The state budget that no one seems particularly pleased with got Jerry Brown's John Hancock on it earlier this afternoon —but not before the governor got a chance to spill some red ink by vetoing several line items adding up to another $23.8 million in cuts to the general fund. more ›

Governor Jerry Brown released a revised version of his budget plan this week, and guess what? We're not doing so bad! Instead of the $25-billion-and-change deficit we had at the beginning of the year, we're now looking at a $9.6 billion shortfall. Turns out that bump in tax revenue was actually closer to $6.6 billion rather than the $2 billion originally reported. According to the State Finance Department, that revenue came mostly from the personal income taxes of upper-income Californians. So the next time you see an upper-income Californian buy them a cup of coffee or something. It's the nice thing to do. They helped put another $3 billion back in the education budget, after all. more ›

After failing to reach a budget deal with Republicans, Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a new tactic today to deal with the Grand Old Party. Namely, hugs. On Tuesday he encouraged state workers to take a Republican to lunch -- which is a good idea since they're prone to dining somewhere fancy -- but today Brown "asked the California Hospital Association and a group of law enforcement officials to hug them." more ›

Well, we knew this was coming: Jerry Brown slashed somewhere between $7 billion and $10.8 billion* worth of funds from the state budget today, the Chronicle reports from Sacramento. That leaves another $12 billion or so the state will need to make up from additional cuts if Brown's $14 billion tax plan isn't passed by voters in June. Of course, before any taxes are put before the people, Brown will need to pick up some more GOP support in both the Assembly and the Senate to get it on the ballot. more ›

For his third executive order since taking office in January, Governor Jerry Brown has ordered all state agencies to "freeze hiring" in an effort to reduce further spending. "We have a $25 billion deficit, and we must do everything possible to save money and make government leaner and more efficient," Brown said in a statement. more ›

-- Heklina (writing for SF Weekly again) on our newly crowned drag king. [The Snitch] more ›

California Governor, Leo, mad fondler, and kindergarten cop Arnold Schwarzenegger turns a still-sexy 60-years-old today. The Grandpanator will spend the big day dealing with the state budget (giggle) and quite possibly getting some sweet Shriver love later this evening. But Carla Marinucci has the Gov’s five birthday wishes right here. more ›

The Governator made the inevitable official as he officially announced that the great pissing contest known as the "Special Election" is now going to happen. The announcement came today in a speech broadcast live, something we're sure is already causing most news operations fits as the editors try and figure out a way to justify leading with the Michael Jackson story. Basically, the election will be primarily to vote on three resolutions-- teacher tenure, a state budget cap, and the actually-not-a-half-bad-idea-redistricting plan. All told, estimates are that the election will run a tab of at least $70 million dollars, meaning that the only people psyched about this are TV stations who know they'll be rolling in ad money for the next five months. Now that the election has been announced, a feeding frenzy has broken out between partisans on both sides as they figure out a way to tickle the proverbial voter g-spot in order to get their supporters out to vote. Republicans have put on the ballot resolutions on union dues and parental consent abortion laws while the Democrats have put on the ballot resolutions on prescription drugs and energy regulation. And since the Democrats are pushing for a prescription drug plan, the drug manufacturers have pushed one of those phony baloney resolutions that have no purpose other than to confuse the hell out of everyone so that nobody votes for either one. What to expect over the next few months? Wall-to-wall TV ads, Arnie going across the country to suck up more corporate money, totally lame witticisms from political hacks, one side yelling "you are" while the other side yells "no, you are!" and friends and family from the East Coast calling to make fun of us. Hopefully, somewhere in all this, somebody will be able to answer the biggest question of all-- is this any way to run a state? more ›