had spent some of the initial HAVA money.

You'll remember McPherson traveled back east to DC last month to personally reassure federal officials. Local elections officials will be able to use the money for various election reform projects once the Legislature signs off on the plan.