California Government

An eccentric, globetrotting multibillionaire who doesn't own a home in California ? or anywhere, for that matter; he says he has little use for owning things ? is about to breathe life into efforts to shake up Sacramento. Nicolas Berggruen will give at least $20 million to a group of Californians who long to restructure state government so it is more responsive to voters, more responsible with public funds and ready to reposition the state to meet the challenges of today's economy.

Los Angeles Times editorial writer Robert Greene has been awarded this year's Walker Stone Award for "outstanding achievement in editorial writing," the Scripps Howard Foundation announced Friday. The award is one of several accolades presented by the foundation each year to honor "the best work in the communications industry and journalism education." Greene received the award for editorials he wrote in 2009. "I was very excited and I felt honored and humbled," Greene said after learning of the honor.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget director is departing after nearly four years in one of the most influential posts in Sacramento. "It feels like a good time for me to step back from the day-to-day fray of things," budget czar Mike Genest said in an interview. He said he plans to leave before the end of the year, whenever a replacement can be found. As Schwarzenegger's chief budget writer, Genest has overseen the paring back of California government as state revenues plunged amid the recession.

State lawmakers tiptoed Tuesday into the roiling debate over how to overhaul California government. With less than a month left in the legislative session, proponents of change urged a state Senate panel to quickly adopt ideas that have bipartisan support while continuing to push for solutions to tougher problems -- or risk having voters do it for them. "It really comes down to a question of political will -- as opposed to political won't," said Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, a business-backed group that is pressing for a constitutional convention to let citizens draft a new blueprint for the way state government operates.

With a state budget agreement at hand, look for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to tackle the state's troubled retirement system. On Tuesday, the country's two biggest public pension funds reported losing almost $100 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30. And the governor is expected to highlight the new numbers as he renews a campaign to trim the cost of providing lifetime, fixed benefits to hundreds of thousands of government retirees.

California shed 66,500 jobs in June, and more losses loom as double-digit unemployment spreads to state and local governments, once reliable bastions of employment security. June's 11.6% unemployment rate is a post-World War II record. Professional services, construction and trade continue to top the state's jobless categories. But in a troubling sign, governments -- a stable part of the state's economy for a decade -- have been laying off thousands of workers in recent months.

These are desperate days in the California statehouse. Lawmakers are floundering as they attempt to halt a financial meltdown. Their popularity has plunged even lower than usual. Now the 120 women and men of the California Legislature face another daunting challenge: a growing push to reconstruct the way state government works. If legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger don't take steps to overhaul their operations, it might be done for them.

Just days after the state's budget brinkmanship drew renewed public scorn, a banquet hall full of concerned citizens Tuesday took the first steps toward what many consider a better idea -- an overhaul of California government. The road to change being championed by a collection of business leaders and good-government groups from around the state is a constitutional convention.

The engine of state government in California doesn't need just a tuneup and oil change. It needs a major overhaul. Many new parts will be required to fix this dysfunctional fuel-guzzler that tends to stall and create gridlock. Voters can get started at a May 19 special election by buying a spending cap. The cap -- Proposition 1A -- was the most vital part of a deal that won enough Republican support last week to pass a $42-billion deficit-reduction package, including a $12.

The economic stimulus package congressional leaders are drafting would wipe out nearly a quarter of California's budget shortfall, a potential windfall that could help end the impasse over how to close the nearly $42-billion gap. The House bill, which is likely to be voted on next week, would bring the state more than $11 billion in healthcare and education money that could go directly to reducing the deficit through mid-2010, state officials learned Thursday night.