While California Dreams: A Weekly Update on the Goings-on in Sacramento

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

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

By Hannah Beth Jackson

In keeping with the spirit of the week, we can safely say that this one was a turkey for the legislature as well. Sacramento came up with an egg on the water bonds issue as there is no time left for any meaningful measure to be passed during this "Special" legislative session in order for it to be placed on the February, 2008 ballot for approval by the people. Although Senate leader, Don Perata has been working hard to reach agreement with the Governor, the deal seems to be hitting a stumbling block over who is going to oversee the distribution of funds for dam projects that would comprise about $3 billion of the bond funding. The Dems want to be able to oversee the spending on an annual basis, but the Reps want the funding to be continuous because they think that the former may try to pull the dam dollars needed for the concrete to implement their vision of appropriate water policy. For the Dems and their environmental supporters, the goal is groundwater storage, recycling and conservation. Although Perata compromised on this issue, the stalemate continues and thus the February '08 ballot deadline has passed.

For more on this story, check out the Sac Bee story.

For even more analysis, check out Bill Cavala's column for the California Progress Report.

Meanwhile, the healthcare measure continues to see the dogged determination of the Speaker, Fabian Nunez, who insists that a deal can be reached with the Governor that will have logic as well as political legs. He is planning to call for a vote possibly this coming week, but all the concessions and twists necessary to fit this square peg into a round hole aren't viewed by many as having much of a chance of passing or working, if such a miracle were to happen.

Bringing on the lawsuits to protect the public

The real action this week, such as it was, really comes out of the judicial side where a number of lawsuits were filed to attempt to address some critical issues that call for judicial intervention either because big businesses are over-reaching or the government isn't doing its job to regulate and enforce existing laws.
From the Secretary of State to Attorney General Jerry Brown, the courthouse saw its work load increase from these Constitutional offices during the past week.