That was the sentiment of John Perez of Los Angeles after Assembly Democrats unanimously chose him today to be the fifth Speaker of the Assembly in just the last nine years.
Perez, 40, emerged from a long private meeting of Assembly Democrats this afternoon arm in arm with the outgoing [...]
Just a little over a year after voters created an independent commission to draw most of California's political maps, the process is costing a lot more money than was allocated.
In fact, it's possible the commission that's slated to convene in 2011 may have as its first task to ask' [...]
No major news today on whether Abel Maldonado will… or won't… be California's next lieutenant governor. But new comments from the leader of the state Senate seem to acknowledge one part of the deliberations… or rather, six billion parts.
As in the $6.3 billion of missing dollars needed to balance the' [...]
"It's very simple what people want," said Mark Baldassare. "People want progress."
That was the context for… and the motivation behind… a provocative two hour discussion on Friday morning at our KQED studios in San Francisco, a discussion among eight thoughtful veterans of the good and bad of government and public' [...]
Two (or three, actually) legislators angling for two separate high-profile jobs at the same time? Sounds like a podcast theme!
In this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we discuss the battle over who will be the new Speaker of the California Assembly, and this question: will there be any discernible differences in' [...]
The 68th Speaker of the California Assembly has been chosen by a majority of the chambers Democratic majority — so says the 67th leader of the lower house, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.
The new leader, says Bass, is Asssemblymember John Perez, a Democrat from Los Angeles. He could formally win [...]
Next year's big contests for governor and for the United States Senate are closer than they seem.
On this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we take a pause from weekly events to check in on where the candidates and campaigns stand as 2009 comes to a close.
The gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns [...]
Let the political handwringing begin.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lieutenant Governor-designate Abel Maldonado made their big debut this morning at an event in Los Angeles, with the Guv calling Maldo his "soulmate," and the GOP senator offering an almost tearful thank you amidst a recounting of his immigrant [...]
The guessing game is over, now that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used the most unlikely of platforms — a national TV talk show — to announce a political decision that only matters here in California, his choice for lieutenant governor. And even its relevance to Californians may be debatable.
Calling Abel [...]
So much for getting a break from the state budget.
On this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we take a look at this week's prediction of a $20.7 billion budget gap and what that means for lawmakers once they return to Sacramento.
Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I also discuss the staffing changes [...]
The headline, rushed online yesterday by news outlets looking for a scoop, makes it clear the state's budget woes aren't getting better. Maybe even worse.
But deeper inside the new in-depth analysis of the Legislative Analyst's Office are examples of a government budget system that's evaporating faster than the polar [...]
There simply can't be any member of Congress who now doesn't know what's coming when they're interviewed by Stephen Colbert.
The comically conservative late night host has made mincemeat of both Republicans and Democrats in his now infamous "Better Know A District" segment, in which he randomly picks a [...]
Not that you missed us.
Our hiatus has come to an end for the Capital Notes Podcast, and we're back with our mostly snarky, occasionally thought provoking weekly dish on politics.
This week: a look back on the big water deal, the guessing game of who gets to be California's next "lite'" [...]
Consider it the first big news in the 2010 race for governor of California, and it came 221 days before the June primary: the nomination of the state's dominant political party appears to be safely in the hands of a guy who hasn't even officially said he wants it.
If you [...]
The Great 'Give Me Water or I'll Give You Vetoes' Showdown of 2009 is now over. And as is often the case around the Capitol, everyone lives to fight another day.
Just after 9:30 pm last night, Governor Schwarzenegger released a statement that ended the long-running saga over a deal on' [...]
If you've logged on to this blog recently and wondered why I'm not covering, well, anything... there's a simple explanation.
Last weekend, Jonah Henry Haines Myers decided to finally arrive... a great relief, as you can imagine, to my wife. And me. Jonah is our second [...]
Dispatches from day two of this weekend's California GOP confab from my KQED colleague, Scott Shafer.
Meg-a Problem? Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman gave a somewhat lackluster speech to the state Republican convention Saturday afternoon. She touched on all her usual themes -- cutting taxes and regulation, staying tough on crime,' [...]
[With me close to home these days expecting some family news, my KQED colleague Scott Shafer is covering this weekend's biannual California Republican Party convention. He's also filing a few short journal entries for CapNotes. Listen for his GOP confab coverage this afternoon on the newsmagazine edition of The [...]
Sorry, folks. We seem to be having some scheduling troubles... looks as though the weekly podcast is again MIA. Given the lack of activity in Sacramento, the timing isn't as bad as it could be. Stay tuned...
' [...]A long awaited study of the costs to small businesses from state regulations is finally out, and on first blush seems to reinforce the argument that state lawmakers should scale back their meddling ways.
But the study appears thin on an actual roadmap forward for policymakers, and may not help untangle [...]
The autumnal equinox is often marked in Sacramento by the state's chief executive signing or vetoing hundreds of bills submitted by the Legislature.
This season is no diffferent. Or... is it?
Governor Schwarzenegger's decision this morning to sign legislation ensuring continued health care coverage for children of low-income families [...]
Just a small moment of shameless self promotion. I'm honored to report that Capital Notes has just won the first-ever award for reporter blogs from the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. A big thanks to all of you for actually reading CapNotes, which began as' [...]
You're probably thinking that headline is just part of the normal snarky nature of our weekly Capital Notes Podcast, that there must be some double entendre or hidden joke in its meaning. Right?
Well, no.
In one of those great moments in podcast history, it turns out this podcast is' [...]
Few new tax proposals have dominated the recent political debate in Sacramento like calls for a new levy on each barrel of oil produced [...]
On Friday, a trio of federal judges will be waiting with hands outstretched for a plan from the state of California to resolve the overcrowded conditions behind its prison walls. And it's now looking like a distinct possibility that the plan will not be limited to the pared-down proposal ratified [...]
The legislative year is coming down to the final hours, and much of the action has been intense and, in some cases, personal.
We've put out our weekly Capital Notes Podcast a day early, given how many legislative proposals are in limbo and thus might be a done deal by the' [...]
It's hard not to see the results of tonight's new statewide poll as even more fuel to the fire of reworking the way California government -- and frankly, California politics -- will operate in the future.
The survey from the Public Policy Institute of California seems to make a [...]
Few proposals have had as many twists and turns in 2009 as a plan to allow new oil drilling in waters less than three miles off the California coast. But even after serious setbacks, few expect the proposal to fade away anytime soon.
The proposal is known [...]
As the year's legislative session winds down, the political wheeling and dealing intensifies. That may be even more true this year, given how many big items remain on the 'to do list.'
We're finally back with a week-ending Capital Notes Podcast, and a look at the frenzy over prison reform, a [...]
[Monday, Sept. 7: see below for new comments from initiative's author.]
Seeking to capitalize on California's creation of an independent redsitricting process for legislative and statewide tax agency districts, a new initiative has been filed that would add congressional districts to the mix. And you can bet that's going to spark' [...]
Arguing that the furloughs of tens of thousands of state workers is "costing the state money and further hurting the economy," the leader of the state Senate says he intends to push a plan to trim the three days of furloughs every month down to two.
Senate President pro [...]
A cease-fire to the water wars that have lasted for most of California's modern existence. A prison overcrowding problem that's about to be yanked from state control by federal judges. A broad expansion of California's commitment to sources of renewable energy.
All that in ten days. Really?
The regular legislative [...]
For those who wanted a quick fix to California's prison woes, some advice: don't hold your breath.
Eleven days after the state Senate narrowly approved a wide-ranging plan to change the prison system, the Assembly has now approved a much narrower version... one which seems destined to sit for a little' [...]
As we reported in this morning's radio story for The California Report, yesterday's action (and inaction) by the Legislature on a major prison reform bill fell victim to one of the essential truths in politics: a deal's not done until it's done.
And this one wasn't done... which is why we' [...]
It won't be the only proposal before the Legislature on Thursday, but it will definitely be the main event: a plan to save money and lower the population of California's prisons.
That plan, endorsed both by legislative Democrats, is expected to be heard first in the Senate and later Thursday in' [...]
That was the sentiment this morning from the President pro Tempore of the California Senate, universally known as a nice guy but perhaps ready to make sure that no one equates nice guy with pushover.
Implicit in that comment from Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is that Governor Schwarzenegger's public [...]
As the Legislature reconvenes for its final sprint on issues small and large, a new compilation of campaign finance data shows that almost $61 million was raised in the first six months of 2009 for campaigns near and distant, expenses small and large.
The state Fair Political Practices Commission [...]
Summer doesn't officially end until September 22. But the state's Summer of Debt -- at least from a cash perspective -- will end on September 4, according to Controller John Chiang.
Chiang said today that's when the state will stop issuing IOUs, thus ending only the' [...]
A bipartisan group of seasoned ex-politicians and policy wonks has settled on a package of government reform proposals while sending a pretty simple message to those inside the state Capitol: work with us or stand aside.
The leaders of the group California Forward sent a letter today to Governor Schwarzenegger [...]
Quick, jot down the following numbers: 167,000... $1.2 billion... $3 million... 4%... 37%... 2.4. They're going to come in handy when lawmakers soon wrap themselves in a one of the most complicated and controversial areas of public policy: prisons.
The return of the Legislature next week will feature an intense debate' [...]
With the Legislature on recess and our Capital Notes Podcast back after a pause, it's a good time for a reset on budget politics.
Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I recap Governor Schwarzenegger's budget vetoes, the likely legal kerfuffle over those vetoes, and new developments in the very long kerfuffle over [...]
My Wesbter's Dictionary defines an appropriation as "money officially authorized to be paid from a public treasury."
If only it were that simple. Expect a heated debate in the near future as to whether Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision last week to line-item veto almost $500 million in spending was within [...]
The second and final day of then-versus-now comparisons by the venerable Field Poll makes it easy to see how the seeds of discontent and disagreement have flowered among partisan voters in California these last three decades.
In short: Democrats are more liberal, Republicans are more conservative, and hot button issues have [...]
This morning brings the latest in a series of studies that shows how different the people who actually vote in California are from the state's population as a whole. It also shows how different those voters are than the ones who cast ballots 30 years ago.
Those conclusions come courtesy of' [...]
In the event you missed the note at the bottom of last week's post-budget item, I'm on furlough this week... part of KQED's budget crunch that hit most of our news staffers a couple of weeks ago, but yours truly only now -- due to all of the recent state' [...]
By now, most of us who lived through the saga that resulted in a package of proposals to resolve the state's budget deficit have recovered.
But in the same way you'd clean up the beer bottles, empty the trash, and try to piece [...]
As budget debating and voting happens tonight, catch my Twitter feed for updates as long as the thumbs hold up. And no, you don't have to join Twitter to read it.
More here later...
' [...]With a vote on a state budget deficit solution either late today or tomorrow, we figured let's use our waiting time constructively... by pushing forward our weekly wrap.
This week's Capital Notes Podcast is all deficit agreement, all the time. Of course, we're not sure exactly how big either the proposal' [...]
The big finish to the 2009 Deficit Drama Part Two is on the way, a $25 billion cornucopia of lousy choices, tough decisions, and general gloominess about the state's deficit problems.
So let's see where things stand.
For starters, the 48 hours that have passed since the deal was announced [...]
[The so-called 'Big Five' announce the deficit deal. Listen to the audio of this announcement above.]
A local government official made a comment Monday afternoon, a few hours before the $25 billion deficit deal was reached, that seems to encapsulate everyone's' [...]
