Day Seven: Fiscal Year 2009-2010
SACRAMENTO
4:57 PM, Pacific Standard Time
No deal yet on how to close an estimated $26 billion hole in the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.
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The governor left the Capitol a little before 1 pm, presumably to eat lunch.
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Hearings were held by the Legislature’s policy committees.
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Among the measures scheduled to be heard was creation of a California Blueberry Commission – AB 606 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, a San Francisco Democrat.
The commission, paid for by contributions from blueberry growers, would tout blueberries much as the avocado commission touts avocados and the dried plum commission pitches prunes, starting by renaming them dried plums. .
Elsewhere, Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, the Santa Rosa Democrat who chairs the lower house’s budget committee, is carrying a bill to change the definition of honey.
Honey is currently defined as the “nectar of floral exudations of plants gathered and stored in the comb of honeybees that contains not more that 20 percent water, not more than 25 one hundredths of 1 percent of ash, not more than 8 percent sucrose, a specific gravity not less than 1,412, and weight not less than 11 pounds, 12 ounces per gallon of 231 cubic inches at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Evans would simplify the definition of honey somewhat to: “a natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from nectar of plants from secretions of living parts of plants, which they transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store, and leave in the honeycomb to ripen and mature.”
The California Beekeepers Association sponsors Evans’ measure, AB 1216. The Apiary Board, established in 1972 to advise the California Department of Food and Agriculture on the beekeeping industry, has no position.
Capitol Weekly also highlighted a measure slated for hearing on July 7 to impose strict rules on what constitutes pure pomegranate juice, rules sought by the largest produced and distributor of it. The bill is SB 190 by Sen. Rod Wright, a Los Angeles Democrat.
“Wanted to be sure you saw what the Legislature is focused on today,” said Aaron McLear, the governor’s press secretary, in an e-mail forwarding the pomegranate juice bill story.
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Truly unbelievable. As a 50 year resident it is quickly becoming an embarassment to be a CA resident and taxpayer. Clearly our current process of electing our “best and brightest has failed and needs reform. We have both legislative and executive incompetence.
Comment by Jack Johnson — 7.07.2009 @ 4:22 pm
it’s term limits, stupid…
Comment by eli — 7.07.2009 @ 6:45 pm
It’s deeper than just term limits, but that too is a problem. To think everything was just great before term limits is dreaming. Our elected officials of all parties have forgotten or completely lost their moral and ethical compass. They are custodians of the public trust and they’ve managed to lose every ounce of that trust over 20 years. They owe all of us the highest possible level of service at the lowest possible cost, not filling their own pockets. This blog would do all a service by calling out these phonies.
Comment by Jack Johnson — 7.07.2009 @ 9:34 pm
I think Bass making a stand against the reforms is nonsense. She is going to skip meetings that could help solve the budget problems (at least in the public view regardless of whether or not they accomplish anything) because the Governor wants to make state government more efficient and less infected with fraud? Wow, that is solid ground to stand on.
Can someone explain to me exactly how this whole budget crisis is going to get solved since the Dems have apparently given up on the tax increases AND they don’t want to make any significant cuts?
Comment by Dazed and Convoluted — 7.07.2009 @ 9:50 pm
Come on, people. Analyze the problem. Why was the CPR such a bust (remember the new Governor’s fiasco that took time and resources and that promised to end waste in State Government? NOT!) Why do we have so many discussions and incidences about special interests and conflicts of interest? Think about it. MONEY is the basis of all that is wrong in politics. The way we elect our representatives, the way we conduct elections and the way we are governed. Read the Capitol Morning Report any day of the week and you will see each and every politician running for office boasting about how much money their campaigns have raised. That is NEWS! If this state, and this country, EVER finds its integrity long enough to enact real campaign finance reform, the end of many, many problems will follow. NO money from special interests. NO money from unions. NO money from any contributor other than individual members of the public and those contributions limited to no more than $500 per election campaign. NO use of personal wealth to fund campaigns – we need candidates who are NOT of the wealthy class and who are in touch with what the rest of us are going through. This is NOT a matter of “freedom of speech” regardless of what our rather feckless US Supreme Court has stated (if that were the case, that would mean that Governor Schwarzenegger has more freedom of speech that you or me). Bottom line — if you want responsible, accountable, principled elected representatives, REFORM CAMPAIGN FINANCE!
Comment by Sandy Carey — 7.08.2009 @ 8:06 am
Speaking of dried plums…way back in the day…when you could get away with this type of thing….my dad and my uncle plus “us kids” visited a train derailment down the Feather River Canyon..why? The lure of 100’s of cans of something scattered down the rocky hillside. The mystery of those unidentified cans was strong. We got across the river over some godforsaken logging bridge and hiked coupla hundred feet down the slope to the spillage. The dented mystery cans? Stewed prunes. We filled our backpacks. Mom shook her head. Dad and I loved them. Good times.
Comment by Smokey's Gal — 7.08.2009 @ 9:30 am
Informative. Thanks for the information.
Comment by Beekeeping — 12.10.2009 @ 10:06 am
I think that to get the loan from banks you ought to present a firm motivation. Nevertheless, one time I have received a sba loan, just because I wanted to buy a building.
Comment by LolaNewman23 — 5.18.2010 @ 7:57 pm