California state budget

STATE CAPITOL - Former state Senate President Pro Tem and U.S. Rep. John Burton (D-San Francisco) hovered about swearing-in activities Monday, with plenty of thoughts on the ugly fiscal situation newly appointed lawmakers will face.

"They're coming into a very bad situation," said Burton, who was termed out in 2004 and is planning a run for California Democratic Party chair next year. "But I think it's unfair to lay the responsibility for a solution totally on Speaker Bass and Senator Steinberg."

STATE CAPITOL - As they welcomed 11 new GOP Assembly members and three new Republican state Senators Monday, the minority-party members in Sacramento said their position is as firm as ever on how to solve - and not solve - the state's economic woes.

"Our margin is obviously smaller, but that's a difference without a distinction," said Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), who was elected to a third term on Nov. 4 and has served as vice chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.

After Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said California's budget situation has the state on a path to five years of deficits, state Assembly Budget Committee Chair John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) said he agrees with the prescription for fixing it: a combination of cuts and additional revenue.

"It should also be pointed out that, while the Legislature must act quickly, it is also critical that the federal government come through with significant relief for states," said Laird in a statement Tuesday.  "The problems we are facing are not primarily unique to California, but are instead a result of the national and worldwide economic crisis."

STATE CAPITOL -- Flanked by legislative leaders in both parties, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced said Monday that he will call lawmakers back in for a special session on Nov. 5 to tackle the state's worsening budget problem.

Schwarzenegger said the session will deal with not only the budget - now more than $3 billion in deficit after being enacted only weeks ago - but economic stimulus, tax modernization, foreclosure relief and more.

Deputy legislative analyst Mac Taylor will take over the high-profile position of state Legislative Analyst, after the retirement of current Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill.

Taylor, a 30-year veteran of the Legislative Analyst's Office, will officially take over the position on Oct. 24.

The dysfunction of California government this year has convinced a Madera rancher and agricultural leader run for state Assembly as a Republican in 2010.

Don McKinney, 60, filed paperwork late last week to run for the 29th Assembly District seat that year, when current Assemblyman Mike Villines (R-Clovis) is termed out.

"There's got to be a way to reduce the terrible waste in government," McKinney, 60, told PolitickerCA.com in an interview. "You've got to run this a little more like a business."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of six bills related to voting drew a disappointed response this week from California Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

In his vetoes, Schwarzenegger said that the record-setting budget delay forced him to sign only bills that were of the highest priority for California. Schwarzenegger has until today to act on bills approved by the state legislature, or they become law.

SACRAMENTO - Voters are unlikely to punish lawmakers for the budget delay in any substantive way on Nov. 4  unless it's to pass a ballot measure that would change how political districts are drawn, said state Sen. Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad).

"My experience with voters is that they really don't care how long it takes to get a budget," Wyland said, following his participation in a panel discussion at an event on reforming state government.

SACRAMENTO - Next year is likely to bring a special election with ballot initiatives aimed at reforming state government, according to speakers at a symposium on how to fix the state's perennial budget challenges and dysfunctional operation.

Both incoming state Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and state Sen. Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad) said voters are likely to have a say on the two-thirds requirement for passing a state budget, taxes and possibly more.

SACRAMENTO - The attempted recall effort of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by state prison guards probably lacks the public uprising of anger necessary to be successful, said Leon Panetta, chief of staff under then-President Bill Clinton.

But Panetta also said beforehand that voters are increasingly frustrated by state government, and if those inside the system don't fix it, voters will do it for them.