A few odds and ends…

* Sunshine Training: Following a recent report that found many state agencies are worse at allowing public access to records than local governments, Governor Schwarzenegger has signed an executive order designed to improve the openness of his administration. The order requires each agency to review or design a policy to comply with the state’s Public Records Act within 30 days. The governor’s legal affairs secretary, Andrea Hoch, told reporters this afternoon that some 250 employees from various agencies participated in training on the issue earlier in the day. She said the action was based, in part, on a recent survey by the non-profit organization Californians Aware, which found that 31 state agencies were not in full compliance with the law allowing public access to most documents.

* Governor’s Campaign Filings: A legal battle dating back to before last year’s special election has ended, with an appeals court concluding Schwarzenegger and his political operation did not properly report contributions made toward passing the redistricting initiative, Proposition 77. The allegations, made by Democrats and labor unions, centered on TV ads paid for by Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Team that advocated passage of Prop 77. The ruling by the 3rd District Court of Appeal says that the ads were contributions which the state’s Political Reform Act (PRA) says must be reported within 24 hours. In its ruling, the court writes that the governor’s campaign team “is not free to determine when and what to disclose; it must comply with the PRA.” What happens now? Well, the union-backed Alliance For A Better California is asking state campaign finance regulators to consider a fine equal to the amount that went unreported, which could be into the millions of dollars.

* The Cost of Skipping School: This week’s protests surrounding the issue of illegal immigration have prompted students in some schools to walk out of their classrooms. Trouble is, schools receive a good portion of their funding based on attendance figures. As a result, several school districts asked Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell for a waiver from the attendance/cash formula, in light of this week’s walkouts. Today, O’Connell sent a letter to local educators that says any kind of waiver is unlikely. “While I am pleased that students are… exercising their right to free speech and assembly,” wrote O’Connell, “we must encourage them to enjoy these hard-fought liberties in ways that will not hinder their or their classmates’ education.”

Yet another way, it seems, that it really does pay to stay in school.