by Nate W [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Cross posted at myDD.

CQ Politics is reporting on the Democratic leadership's desire for a second package to strengthen the economy that largely lines up with Barack Obama's plans. But are Congressional Dems omitting aid to state governments, one of the key planks of Obama's plan?:

EDIT by Brian: more in the extended.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Approval of 1 Year suspension of state COLA for SSPand CalWORKS

• Major Showdown Coming with No Solution on Bridging a Growing Budget Shortfall

By Marty D. Omoto
Director/Organizer
California Disability Community Action Network

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By State Senator Sheila Kuehl

The Budget Process Through July 21st

This is my third essay for 2007 and the first one I have done on the 2007-2008 budget, which has now passed, after a series of cuts and more cuts. In this first of several essays on the budget, I will set out some of the provisions of the budget originally agreed to by the budget conference committee, the changes that were made to that budget in the Assembly in order to get 6 Republican votes and the reasons for the two-month stalemate in the Senate.

Budget Process, January to June

The Governor sends his proposed budget to the two houses of the Legislature in January, shortly after his “State of the State” speech. It is immediately divided into four or five sections and given to the budget sub-committees in each house to analyze, critique, change and adopt, piece by piece. Each administrative Agency and unit appears before a budget sub-committee to defend their budget. In May, the Governor submits a revised budget, called the “May Revise”, based on adjusted (tax) income and expense figures for the current year and expected savings or increases.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Hands down, the two biggest losers of the Senate Republican Senate budget blockade were Senators Tom McClintock and Jeff Denham.
 
While it's true that both have reached folk hero status with the increasingly insignificant ultra-right wing of the Republican party, their chances of statewide general election success deteriorated significantly during the past two months.
 
McClintock, a repeated failure in pursuit of higher office, once again positioned himself as Mr. No. McClintock never has voted for a state budget in the Assembly nor in the Senate. This year, his stand was less than principled; it was purely political. As he notes on The Flash Report, this was all about building his political mailing list. He was a prolific blog poster during the crisis -- not on his official government site, but on his political site. And his caustic, personal attacks on the Governor have made him enemy number one in the Schwarzenegger camp. And that's not something that will be helpful in 2010.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

At a press availability today, California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said he was not interested in reopening budget negotiations. But if conditions necessitate a return to renegotiating the budget, the Speaker said he would now push for complete funding to social services and transportation, and he said future bonds and CEQA alterations are off the table.

This is part one of eight videos. Additional video can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In a letter released this afternoon, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata called on Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine) and his fellow Republican Senators to unanimously support their proposed budget bill before the Senate will consider supplemental legislation that would institute scores of cuts.
 
"A vote on the budget bill is a vote on the cuts and a vote on the cuts is a vote on the budget," Perata said in a letter to Ackerman. "Therefore, we will not take up your supplemental bill proposing cuts to the budget until and unless you can produce 15 votes on the connected budget bill itself."
 
On Saturday, Perata adjourned the Senate after an all-night session aimed at breaking an impasse over the spending plan and asked Senate Republicans to come up with a budget bill they all could vote for.

Senator Perata's letter over the flip...