Free Republic

A serene landscape of oaks, grassy swales and lazy creeks in Citrus Heights provides an unlikely backdrop for a nasty statewide battle over one of the last bastions of affordable housing.Two years ago, many of the residents of Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park fought for a local ordinance that would cap rents in the 500-home Citrus Heights park as new owners imposed a steep increase.They lost. Now a statewide initiative on the June ballot would make it impossible for Citrus Heights, or any other jurisdiction in California, to impose rent controls on apartments or mobile home parks. The stated purpose...

One consequence of the state's first February presidential primary election – unintended, perhaps, but a consequence nevertheless – will almost certainly be an extraordinarily low voter turnout for the June 3 regular primary. Primary elections generally see subpar turnouts, in part because independents have almost no motivation to vote. But June's election will be especially devoid of motivation – no presidential contest or any other statewide candidate duel, only a handful of meaningful legislative or congressional primaries and just two statewide ballot measures, both of which deal with the very arcane issue of property seizures by local governments. We'll have...

Inevitably, every debate about California's deficit-riddled budget morphs into a fight over how much money we should be spending on public schools and how that money should be spent. It's happening again as the Capitol's political figures wrestle with a deficit that's worse than usual and as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes – semiseriously – a $4.8 billion whack in state aid to schools. This month, as required by law, local schools are sending tentative layoff notices to thousands of teachers who would lose their jobs under the governor's proposals. Democratic legislative leaders are insisting that they will absolutely refuse to...

While most developers were eyeing property in suburbia in the 1980s, Moe Mohanna was staking his claim on some rundown buildings a few blocks from the state Capitol. The Sacramento landlord began fixing up nine storefronts along K Street in an area frequented by vagrants. His properties are at the heart of the city's plans to revitalize its business district. After years of failed negotiations to rehabilitate, exchange or buy Mohanna's buildings—which the city says violate health and safety codes—Sacramento's redevelopment agency recently moved to condemn and seize his property. "We've done all of these things, and they are chasing...

Propositions that are on the June 3, 2008 Statewide Direct Primary Election Ballot Initiative Constitutional AmendmentProposition 98 1248. Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment. Proponents: Doug Mosebar, Jon Coupal and Jim Nielsen Bars state and local governments from condemning or damaging private property for private uses. Prohibits rent control and similar measures. Prohibits deference to government in property rights cases. Defines “just compensation.” Requires an award of attorneys fees and costs if a property owner obtains a judgment for more than the amount offered by the government. Requires government to offer to original owner of condemned property...

SACRAMENTO -- California schools could face painful mid-year spending cuts of a $1 billion or more as a weakening economy lowers tax revenue forecasts, reducing the Proposition 98 school-funding guarantee. Non-partisan Legislative Analyst Liz Hill said last month that school funding in the current year was about $400 million above the Proposition 98 guarantee. She suggested that lawmakers look at cutting the "over-appropriation" as one way to begin closing a huge budget shortfall now reportedly estimated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to be about $14 billion over the next 18 months. Hill's estimate was made when the shortfall was believed to...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed Wednesday to pursue some of the "good ideas" rejected by voters in last year's special election but promised that he will not revive controversial efforts to control union dues or change the state's voter-approved education funding formula. In a wide-ranging interview with The Chronicle's editorial board Wednesday, Schwarzenegger also said he did not regret stumping for President Bush in 2004, and he denied assertions that he has been inconsistent as governor and veered from a conservative agenda in 2005 to a Democratic one this year. When asked how he would describe himself, he said he was...

Although Schwarzenegger often oversold even his modest achievements as historic reforms, in private he talked about his frustration with the slow pace of change in the state, and about how the political reality stymied major progress. He wanted to invest billions in repairing California's infrastructure, but the budget, though far healthier than when he took office, was still unbalanced. As the governor tried to make political history, his own political history boxed him in. He knew it would be a struggle to reconcile his campaign promises to reduce the state budget deficit, avoid a tax increase and protect popular public...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced a plan to repay billions of dollars to schools that educators say he has owed them since he backed out of a budget deal he made shortly after taking office in 2003. The deal, reached as the governor finalized the annual May revisions to his proposed 2006-07 budget, calls for the state to repay $2.9 billion over seven years. Another $2.8 billion from an unexpected tax windfall this spring will also go to education. The agreement is expected to settle a lawsuit brought by education groups and it may also quiet one of Schwarzenegger's...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have thought he was extending the olive branch when he called for immediate repayment of $1.67 billion in Proposition 98 education funding and showered an additional $4 billion increase on K-12 education in his 2006-2007 budget. But the governor should know by now that no amount of spending is ever enough for those who believe money can solve every problem in education. Take the California Teachers Association (CTA), for example. The governor has proposed the largest funding increase in the state history, bringing per-pupil spending to nearly $11,000. K-12 spending by the state is now $49...

SACRAMENTO -- The state's powerful education lobby has met privately with top aides to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and sought to make two points clear: it came out on top in the Nov. 8 special election and it wants the administration to make good on a $5.5 billion bill to schools next year. The Wednesday meeting, which lasted an hour, could prove a significant step in repairing the damaged relationship between the governor and educators. It also could hasten a resolution on education funding, a perennial sticking point in budget negotiations because it accounts for the greatest chunk of the state's...

In fall 1988, an epic political battle was in full swing in California. It pitted teachers unions against a Republican governor in a vitriolic fight over a ballot initiative to commit a portion of state tax dollars to K-14 education. Proponents pointed to overcrowded classrooms, dwindling course offerings and a lack of school counselors. Foes warned that the law would hamstring legislators and lead to inevitable tax increases. That November, by the narrowest of margins, Proposition 98 passed. Over the next 16 years, the law by which voters dictated the minimum portion of state tax revenue that must be spent...

From time to time the Register seems to enjoy marching out editorials and opinion columns trashing public schools. In this chorus of critiques are periodical columns by talking heads such as Lloyd Billingsley, Alan Bonsteel and Lance Izumi. Recently, ex-teacher Kathleen Miller ["Here's a word for governor: Brave," The Orange Grove, Jan. 7], echoing the governor of this state, tried to blame teachers for the problem of underachieving students. Gov. Schwarzenegger's clever slogan, "This is a battle between the special interests and the children's interests," does nothing to solve California's budget mess. When the governor lumps all teachers together as...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Facing a $2 billion hit next year in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget, a coalition of the state's largest education groups plans to meet Tuesday to consider a strategy for challenging the popular governor and his much disliked spending plan. Once considered a major ally of schools, Schwarzenegger has emerged in recent weeks as perhaps its biggest enemy. The governor not only wants to shift money from schools to fill other gaps next year but has also proposed a constitutional spending cap that could hurt schools in the future. Educators said they are preparing for political war. "We're...

Gov. Schwarzenegger is right: California will never be able to budget rationally as long as Prop. 98 remains the way it is. His proposed changes to the 1988 initiative, which requires generous annual funding for public schools, may not be workable. But he's on solid ground in making the suggestion - and sparking a debate over ways to adjust the measure. The governor has criticized "auto-pilot" spending that keeps increasing even when state revenues slump, and Prop. 98 is the 800-horsepower engine of cruise-control budgeting. Make no mistake, public education should be a top priority for California. The state for...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A sweeping constitutional amendment proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would essentially tear up another of the state's big credit cards, limiting future Legislatures' ability to borrow from special accounts to pay general government expenses, the governor's finance director said Thursday. Aimed primarily at two funds that have been raided repeatedly - schools and transportation - as well as other special funds, the proposal is the centerpiece of a reform package Schwarzenegger will send the Legislature during a special session that began Thursday. If approved by lawmakers and the voters, the administration said those reforms will help fix...

<p>Gov. Schwarzenegger, using a Sacramento middle school as his backdrop, today officially unveiled his proposal – supported by the education lobby – to give schools $2 billion less in the next fiscal year than they would have been entitled to by a strict reading of Proposition 98. The schools will still get more next year per pupil than they got this year, enough to cover enrollment growth and cost-of-living increases. And the $2 billion they will forgo remains part of the base upon which their future budgets are determined. But Schwarzenegger saves that money this year and can use it for other programs. The deal has two advantages for Schwarzenegger. The first is mathematical: it gives him $2 billion he can use to help close the budget gap. The other is political. By taking education funding off the table, he makes it much tougher for Democrats in the Legislature to argue for a tax increase. They cannot say they need the money for schools, the most popular program provided by state government. Instead, they’ll have to argue for higher taxes to fund health and welfare programs for the poor. Fair or not, that’s simply a tougher sell with the voters.</p>

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a jolt through the state's education community Tuesday by suggesting he might propose suspending the constitutional guarantee of minimum school spending to cope with the fiscal crisis.</p> <p>In an interview on CNN's "Inside Politics," Schwarzenegger said he was negotiating with school groups "to help us with this budget crisis ... to maybe have a suspension or to have some relief there so we can pull out of these next two years and pay it back, maybe."</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - In what may prove a dramatic reversal of a key campaign promise, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested Tuesday that he might push for a suspension of Proposition 98, the landmark school funding guarantee.</p> <p>"We're working with, you know, the education community to see how we can work together, for them to help with us this budget crisis," Schwarzenegger told Judy Woodruff of CNN during an interview that aired Tuesday.</p>