[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mary Lyon

David Petraeus has spoken again. And somehow I feel like I did listening over the years to friends of mine whose dreams were just sure to come true someday, and whose ships were just bound to come in. They were, after all, promised this – over and over and over.

For some of them it was the assurance of that great job off in the distance, if they only played their cards right and put up with a series of indignities and delays. For others it was a married lover who dawdled for years, insisting the divorce was just around the corner, followed by a long‐awaited “happily ever after.”

Time passed. The coveted job was never attained. Some other excuse or twist of fate or competitor or company upheaval always got in the way. The journey down the aisle never happened either. There was always some reason, a good reason for sure, why it couldn’t. After awhile, with each of my disappointed friends, cynicism started to set in. The seemingly never‐ending disappointment became utterly corrosive. Along with the broken hearts and dashed dreams came a grievously violated trust as the reality set in: the carrot will always be dangled just out of reach – and you’ll never quite reach it.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Perata Exultant

By Frank D. Russo

Yesterday was a banner day for the legislature as two Assembly Committees, working at the same time, passed nine bills that are part of the Senate Democrats’ package of legislation aimed at climate change and its potential effects on California. Legislation to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better coordinate state planning for climate change cleared what may have been their biggest hurdle, their Assembly policy committees on largely party line votes with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed. Many of these bills will go to the Assembly Floor, only needing to pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee (which seems likely given the makeup of that body) before the August 31 deadline for the year.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The hearings of the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees are underway as we write. By the end of the day, approximately 850 legislative proposals will die or live to be voted on by the floors of their respective houses. All of the bills being considered, one at a time at Gatling gun speed have passed through the policy committees. They have been sent to purgatory--the "suspense file"--and if not moved out and passed will either become "two year bills" to be considered next year only--or they will be dead for the session.

Bills with an appropriation under $150,000 generally escape the "suspense file" and many of these smaller expense bills have already passed the Appropriations Committees or been killed outright. What is under consideration today is legislation that spends more than this.