Free Republic

The governor was so proud of his May Revise of the budget that he didn't want to end the press conference last Friday. What is not to be proud of? $7.5 billion in unexpected revenues, repayment of the money promised to education, deficit is down to $2.5 billion (when it was expected to be $16 billion if the Davis spending habits had been continued), $2.2 billion into reserves and lots of goodies for the special interests. It is when you get into the details that you realize this is a crisis waiting to happen. Instead of a “fantastic” budget, it...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by a Kern County highway junction Tuesday to promote what he called a "historic" $37 billion bond package for education, housing, levee repair and transportation. State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, left, joins in with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall, right, along Highway 99 and Highway 65 gaining support for an infrastructure bond on the November ballot. The program calls for $1 billion in improvements to Highway 99. The bond package, passed by the state Legislature Friday, needs only to be signed by the governor to be put on the November 2006 ballot....

Sacramento -- Real estate developers, general contractors and farmers made sizable contributions to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in recent weeks as legislative leaders and the administration finalized a landmark $37 billion bond package for rebuilding public works projects statewide. The governor has raised a total of $5.1 million in the last seven weeks, much of it -- $1 million -- coming from builders and other businesses with potential interests in the infrastructure bonds approved last week for the November ballot. Builders traditionally support Republican candidates and have given generously to Schwarzenegger in the past, but the recent surge of contributions from...

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...

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 frenetic last-minute attempt to place a massive public works bond on the June ballot failed late Wednesday, handing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a key legislative defeat in his bid for re-election. The collapse of negotiations over the bond measure came just hours before an administrative deadline to place measures on the primary election ballot. "We ran out of time," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said, after the Senate passed an urgency bill appropriating $1 billion for levee repairs from the state's reserve fund. A partial deal had appeared possible just hours earlier after legislative leaders from both...

It seems as though the only people still talking about the looming deadline to get a infrastructure bond proposal on the June 6 ballot... are interest groups and, yours truly, the news media. The leadership of both houses and Governor Schwarzenegger met for around 90 minutes this morning, with an agenda that was officially about emergency preparedness. But the real issue remains the status of any deal on a major public works proposal, in light of the governor's $222 billion Strategic Growth Plan and individual plans from the Democratic leaders of both the Senate and Assembly. It's hard to see...

Before the governor and Legislature decide on any infrastructure bond proposals, they need to settle two key questions: What projects does the state need most, and who decides where the money goes? Without an answer, a welcome new focus on the state's public facilities could produce a boondoggle. Gov. Schwarzenegger last month proposed a 10-year, $222 billion Strategic Growth Plan, including $68 billion in state bonds, to invest in roads, schools, water systems, prisons and courts. Not to be outdone, legislative Democrats have floated their own bond plans, with differing priorities. There is room to debate whether the state should...