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09/07/2006    GAAS:601:06    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Expand Preschool for Children at California’s Lowest-Performing Schools   Fulfilling the promise he made in his January budget to provide quality preschool targeted to the children who need it most, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed legislation to increase early education programs at the state’s lowest-performing schools. The legislation is a part of the Governor’s three-year initiative to help close the achievement gap by expanding preschool opportunities statewide.   “Preschool gives our kids the strong foundation they need to be successful in school and in life,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “This proposal...

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A California legislator proposing higher income taxes said on Saturday that half of her Democratic Assembly colleagues support her measure, setting up a fight with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has ruled out tax increases to narrow the state's budget gap. Assemblywoman Wilma Chan said 24 Assembly Democrats have signed on as co-authors of her bill to raise taxes on California's high-income earners, a measure introduced a week after the Republican governor unveiled his first budget proposal, a $99 billion plan with some $4.6 billion in spending cuts and no tax increases. Democrats hold 48...

<p>Democrat Assemblywoman Wilma Chan of Oakland, backed by 24 of her colleagues, has introduced a bill to increase the top income tax rates in hopes of raising about $3 billion a year. Chan’s bill, AB 1815, would boost the top rate from the current 9.3 percent to 10 percent on singles with taxable incomes of more than $136,000 a year and joint filers earning $272,000. The top rate for individuals with incomes of $272,000 and couples earning $544,000 annually would go to 11 percent. Chan says her bill would affect the top 2 percent of California wage earners. I still expect Schwarzenegger to wiggle his way through the year without a tax increase. But I would not be shocked if, facing a stalemate this summer, he were to agree to place a bill like this on the November ballot and let “the people” decide whether to hike taxes or cut more programs. In my column this Sunday I will discuss the latest figures on the rise and fall of California’s super-rich and the implications for the state’s budget shortfall.</p>