[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Dan Bacher

The three State Senators who have led Democratic negotiations with Republicans over a potential new water bond sent Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, "The Fish Terminator," a strongly worded letter today asking him to hold off his plans for peripheral canal. Since the Governor proclaimed his support for a peripheral canal last June, he's been doing everything he can to push through this environmentally destructive pork barrel fiasco to benefit subsidized corporate agribusiness and developers at the expense of fish, the environment and the northern California economy.

"It was reported to us that last Friday, a resources agency official stated in a public meeting on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that the administration is preparing an executive order directing to begin environmental and engineering documents for a canal facility despite the fact that the budget request has not been acted upon and the request contends that no staff currently are available for that purpose," said the letter, signed by Senators Don Perata, Mike Machado and Darrell Steinberg.

The administrations pursuit of the controversial project makes it difficult to negotiate seriously on a comprehensive new plan to meet California’s future water needs, according to the letter.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Holding off for now on Chamber of Commerce water bond with new dams and construction of a peripheral canal?

By Dan Bacher

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein met with legislators and "stakeholders" on Thursday in the hope of finding a legislative solution to California's water problems, according to Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta, in her "Delta Flows" e-newsletter.

The good news is that the Governor and Feinstein, at least for the time being, are apparently not going to support the Chamber of Commerce water bond that would build new dams and support the construction of a peripheral canal. The massive opposition of a broad-based coalition of fishermen, environmentalists, California Indian tribes and Delta residents to an earlier water bond supported by Schwarzenegger has undoubtedly had a big impact.

The bad news is that the meeting was held behind closed doors without public scrutiny. I have a real problem with closed door meetings like this because the people most impacted by the legislator's decision are invariably left out of the process. To me, transparency is the number one requirement of democratic process.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

So, let me get this straight: there are actually people in the California GOP who don't want to self-destruct and are open to—gasp—moving to the center? That's the message from major donor and businessman Lawrence K. Dodge,the Sacramento Bee reports. Naturally, the party insiders are alreadypushing back.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has stepped onto the scene in Sacramento tomeet with lawmakers about a potential deal on a water bond, accordingto the Bee.The question is to what degree she will carry water for the Governor —pun partially intended—in seeking middle ground between his and the Democrats' plans.

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he's running for another term but didn't ruling out a gubernatorial bid in a interview with Charlie Rose this week, the Los Angeles Timesreports. His numbers have lagged since the affair and divorce—can hebring them back up?

There's more...

Photo courtesy of the Sacramento Bee.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

It looks like the Governor is planning to the roll the dice again next year by putting several high-profile measures on the ballot that could makeor break his agenda, Daniel Weintraub writes in today's Sacramento Bee.First there is his costly health care plan, which would likely drawopposition from tobacco (left), insurance companies and the CaliforniaNurses Association. And he's putting his weight behind a water bond andredistricting, both uncertain to succeed.

Democrats in Congress are doing the right thing by pushing for a $500million restoration of the San Joaquin River, but the Republicans, whoseem to have given up any semblance of fiscal responsibility, will not agree on how to pay for it, according to the Bee. What's so controversial about paying for what the Congress spends?

The state board responsible for regulating chiropractors may finally clean up its act after an investigation earlier this year revealed lax enforcement andgaping holes in accountability, the Bee reports. Many of the morerecent appointees who took this direction were put there by GovernorSchwarzenegger, who tends to take a more laissez-faire approach to theissue.

There's more...

Photo courtesy of People Magazine.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

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

By Hannah Beth Jackson

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Schwarzenegger is now fully aware of which lobbyists pay for his overseas trips, reports the Sac Bee. A nonprofit organization closely aligned withthe business lobby in Sacramento, called the California State ProtocolFoundation, revealed the identity of its donors at a fundraising eventin San Francisco earlier this month.

Voters will likely not be voting on a $10 billion water bond this February, due to legislators’ inability to close the deal on time, reports theSac Bee. Governor Schwarzenegger is still optimistic that a compromisecan be reached between Democrats and Republicans, despite being pastthe deadline.

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

Back in October the special session on water seemed dead. Republicans rejected Perata's water bond plan, which had no funding for dams in it and instead emphasized fixing the Delta and conservation projects. At the time the GOP's attitude was "it's our turn" - give us dams, dammit!

But just as the health care session, which also seemed to be dead, was revived when Democrats caved in to Republican demands for an individual mandate, the water session may be revived by the same means as well, as Perata has tentatively agreed to $3 billion in funding for new dams that Republicans have demanded. From the Visalia Times-Delta article:

No details of the meeting were immediately available. But going into the meeting, Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, tentatively had agreed for the first time to set aside funds, perhaps $3 billion, for work on three reservoirs if there was benefit for the ailing San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, according to the senator's office. But Perata has insisted on an annual legislative review of funding for the work, something that Republican lawmakers oppose because it could give legislative critics an opportunity to stall a project. GOP advocates of the dams want all the funding to be available once it is approved without further legislative oversight.