THis will be a quick one.  Not a whole lot going on, but there were a few things of note.  The blogs are pretty quiet so a bunch of MSM stories here.

Teasers: Sacto is sooo bipartisan, Juan Arambula, redistricting, $200 million for the FTB, new laws, new schedules, new year.  And oh yeah, the 49ers.

The CA Majority Report has the scoop on Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) announcing his intention to not seek re-election in 2008. He’s not termed out until 2010, but opted not to seek his final possible term.  Steve Maviglio says the seat is safe for Dems with Fresno City Councilman Henry T Perea.  Perea looks to be a solid candidate, he previously worked with Nicole Parra on Congressman Cal Dooley’s staff, and the seat is generally a fairly safe D seat, at least for Fresno.

Frank at the CPR also noticed the LA Times article on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s payments to staffers from campaign coffers, and calls for “Hiram Johnson” reform on the practice.  Hiram would likely go all railroad on the big money.  Or something like that.

Nik Bonovich argues that “communities of interest” for redistricting must be real communities of interest.

On the MSM side, the SF Chron reports that a bunch of gay rights legislation will go into effect Jan 1.  Most notably, domestic partners can now file state taxes jointly.  Other notable laws include the requirement for state contractors to offer DP benefits and protections against discrimination in housing.

Many more laws go into effect on Jan 1 (SF Chron), including animal protection measures, drug discounts, and most notably, the minimum wage will go up by 75 cents from $6.75 to $7.50.

Some taxpayer paid a $200 MILLION settlement with the Franchise Tax Board almost singlehandedly keeping the state’s deficit under $100 million.  That’s a lot of money and one seriously rich person who decided to come clean during the state’s amnesty program.

Oh hmm, it seems the 49ers might not be THAT opposed to staying in SF, as long as they get a big payout. I’m really quite sick of cities giving sports teams money.  They should go where it is profitable for them and cities should provide only the support they would offer to any other business.  I hope both SF and Santa Clara hear that.

In a column that I missed on Xmas day, George Skelton argues that we should be exporting Sacto’s bipartisanship to DC.  Um, I really, really appreciate George Skelton, but I think this column is a bit off.  Mostly because Mike Villines is threatening to blow the place up if people don’t pay attention to his GOP minority in the Assembly.

School districts are giving longer winter breaks to help families who take long vacations, typically to visit family in other countries.