Political Briefs

Top stories

Jerry Brown’s new budget plan freezes UC tuition, offers new tax credit for poor – Gov. Jerry Brown presented a revised $115.3 billion general fund spending plan Thursday that includes hundreds of millions in additional money for the University of California in return for a tuition freeze on in-state students. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article; AP article; San Jose Mercury News article; KQED report; Sacramento Bee editorial: ‘Jerry Brown limits spending increases, tries to avoid other governors’ follies

Proposed state budget allocates $2.2 billion for drought response — As Californians prepare to confront the coming hot, dry summer months, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed more than $2 billion in additional drought funding Thursday as part of his revised state budget.  LA Times article

California Senate approves vaccination bill — After a lengthy and contentious debate, the California Senate on Thursday approved a controversial proposal requiring vaccinations for nearly all California schoolchildren. Senate Bill 277, which would make California only the third state in the country without religious and personal belief exemptions from vaccinations, passed 25-10. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article; San Jose Mercury News article; KQED report

Michael Fitzgerald: Every ballot counted, except these 800 — More than 800 ballots were overlooked in San Joaquin’s June 2014 primary election, enough possibly to swing three key races. Who is to blame is in dispute. An investigation has been launched. Fitzgerald column in Stockton Record

 

State budget 

John Myers: Revised California budget reinforces Brown’s manifesto of moderation – It was an animated Gov. Jerry Brown, fielding yet another question about Democrats wanting additional boosts to state spending, who uttered a sentence that pretty much sums up his entire approach to governing. “I don’t want to get caught in the jaws of the persistent, fiscal instability of the state government of California,” said a somewhat exasperated Brown. He then said, matter of factly, “There it is.” Myers in KQED

Dan Walters: Governor’s prudence well-placed – The state’s revenue system is, as we should all know by now, increasingly dependent on taxes from a relative handful of high-income Californians.  Walters column in Sacramento Bee 

Proposed tax credit for California’s poor receives bipartisan support – Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal for a state tax credit for California’s poorest working families was praised by both Democratic and Republican legislative leaders Thursday, but that warm bipartisan embrace wasn’t extended to other portions of the governor’s revised state budget. LA Times article

Sacramento Bee: Brown, Napolitano get A-plus for compromise on UC tuition – California has a lot of ground to make up in its higher education commitment. But a good compromise is a thing of beauty, and Brown and Napolitano have come a long way. Sacramento Bee editorial 

Revised estimate for K-12 funding: $6 billion more next year — Spending for K-12 schools in the coming year will be $6 billion more than Gov. Jerry Brown proposed just five months ago, raising per-student spending $3,000 – 45 percent – from what it was four years ago, according to the revised state budget that the governor released on Thursday.  EdSource article

Funding for early education considered minimal by advocates – In the May revision of the budget, Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to add 2,500 part-day preschool slots aimed specifically at 3- and 4-year-olds with special needs, develop a quality rating system for infant and toddler daycare, and increase funding to preschool providers by 1 percent for staff training, parent outreach and screening of children for disabilities.  EdSource article

Mindful of Prop 47 sentence reductions, Brown aims to scale back private prisons – Gov. Jerry Brown proposes to cut California’s reliance on out-of-state private prisons by half, but seeks to postpone long-term discussion about the state’s own aging lockups and need to rent space from others until next year. LA Times article

Health and social service advocates cry foul over Brown’s revised budget — Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget would boost spending on health and social services by about $1.7 billion over the current year, but it left advocates screaming for more to restore cuts made during the Great Recession. Contra Costa Times article

What Jerry Brown’s budget plan means for state workers – Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised 2015-16 budget unveiled Thursday continues to press for changes for current and future state employees – cuts to the state’s medical costs and sweeping changes to the civil service system. Sacramento Bee article

Not enough money for highway repairs, Gov. Brown’s budget acknowledges – There simply isn’t enough money to adequately maintain California’s crumbling highways and bridges, Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget proposal acknowledges.  San Jose Mercury News article

Amnesty for traffic fines, court fees in Brown’s budget — Gov. Jerry Brown, who got nailed for parking in a yellow zone, is pushing an amnesty program for millions of California drivers caught in what he called a “hellhole of desperation” from spiraling legal fines and fees.  Capitol Weekly article

 

Statewide politics/Ballot Measures 

Sanchez to challenge Kamala Harris for Senate seat; says ‘insiders’ won’t decide race — On Thursday, Lorettz Sanchez took the plunge for statewide office, formally declaring her candidacy to replace U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer and pledging to use her 10 terms of experience to fight for workers, families, women, minorities and young people. The announcement, which was still in doubt not 48 hours before the event, offers the prospect of a competitive election against Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; San Francisco Chronicle article

Loretta Sanchez’s public image a factor in Senate race — One of the first questions facing Rep. Loretta Sanchez in her newly announced U.S. Senate bid is whether the kind of attention she has won while in Congress could weigh down her campaign. On occasion, the Orange County Democrat has made fellow party members wince. LA Times article

California interest groups hedge their bets, give cash to anyone in power – In politics, we hear a lot about groups that back one party or one candidate. Unions for Democrats, business groups for Republicans. But in Sacramento, political giving from some special interests isn’t that special at all: Many big groups flex their political muscle by simply hedging their bets, spreading money around to both parties — and in some cases, even both candidates in the same race. KQED report 

Revised and reignited: California Politics Podcast – This week’s California Politics Podcast takes an early glance at both Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised state budget, and the news that a second well-known Democrat has officially joined the race for the U.S. Senate seat that Barbara Boxer is leaving in 2016.  California Politics Podcast in KQED 

Lawmaker’s push to expand LA County board could add a Latino supervisor – A proposed state constitutional amendment is the latest in a long line of attempts to expand the five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and potentially add a second Latino seat. LA Times article

 

Immigration 

How can feds end family detention, when more migrants are on the way? — It’s peak season for illegal immigration and the United States is bracing for another wave of migrant mothers and children fleeing violence in Central America. The Obama administration is scrambling to protect its right to hold them in family detention centers – through the summer, at least – as a means to deter more illegal migration. McClatchy Newspapers article

Republicans block young immigrant ‘dreamers’ from military — House Republicans voted to block a measure that would have allowed the Pentagon to consider allowing young immigrants who are in the country illegally — but were given temporary legal status under a program started by President Obama — to enlist in the military.  LA Times article

New York Times: End immigration detention — Of all the malfunctioning parts in the country’s broken-down immigration machinery, probably the most indefensible is the detention system. New York Times editorial

California Government Today:

Senate Daily File

Assembly Daily File

News Briefs

Top Stories

Historic dry-up: No canal water this year to farmers from Fresno Irrigation District — For the first time in nearly a century, farmers who normally receive canal water from theFresno Irrigation District will receive no regular deliveries this year. Fresno Irrigation general manager Gary Serrato said Thursday that the board decided to make only minimal water available for groundwater-recharge uses because its entitlement of water from the Kings River will be too small to provide water to farms in the 250,000-acre district. Fresno Bee article; The Business Journal article

Solution in sight for property-tax formula that’s cost Stanislaus County millions – Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, working with state and local officials, said she has negotiated a fix to the so-called “negative bailout”, a much-hated property tax formula that has cost Stanislaus County about $70 million in revenue over decades. Modesto Bee article

Merced to buy water meters for homes without one — During a special meeting Wednesday, Merced City Council voted unanimously to purchase water meters for about 10,800 homes, or roughly half of the city, to try to reduce water waste. Merced Sun-Star article

 

Jobs and the Economy 

James Fallows: An incredible view of Fresno’s downtown development — This may be the end for now of our Fresno chronicles, so it’s a place for two “on the other hand” notes. Both involve what is now the centerpiece of urban-recovery efforts: bulldozing an artistically ambitious but commercially stagnant pedestrian-only mall, so it can be re-opened to traffic. Fallows in The Atlantic 

Report: Milk means $21 billion to California’s economy – California’s dairy industry sold about $9.4 billion worth of milk and contributed about $21 billion to the gross state product last year, according to a new study from the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. The Business Journal article 

Stockton Record: South Stockton’s uncertain future – The issues in south Stockton aren’t going away. But neither or the opportunities. This portion of the city has been plagued by crime, poverty, housing issues, blight, lack of services and more for decades. Help is long overdue. Stockton Record editorial 

Report: Fresno’s cash home sales rate fell in February — Less Fresno homebuyers shelled out cash for their home in February, according to new data from real estate analysis firm CoreLogic. The Business Journal article

Mayor Eric Garcetti concerned about paid time off in LA wage plan – Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday that a City Council proposal to raise the minimum wage should not move ahead without further scrutiny of a largely overlooked piece of the plan that could require businesses to grant their workers a specific number of paid days off. LA Times article

Visalia opposes gas rate hikes – An administrative law judge came to Visalia on Thursday to find out what residents think about Southern California Gas Co.’s proposal to raise its rate. Not many people showed up for the first of two meetings that day at the Visalia Convention Center, but one of them was Visalia’s Assistant City Manager Leslie Caviglia who voiced the city’s opposition. Visalia Times-Delta article

Congressman Kevin McCarthy: California comes out a winner in Pacific trade deal – The Bakersfield Republican and House Majority Leader writes, “California has always embraced the world and still has the potential to stand at the forefront of a 21st century global economy. Our workers, our businesses and our farmers need free trade so that they can have the greatest opportunity for prosperity.”  McCarthy op-ed in Bakersfield Californian

Budget office says short-term rentals cost San Francisco up to 1,960 units — A report by San Francisco’s Budget & Legislative Analyst estimates that between 925 and 1,960 units citywide have been removed from the housing market because of Airbnb listings, adding fodder to the debate about how to regulate short-term rentals. San Francisco Chronicle article

Starbucks bringing alcohol to Bay Area stores? — Starbucks might be bringing another favorite Bay Area beverage to coffee shops in the region: wine. The coffee chain has submitted an application to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to sell beer and wine in stores across the Bay Area, including San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Santa Rosa, San Mateo and Pleasanton, according to KTVU-TV. San Francisco Chronicle article

Jack Knott and Bonnie Reiss: When women don’t lead, we pay a high price – Knott, the dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, and Reiss, global director of the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at USC, write, “While some progress has been made, women are significantly underrepresented in the highest positions of leadership. This comes at a high cost: When women lead, they bring value to their fields and to society as a whole.”  Knott/Reiss op-ed in Sacramento Bee

 

Agriculture/Water/Drought

El Niño strengthens.  Hope for serious drought relief? – El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean that were first identified in March are strengthening, federal scientists said Thursday, renewing hope that the next winter could be a long-awaited wet one for California. LA Times article; San Jose Mercury News article

Appeals court rules in favor of Gerawan in union vote case – A panel of Fifth District Court of Appeal judges ruled Thursday to support Fresno-based Gerawan Farming, Inc.’s contention that it never had an opportunity to prove that the United Farm Workers abandoned its employees after being named the bargaining representative for its employees in 1992 and that a mediation process was used improperly. Fresno Bee article; KVPR report 

Storm drenches Fresno and Valley; lightning, flooding reported – A heavy thunderstorm drenched much of Fresno and other Valley cities on Thursday, stranding cars in a Fresno underpass and dampening a northwest Fresno ice cream parlor.  Fresno Bee article 

Craig Wilson: A better alternative to Delta tunnels – A former Delta watermaster writes, “There is a better alternative – a conveyance system on the western side of the Delta, a desalter to improve the quality of water at the place where it is conveyed and a barrier downstream of the conveyance system to provide reliability.”  Wilson op-ed in Sacramento Bee

Bottled water companies under fire amid California drought – Groups such as Food & Water Watch, the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, are newly energized as California’s historic drought is creating both an intense public policy debate and a torrent of protests over bottled water. Sacramento Bee article

Fresno City Council kills farmland preservation, again – For the second time in two months the Fresno City Council has voted down a proposal to start a farmland preservation program.  KVPR report

Clovis capping 39,000 sprinklers to save water — Clovis parks workers began capping sprinklers Wednesday on landscaped areas along city streets, part of the city’s campaign to cut water consumption 36% as required by the state’s new rules. Fresno Bee article

California at low water – a photo gallery – The lake levels now? They’re falling and, depending on the timing of fall rains (if they arrive), many will be near their lowest levels ever by October. KQED report 

Despite drought, demo crews douse Candlestick Park rubble with drinking water – California’s historic drought is so bad people are banned from even hosing dirt off their front steps, but as iconic Candlestick Park is being demolished, thousands of gallons an hour of drinking water — fresh from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir — are being dumped on the rubble to hold down dust.  San Francisco Chronicle article

Demystifying California’s water rules – Exactly how such drastic cuts in water use will affect lives here isn’t clear to many, so it’s no surprise that nearly 400 Visalians gathered Wednesday night in a meeting room at the city’s Marriott Hotel hoping to get answers. Visalia Times-Delta article

Thousands of marijuana plans seized in Madera County — Madera County sheriff’s deputies say they have seized thousands of marijuana plants that consumed an estimated 14,000 gallons of water per day.  Fresno Bee article 

Amid mounting tension, Mexico agrees to subsidize farmworkers’ wages – Baja California farmworker leaders and the Mexican government reached a tentative agreement Thursday that would boost wages and guarantee government-required benefits to thousands of laborers, in an apparent breakthrough aimed at ending the nearly two-month-long labor dispute. LA Times article

U.S. action on GMOs stops far short of mandatory labels — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will start offering to verify food companies’ claims that their products do not contain genetically modified organisms, but the agency stopped far short Thursday of requiring the mandatory labeling of GMOs that many food activists say is needed.  San Francisco Chronicle article

 

Criminal Justice/Prisons 

Norm Andrade: Keeping kids busy keeps them out of trouble – Merced’s police chief writes, “With more than 25 years of law enforcement under my belt, I have seen first-hand the value after-school programs bring to our community. After-school programs offer safe, constructive activities to fill the critical hours after the school day ends, when kids are often unsupervised and more likely to get into trouble, use drugs and become victims of crime. Andrade op-ed in Merced Sun-Star

Officers may not enter pleas in Chukchansi office raid case – Several Chukchansi tribal police officers are expected to plead guilty Friday in Madera County Superior Court to a trespassing charge, but some may decide to have their cases go to a preliminary hearing. Fresno Bee article

Fallen heroes remembered – A ceremony Wednesday morning in the Kings County Government Center Courtyard paid tribute to public safety officers who died in the line of duty. Hanford Sentinel article

With Paul Tanaka’s indictment, LA County jail probe reaches top echelon — What began more than four years ago as a federal investigation into brutality and corruption by deputies in L.A. County jails reached the highest echelons of the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, with two top officials indicted on charges of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to thwart the FBI. LA Times article

 

Education

In-state tuition won’t rise for most undergrads for 2 years – California residents would not pay more as University of California undergraduates for at least the next two years under an agreement between Gov. Jerry Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano. AP article

California legislators blast UC over financial aid for out-of-state students – Lawmakers slammed the University of California on Wednesday for spending $32 million last year to provide financial aid to out-of-state and international students. Capitol Alert

Sex education a public right for students, judge rules in Clovis Unified case — Do California students have a right to learn about contraception and sexually transmitted infections? A Fresno Superior Court judge says yes. Fresno Bee article

Assembly approves bill to help Corinthian College students – The state Assembly is advancing legislation to help about 13,000 California students affected by the sudden closure of Corinthian Colleges. AB573 would waive fees at community colleges for affected students and provide money to the colleges to help students transfer and enroll in new programs. AP article

Heald students say school is still taking money – More than two weeks after Heald College was shut down by its parent company, some students say the school is still transferring money from loan providers to its bank account. Stockton Record article

UC Merced ramps up for weekend graduations – About 9,400 people are expected to attend ceremonies this weekend featuring their loved ones, many of whom are graduating from UC Merced. Merced Sun-Star article

Hundreds to graduate from Bakersfield College; some are very special – The road to this day, graduation day at Bakersfield College, has been a straight and narrow path for some and a winding labyrinth for others. No matter the course, the time has come for 1,061 students to graduate from BC.  Bakersfield Californian article 

Judge weeds out claims in discipline suit against Kern High School District – A Kern County Superior Court judge has ruled “inadequate” five of nine claims that are part of a lawsuit accusing the Kern High School District of discriminatory discipline practices, according to the district.  Bakersfield Californian article

Fresno Unified teams up with growers to create farm stand at southeast school — Fresno Unified is teaming up with small farmers in the Central Valley to provide local fruits and vegetables to kids. KVPR report

Oakland district, teachers reach tentative pact — After more than a year at the bargaining table and months of bickering, protests and even a preliminary strike vote, the Oakland Unified School District and the teachers union have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract. The deal, reached a minute before midnight Wednesday, is a departure from past contracts, leaving teacher raises open-ended and tied to the amount of money the district gets from the state. San Francisco Chronicle article

On Campus: Breaking news – no, just making it over for the next edition on Facebook, school desks — This week, The Bee rolled out its updated look and feel, in print and online. Within the newsroom, we’re shifting gears and beats to focus our coverage more on what’s newsworthy and useful for readers, less on cataloging the meetings. In classrooms, students are getting news in yet another way from McClatchy papers – including The Bee – and about 39 other news outlets, through a free school news service now in its second year called Newsela. Modesto Bee article 

Manteca to explore censure of board member — The Manteca Unified School District voted to create a censure review committee to look into Board of Trustees Vice President Sam Fant after an incident in which he used postings from a district employee’s Facebook page that appeared to imply she was racist. Stockton Record article

 

Energy/Environment

Lawsuits blocking Sierra logging hurt fight against forest fires, officials say – Lawsuits from environmental groups are snagging badly needed efforts to log forests in California’s fire-prone Sierra Nevada mountains, lawmakers and witnesses told a House of Representatives subcommittee Thursday. McClatchy Newspapers article

State chips in millions for Smith Canal gate – Country Club residents are one step closer to ridding themselves of a high-risk flood zone designation, after state officials agreed this week to contribute $22 million toward the construction of a gate near the mouth of Smith Canal. Stockton Record article 

City Beat: Surveyors find less litter in Bakersfield than they expected — Trash and its more elegant cousin litter were scrutinized Thursday by members of Keep Bakersfield Beautiful and guests during their annual Community Appearance Survey. Bakersfield Californian article

Packing operation gets stamp of green approval – Morada Produce Co., a Stockton farming and packing operation handling cherries, walnuts, onions and peppers, said it has received a “sustainably grown” third-party certification from SCS Global Services in response to growing consumer demand. Stockton Record article

Coalinga signs on to HERO energy program — Coalinga is the latest Valley city to jump on board the HERO Property Assessed Clean Energy program to help residents pay for home renovation projects that help the environment. HERO finances up to 100% of the cost and installation of different water- and energy-saving products such as solar, heating and cooling systems, efficient windows and doors, insulation and water-saving artificial turf. Fresno Bee article

Jeff Jardine: This just in – Wildfire Awareness Week was last week — In case you weren’t aware of it, and you weren’t, last week was Wildfire Awareness Week. It really wasn’t intended to be one of those covert awareness weeks. Jardine column in Modesto Bee

Study maps hundreds of methane gas leaks under streets in LA region – An environmental group has identified nearly 250 locations where planet-warming methane is leaking from natural gas lines under streets in the Greater Los Angeles region. LA Times article

 

Health/Human Services 

Medical scopes linked to superbug remain a risk — Patients across the nation continue to face considerable risk from medical scopes linked to deadly bacterial outbreaks due to basic design flaws and a lack of easy fixes, a federal panel was warned Thursday. LA Times article

 

Land Use/Housing

Fresno council adopts vacant-building law — A law to help eliminate neighborhood blight was adopted Thursday by the Fresno City Council. The law is aimed mainly at owners of homes that remain vacant for considerable periods. It requires the owners to keep the yards and buildings in good shape. Coverings on windows visible from any public right-of-way must be of a transparent material. The days of plywood coverings are ending. Fresno Bee article

Bitter division rises over possible change to Kern’s zoning scheme – Kern County Supervisors face a tough decision Tuesday when the first skirmish in Kern County’s upcoming groundwater regulation battles play out. East Kern’s Indian Wells Valley, the desert basin surrounding Kern County Supervisor Mick Gleason’s home in Ridgecrest, is the setting for the conflict. Bakersfield Californian article

Stanislaus County mayors retain Beekman in ‘black eye’ marathon – Accusations flew and tempers flared as all nine mayors in Stanislaus County gathered to decide if one of their own should continue representing them on a growth-guiding panel that suddenly doesn’t seem so obscure.  Modesto Bee article

Housing groundbreaking in downtown Stockton — The groundbreaking for a new downtown affordable-housing project was celebrated Thursday morning on the south side of Weber Avenue amid bare brick walls and the wooden skeletons of future apartment units. Stockton Record article

Sacramento’s Broadway area hopes to reinvent itself — Last week, developers began pouring foundations for the first of what will be 1,000 town homes, bungalows and lofts on a 32-acre former lumber mill site near Interstate 5. The project, called The Mill at Broadway, is billed as a future home for young adults who want to walk to work downtown, and for baby boomers who might trade bigger Land Park houses and yards for a lock-and-leave lifestyle. Sacramento Bee article

 

Transportation 

Rail safety technology improvements delayed by cost, complexity — Most of the nation’s railroads will not meet a Dec. 31 deadline for installing collision-avoidance technology that could have prevented Tuesday’s deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia. McClatchy Newspapers article 

See location, details of fatal wrong-way Sacramento crashes from last 10 years — At least 41 people died in fatal crashes involving drivers going the wrong way on Sacramento roads during the last decade, according to a Bee review of federal accident data and news reports.  Sacramento Bee article
Other areas 

Merced judge to resign from Superior Court – Marc A. Garcia, who made history in 2007 becoming the youngest person and the first Latino ever appointed to the Merced County Superior Court bench, has resigned his position amid allegations of ethical violations.  Merced Sun-Star article 

California agency disciplines Kern County judge, again, for intimidation – Like most judges, Kern County Superior Court Judge John Fielder did not necessarily carve out a reputation of being warm and cuddly on the bench. But on Thursday, a judicial oversight panel publicly admonished Fielder for being especially heavy-handed. The panel said the judge intimidated court administrators and attorneys. It was the fourth time that Fielder has been disciplined by the state in his 33-year career. LA Times article

City employee files sexual harassment complaint against Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson — A former aide in the Sacramento city manager’s office filed a claim last month against Mayor Kevin Johnson alleging the mayor sexually harassed her multiple times over a seven-month period at City Hall, according to a copy of the claim obtained by The Sacramento Bee.  Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article 

Bakersfield Californian wins five CNPA awards — The Bakersfield Californian placed first or second in five categories in the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2014 Better Newspaper Contest. Bakersfield Californian article

New bridge connects Hidden Valley Park – A new bridge at Hidden Valley Park re-connects the north and south sides of the park nearly two years after the old one was deemed unsafe. Hanford Sentinel article

Brik McDill: What’s going on in Texas? May be a lot of things, none good — Apropos of Jacquielynn Floyd’s May 5 column on Texas (“OK, Texans, enough with all the crazy talk”), wow, and double wow …! What is going on in Texas? A group there, the Texas National Movement, believes that a regularly occurring, preplanned, and announced Special Forces military exercise is a totalitarian federal military takeover? Lord help us. Where does this “it’s a sinister conspiracy” thinking come from? McDill column in Bakersfield Californian

 

Valley Editorial Roundup

Fresno Bee – Progressives should support Gov. Brown’s call for prudence. Paying down debt frees up money in the budget that can be used for new programs in the future. And building a bigger reserve will help avoid cuts to programs when the economy sputters and revenue growth slows; Lawmakers now should make health-care access a front-burner issue. Better to resolve it now than in a messy ballot fight next year.

Merced Sun-Star – The compromise between Jerry Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano is a relief.

Modesto Bee – The compromise between Jerry Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano is a relief.

Sacramento Bee – Progressives should support Gov. Brown’s call for prudence. Paying down debt frees up money in the budget that can be used for new programs in the future. And building a bigger reserve will help avoid cuts to programs when the economy sputters and revenue growth slows; Gov. Brown and UC President Janet Napolitano get an A-plus for compromise on UC tuition; Senate hard-liners are standing in the way of NSA reform.

Stockton Record – The issues in south Stockton aren’t going away. But neither or the opportunities. This portion of the city has been plagued by crime, poverty, housing issues, blight, lack of services and more for decades. Help is long overdue.