[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jovan Agee
Political and Legislative Director
United Domestic Workers of America

Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed ravaging cuts to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), which provides personal care and domestic services enabling 408,000 California seniors and people with disabilities to remain at home safely and avoid unnecessary, expensive and unwanted institutionalization.

"Governor Schwarzenegger has failed to protect the needy, blind, disabled and aged in our communities, and has shown a total disregard for what should be a top priority of California lawmakers overseeing state spending," said Bill Young, an IHSS consumer in Sacramento County and a member of the California Senior Legislature. "To deny those in need in the name of fiscal restraint is shameful for any leader, but especially desperate for Governor Schwarzenegger, who continues to disregard the plight of low-income families across the Golden State."

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Her politics are personal and rooted in her work as a community organizer

By Frank D. Russo

You had to be there. In fact, you can be there by watching the standing ovations and laudatory remarks by Democrats and Republicans—and a wonderful heartfelt speech by Karen Bass as she assumed the role of the second highest office in the state of California—the Speakership of the California State Assembly. This was a day that history was made as the first African-American woman to lead a state legislative body in the United States took over the helm.

Karen Bass has a lot of new friends as a result of being Speaker. Governor Schwarzenegger was on hand to witness the ceremony and sat on the dais along with five former Speakers of the Assembly, state constitutional officers, and even the President pro Tem of the Oregon Senate. After saying he would miss Fabian Nunez, who had just joined a “fraternity” of former speakers—one day to expand to be a sorority also--said wonderful things about her. So did Mike Villines, the Assembly Republican leader—who thanked Nunez for the collegial style in which the house had been run and then spoke of the Assembly and Bass in terms of friendships.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

History will be made today at the state capitol when current Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles, District 47) is sworn in as the first African-American female Speaker of the California Assembly. She will be the first African-American female to hold such a high legislative post anywhere in the United States. Speaker-elect Bass will have just about 24 hours before she will know the extent of the state’s financial crisis. Governor Schwarzenegger is scheduled to release his revised budget proposal Wednesday afternoon.  Speaker-elect Bass says, regarding the state budget deficit, she’s concerned but hopeful that a balanced approach of spending cuts and new revenues can be hammered out.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Schwarzenegger has dropped a plan to release 22,000 prison inmates early, reports the Sacramento Bee."Not a single legislator in the state had expressed support for theidea."

East Bay residents may be forced to reduce their use of water by 20 percent under a rationing proposal by the East Bay MunicipalUtility District expected to be announced today. "We could have an evendrier year next year, and we could end up with even half that or less.So, we have to stretch every last drop," said EBMUD spokesman CharlesHardy.

The LA Times reports disappointment among many female supporters of Hillary Clinton in West Virginia. Clinton is likely to sweep West Virginia, but it won't make a difference at this point.

There's more... 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

California already spends less in Medicaid than all states except Louisiana and Georgia

By Frank D. Russo

This is not something that makes one’s breast swell with pride about the state of California in the 21st Century. Governor Schwarzenegger has rolled out the “Year of Education” and proposes to cut needed spending, so our educational system will only worsen and the future for our kids will be dimmer. You’ve read about this here and in all newspapers in the state--the resulting pink slips to cherished teachers, stories about other states recruiting those who will not have jobs with these cuts, and the outpouring of parents, kids, teachers, and busineses who need a trained workforce who have been appearing in their local communities where the cuts are felt.

But still within memory of last year’s blockbuster “Year of Health Care” directed and produced by our Governor, his budget would increase the numbers of uninsured in our state--including children--cut hospitals and access to medical care for millions of Californians, and end up costing us more in the loss of Federal dollars than it “saves us.” You’ll be reading more about this as the budget moves forward.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Schwarzenegger's decision to cut the budget across the board(regardless of priority) has consequences -- for some, more seriousthan most. The Sacramento Bee reports that many patients in California Children's Services will face delays in care for serious chronic diseases.

Domestic spying ison the rise, but not terrorism prosecutions. The LA Times reports thatlately law enforcement has increased surveillance of individualsthrough wiretapping and financial records, while terrorism casesbrought to trial dropped 19 percent last year.

Republican election officials are trying to require "proof of citizenship" at the polls. Bill Cavala has the details at the California Progress Report.

There's more...

Image courtesy Sacbee.com

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By State Senator Sheila Kuehl

It's been over a year since Governor Schwarzenegger decided to join the decades-long debate on health reform, and I'm actually quite pleased that he's indicated he will continue to focus on health reform in the years remaining in his administration. It may not have been clear to the Governor, but we always knew that the sheer magnitude of the needed reforms would take more than just one year to achieve. Any success to be gained on his "second try," however, will require a very different approach, both in terms of policy and in terms of politics.

Predictably, a number of interests in Sacramento have attempted to characterize the failure of the Governor's and the Speaker's bill as the victim of uncompromising single payer proponents on the left and powerful insurance companies on the right, as though the Governor's plan was "just right" in a three-bears, middle of two-extremes, spin. In fact, the Governor's plan appropriately fell because of the Governor's own reluctance to make the difficult policy decisions necessary for the plan to be in any way affordable to the state as well as to businesses and individuals, but which would have stirred up strong opposition from insurance companies.