Opinion: Antonio and Arnold in Sacramento
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The two A’s of state and local politics -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- top the most interesting blog chatter today.
The Times’ Duke Helfand and Nancy Vogel report state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez publicly warned Villaraigosa that his planned takeover of the Los Angeles Unified School District may be floundering in Sacramento. Villaraigosa is headed to the capital on Monday to lobby for his plan. But Mayor Sam wonders if the whole thing is just an orchestrated publicity stunt:
Do you think the plan is actually in danger of collapsing in the Legislature? Or is this instead just a ‘set-up’ by the Mayor and Nunez to create the appearance of a challenge that the Mayor, through charisma, hard work, and airfare, will overcome?
The other big Sacramento news is the state budget, which founders annually. The Times’ Evan Halper says Schwarzenegger has split with state Republicans over healthcare program for low-income children. Republicans oppose the program because they say it will aid illegal immigrants, but Schwarzenegger supports a scaled back version of the Democrat-led bill. Because of the disagreement, the budget once again missed the constitutionally-imposed June 15 deadline, extending a streak that started in 1987.
Boi From Troy lambastes Republicans for their position:
First, as a policy, not even Republicans should be opposed to providing services to minors who, if here illegally, are not so on their own free will. It’s evil and mean-spirited. But politically, heading into an election, it would be nice of Legislative Republicans to get over it and hand Governor Schwarzenegger a major accomplishment–passing an on-time budget–showing that he is actually improving the political climate in the Capitol.
LA Weekly’s Bill Bradley says both sides have a lot at stake:
It’s not clear that either legislative Republicans or Democrats have thought through the implications of this budget dust-up over “budget dust.” The Republicans run the risk of looking churlish, with members of their own party in local office around the state supporting Schwarzenegger and the Democrats’ extra $22 million for existing children’s health care coverage. The Democrats run the risk of early exposure of a potential Achilles heel of a big initiative this fall, that would raise the tobacco tax to pay for health care. Much of the money would go to the care of illegal immigrants.