Free Republic

<p>Democratic State Controller Steve Westly on Monday urged California voters not to recall Gov. Gray Davis, calling the Oct. 7 election ``a distraction from good public policy'' that could cost the state an extra $1 billion in higher borrowing costs over the next three decades.</p>

<p>The state controller is raising his estimate of how much California will have to borrow this summer as a stalemate over budget cuts and vehicle license fee increases drags on in the Legislature.</p> <p>Controller Steve Westly says the state will have to borrow $4 billion to $11 billion in June to keep its operations running as lawmakers try to erase a budget deficit that could reach $34.6 billion over the next 16 months.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO - The Assembly moved slowly Tuesday to deal with a new package of budget cuts as the controller warned that lack of quick action on California's gaping deficit could force more state borrowing this summer.</p> <p>Assembly Democrats agreed to hold a committee hearing next week on a package of about $8.6 billion in budget cuts and funding shifts approved Monday by the Senate, but Speaker Herb Wesson said there was no guarantee the full Assembly would take up the legislation next week.</p>

<p>State Controller Steve Westly said Thursday that he has been asked by Gov. Gray Davis to develop new Internet tax policies.</p> <p>Westly told valley business leaders he envisions changes that will probably mean more widespread sales taxes on online purchases and possibly surcharges on Internet access and software downloads.</p>

Controller urges swift budget action State Controller Kathleen Connell is warning the Legislature that the governor's recently revised budget forecast will require immediate action to ensure that the state can meet its obligations in the current year. "If the governor's recently revised revenue projections are realized, the state will almost certainly need to issue a second consecutive year of revenue anticipation warrants by May 2003 to enable the state to fulfill its financial obligations," Connell said. "Limited available credit capacity and a serious concern among credit providers regarding the state's ability to repay a RAW issuance will prevent California from...

<p>SACRAMENTO(AP) - State Controller Kathleen Connell urged lawmakers on Monday to quickly act on $10.2 billion in proposed midyear cuts, warning that the state's cash flow could run dry otherwise.</p> <p>Connell said the state may have to take out short-term loans - called revenue anticipation warrants - for the second consecutive year to help the state pay its bills.</p>

<p>Steve Westly's hard-fought bid for state controller now comes down to the methodical counting of late votes -- and it may be weeks before the former eBay vice president knows whether he won.</p> <p>On Friday, scores of campaign volunteers descended on the state's 58 county elections offices to monitor the tedious sorting, opening, checking and counting of more than 600,000 ballots. Hundreds of elections officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles counties planned to count through the weekend, but some smaller counties were not expected to finish the preliminary work and begin their tally until late next week.</p>

<p>THE CONTROLLER'S job may not be the most glamorous elective office, but it is one of the most important in terms of guarding the state treasury. It's a wonk's paradise. The controller sits on 52 boards and commissions and has broad powers to audit state agencies.</p>

<p>McClintock accuses Westly of 'insider trading' at eBay; the former executive says his opponent 'has no clue.'</p> <p>State controller candidate Steve Westly sold more than $14 million in eBay stock shortly before the company announced layoffs in one of its divisions and Westly left the popular online auction firm.</p>

<p>With California's fiscal accounting starting to make WorldCom look like a straight shooter, voters should have more than a passing interest in who is elected the next state controller. The job is the equivalent of being chief financial officer for a major corporation. And like the controller's counterparts in corporate America, the state's CFO is the person who can and should blow the whistle if the brass is cooking the books.</p>

Air controllers: Saudi wanted only men Envoy, FAA deny prince barred females from handling Texas flights 04/27/2002 By JIM MORRIS / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON &#8211; Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's representatives asked that women be barred from air traffic control duties when he traveled Thursday to Central Texas for a summit with President Bush, several Texas aviation officials say. The request, honored on portions of the prince's flights between Houston and Waco, has angered some Texas air traffic personnel. "I don't think his request should have even been passed on," said Mark Pallone, a regional vice president of...