[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called another special session last week (it was officially gaveled in on Monday), the Legislature was forced to print another "Daily File," the daily listing of hearings and committees that occur in that session.
 
These Daily Files are now in a rainbow of colors -- traditional newsprint for the regular session plus green for the extraordinary session on water, pink for health care, and now magenta for the latest fiscal emergency special session.
 
According to E. Dotson Wilson, the Assembly Clerk, prior to the early 1990's, there wasn't an issue with the color of the paper. All bills and publications in an extraordinary session were printed on white paper, and the color of the ink was changed to correspond to the special session.

In the early 1990's it was argued that it is more economical to use black ink on different colored paper, which is the current system.

Given the Governor's penchant for special sessions, if he calls more, #4 will be brown/tan and #5 will be yellow.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Key bills and issues we’ve been following during the past week and beyond

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The California Senate Appropriations Committee late this morning passed a $6.8 billion water bond, Senate Bill X2 2 by Senate President pro Tem Don Perata in the special session on water sending it to an uncertain fate on the Senate floor where it is scheduled to be taken up at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

Meanwhile, word has just been sent that Governor Schwarzenegger will be holding a press conference on the special session on health at 2:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Capitol.

Perata's water bond bill passed the fiscal committee on a strict party line vote of 10 to 7, with all Democrats in support and all Republicans opposed. Yesterday it passed out of the policy committee on a similar party line vote. Since general obligation bond bills need a two-thirds vote in both houses to be placed on the ballot where voters must also approve them, it does not appear all that likely that a deal can be cut on this in time for it to be voted on in the February 5, 2008 election. Democrats hold 25 of 40 seats and if they are all present and voting for the bill, at least 2 Republican Senators would be needed.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

An orphan is born
The mountain has labored and brought forth a mouse

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

This week, the game changed, and things got much more urgent and intense. And I am not just talking about the super-exciting Rockies-Padres game that ushered in the baseball postseason on Monday.

We have legislative language! Sort of.

There's a 200-page “working draft" that was distributed to stakeholders and media in the last several days. The reason it hasn't made news is because nobody is claiming ownership. It is “orphan” language.

When we got it, we had major caveats as well: That many of the provisions are merely placeholders; that major sections, including the financing, are not included; and that there is significant disagreement among the Governor and the legislative leaders about the provisions included.

We are disappointed that we seem to back to square one with something very similar to the Governor’s January proposal, with only a few of our comments and concerns raised over the course of the year addressed. While we would have preferred having the Governor’s language much earlier in the year, we do appreciate having the language to seriously respond and react to--if that is what it takes to move the conversation forward.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

We have just received word that the California Assembly will hold hearings on water bonds and other water related legislation Thursday afternoon--the first for a newly formed Assembly committee in the special session of the legislature.

The Senate has previously announced hearings for Thursday morning. Both of these hearings will be informational--in other words there will be no vote on bills that have been introduced in the special session. But it is expected they will be packed with witnesses on the many different approaches and facets of the water problem the state faces. No witness names have been listed so far for either hearing.