Capitol Action Weekly 3.49


June 12, 2000	CAPITOL ACTION WEEKLY	Volume 3, Number 49

A free weekly newsletter brought to you by Capitol Enquiry, Inc.

Edited by Gabe Anderson

Capitol Reports by Capitol Action Staff

Table of Contents
* Welcome
* Capitol Action
* Clips of the Week
* Letters
* News & Promotions
* The Fine Print

Welcome

Welcome to this week's Capitol Action. I want to extend a big thank you to those readers who took the time to point out the positive in this newsletter. It's often too easy to be critical of each other or to point out only the bad in what we do each day, so I applaud my readers who have taken the time to compliment me and my writing staff. Thank you. You are the readers who make Capitol Action Weekly worth our time.
Ever hear of England's Eddie Izzard, the straight transvestite whose unforgettable comic genius will leave you not only aching with laughter, but questioning the world around you? Friday night Jen and I were fortunate enough to see Izzard's third of four "Circle" shows at San Francisco's Curran Theatre. Izzard's quick wit and acute awareness of the world around him make him one act you won't soon forget. Next time he's in town, or if you're lucky enough to happen upon his 1998 HBO special, don't miss out. Monkeys with handguns will be waiting.
-Gabe

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Capitol Action for 6.12.00

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In government as well as life, having a lot of money is better than having too little. But dealing with both extremes requires skill, and thus far the Legislature's budget negotiators -- surprisingly -- are showing they have it.
While most of the public's attention in recent weeks has been focused on the ever-deepening political scandal surrounding Insurance Commissioner Charles Quackenbush, the real business of government has been going on in a hearing room on the 4th floor of the Capitol annex.
That's where the budget conference committee, made up from members of both houses, has been meeting for days to put together a spending blueprint for the 2000-2001 fiscal year beginning July 1.
The committee wrapped up the lion's share of its work this weekend, and the result was an impressive $100 billion spending plan that provides billions of dollars in new spending for schools, transportation and tax breaks.
The budget, four inches thick and weighing five pounds, is not really a giant checkbook, as many politicians are fond of saying. Rather, it is a document of pure politics, a vehicle for distributing money according to the desires of the party that controls both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office. It also must meet the requirements of the law, such as the voter-approved Proposition 98 of 1988, which requires a minimum level of money for schools each year.
But the essential political question of this budget is simple: How should the state spend the $12 billion in unexpected revenue that has flowed into its coffers in the past year? The answer to that question seems to be give some of it to schools, give some to citizens -- that means voters -- in the form of tax breaks, and use some of it to finance transportation projects and road construction to help alleviate the state's increasingly heavy traffic problem. These are all high-profile political considerations, and the committee is meeting them.
In broad terms, Democrats and Republicans agree on the importance of these issues, but they disagree to some extent on how to put them into practice. Democrats have majorities in both houses, but they lack the two-thirds majorities necessary to unilaterally pass a budget. That means they must persuade some Republicans to sign on, which gives the GOP members some bargaining leverage, however limited.
In recent years, a new factor has become part of the budget wrangle -- the so-called "trailer bill."
The actual budget bill is a sort of shell, a document that describes spending in broad terms. It is this budget that capture's the public's attention when it is passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
But critical pieces of the budget are contained in a series of bills accompanying the main budget, the trailer bills, that contain the necessary changes in law required to put the budget decisions into effect. Some years ago, there was only one trailer bill linked to the budget; this year, there are likely to be two dozen, perhaps more.
That means each time a trailer bill comes before the houses for votes, there will be separate debates on each item. And these actions are important: If a trailer bill is rejected, the budget compromise can be threatened. Governors typically refuse to sign the budget unless all the trailer bills are placed on their desk, too.
Thus far, unlike many times in years past, the budget appears to be on track for floor votes next week in the Legislature.
But our fingers are crossed.

Clips of the Week

--James P. Sweeney of the Copely News Service in the San Diego Union-Tribune, who reported: "Piece by piece, an Assembly committee this week painstakingly reconstructed a telling sequence of events that has pushed Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush to the edge of a political cliff. In the process, over three days unlike anything the Capitol has seen in years, the Assembly Insurance Committee built a body of evidence that is becoming increasingly difficult for the commissioner and his aides to explain away. A Republican, Quackenbush has dismissed the allegations as a partisan witch hunt. But by the time the Watergate-like hearings concluded, Republicans, not Democrats, were asking some of the toughest questions." June 10.
--Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times, who reported: "For nearly two years, Northridge teacher Brian Rooney has been working at the painstaking task of compiling a registry of thousands of war memorials across the country. But now his crusade to get the state and federal governments to keep their own directories of the plaques, flagpoles and other monuments to veterans has become the battleground of a political campaign. Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) and his Democratic challenger in the 27th Congressional District, state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), are now competing over which lawmaker is the bigger champion of veterans." June 10.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/calpol/20000610/t000054999.html
--Ed Mendel in the San Diego Union-Tribune, who reported: "Gov. Gray Davis, who last year famously declared that the role of the Legislature is to 'implement my vision,' faces a revolt of the masses this year as legislators rewrite his state budget proposal. Most attention has been focused on the rejection of the governor's nationally publicized plan to exempt teachers from the state income tax, a symbolic acknowledgment of the unique value of the profession. But legislators also have rewritten most of the major proposals Davis aides unveiled with fanfare in a series of media briefings last month as the governor revised his $98.4 billion budget plan to reflect a $12.3 billion surplus." June 9.
http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/fri/news/news_1n9budget.html
--Dena Bunis and Mark Katches in the Orange County Register, who reported: "The Clinton administration's chief health official is launching a comprehensive investigation into the nation's $500 million tissue-bank industry. Donna Shalala, secretary of Health and Human Services, told a group of senators Thursday that the inspector general immediately will begin looking at what tissue donors are told about how the body parts of their loved ones will be used. The probe also will look at what the tissue industry is doing to police itself." June 9.
http://www.ocregister.com/politics/body009cci1.shtml

Letters

To the Editor,
Suggestion: get rid of the "Welcome" section; it seems to serve your personal needs, not this readers' [sic]. Frankly, I'm not particularly interested in what you and your dog and girlfriend did last weekend.
- Joe DiLeo, Jr.
To the Editor,
I read your newsletter each week and find it both entertaining and educational. I applaud your efforts. With regards to [last week's] letters to the editor whining that you inadvertently left the word "women" out of your Memorial Day comments, don't fret. Those individuals obviously have nothing better to do than to focus on the negative. I pity them for not being able to see past their own self interests. Keep up the good work.
- Barbara Daly
Orange County, Calif.
To the Editor,
I'm from Australia and love reading Capitol Action Weekly. I am actually out here trying to do some networking in Sacramento. It would be great to work there. I've spent some some time with Lou Papan and Elaine Alquist, who have been great.
Just thought you would like to hear a good comment, despite what some of the readers think about neglecting to write that women were brave also. I think you should be commended for everything you contribute to your article, that is not only informative but carries wit and intelligence rarely seen in reporting these days.
All the best.
- Adam Davids
Melbourne, Australia