The headline, rushed online yesterday by news outlets looking for a scoop, makes it clear the state's budget woes aren't getting better. Maybe even worse.

But deeper inside the new in-depth analysis of the Legislative Analyst's Office are examples of a government budget system that's evaporating faster than the polar icecaps.
(more...)

A long awaited study of the costs to small businesses from state regulations is finally out, and on first blush seems to reinforce the argument that state lawmakers should scale back their meddling ways.

But the study appears thin on an actual roadmap forward for policymakers, and may not help untangle the complicated issue of which regulations are superfluous, and which ones... even if costly... serve a worthy purpose.
(more...)

The autumnal equinox is often marked in Sacramento by the state's chief executive signing or vetoing hundreds of bills submitted by the Legislature.

This season is no diffferent. Or... is it?
(more...)

Few new tax proposals have dominated the recent political debate in Sacramento like calls for a new levy on each barrel of oil produced in California. Both sides say it's a no-brainer; not surprisingly, it's a little more complicated than that.
(more...)

Few proposals have had as many twists and turns in 2009 as a plan to allow new oil drilling in waters less than three miles off the California coast. But even after serious setbacks, few expect the proposal to fade away anytime soon.

The proposal is known as Tranquillon Ridge, and it's the focus of my lengthy story that aired this morning on The California Report. You can listen by clicking below.

(more...)

Arguing that the furloughs of tens of thousands of state workers is "costing the state money and further hurting the economy," the leader of the state Senate says he intends to push a plan to trim the three days of furloughs every month down to two.
(more...)

A cease-fire to the water wars that have lasted for most of California's modern existence. A prison overcrowding problem that's about to be yanked from state control by federal judges. A broad expansion of California's commitment to sources of renewable energy.

All that in ten days. Really?
(more...)

For those who wanted a quick fix to California's prison woes, some advice: don't hold your breath.

Eleven days after the state Senate narrowly approved a wide-ranging plan to change the prison system, the Assembly has now approved a much narrower version... one which seems destined to sit for a little while, as policy and politics matters are sorted out.
(more...)

As we reported in this morning's radio story for The California Report, yesterday's action (and inaction) by the Legislature on a major prison reform bill fell victim to one of the essential truths in politics: a deal's not done until it's done.

And this one wasn't done... which is why we all get to come back Monday and try again.
(more...)

It won't be the only proposal before the Legislature on Thursday, but it will definitely be the main event: a plan to save money and lower the population of California's prisons.

That plan, endorsed both by legislative Democrats, is expected to be heard first in the Senate and later Thursday in the Assembly. A spokesperson for Governor Schwarzenegger would only say that for now, administration support depends on whether the bill conforms to Schwarzenegger's prison reform framework.
(more...)