Posted on 03/15/2006 9:04:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Facing a midnight deadline, the state Assembly was called back into session Wednesday to consider placing at least part of a massive public works bond proposal on the June ballot.
The session was called shortly after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and leaders from both parties met for about an hour in a last-minute round of negotiations.
Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said the Assembly was to consider placing two measures on the June ballot: a $10.4 billion bond to build schools and upgrade universities, and an undetermined amount to repair the state's fragile levee system.
"We think we have the governor's support," Maviglio said.
An aide in the governor's office said he could not confirm the Assembly's plans.
If such a deal ultimately is approved by both houses of the Legislature, it would represent at least a partial victory for Schwarzenegger. He proposed a 10-year, $222 billion public works spending plan in January that relied on $68 billion in borrowing.
The proposal to be considered in the Assembly came after more than a week of intense negotiations. The Senate also was scheduled to convene Wednesday night.
Schwarzenegger proposed the largest bond measure in state history in January, a plan to rebuild the state's highway system, repair its levees, build new schools, upgrade universities, create reservoirs and expand mass transit, among other projects.
It relied on lawmakers and voters approving $68 billion in borrowing in a series of elections through 2014, an amount that was 4 1/2 times the largest single bond amount in state history.
Schwarzenegger's "strategic growth plan" would have been the most ambitious public works program in California since the 1960s. Getting the plan - or a part of it - through the Democrat-controlled Legislature and onto a ballot had been the centerpiece of his re-election year agenda.
"The governor's looking for a success, and the voters aren't going to measure a success by the size of the bond," said Kevin Spillane, a Republican consultant. "The details aren't as important as the public image of him having a success."
The plan to be considered Wednesday in the Assembly came after Schwarzenegger and lawmakers had continually pushed back a deadline that the secretary of state's office had originally set as last Friday.
On Wednesday, the state Department of General Services heightened the urgency to settle the matter. The department's director said lawmakers needed to act by midnight to ensure that election ballots could be mailed by the May 16 deadline.
Negotiations had stumbled over exactly how much to put into a bond bill, what projects would be funded and related issues such as whether environmental reviews should be required for levee repairs and highway improvements.
Many Republican and Democratic lawmakers were concerned about the size of Schwarzenegger's original borrowing plan. He later proposed adding another $3.5 billion for levee repairs after he said it was unlikely the federal government would offer substantial financial help.
They since compromised on a bond package that would total about $50 billion, even as they appeared to deadlock over certain details.
Among the most intractable issues was a demand by Republican lawmakers for dams to create one or two new reservoirs, saying California will need more water storage to handle its growing population.
Democrats have refused to support such a plan, instead favoring conservation and underground water storage.
A recent poll found California voters favored Schwarzenegger's proposal to rebuild the state's infrastructure by a 2-to-1 ratio, even though they differed over some of the details.
The last-minute frenzy that preceded the announcement was indicative of the chaos that has surrounded the negotiations since late last week, when lawmakers faced the Friday deadline to place a bond measure on the June ballot. That deadline had been extended daily.
A $48.8 billion bond proposal backed by Senate Democrats failed in the Senate early Saturday morning after Republicans refused to support it. The Assembly canceled a vote Monday night on a $49.3 billion bond measure after Nunez conceded he didn't have enough votes.
A setback for Schwarzenegger's signature policy proposal would have complicated his bid for re-election. His staff sought a legislative victory on the bond proposal to help the governor rebound from a disastrous 2005, when voters rejected all four of the government-reform measures he promoted during the special election.
Democrats have majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but they need at least a few Republican votes. Two Republican votes in the Senate and six in the Assembly are required for the two-thirds majorities required to pass a bond measure and place it on the ballot.
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LOLOLOL
Shades of "Fake but accurate"
It's much in keeping with the theme of the Ca GOP
New Majority-driven party effort in this state the last few years..
Just Win, Baby! Don't sweat the details!
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
The political class and their allies in the press must think the electorate just fell off the turnip truck.
I think we have the governor's support.
Duh! I think you do too since he coauthored it.
Actually these shenanigans are hilarious. A Republican governor who won't admit he's colluding with Democrats against Republicans and Democrat leaders who won't admit their working with a Republican governor for fear it will alienated their base who absolutely detest anything and anyone Republican even if that Republican is a liberal and working with them to defeat conservatism.
It takes a special governor to lose favor with both the Democrats and Conservatives.
Just Spend, Baby! Don't sweat the details!
Just Spend, Baby! Don't sweat the details!
That'll work too. ;-)
In 3 years, the state budget has grown by almost 30%.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Somehow, I don't think tax revenues have increased 30%. I vaguely remember receiving a tax surplus check from the state of California many years ago.
Fool 'em, so you can rule 'em, Baby!!!
Hold fast, for once, you people!!!
That tax rebate was likely in 1987,, 1.1 billion worth. (courtesy of the internet and my trusty search engine)
A $222 Billion dollar screw job to the taxpayers is Arnold's success?
Now that is a classic!
Per a SFGate.com Politics blog
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=3555
10:13 p.m. Update:The Assembly passed the education and flood-control bond measures. The Senate, however, adjourned without taking up the measures.
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may not need to hold fast,, looks like the assembly said Yes,, but the Senate petered out.
should be the end of it for now, onto November maybe and even then, it may be the end of bonds galore. Is that the wailing and lamentations of women I hear in the distance? :-o
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
No more money for the piggies at the trough up in Sacramento. Not through taxes, not through bonds, not for any of their glorious promises. If they cannot do it on what they have now, then they should go home. Or at least give up their chauffeurs, limos, suv's, etc.
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