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On Tuesday the legislature approved a controversial budget deal – that both sides admitted was far from perfect in addressing the core issues with the state budget – an action that was met by a veto threat from Schwarzenegger.
Late Friday afternoon, the Senate voted on budget compromise measures worked out between Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.
A statement from Senate Pro Tem Don Perata said that the actions taken Friday will restart payments to schools, community colleges, day care centers, health care providers and others that have been hurt by the 81-day budget stalemate.
The two measures approved Friday include:
‒ SB 28: This legislation removes provisions in the budget increasing tax withholding 10 percent on all taxpayers and establishes a higher, 20-percent penalty for corporations that underreport their taxes by $1 million or more. The vote was 22-14.
Legislators expect SB 28 will increase revenues in the short term as companies catch up on taxes from previous years, while reducing the underreporting rate and increasing tax compliance in the future.
‒ SCA 30: The bill adds a provision to build a rainy day reserve fund into the budget reform constitutional amendment sent to the governor. It also will withdraw funds from the Budget Stabilization Fund when state revenues fall below projected spending. The vote was 30-0.
“I am tempted to say I am ‘relieved,’ except that might suggest I am happy about this budget, and I’m not,” Sen. Patricia Wiggins said in a written statement late Friday. “Budgeting requires compromise, and even though it was clear from the outset that no one, or no one group, was going to get everything they wanted, there was some pretty serious resistance to a number of options that might have allowed us to pass a budget that was more responsible.”
Wiggins said the real relief, if there's any, in completing the budget deal will be for schools, health care providers and child care providers, vendors doing business with the state and others who were not getting paid, reimbursed or otherwise supported by the state because of the protracted budget stalemate.
In the end, the Senate agreed to pass a budget without raising taxes. Wiggins suggested that increasing some taxes, at least temporarily, is the most responsible way to bring the state budget into balance.
However, even without raising taxes, the budget manages to restore full funding for the Cal Grant program for college students, restores most of the 10 percent Medi-Cal rate cuts and restores almost all cuts to Medi-Cal eligibility.
Wiggins noted that the budget also rejects Schwarzenegger deep cuts for the safety social net, including children’s services and foster care, CalWORKs kids’ eligibility and In-Home Supportive Services; and restores cuts in funding for COPS grants, juvenile justice and other law enforcement programs.
Schwarzenegger could still attempt to cut those programs through the line-item veto, Wiggins said.
The three-month budget stalemate held up billions of dollars from the state's communities, said Wiggins. That resulted in schools putting off hiring teachers, while hospitals and health care providers were forced to either take out loans or use personal funds to stay open. Some child care centers went into crisis mode because of no payments, and Medi-Cal payment cuts to health centers left providers no choice but to cease taking new patients or cut off care altogether.
Wiggins called the state's current budget process “a mess,” which she attributes to the two-thirds vote requirement to pass a budget. California, Arkansas and Rhode Island are the only states that pass budgets in that way, which Wiggins said should be abandoned for a majority vote rule.
“We also need to get to a point where the people of this state – and their elected representatives – make real, and likely difficult, decisions about what programs and services we provide and how much we are willing to spend to provide them,” she said.
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Lt. Rusty Noe of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that 21-year-old Daniel Isaiah was arrested on Wednesday in Covelo.
For the past several weeks Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies and California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents have been investigating specific targets in the the Covelo area, Noe reported. They began serving search warrants and conducting open field raids on Tuesday.
From Tuesday through Thursday, deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, California Department of Justice, CAMP, Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration, Mendocino County Probation, Ukiah Police Department and the California Highway Patrol conducted a series of marijuana raids in the Covelo Area, according to Noe.
Noe said the raids against commercial growers were a result of numerous complaints of uncontrolled marijuana cultivation in the rural Covelo area.
During the service of these search warrants no evidence or claim of medical marijuana was made. With the exception of one suspect, all the 12 suspects arrested were from outside of Mendocino County, said Noe, a large portion were from outside of California, including three Mexican nationals.
Isaiah, of Lakeport, and Daniel Goss, 27, of Santa Cruz were arrested Wednesday in the Bently Ridge area of Covelo, said Noe.
The men were allegedly found in possession of 62 marijuana plants and 100 pounds of processed marijuana, said Noe. They also were alleged to be in possession of four firearms – including one AK47 assault rifle.
Noe said both Isaiah and Goss were caught after attempting to escape. Isaiah was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on charges of cultivating marijuana for sale and possession of marijuana for sale, with bail set at $25,000.
The rest of the two-day operation officials netted 3,343 marijuana plants, taken from both public and private lands; 40 pounds of processed marijuana; methamphetamine and illegal mushrooms; a large, very flammable and potentially dangerous butane honey oil hashish lab used to convert marijuana into a high quality hashish oil; and shotgun and a .223 rifle.
Noe said that deputies reported that some of the marijuana plants seized were so large that it became difficult to lift 15 marijuana plants with a helicopter capable of lifting 600 to 700 pounds.
Arrested in the week's raids were Mexican nationals Joeyah Ruiz, 26, Jose Franco, 19, and Valdovinos Cruz, 22; Oregon residents Morgan Costley, 24, Natalie Darves, 25, and Jordan Feathers, 28; Mark Pacitti, 29, of Florida; Gevitye Goins, 24, of Michigan; Yesenia Deuluna, 30, of Los Angeles, and Blake Hastings, 27, of Covelo.
Noe said in the past Mendocino County was promoted as a place to come and conduct marijuana cultivation operations.
“It became common knowledge that illegal activity was accepted,” he said in a written statement. “This is no longer the case. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office will investigate and prosecute illegal commercial marijuana cultivation on a case by case basis.”
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HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – The Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District and the Hidden Valley Lake Association both have new board members.
The community services district reported that it has seated two new directors this month.
Linda Herndon was appointed and administered the oath of office at a special district meeting on Sept. 5, with Joanna Richardson-Jones receiving her appointment and taking the oath at the district's regular meeting on Tuesday.
Herndon has a business background in management, business relations and has served on several boards through her business career.
Richardson-Jones brings expertise in business and experience in leadership through her career, combined with a passion for the Hidden Valley Lake community, water quality and its abundance. She has served on the Hidden Valley Lake Association Board for the past several years.
Over at the Hidden Valley Lake Association, community resident Kathy Joseph was elected to succeed Judy Mirbegian on the Hidden Valley Lake Board of Directors at the Thursday board meeting.
Joseph joins a board that includes President Don Dornbush, Vice President Tom Miller, Secretary Cheri Johnson, Treasurer Diana Marshall, and directors Joanna Richardson-Jones and Rick Munroe.
Two directors seats are still up for election, including Dornbush's. A candidates' forum is scheduled for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Hidden Valley Lake Association Country Club.
Dornbush, Bob Brossier, Joseph Martin, John P. Ryan, Dan Sheehy, Eric Soderstrom and Bill Surber are running for the two seats, and will be available to answer questions from community members at the forum.
For more information about the agencies and their activities, including dates and times of meetings, visit the Hidden Valley Lake Association online at www.hvla.com, or the community services district at www.hiddenvalleylakecsd.com.
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The Wine Auction will be held beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday under the big tent at the Buckingham Golf & Country Club, 2855 Eastlake Drive, Kelseyville.
U. S. Congressman Mike Thompson, First District of California, is the event chair, with Andy Beckstoffer, chief executive officer of Beckstoffer Vineyards, acting as the master of ceremonies.
The event's supporting organization, the Lake County Wine Alliance, will have a limited number of tickets available for purchase at the door on Saturday, the group reported Friday. Tickets are $100 per person.
Donations from sponsors already have brought in more than $90,000 for the ninth annual event.
Last year's net contributions to county charitable beneficiaries was $93,000; in its previous eight years, the Wine Auction has donated $623,002 to local nonprofits, with 2005 having the highest single amount of $125,000.
The beneficiaries chosen for this year's event are Kids 4 Broadway, Lake County Special Olympics, Wiloth Equine Therapy and Riding Center, Hospice Services of Lake County, Adult Day Care/Respite of Clearlake, the Military Funeral Honors Team, Church Women United, Operation Tango Mike, the Lake Family Resource Center, the County Literacy Coalition and the fine arts programs at five Lake County high schools.
In addition to benefiting groups such as these, the event also showcases fine wine and food from local businesses. Twenty-three wineries will pour wine and 17 restaurants, caterers or markets will serve gourmet foods.
The evening will feature 32 lots in a live auction, and 165 items in the silent auction. Auctioneers are Archie McLaren, founder of the Central Coast Wine Classic and a rare and fine wine consultant, and Jed Steele, owner and winemaker of Steele Wines of Lake County.
For more information and to purchase tickets for any of the events, call 866-279-WINE.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports