- HOME
- About
- Topics
- Angelides
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- California Attorney General Race
- California Congressional Races
- California Democratic Party
- California Governor Race 2010
- California Legislative Races
- California Lt. Governor Race
- California Secretary of State Race
- California State Budget
- California State Controller
- Campaign Finance Reform
- Campaigns
- Cell Phones
- Children and Families
- Consumer Rights
- Corporate Accountability
- Criminal Justice
- Death With Dignity
- Disaster Preparation
- Discrimination and Civil Rights
- Economy/ Economic Crisis
- Education
- Elections and Voting
- Electoral College
- Energy
- Environment
- Farm Animal Cruelty Ballot Measure
- Flood Control
- Food Safety
- Gas Prices
- Governor's Election Race
- Gun control
- Health Care
- Health Insurance
- Hiram Johnson's Corner
- Housing
- Human Rights
- Humor
- Immigration
- Infrastructure
- Initiative Reform
- Insurance Commissioner Race
- Labor
- Language and Politics
- Legal System
- Media and Communication
- Minimum Wage
- Open Government
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Politics
- Preschool
- Presidential Election 2008
- Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act Prop
- Prison Reform
- Privacy
- Privitization
- Prop 11-Redistricting/Reapportionment
- Prop 12--Veterans Housing Bond
- Prop 1A--High Speed Rail
- Prop 2--Treatment of Farm Animals
- Prop 3-Children's Hospital Bonds
- Prop 4 Waiting Period and Parental Notification
- Prop 5--Non-violent drug offenses
- Prop 6--Police and law enforcement spending
- Prop 7 and 10-Alternative Fuel and Energy Bond
- Prop 8 and-Marriage Equality
- Prop 85 Parental Notification
- Prop 86 Tobacco Tax
- Prop 87--Alternative Energy
- Prop 9 Parole
- Prop 90
- Prop 91--Transportation Funding
- Prop 92- Community Colleges
- Prop 93--Term Limits
- Props 94-97--Tribal Gaming
- Props 98 and 99
- Racial Disparities
- Responsible Lending
- Retirement Benefits
- Site of the Day
- Solar Initiative
- Structure of California Government
- Taxes
- Toxic Chemicals
- Transportation/Transit
- Water
- Westly
- Workers' Compensation
- Stories
- Proposition 1B: Restoration of Education Funding – NO
- Cavala: Jack D. Maltester – Exemplar of Public Life
- Cal-Cobra Premium Assistance Passes Senate Floor With Bipartisan Support
- Senate Approves Sen. Romero’s Bill Increasing Transparency in Education Policy
- Proposition 1A: State Budget Stabilization – YES
- Local School District Receive Solar Grant
- $634 Million Coming To California For Special Education
- Essay Seven: Props 1D, 1E and 1F
- Running the Show with Wonks and Gurus
- California Needs Propositions 1a-1f to Protect Schools, Health Care And Public Safety From Devastating Cuts And Layoffs
- 33rd California Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony: With Duty and Honor
- Essay Six: Props 1A, 1B and 1C
- Directory
- Donate
- Contact Us
RSS Advertise Here
Deliver your message to thousands of readers every day.
Our readers are influential opinion makers - politicians, journalists and activists.
Our latest headlines
- The Black-White Fallacy of Public Option
- Targeting Obesity Remains A Priority in Tough Budget Times
- Thousands Speak Out Against CA’s Costly and Broken Death Penalty
- Cuts Would Jeopardize Well-Being of Many Disabled Citizens
- Fully Fund Our Schools
- Same Governor, Different Goals
- Assemblymember Evans Sets the Record Straight
About Us
David Greenwald, Editor. (Contact David.)
CFC Education Foundation, Publisher. (Contact us.)
Got a news tip? Want to write a guest column?
Contact David here.
About California Progress Report.
Founded by Frank D. Russo (Publisher and Editor, 2006-08).
Sponsors
Books
Senator Leader Darryl Steinberg Perplexed by Governor’s Inaction on Democratic Proposal
Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) announced that the Senate has sent the $18 billion deficit reduction package the Legislature passed last month to the Governor. Below is a transcript of his remarks from a media availability Tuesday afternoon:
After weeks of good-faith negotiations to avert a cash crisis using the general framework of the budget reduction plan passed by the Legislature on December 18th, the Speaker and I believed that we had a common framework to make an agreement with the Governor over this past weekend.
Last night the Governor indicated that he would not sign our package if we sent it to him for reasons that are unclear to us.
He said last night that he believes that $8.5 billion in cuts is not deep enough.
In previous days the issue had been the economic stimulus package. The reasons have sort of shifted back and forth.
I am perplexed.
California is getting to the point where we must halt 2,000 infrastructure projects and Californians will not get tax refund checks if we do not act.
But the Governor is leveraging this fiscal emergency for reasons that are unclear but appear to be ideological in nature.
We all know how this movie goes. The governor will be out again in some community in California attacking the legislature and elected representatives for failing to act. It’s frankly a tired old movie.
We’ve bent over backwards to far that we have turned back-flips.
The speaker and I have spent hundreds of hours with our dedicated staffs over the holidays, coming up with the only solution that can get the votes needed to make a dent in the deficit.
We have agreed to virtually all of the Governor’s demands.
We have negotiated cuts that are larger than revenues.
We all agree that this problem can only be solved with a combination of cuts and revenues.
As we have moved closer to the Governor on his definition of economic stimulus, and as we have increased the amount of the cuts, he appears to be shutting down.
Put simply, the Governor appears to be getting cold feet around the only solution with the required number of votes to make a difference.
Governor, you are the one with the board ticking off the numbers outside of your office.
So here is what we have done.
In the last few minutes, we sent down our December 19th package for his review and hopeful signature.
If he vetoes the bills, we will await for him to tell us exactly what he will sign.
If the governor thinks he has the republican votes for new revenue, we’d be happy to hear it.
People have elected us to govern and to make hard decisions, and sending down our package this afternoon, we are governing.
We will continue to govern until this crisis is averted and Californians can once again know that its state government, both its legislative branch and its Governor, are doing everything possible to solve this problem.
Comments
End the two-thirds rule to pass a budget, and so end the paralyzing dictatorship of the minority in California. Could we even imagine what the United States would look like if a two-thirds majority was required to modify the federal budget. Update the overly rigid Prop 13 to reflect the current discrepancies in taxation, and funding requirements. During this fiscal crisis, restore Reagan's upper tax bracket on the wealthiest of Californians, rather than the regressive, counterproductive taxation currently emphasized by the Govenor. Hope for a maturation of the Governor's emotional and intellectual immaturity.
Posted by: aem at January 7, 2009 07:31 AM
End the two-thirds rule to pass a budget, and so end the paralyzing dictatorship of the minority in California. Could we even imagine what the United States would look like if a two-thirds majority was required to modify the federal budget. Update the overly rigid Prop 13 to reflect the current discrepancies in taxation, and funding requirements. During this fiscal crisis, restore Reagan's upper tax bracket on the wealthiest of Californians, rather than the regressive, counterproductive taxation currently emphasized by the Govenor. Hope for a maturation of the Governor's emotional and intellectual immaturity.
Posted by: aem at January 7, 2009 07:31 AM
End 2/3rds rule and end democracy as we know it. If a program, a policy is legitimate, why be concerned with a 2/3rds threshold? It should be easy to convince 66 percent of the legislature or populace with sound policy. The vast majority of legislation passes on CONSENT - 100 percent agreeing with it. Is this 15 percent increment an impossible acheivement. No, it happens all the time. Making it easier to spend other people's money is not the answer.
Posted by: steve at January 7, 2009 02:04 PM
Post a comment
Commenters: You must preview your comment before posting. And please only hit "Post" once; it may take a while, but your comment is being processed. Thanks.
Get Email Updates
Want the California Progress Report by email? Once a week, we'll send you the latest and greatest headlines.
© 2008 California Progress Report Our copyright and fair use policy.
Powered by Mandate Media. Logo design by Jane Norling.
