[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The California State Assembly will hold its first hearing of the special session on water tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in the largest hearing room available. The Senate has postponed tomorrow's hearing solely for personal scheduling reasons, we are told. The Senate hearing will now take place on Monday at 1:00 p.m. unless the time changes at the call of the chair.

Meanwhile, the water war of words is going strong as the Associated Press has reported that, "Assembly Republicans said Wednesday that they will reject any plan to improve the state's water supplies unless it includes funding for new dams." This has drawn sharp rebukes from Assembly and Senate Democrats. Shades of the budget impasse?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mike Florio
Senior Staff Attorney
The Utility Reform Network (TURN)

Legendary consumer activist Sylvia Siegel died peacefully in her sleep today. Siegel, who was 89, was always reticent about revealing her age. In a profile for CBS's 60 Minutes in 1984, Harry Reasoner asked her how old she was, prompting a sharp response. "That's none of your damn business," Siegel snapped.

As The Utility Reform Network's (TURN) founder and executive director for 16 years, Siegel saved California consumers billions of dollars. After discovering that no one was challenging outrageous utility rate hike applications at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Siegel took on the job herself. She founded TURN, originally called Toward Utility Rate Normalization, from her kitchen table in 1973. Siegel taught herself the complex laws and rules that govern utility rates, and learned how to use them to the benefit of the public, rather than the corporations.

A colorful character in the dull world of utility regulation, Siegel's talent and passion pushed her to the forefront of any battle she engaged in. Under her leadership TURN grew to become the largest and most successful utility consumer advocacy organization in the state. With a staff of 14 and an annual budget of over $1.5 million, TURN represents consumers in every important CPUC proceeding affecting gas, electric and telephone bills in California.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Speaker Fabian Nunez laid out a case today in a conference call with a group of bloggers that the Republicans are deliberately using Newt Gingrich styled tactics in an attempt to prove the government doesn't work. He contends that the ultra-conservative Republican Senators are holding the budget hostage to accomplish broader goals for their party. Nunez's tone was sharp and it seems like he is quite perturbed to return to this debacle.

He is threatening not to discuss any of the Republican's proposals on water storage, one of their main priorities for the cycle. The three conditions he laid out yesterday for coming back to the table were revisited, though I did notice that he said all of the transportation funds would have to back in. Yesterday, it was just a substantial or the full amount.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi must welcome the heat she's getting for wobbling on the farm and energy bills. Having caved in to Detroit on fuel economy standards and compromised with Midwest agro-plutocrats on crop subsidies for millionaires, she's shown that she's more a pragmatic Baltimore pol like her father than a knee-jerk San Francisco liberal. That'll serve her well.

Both the farm and the energy bills won approval in the House in the past couple of weeks. Both are monuments to waste, stupidity and policy distortions going back generations -- longer in the case of the ag subsidies.

Pelosi says she hopes the Senate energy bill, which contains a sharp increase in fuel economy requirements -- from roughly 25 miles per gallon to 35 -- for cars and trucks, will prevail over the House version when the two are reconciled. She said it almost the same day that we learned that for the first time ever foreign models were outselling Detroit.

More significant, maybe, is the fact that the farm law -- and agricultural policy generally -- is morphing into an energy program. The bill, HR 2419, which calls itself the "Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007," has oodles of incentives for the development and transportation of renewable fuels.

by Kim Stevens [courtesy of Party Line]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In what can only be described as a not-at-all surprising development, Rep. John Doolittle late last night voted against a measure requiring speedy ethics investigations for any member of Congress indicted for criminal conduct.

The Democratic resolution was approved by a 387-10 margin.

Doolittle found an ally in his fellow Californian, Republican Rep. David Dreier. According to The Hill: "The legislation came under sharp attack from Rep. David Dreier of California, the top Republican on the Rules Committee, who complained the resolution was poorly drafted and could spark an ethics investigation of a traffic ticket or an arrest at a protest. Hoyer said the ethics commission would not investigate trivial matters."
 
Something tells me the FBI didn’t raid John and Julie Doolittle’s home over an unpaid traffic ticket.