Today's Fresh Meat

August 02, 2007 @ 8:30 AM

One vote. That's all we need to get a budget passed for California and put all of this posturing behind us. Though last night's vote fell short of the two-thirds needed for passage, Republican Senator Abel Maldonado (left), a moderate from Santa Maria, courageously broke ranks in support. This is a balanced budget with no new taxes, fees or social programs, the California Progress Report points out, and deeper cuts to welfare are off the table. What more can we do?

State Controller John Chiang was unable to make over $1 billion in payments for July, according to the Sacramento Bee. That's $1 billion that should be going to summer camps for children and care for low-income senior, the Bee editorializes, potentially putting working parents at risk of losing their jobs due to lack of childcare, among other problems.

You wouldn't know it from the headlines, but yesterday was a key goalpost in the next leadership battle of the California legislature, Capitol Weekly reports. Not surprisingly, the two Democrats most talked about as the next Speaker, Karen Bass and Kevin de Leon (both of Los Angeles), reported the most cash on hand. On the Senate side, two leading contenders for Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and Alex Padilla of Los Angeles both did quite well, but were eclipsed by Leland Yee of San Francisco and Gloria Negrete McLeod of Chino.

It's time to plan for a strategic departure from Iraq, with redeployment in neighboring countries if necessary, the Los Angeles Times editorialized today. It could take up to a year to get American troops safely out of Iraq, a large enough window, the Times argues, to lay the pressure on Iraqi politicians to forge compromise on oil, de-Baathification and other key issues.

The Governor's appointment of Michael Kelley as a commissioner for the Department of Financial Services should be terminated, the Bakersfield Californian editorialized today. Kelley was forced to resign as deputy insurance commissioner in 2000 for aiding his former boss, Chuck Quackenbush in fraudulent activities.

A new deal between the federal government and California farmers would relieve millions of dollars in debts on San Joaquin Valley irrigation if the area water district agrees to develop a drainage solution, according to the Bee. Environmentalists are rightfully concerned about how such a drainage system might be delivered, but as both Senator Dianne Feinstein and Fresno Congressman Jim Costa put, it's a sound proposal.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a Republican who defeated an opponent with the same last name by three votes in a special election last year, is barely in the black as she prepares for a tough re-election campaign, the LA Times reports. Her former opponent, Trung Nguyen, has also been pestering her with legal challenges.

A judge has ordered San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew to stand trial for perjury charges in what appears to be a slam-duck case of lying about residency. Jew, who refuses to resign, shook hands with supporters after the hearing and vowed to continue his job. Meanwhile, Chris "Berkeley's Ed Jew" Kavanagh as Chronicle columnists Matier and Ross like to refer to him, just lost some credibility when it was revealed that the Berkeley address he provided when running for Rent Board belongs to the neighborhood post office.

Former Assemblymember Fran Pavley, the original author of last year's "Global Warming Solutions Act" has become somewhat of an environmental celebrity, Capitol Weekly reports, and unlike Gov. Schwarzenegger, she's the one who did the actual work on AB 32. It's nice to see that Arnold isn't the only one getting attention in what was truly a bipartisan effort.

A tough new gun law signed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom would require residents to keep their guns in lock boxes or have trigger locks on their firearms. The new law may not be universally followed, proponents concede, but if it's on the books, it's going to influence people's behavior.

New poll numbers on the environmental views of Californians reveal that voters will hold thier elected officials accountable for progress on combating global warming, writes Public Policy Institute president Mark Baldassare in today's Bee. Also encouraging is a strong 54% who will make the environment key to their presidential pick.

That's all for today!