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* Sen. Steinberg says that the new federal money can be used to close the budget gap.
* Schools, including LA, improved their test scores.
* It looks like Orly Taitz is going to have to pay the fine. There are certainly enough birthers to cover that for her, right?
* Dan Walters thinks Arnold is in legacy mode.
* Carla Marinucci fact-checks Drudge on “Jerry’s double dipping”. Turns out, shockingly enough, that this was really a non-story.
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* UC-Berkeley got into trouble for its genetic testing for incoming students. It was supposed to be an educational experience to talk about personalized medicine.
* Sen. Boxer got Magic’s endorsement.
* Apparently Bell was finding creative ways to pay those big salaries…by overcharging on taxes.
* Check out the Capitol Notes Podcast.
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* Big news for state workers: furloughs are off (for now). Schwarzenegger lost a court skirmish on the issue, but there is more to come on this.
* Does ballot measure wording affect outcomes? Maybe.
* Dan Schnur, the new FPPC honcho, argues for more disclosure.
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* Alex Spanos, a big Republican donor, gave Jerry Brown $20,000.
* Ted Gaines made his run for Dave Cox’s senate seat official.
* Orly Taitz, birther queen, was hit with a lien because she didn’t pay a court fine.
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* AD-05: Richard Pan is doing pretty well against Andy Pugno in a recent poll. See the flip for the full press release.
* State revenue is down for July.
* When it rains it pours for Bell. They just got their credit downgraded.
* A key Fiorina supporter compared Barbara Boxer to the infamous Huns.
Dr. Pan Pulls Ahead in Early Snapshot of AD5 Race
SACRAMENTO, CA – A fresh survey of the race for the area’s Assembly District 5 seat finds Democrat Dr. Richard Pan pulling ahead of his opponent Republican Andy Pugno once voters learn more about the candidates.
“Our survey finds the race begins in a statistical tie, with Dr. Pan moving to a 10-point lead over opponent Andy Pugno after voters hear both positive and negative messages about the candidates,” said Ben Tulchin of San Francisco-based Tulchin Research. “While the race starts very close, our survey shows Dr. Pan is well positioned for victory in November.”
For the past few decades AD5 has been a safe Republican seat with a strong Republican voter registration advantage. Since 2000 those registration numbers have been eroding and now the district is divided equally between registered Democrats and registered Republicans. The Target Book and political pundits no longer view AD5 as a safe Republican seat, but now consider the District one of the most hotly contested legislative races in the state. Recent polling also demonstrates that this race will be extremely close.
Richard Pan is a physician and an educator at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital, with a commitment to community service. He believes that a healthy community needs a strong local economy, good schools and access to quality healthcare. Pan aims to bring a new perspective to the state Assembly by working to fix the broken system, improve our schools and reduce health care costs for families and businesses.
“Our research shows that Pugno is too extreme for this district, which puts Richard Pan in a very strong position to win in November,” said Josh Pulliam, Pan’s campaign consultant.
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* Much ado about gifts in Los Angeles. DA Steve Cooley is investigating Mayor Villaraigosa and the state is going to change the rules, but meanwhile Cooley himself is accepting a slew of gifts from “close personal friends.” Friends that, generally, have some connection to the County of LA. Funny that. (Note: Brian works for the Kamala Harris campaign.)
* Meg Whitman sent out a mailer with a cheap (and factually wrong) attack against Jerry Brown. Trying to tie him to Bell, Whitman played fun with numbers. The result was, funny enough, some very dark mail. The truth tells a different story. Brown presided over a city that was better on the day that he left office than when he entered. Meanwhile, Jerry Brown investigated the actual City of Bell.
* San Bernardino County is going to face some voting rights act troubles unless they work to improve the number of minorities that are eligible to vote that actually register.
* A judged tweaked the ballot language for Prop 22.
* Meg Whitman’s (non eMeg) political donors have a strong tilt towards developers.
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* From the hilarious department: Whitman has continued her attacks on Steve Poizner, despite the primary ending two months ago. This is really amateurish stuff.
* The first debate between Carly Fiorina and Barbara Boxer will be Sep. 1 in the East Bay.
* Jerry Brown wants to cut the perks from elected officials offices on Univision.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger says that the difference between the parties in the budget process is about $4 Billion. No details on where that $4 Billion is.
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* A state judge ruled that the AG’s ballot summary for Prop 25 could not include that the tax requirement stayed at 2/3. The Prop 25 (Majority vote budget) campaign plans to appeal the decision.
* The State GOP has no idea where it is at on Prop 23. They might not endorse it? Ummm…you endorsed it in the spring people.
* AFSCME has a new anti-Whitman ad (to the right).
* Carly Fiorina is displeased with the Prop 8 ruling yesterday.
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* John and Ken got Meg to admit she opposes any path to legalization.
* Ooooh, big shock: Carly Fiorina says she would oppose Elena Kagan
* LA City Councilman Richard Alarcon was indicted on voter fraud charges related to his living outside of his district.
* One of the debates has become official-like for October 12. And more interestingly, Tom Brokaw will be the moderator.
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* This discussion pretty much happens every cycle, but will Loretta Sanchez finally make that governor bid that she has had an account for for a few years now?
* Rod Wright is looking at sports books, suggesting that they would be one way of bringing in a quick billion.
* George Schultz, former Sec. of State under President Reagan, thinks California should reject Prop 23 and continue to fight climate change.
* Wow. Only 2 states allow districts to shorten school years to less than 180 days, California and Utah. This will come back to haunt the state.