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No one can seriously question one of the two major assumptions behind the $38 billion worth of construction and repair bonds proposed on the Nov. 7 state ballot. Traffic relief is a must in myriad parts of California. Port security isn't a tenth as tough as it needs to be. Who can argue against battered women's shelters and housing assistance for senior citizens, veterans and working families? Overcrowded public schools need relief. And the levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta area are a disaster waiting to happen. Taken together, all those realities make up one big assumption behind the...

SACRAMENTO - When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an ambitious transportation bond in January, he touted the plan as way to improve more than 1,000 miles of state roads and build hundreds of miles of carpool lanes on California's busiest freeways. Democrats later shrank that pavement-laying proposal and substituted billions for bus, rail and other urban transit projects, but supporters have stuck to their public message since the latest version was placed on the November ballot. The bond, they say, would largely build roads and ease the lives of California's legions of freeway commuters. On Web sites and in fliers soon...

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...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to narrow his rift with conservatives Saturday by casting himself as tougher on illegal immigration than his Democratic challenger, Phil Angelides, but failed to quell a Republican revolt over his call for billions in borrowing for housing and school construction. The Republican governor told party loyalists at a state GOP convention in Century City that he had put National Guard troops on the Mexican border — as demanded by President Bush — to help federal authorities "get their act together." "My opponent wants to pull the National Guard off the border," Schwarzenegger told the crowd of...

Last fall, when it was evident that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "year of reform" ballot measure package was doomed and had seriously eroded his popularity, he and his advisors began looking for a political life ring and hit upon "infrastructure" -- doing something about the state's badly neglected highways and other public facilities. It was, in a sense, a natural choice. Schwarzenegger had assumed the governorship on a three-word slogan, "recover, reform and rebuild." The first referred to the chronically and dangerously unbalanced state budget, the second to making the political system more responsive and the third to improving the infrastructure....

SACRAMENTO State lawmakers are betting that voters eager to avoid a Katrina-style disaster in California will rally behind a $4.1 billion bond on the November ballot to shore up the state's fragile levees. While few experts disagree that California needs to rebuild its aging levee system, an Associated Press review of the bond has found the measure requires voters to take a leap of faith that the state will spend the money the way lawmakers have promised. An extensive examination of the measure, reviews of state and federal studies, and interviews with two dozen water experts, lawmakers and environmentalists have...

California voters will be asked to approve a $4.1 billion levee bond in November. The figure represents a compromise between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had sought about $6.5 billion, and Democratic lawmakers, who had wanted to spend about half that. THE PROBLEM: _ Levee system: A fragile network of 2,300 miles of levees in the state's Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is in need of major repairs. The system includes 1,600 miles of levees that were reinforced in the 1960s and 1970s and 700 miles that amount to little more than grassy berms. It was built more than...

Angelides touts bond package Treasurer agrees with governor that voters should approve $37 billion OAKLAND — They were not on stage together, but they came as close as these electoral rivals probably ever will. State Treasurer Phil Angelides set aside his bid to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a few moments to agree with his Republican opponent that the state's voters should pass the $37 billion infrastructure bond package. Even the few slight jabs he did throw in Schwarzenegger's general direction failed to incite a response from the Join Arnold campaign. "This bond package will not be an issue in...

It has happened before. It can happen again. As liberal as they are in some ways, Golden State voters may be set to strike back at their increasingly hungry government. We're not the only ones who sense something brewing. The Los Angeles Times recently judged voters to be "cranky about tax increases and big-ticket bonds" and noted that they now face "a November ballot that would break records in government spending." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also seems to sense that Californians may be starting to feel tapped-out. He is no skinflint on the spending side — in fact, he's responsible for...

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...

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...

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...

[Update: Assemblyman Chuck DeVore just called to say that a late-scheduled session has been set in the State Assembly for 5:30 p.m. today...] The Democrats in Sacramento must be really enjoying themselves today. What could possibly be more enjoyable for them than to see Republicans boxed into a corner. In the downstairs office, you have a GOP Governor against whom almost all of the Democrats have endorsed, and across the aisle they have GOP legislators, who stand as their longtime opponents in their quest to massively grow the size and scope of state government. It is being reported in articles...

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...

SAN MARCOS – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger touted his education budget Friday in a town hall event at San Elijo School, saying the spending plan will lead to smaller class sizes and improvements to charter schools. Speaking to parents, students and teachers at the San Marcos campus for kindergarten through eighth-grade pupils, Schwarzenegger said his record $54 billion school budget translates to $11,000 per student. “I believe our children should have first call on our treasury,” Schwarzenegger said. “Teachers should have the resources they need to do their jobs well and schools deserve the funds they require to expand, update and...

As the Capitol recovers from its bond-financing hangover, the challenge of getting a bond on the November ballot is more complicated than the puzzle of a June deal. If there is going to be a deal for the fall, legislative leaders will have to negotiate amid the summer's annual budget wrangling--just as the gubernatorial campaign picks up steam. "People need to remember that getting it done [in June] was important," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. Now, "you are going to see a lot of other forces entering this, including partisan politics with the November elections … It's...

** Last night's "Big Five" meeting reported here, between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders on their next steps for moving some version of the big infrastructure bonds package forward, seems to have come up with little so far. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata summed up afterward saying the governor was urging a legislative solution. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez continues to hold out some hope for the school construction and levee repair bonds passed in his house. Republican sources say their caucuses are less than enthused.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Schwarzenegger is scheduled to be in Fresno today, a visit that only months ago would have been enough to excite most any Republican. But if you ask one of Fresno's leading Republicans, the governor will get a reception today that is just "extremely lukewarm." "The problem he's got is the [Republican] base is just dead — it's dead and lifeless," said Michael Der Manouel Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, a GOP group. Der Manouel and other fiscal conservatives are upset by the governor's attempt to put a multibillion-dollar bond measure on the ballot...

A breakdown in protocol caused two Republican senators to miss last Wednesday night's important floor session on bonds. The incident has led to a contrite sergeant at arms and a discussion over the ubiquity of Blackberry wireless devices in the Capitol. More importantly for Republicans, it caused a spat between Senate minority leader Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, and Senator Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, the party's candidate for lieutenant governor. It all started last Wednesday afternoon as Senators were waiting for an announced Wednesday night session to try to work out a compromise on the infrastructure bond. Shortly after 5 p.m., Secretary...

Forget red-state, blue-state politics. The biggest color-coded rivalry in the Capitol might be red and green, as in the traditional colors of the state Senate and Assembly, respectively. Facing a Wednesday night deadline to put public works bonds on the June ballot, the Capitol featured hijinks usually reserved for the final nights of a session. Senate leaders shocked the Assembly by pushing through a $1 billion bipartisan bill to fix levees that undermined the Assembly's attempt to approve two bonds that evening. Inviting comparisons to his predecessor, John Burton, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata then gaveled down the session...

SACRAMENTO - Resentment that Los Angeles could get more than its fair share of transportation funds bogged down already tangled political infighting and helped scuttle Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's push for a June infrastructure bond package, according to legislators and others involved in last week's negotiations. Insiders were quick to note that Los Angeles was not the only factor that stalled efforts to push forward bond proposals the governor has touted as key to a massive $222 billion Strategic Growth Plan designed to aid the state's crumbling infrastructure. Also behind the failure, they said, was a general dysfunction that has grown...

Even stretching the deadline by five days was not enough for the Legislature and the governor to agree on a bond measure for the June ballot. That failure, though, represents a victory for Californians: Instead of a hasty collection of poorly thought out compromises, legislators now have time to craft a bond measure that properly addresses the state's needs. The governor and Legislature on Wednesday night finally gave up on a ballot measure for June, after extending the March 10 deadline to try for an agreement. But movement toward the first stage of the governor's $222 billion, 10-year public works...

SACRAMENTO — A day after lawmakers failed to pass Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bond plan for the June ballot, the governor and legislative leaders vowed Thursday to put a proposal before voters in November — though efforts will likely get tangled in the budget and election-year politics. At the same time, Bay Area lawmakers attacked state government secrecy in light of the historic amounts of money in public works ballot bonds and in the wake of reports of dismal state compliance with the Public Records Act. Schwarzenegger remained optimistic about his $222 billion, multi-year plan to upgrade infrastructure. "As long as...

I'M ALMOST tempted, given the bad behavior of politicians in Sacramento over whether to upgrade California's decaying levees, roads, reservoirs and other infrastructure, to just sit back and hope a nasty 500-year flood inundates the Capitol with thick muck. Too bad few politicians would suffer. Instead, thousands upon thousands of far-too-blissfully ignorant residents would lose their homes, and even their lives, if a catastrophic flood should strike Sacramento ... As if taunting the heavens, local Sacramento politicians have insanely allowed developers to construct thousands of residences on the bottomlands of floodplains. What's needed is a measure that focuses like a...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's failure to put a multibillion dollar public works bond on the June ballot robs him of a fresh accomplishment just as he is poised to begin asking voters for a new term. The bond's failure, at least for now, is more than just an ordinary legislative setback. Schwarzenegger has staked his re-election on an ambitious plan to use the bonds to rebuild the state's aging roads, schools and water projects. The governor still has time to rescue his plan and put some sort of bond on the November ballot. But the difficulty he is having underscores the...

If he wanted it easy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday, he would have stayed on a Hollywood movie set. "I would make my $20 million a movie, have my 40-foot trailer, have people serving me day and night and telling me that I am the greatest," he told reporters. "I didn't come to Sacramento because I expect things to be done easily." But while Schwarzenegger sought at a Capitol press conference to put a relentlessly optimistic spin on a chaotic week of negotiations on bonds to build schools, roads, levees and other infrastructure, the fact remained that life in Sacramento...

Sacramento -- The failure to reach agreement on a multibillion-dollar public works spending plan, caused in large part by Republican lawmakers rebelling against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, threatens to leave the governor's top policy priority stalled as he runs for re-election. Despite extraordinary last-minute efforts by the governor to persuade GOP lawmakers to vote for his proposal -- he pleaded individually with some, and administration officials got major Republican donors to call others -- Schwarzenegger never corralled enough votes from his own party to get a deal. The result leaves Schwarzenegger with little to show for the first three months of...

SACRAMENTO – Hours after suffering a major election-year defeat by failing to put his ambitious public works bond on the June ballot, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger guaranteed that the entire package would be put before voters in November. “We are going to have this year the infrastructure done. That I can guarantee you,” Schwarzenegger told a Capitol news conference yesterday. “We will have it done this year. We haven't been able to do it by June. But we will do it by November.” As a deadline approached Wednesday night, marathon negotiations to place a $50 billion bond issue on the June...

Why should the Assembly and Senate Republicans support massive bond proposals, without any reforms? Just ask his legislative advisor, Richard Costigan--because Arnold needs this for re-election. Why should Republicans support Arnold for re-election? Just ask Matthew Dowd in Austin, Texas (the guv's chief consultant) or Steve Schmidt (the Guv's campaign manager); because Arnold is better than Westly or Angelides...they would have even worse legislation. Republicans should be happy that the Governor is appointing so many Democrats and non-Republicans to the bench and key government positions. Why? Because, according to the Governor, no Republicans are qualified. Nothing positive, just, "I am...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday guaranteed that he and the Legislature will agree on an infrastructure bond package on the ballot in November, despite their failure to work out a plan for the June 6 primary. Holding his thumb and index finger an inch apart, Schwarzenegger told reporters "we actually came this close" to arriving at an agreement for June, but that in the end, "we fell a little bit short on the whole package." Schwarzenegger said he was pleased that the Assembly approved a $4.15 billion levee bond and a $10 billion measure for schools Wednesday night, and that...

3:40 PM UPDATE: Speaker Nunez has received a reply from the Department of General Services, in which the state printer operation is housed. Ballot materials would have to be gotten to them by midnight tonight. Given that there are no new substantive developments on the bonds package and that the governor has not secured needed Republican support in the Legislature — barring a political miracle – Arnold’s Big Bang Bonds will not be on the June ballot.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on Tuesday gave themselves at least one more day to try to overcome what one lawmaker called "the diabolical politics of water" and put a record-setting public works bond measure on the June ballot. Negotiators have been working on borrowed time since last Friday, the secretary of state's official cutoff date for the Legislature to add proposals to the June 6 ballot. Lawmakers and administration officials have repeatedly stretched that deadline as they try to find a way out of a seemingly intractable disagreement over how much bond money to spend for new reservoirs....

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders struggled Tuesday to agree on a record-setting public works bond package that could reach the June ballot, with what one lawmaker called "the diabolical politics of water" standing in the way. But negotiators were working on borrowed time. Last Friday was the secretary of state's official deadline for the Legislature to add proposals to the June 6 ballot, but lawmakers and administration officials said they could still make the ballot if they acted by Tuesday. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson asking him to...

SACRAMENTO - A $48 billion public-works borrowing plan that could increase the size of Riverside County's Lake Perris stalled in the Assembly late Monday. Assembly Republicans seemed united against the proposal, despite Gov. Schwarzenegger's recent appeals for support. "It's fully one-third pork. The rest of it is uncertain as to what it's supposed to do," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta. Monday's events came three days after what Secretary of State Bruce McPherson had earlier set as the deadline by when lawmakers needed to approve bond legislation for the June ballot. Last week, though, McPherson's office issued a memo that seemed...

FLASH: Big Bang Bonds Boom! There Is An Arnold/Fabian Deal. But No Puff Of White Smoke Over The Capitol Dome Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez have a deal on the Big Bang Bonds infrastructure package. But don’t pop those champagne corks — or do the Super Bowl gatorade dump — just yet. From a variety of informed sources in the Democratic and Republican parties, I’ve learned that a marathon negotiating session between the two yesterday, followed by further talks (but no planned for Big Five meeting this morning due to lingering bad feelings), has resulted in agreement...

That said, it seems to me that Schwarzenegger badly needs a deal and shouldn't be too picky. Take what he can get from Democrats and warmly embrace it as his own. Pull out a two-by-four and beat Republicans into submission. Republican lawmakers need a rehabilitated governor to help them raise campaign money in the fall and perform little favors for the next four years. Not to mention improving flood control in their rural districts. Privately, some gubernatorial insiders agree. "It's been really hard to watch," one advisor says of the Republicans. "Don't they understand the part about the governor giving...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers Saturday attempted to pick up the pieces of a historic bond package for new schools, roads and levees and restart negotiations after a bitter defeat of the plan at the hands of Senate Republicans early Saturday morning. While time may again be running out -- the official deadline was Friday for placing bonds before voters June 6 -- lawmakers agreed that Schwarzenegger's plan isn't dead yet, even for June. After meeting with him Saturday, Assembly Republicans and Democrats agreed to keep negotiating today. The Senate voted 24-12 along party lines -- three votes short...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on Friday were trying to agree on what would be the largest bond issue in California history, pressing to meet a March 10 deadline for placing a proposal on the June ballot. Any agreement between the governor and leaders from both parties requires support from two-thirds majorities in the Assembly and Senate. The governor has vowed to work through the weekend if necessary, even though the secretary of state had set Friday as the deadline to reach an agreement. Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, said Senate Republicans were ready to vote for a...

SACRAMENTO – Lawmakers were stuck on whether to include new reservoirs in a massive public works program yesterday as they missed a formal deadline for placing a record bond measure on the June ballot. However, legislators said the $47 billion bond proposal to help build a new backbone for economic growth in California can still make the ballot if legislation is passed by early next week. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a historic investment in the state by ultimately pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into roads and mass transit, water facilities, housing, parks and school and university buildings....

Sacramento -- A giant bond proposal being weighed by state lawmakers has far more in it than billions of dollars to build schools and highways and strengthen California's levees. Restoration of the Salton Sea, retrofitting diesel school buses, acquiring land and creating urban parks are a few examples of spending included in the most recent version of the bond, which would go before voters in June if lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can work out a deal in the next couple of days. "Protection of environmental resources is as much of a long-term investment in California's future as is the...