The Associated Press

Thu, Dec 4, 2008 (2:42 p.m.)

Nov. 30

The San Jose Mercury News: "Community colleges need support more than ever"

The outlook for higher education in California is bleak.

Faced with massive budget cuts, the state's four-year college systems plan to deny admission next fall to 20,000 students, including 10 percent of freshmen, in a year of record applications. Students at University of California and California State University campuses can expect higher tuitions, larger classes and longer waits for courses.

We don't fault the systems' trustees for breaking the state's 40-year commitment to admit everyone with the grades and scores to pursue a four-year degree. They are doing triage, protecting current students in bad times. We blame state leaders for putting them in that position and for blithely assuming that community colleges will absorb students whom the UC and CSU will turn away.

Community colleges are already being asked to do the impossible. They face their own, proportionally even larger budget cuts and a recession-driven surge in enrollment for which they aren't being compensated.

All forecasts predict that California will face a severe shortage of workers with two- and four-year degrees over the next decade. There won't be enough teachers, nurses, engineers and skilled workers in emerging green technologies. Cutting back in state support now will not only deny opportunities to individuals but also stifle the growth of the state's and Silicon Valley's economy.

It's clear who will bear the brunt: low-income and minority students without counselors and parents reminding them to get CSU applications in ...

With a $28 billion deficit over the next 18 months, some cuts are inevitable. But they needn't be as deep as Democrats appear willing to accept if legislators make the case to hard-pressed Californians to accept higher taxes for the next generation's sake.

The Legislature also must be willing to set priorities and spare community colleges the harshest cuts. That is where students shut out of the CSU and UC will turn for transfer credits; that is where laid-off workers will go to be retrained, and that is where high school grads with aspirations but poor basic skills will seek remedial help.

In other down cycles, legislators slashed community college budgets and raised fees without giving colleges the revenue. Attendance plummeted and didn't recover for years; a generation of students gave up on or scaled back higher education. That must not happen again.

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Dec. 4

The Modesto Bee: "Find a new location for casino"

The effort to build a $250 million casino on Highway 99 north of Madera has been slowed by the downturn in the economy.

This gives the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians an opportunity to reconsider the casino's location and build it in a rural area closer to the tribe's homeland in the foothills.

Station Casinos of Las Vegas, the tribe's partner in the proposed off-reservation casino, could file for bankruptcy, and gambling industry analysts believe that could curtail the project.

The rancheria should be able to build a casino, but not where it would cause serious congestion on 99.

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Dec. 3

The Sacramento Bee: "A balancing act is key to stimulus"

Whenever California builds freeway lanes, flood-control levees or other major construction projects, the public gets a chance to review the plans and suggest changes to minimize the environmental impact.

Such input has paid off. It has resulted in replanted forests to compensate for trees lost when a levee is rebuilt or widened. Outside pressure has also prompted Caltrans to build stormwater basins to prevent highway runoff from damaging creeks or polluting beaches.

In an effort to speed up projects financed by state bond money, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now proposing to streamline these environmental reviews. Agencies such as Caltrans would have to obtain environmental permits for highway or transit projects, but opportunities for the public or regulators to shape the final product would be severely truncated.

It's easy to understand why the governor wants to fast-track the process. President-elect Barack Obama has asked states to identify billions of dollars in public works projects that could be started in the next 120 days. Since California voters have approved more than $50 billion in infrastructure spending in recent years, the state is in a prime position to leverage federal assistance for projects that could create thousands of jobs.

It's also easy to understand why the governor fears that unrestrained application of the California Environmental Quality Act could derail this opportunity. As this page has frequently noted, CEQA has a long history of litigious abuse by various interest groups, including unions that want to extract favorable labor terms for certain projects.

It is also fair to say that, when combined with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, CEQA can add years to the time it takes to build even the most beneficial project, such as a transit line or sewage treatment plant.

That said, the governor and lawmakers need to be extremely careful with plans to truncate certain environmental reviews, particularly for new highway lanes ...

Clearly, the governor and lawmakers need to engage in a balancing act when considering stimulus proposals. Priority should go to projects that don't compromise the state's environmental goals and serve essential immediate needs, such as public safety.

To find this balance, both sides will have to give a little bit. Democrats and environmental groups will have to drop their insistence that CEQA can't be touched or that state agencies can't contract with "design-build" firms to speed up public works. The governor and Republicans will have to concede to environmental reviews for highway widenings that might conflict with the state's climate policies.

Somewhere in the middle could be a mix of projects that could include new hospitals, revamped levees, road rehabilitation, transit lines, school buildings and infrastructure for affordable housing. To find this middle ground, lawmakers of both parties need to come out of their corners, find an immediate solution to the state's fiscal crisis and come up with a stimulus package that stimulates green public works.

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Dec. 2

Daily Breeze: "Expectations in Sacramento"

We have a whole nation fretting about the recession because consumer spending isn't what it used to be, but there is one group whose members haven't lost the habit. It's politicians.

The incoming class of legislators sworn into office this week in Sacramento seemed eager to jump into the fray, judging by various media interviews. But many, maybe most, also seemed frustrated that budgeting was going to be a much higher priority than promoting new initiatives.

They had come to spend, not cut. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put them to work early by calling a special session to fix the state's cash balance, which is tipped the wrong way toward a two-year deficit ... The state's cash will run out within a matter of weeks unless the politicians do something about it.

It's tempting to blame the Democrats, who have a reputation for big spending. If some of their measures hadn't been vetoed by Schwarzenegger, the state's deficit would have been even more monstrous.

But Republicans can no longer dodge responsibility by sticking to their favorite ideological tune of "No More Taxes." If they know how to make ends meet with nothing more than dwindling revenue streams, let's see them do it.

California, one of the world's great economic powers, deserves better than a Legislature that takes it to the brink of bankruptcy. ...

It's a new session, a special session, an opportunity to shape common goals and raise the expectations of Californians. Not to mention forming some new habits.

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Dec. 2

The (San Bernardino County) Sun: "The bottom line: compromise"

The newly sworn-in Legislature, which looks disturbingly like the old one, with most of 11 new senators recycled from the Assembly, simply must get to work.

The state will run out of money in March. For every week the budget is delayed, the deficit will get bigger, which is why Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and summoned lawmakers back.

Federal economists' declaration Monday that the nation has been in a recession for a year ... lets lawmakers put a label on bad luck. They can partly blame circumstances beyond state borders for the relentless erosion of revenue, but it doesn't let them off the hook.

The old game of chicken _ waiting for the other side to swallow the poison _ won't work. Republicans and Democrats will have to accept that fixing a ... 19-month deficit will be equally unpalatable.

For Republicans, this means accepting billions in higher taxes. For Democrats, this means asking state workers to make temporary sacrifices _ furloughs and fewer holidays _ and finding ways to curb future spending. ...

Some Republicans imply there might be a deal if Democrats agree to an economic stimulus and budget reform. But some ideas _ like relaxing overtime pay regulations _ appear more opportunistic than urgent. Democrats shouldn't rule them out, however, and should consider expediting environmental review of transit projects. Spending restrictions should be considered, too, but only in the context of other reforms, including the possible elimination of a two-thirds vote to pass a budget.

As a result of the November elections, Democrats need only three Republican votes in the Assembly, instead of six, to pass a budget, but they now need three Republican senators instead of two. They can blame Schwarzenegger for lacking clout within his own party, but that won't solve the problem. Only compromise will _ the sooner, the better.