THE NOONER for April 5, 2012
TWEET DU JOUR: @JakeTapper - "POTUS says 'we are a nation of Dewar's.' I might have heard that wrong, though."
THE TWO-MONTH SPRINT: Candidates have two months from today to persuade voters to give them a shot in November. In Santorum math, that's like 1,000 days.
THE TWO-WEEK SPRINT: Good news: With three business days down in April, personal income tax revenues are tracking with last year's totals. Bad news: we need to collect $9.4 billion more by April 31 to be on target for the year, and we only collected about $6.3b in the comparable stretch left in April.
RUH-ROH: Last month, we got word that AD46 candidate Adrin Nazarian was opening a campaign office outside of his district, and now there is another. Although, the word that AD50 candidate Betsy Butler's new campaign headquarters is outside of the district certainly escalates the campaign fumble up a notch. That's because Butler is already accused of carpetbagging, although the effort was supported by the Speaker and most Assembly Democrats.
Calitics reports that there is a grand opening this Saturday for Butler's new headquarters, at 11512 Santa Monica Boulevard, which is about four blocks out of the new district at Santa Monica and, uh, Butler Ave.
Do the locations of campaign headquarters really matter? No, only a handful of us geeks know or care where one district stops and another begins, but it's another cycle in which Butler will be answering silly questions and unable to make fundraising calls or talk about her record.
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Wow, that was a long day yesterday. It's good to be back in Sac. Speaking of the road, I drove through much of SD05, the race between Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani (D), Assemblymember Bill Berryhill (R) and Supervisor Larry Ornellas (R). I ask you, dear Nooner readers, how do you think this race is shaping up between Berryhill and Ornellas? Galgiani will make it to November, and my sense is that the B-O race could be tight.
FROM KARA: "I bet I'm the only person around the capitol who learns of her husbands whereabouts through Assembly district numbers." My response, "It could be worse, Jodi finds out where Paul is through census blocks."
$$$: Jerry Perenchio, the former chair of Univision, kicked in $250,000 to support paycheck protection/deception, while Molly Munger kicks in another $500,000.
Either one of you want to be an NBA owner?
AD10: What is an actual conflict when a legislator receives outside income? Or, could this be the solution for the post-Prop. 25 budget showdowns?
TOP HEADLINES ON AROUNDTHECAPITOL.COM AS OF 12:00PM
calpensions.com
Regents last week reaffirmed the use of a federal IRS cap on the amount of pay used to calculate UC pensions, an inflation-adjusted $250,000 limit this year that also is proposed in a bill capping the pensions of all new hires in state and local government.Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross @ sfgate.com
David Siders @ blogs.sacbee.com
Gov. Jerry Brown has stopped collecting signatures for his original ballot measure to raise taxes, satisfied that signature gathering for a compromise initiative is progressing quickly enough to qualify it for the November ballot, an adviser said this afternoon.Derek Moore @ pressdemocrat.com
Assemblyman Michael Allen remained on the payroll of two North Bay labor unions after he took office last year, raising questions for the Santa Rosa Democrat who previously ran afoul of state political conflict-of-interest laws because of his work.
Kim Geiger @ latimes.com
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicts that the Supreme Court will rule, by a 6-3 vote, to uphold the healthcare law that she helped enact in 2010, though she acknowledged that “you never know what the court will do.”eastbayexpress.com
Back in the mid-1990s, Oakland contractor Joe Debro was one of a few people to publicly question the deal to bring the Raiders back from Los Angeles. Debro warned that it could end up costing the City of Oakland and Alameda County tens of millions of dollars. But politicians, Raiders' officials, and the press derided Debro at the time as being a naysayer. The intervening years, however, proved Debro was right. And now he's filed a new lawsuit against the Raiders, alleging that the professional football team also defrauded the city and county because it never repaid a $53.9 million "loan."utsandiego.com
The National Latino Research Center at Cal State San Marcos hosted 120 community leaders Wednesday for its first report on San Diego County's Latino community. Education, health care, access to technology and political involvement are all critical issues for the future, the center reported.George Skelton @ latimes.com
The latest incarnation of the transit plan is an improvement, but should high-speed rail take priority over higher education? Either way, the state needs to pump more funds into the treasury.latimesblogs.latimes.com
California Gov Jerry Brown drops first version of tax proposal, confident second will make the ballot. The top political advisor to California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday the campaign was dropping its first tax proposal, which was still gathering signatures, because it was confident the compromise measure would qualify.Martin Wisckol @ totalbuzz.ocregister.com
Despite the high degree of partisanship in Washington and Sacramento, unaffiliated voters in California continue to increase their market share. Decline-to-state voters now account for 21 percent of the stateâs electorate, up from the 19 percent of 2008 and double the 10.5 percent of 1995.Jennifer Garza @ sacbee.com
Thousands of Aetna customers across the state, including many in the Sacramento region, were mistakenly sent letters this week telling them that their health care provider is no longer covered in the network and that they need to find new doctors.nytimes.com
The volatile Republican nominating contest is not likely to be followed by a volatile general election fight with President Obama.Anna Gorman @ latimesblogs.latimes.com
utsandiego.com
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday urged support for his proposed tax increase to assure funding for local governments that have taken on increased public safety duties.Robin Abcarian @ latimes.com
Mitt Romney’s evolution from Republican primary partisan to general election candidate has begun in earnest. This morning, on the rooftop of an old downtown office building here that houses his Pennsylvania headquarters, Romney signaled the start of his efforts to reach across party lines to voters in the middle of the political spectrum, those who will be critical to his chances in a race against President Obama.Amy Chance @ blogs.sacbee.com
VIDEO: Dan Walters picks his most interesting politicians.sacbee.com
Senate hopeful talks up Cain's tax plan in fundraising appealGary Klien, Marin Independent Journal @ mercurynews.com
The San Quentin inmate who murdered another prisoner to avenge a Novato girl's death read a statement of condolence Wednesday to the girl's family.sacbee.com
mercurynews.com
Children in California will still be able to get toys with their Happy Meals. A San Francisco judge has dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit that sought to stop McDonald's from using toys to market its meals to children in the Golden State.Jean Merl @ latimes.com
Jon Ortiz @ sacbee.com
Talk to state workers who deal with the public and you'll soon hear a word that outsiders don't normally associate with government: customers.
The people the state serves aren't "clients," "stakeholders" or even "the public." They're "customers."