Sunday, May 24, 2009
Part-Time Legislature?
A ballot initiative is in the works that would transform the California legislature from full-time to part-time. Less time to screw things up?? California legislators are the highest paid in the nation. They receive a daily expense stipend and the taxpayers pay for their cars. Nice perks. Normally, I wouldn't even think about criticizing someone's salary, but what are they doing that deserves the nation's highest legislator salaries?? Just asking. Check out the story on LBReport.com. Good idea? Bad Idea?
Susan Boyle in Peril
I just finished watching Susan Boyle's latest "Britain's Got Talent" performance. Not impressive at all. I think all the attention has gotten to her. I'm looking forward to seeing Shaheen's performance. Did he even make it through??? I hope so. That boy can sing.
California Students Are In Peril
The new Secretary of Education says California students are "in peril." Check out the story in the L.A. Times.
Saturday
Saturday was a busy day. I got a lot done. Got coffee. Went to work for a few hours. Got coffee. Went to the post office. Went to the bank. Went to Target. Checked out Ikea for little kid chairs. No kid chairs there. Went to Party Depot for plastic bags. Got the car washed. Went to the cleaners (when I walked in they had my clothes waiting for me...impressive). Had a phone chat with my mom. Had a great dinner with two great friends. The Dodgers won. It was a productive day.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Your American Idol...
Kris Allen? Who would have thought? I was sure Adam-mania would win out. Either way, they both are going to have lucrative careers. This is a bad time of year for TV. No more Idol, only one episode of The Tudors left...so sad.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Another Great Book!
Just Like Bossy Bear is a GREAT book to teach kids (and adults) to NOT be bossy. It's a great book! You must have it!
American Idol Finale
I forgot to announce last week's Idol winner. I'm so sorry. I'm sure so many have been waiting for this announcement. It's Kris, of course. I'm hoping he wins the finale. Nothing against Adam. I'm just not into his sound. Vote for Kris!
Edward Has No Self Control
The last post got me thinking about things I used to love to do when I was a kid. I don't remember being a high maintenance kid, but maybe I was. I'll have to ask my mom when she gets out of jail. Just kidding, she's not in jail. I remember loving to take the layaway boxes from Zody's...remember Zodys? and make little boxes out of them. I have no idea why I liked to do that. Looking back, that was really weird. Yup, really weird. I used to LOVE to eat Flix (kind of a flat Hershey's Kiss) with a mouthful of cold milk. They are making the Flix candy again. Too bad I can't eat chocolate anymore. I loved riding my Big Wheel. I loved that thing. I loved going to a restaurant that was just down the street from our house, Arturo's. Arturo's is still there and I'm going to have dinner there this Saturday! I loved going to the grocery store (Market Basket) with my mom. Remember that place? I think I liked to go so I could get Flix. I used to love going to Harbor Park and catch tadpoles. That was the best! I used to love watching the after school specials on channel 7. I think they were on channel 7. Ironically, I didn't really like school that much and I sure didn't like to read. In fact, I hated both. I was such a bad boy. I remember my third grade teacher telling my mom I had "no self control." Mr. Third Grade Teacher, if you are reading this blog, I want to apologize for all the horrible things I did to you during that third grade year: throwing erasers at you when your back was turned, hiding your shoes when you took your daily nap during math time, not paying attention to your teaching, talking probably way too much, getting out of my seat and chatting up my friends right in the middle of your teaching, and other stuff I've forgotten but I'm sure was extremely entertaining to my classmates. So very sorry. Perhaps if you had engaged me in learning, showed you cared about me, and had given me a reason to be interested, I would have paid more attention in class and been more focused on learning and not caused you so much grief.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
From The Huffington Post
Tara Stiles
10 Ways To Be A Kid Again
Kids can be our best teachers. We should remember to be more like them. They haven't developed bad habits, defenses, and fears that we build up our whole lives. Yoga can help us get back to that child-like state, but as conscious adults.
Why are we so serious? You may be thinking that acting like a child is for irresponsible burnouts that live with their parents. We have responsibilities, jobs, lives, and families to take care of. If we let ourselves loose the house might crumble under us! This is where the yoga comes in. That whole duality and balance thing comes in handy for not turning into serious robot people who live, breed, pay our taxes and die. We can keep our responsibilities, drop the worries, and have fun too.
We all know adults with successful careers who are very stiff in their bodies and minds. They hold on so tight physically, mentally, and psychologically to their stuff that there is no room to enjoy life. Day to day existence becomes about worrying that all their stuff will go away. The first step for us is bringing awareness to our tendencies. If you are someone who worries, you have to bring awareness to that. You have to sit with yourself and deal with that. From there you'll be able to start losing the worries and enjoying life a little more.
On the other end of the spectrum, we probably also know some adults who live like children, afraid of responsibilities, career and family. These people are too open, too flexible and have problems holding onto money, building a career or a family. They have a lot of entertainment in their lives, but are lacking something fundamental and can feel it. When you are too open and flexible, self-worth starts to dwindle. You may act and feel occasionally like you're having the time of your life, but ultimately there is something missing. There are good things about growing an adult life! From that realization you can see the need to build strength and boundaries. Building strength in your body and life takes time but from the moment of awareness it can start.
We probably all have one or the other of these types in us to some degree. Maybe we even flip flop back and forth during different stages of our lives. We have to remember to have compassion with ourselves, just as we do with children, to deal with our struggles in finding balance. Balance is never a final point. There is always adjustment and refreshment that takes constant attention over your whole life. So we might as well start now.
10 Ways to Be a Kid Again
1. Make a silly face at a stranger. Everyone likes a silly face. I bet you'll crack someone up.
2. Eat ice cream for dinner. The fun part about being an adult is you can do what you want when you want. We are already aware of our immense responsibilities so for one night let it go.
3. Go to bed early. Some kids hate bedtime, but once they're down they sleep like rocks. Give yourself a ridiculously early bedtime one night this week. You can TiVo your shows and watch them another day.
4. Hang out with your friends. Kids have play dates. We stay in touch on Facebook. Call a pal and actually get together and do something fun like go to the park and play Frisbee.
5. Color or draw something. Coloring brings back memories for most of us. Dig up some of your old coloring books if you can. They're better than the new ones, although the Care Bears are back!
6. Try to say the alphabet backwards. Kids are great at crazy tasks. They try with all their might. I learned to say the alphabet backwards fast as a kid. It was my favorite party trick. See how fast you can say it.
7. Have a race. The next time you are walking with a friend race them to the corner. It's fun to see other adults reacting to spontaneous racing.
8. Skip down the hallways at work. Mid-day sluggish getting to you? Skip to your meeting and you'll probably brighten up the whole office.
9. Wear what you want. Kids come up with interesting outfits when they're allowed by their parents to dress themselves. Come up with your own interesting outfit one day this week.
10. Try a handstand. Kids do yoga poses naturally, just for fun. Try a handstand and don't worry about falling over. See video below for my childish handstand experiment inspired by my pal Verena Von Pfetten.
10 Ways To Be A Kid Again
Kids can be our best teachers. We should remember to be more like them. They haven't developed bad habits, defenses, and fears that we build up our whole lives. Yoga can help us get back to that child-like state, but as conscious adults.
Why are we so serious? You may be thinking that acting like a child is for irresponsible burnouts that live with their parents. We have responsibilities, jobs, lives, and families to take care of. If we let ourselves loose the house might crumble under us! This is where the yoga comes in. That whole duality and balance thing comes in handy for not turning into serious robot people who live, breed, pay our taxes and die. We can keep our responsibilities, drop the worries, and have fun too.
We all know adults with successful careers who are very stiff in their bodies and minds. They hold on so tight physically, mentally, and psychologically to their stuff that there is no room to enjoy life. Day to day existence becomes about worrying that all their stuff will go away. The first step for us is bringing awareness to our tendencies. If you are someone who worries, you have to bring awareness to that. You have to sit with yourself and deal with that. From there you'll be able to start losing the worries and enjoying life a little more.
On the other end of the spectrum, we probably also know some adults who live like children, afraid of responsibilities, career and family. These people are too open, too flexible and have problems holding onto money, building a career or a family. They have a lot of entertainment in their lives, but are lacking something fundamental and can feel it. When you are too open and flexible, self-worth starts to dwindle. You may act and feel occasionally like you're having the time of your life, but ultimately there is something missing. There are good things about growing an adult life! From that realization you can see the need to build strength and boundaries. Building strength in your body and life takes time but from the moment of awareness it can start.
We probably all have one or the other of these types in us to some degree. Maybe we even flip flop back and forth during different stages of our lives. We have to remember to have compassion with ourselves, just as we do with children, to deal with our struggles in finding balance. Balance is never a final point. There is always adjustment and refreshment that takes constant attention over your whole life. So we might as well start now.
10 Ways to Be a Kid Again
1. Make a silly face at a stranger. Everyone likes a silly face. I bet you'll crack someone up.
2. Eat ice cream for dinner. The fun part about being an adult is you can do what you want when you want. We are already aware of our immense responsibilities so for one night let it go.
3. Go to bed early. Some kids hate bedtime, but once they're down they sleep like rocks. Give yourself a ridiculously early bedtime one night this week. You can TiVo your shows and watch them another day.
4. Hang out with your friends. Kids have play dates. We stay in touch on Facebook. Call a pal and actually get together and do something fun like go to the park and play Frisbee.
5. Color or draw something. Coloring brings back memories for most of us. Dig up some of your old coloring books if you can. They're better than the new ones, although the Care Bears are back!
6. Try to say the alphabet backwards. Kids are great at crazy tasks. They try with all their might. I learned to say the alphabet backwards fast as a kid. It was my favorite party trick. See how fast you can say it.
7. Have a race. The next time you are walking with a friend race them to the corner. It's fun to see other adults reacting to spontaneous racing.
8. Skip down the hallways at work. Mid-day sluggish getting to you? Skip to your meeting and you'll probably brighten up the whole office.
9. Wear what you want. Kids come up with interesting outfits when they're allowed by their parents to dress themselves. Come up with your own interesting outfit one day this week.
10. Try a handstand. Kids do yoga poses naturally, just for fun. Try a handstand and don't worry about falling over. See video below for my childish handstand experiment inspired by my pal Verena Von Pfetten.
Monday, May 11, 2009
From Education Week
Budget Would Boost Incentive Pay, Turnaround Aid
By Alyson Klein
President Barack Obama’s first budget proposal would boost U.S. Department of Education spending by 2.8 percent and provide substantial resources to turn around low-performing schools, reward effective teachers, and bolster early-childhood programs.
Story continues...
By Alyson Klein
President Barack Obama’s first budget proposal would boost U.S. Department of Education spending by 2.8 percent and provide substantial resources to turn around low-performing schools, reward effective teachers, and bolster early-childhood programs.
Story continues...
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
You Must Buy This Book!
I LOVE this book! Tough Chicks is about three girl chicks who dare to be different and who dare to break stereotypes. This is a must have book!
From Today's L.A. Times
School officials call for legislation easing firing of teachers
Union vows to fight such a move, prompted by a Los Angeles Times report on the difficulty of firing teachers that provoked strong responses on both sides of the issue.
By Jason Song
May 4, 2009
Top Los Angeles school officials, acknowledging that they have teachers in classrooms who should be fired, called Sunday for new state legislation that would make it easier to dismiss tenured instructors. The teachers union has vowed to fight such a move.
Reacting to a Times story published Sunday about the cumbersome process for removing substandard tenured teachers in California's public schools, L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said the system is a "sacred cow, and I do think it should be overhauled."
Times Investigation: Failure Gets a PassSchool board member Marlene Canter said she would again ask the board to push for revision of teacher discipline laws statewide. She initially brought the proposals to the school board last week, but a majority of her colleagues balked after objections from union leaders and a state senator. They agreed only to form a task force to study the issue.
"This is too urgent to put to a task force," Canter said Sunday.
The article found that firing permanent teachers can involve years of rehabilitation efforts, union grievances and administrative and court appeals. Administrators must spend months -- sometimes years -- observing and documenting the flaws of poorly performing teachers. Teachers can appeal firings to specially convened panels, which overturn the dismissals more than a third of the time.
The newspaper examined all available decisions by those panels over the last 15 years -- 159 cases statewide -- finding that teaching performance was rarely a factor in firing an instructor. The vast majority of educators were dismissed for egregious misconduct.
The newspaper received hundreds of comments in response to the article, the first in a series on California school districts' ability to remove educators who harm or poorly serve their students.
Many readers decried the difficulty of the process. Others contended that administrators were to blame for failing to evaluate instructors properly, help them improve or apply discipline fairly.
On Sunday, A.J. Duffy, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said the union would oppose any reform efforts unless union officials are included in the process.
"UTLA has tried for years to work with the district and the Board of Education to come up with a sane and reasonable policy for evaluation which could fix most of the problems. And the district has consistently refused," he said through a spokeswoman. "The fault lies with the corrupt bureaucracy that refuses to do its job."
State Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who last week opposed any hasty action on L.A. Unified's part, said Sunday she believes the system needs reform. The state should allow the education code to expire and rewrite it, she said.
But the L.A. Unified resolutions were introduced too late in the legislative cycle to be considered this year and were politically motivated, she said.
"Quite frankly, it's a stunt to make LAUSD look good and Sacramento look bad," she said.
District officials, however, want to press ahead, according to their Sunday morning news release.
"If the dismissal process is not reformed, we will continue to face the choice of returning to schools some teachers that we don't want working for us, or keeping them out of the classroom and paying them to do nothing while great teachers face layoffs," said Dave Holmquist, the district's chief operating officer, whose duties include overseeing legal risks.
Many readers shared their experiences working with poor instructors or trying to get them fired. One retired administrator said it took her five years to persuade a bad teacher to retire.
Some teachers countered that they had been victimized by vindictive or incompetent administrators.
Paul Ifozaki, a math and social science teacher at Monterey High School in East Los Angeles and 30-year L.A. Unified veteran, said in an interview that he was falsely accused of making sexually inappropriate remarks to female students. Even though he was cleared of the allegations, Ifozaki said, he was still suspended for five days because his principal didn't like him.
jason.song@latimes.com
Union vows to fight such a move, prompted by a Los Angeles Times report on the difficulty of firing teachers that provoked strong responses on both sides of the issue.
By Jason Song
May 4, 2009
Top Los Angeles school officials, acknowledging that they have teachers in classrooms who should be fired, called Sunday for new state legislation that would make it easier to dismiss tenured instructors. The teachers union has vowed to fight such a move.
Reacting to a Times story published Sunday about the cumbersome process for removing substandard tenured teachers in California's public schools, L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said the system is a "sacred cow, and I do think it should be overhauled."
Times Investigation: Failure Gets a PassSchool board member Marlene Canter said she would again ask the board to push for revision of teacher discipline laws statewide. She initially brought the proposals to the school board last week, but a majority of her colleagues balked after objections from union leaders and a state senator. They agreed only to form a task force to study the issue.
"This is too urgent to put to a task force," Canter said Sunday.
The article found that firing permanent teachers can involve years of rehabilitation efforts, union grievances and administrative and court appeals. Administrators must spend months -- sometimes years -- observing and documenting the flaws of poorly performing teachers. Teachers can appeal firings to specially convened panels, which overturn the dismissals more than a third of the time.
The newspaper examined all available decisions by those panels over the last 15 years -- 159 cases statewide -- finding that teaching performance was rarely a factor in firing an instructor. The vast majority of educators were dismissed for egregious misconduct.
The newspaper received hundreds of comments in response to the article, the first in a series on California school districts' ability to remove educators who harm or poorly serve their students.
Many readers decried the difficulty of the process. Others contended that administrators were to blame for failing to evaluate instructors properly, help them improve or apply discipline fairly.
On Sunday, A.J. Duffy, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said the union would oppose any reform efforts unless union officials are included in the process.
"UTLA has tried for years to work with the district and the Board of Education to come up with a sane and reasonable policy for evaluation which could fix most of the problems. And the district has consistently refused," he said through a spokeswoman. "The fault lies with the corrupt bureaucracy that refuses to do its job."
State Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who last week opposed any hasty action on L.A. Unified's part, said Sunday she believes the system needs reform. The state should allow the education code to expire and rewrite it, she said.
But the L.A. Unified resolutions were introduced too late in the legislative cycle to be considered this year and were politically motivated, she said.
"Quite frankly, it's a stunt to make LAUSD look good and Sacramento look bad," she said.
District officials, however, want to press ahead, according to their Sunday morning news release.
"If the dismissal process is not reformed, we will continue to face the choice of returning to schools some teachers that we don't want working for us, or keeping them out of the classroom and paying them to do nothing while great teachers face layoffs," said Dave Holmquist, the district's chief operating officer, whose duties include overseeing legal risks.
Many readers shared their experiences working with poor instructors or trying to get them fired. One retired administrator said it took her five years to persuade a bad teacher to retire.
Some teachers countered that they had been victimized by vindictive or incompetent administrators.
Paul Ifozaki, a math and social science teacher at Monterey High School in East Los Angeles and 30-year L.A. Unified veteran, said in an interview that he was falsely accused of making sexually inappropriate remarks to female students. Even though he was cleared of the allegations, Ifozaki said, he was still suspended for five days because his principal didn't like him.
jason.song@latimes.com
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
From Today's L.A. Times
California Legislature: Where cost-cutting plans go to die
Committees kill proposals to freeze state executives' salaries, abolish a well-compensated board, rein in a lottery headquarters project and more. Even Democrats' measures fall victim.
By Patrick McGreevy and Eric Bailey
May 2, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento -- Despite the swelling state deficit, the Legislature this week dumped several proposals that would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
Killed in committee were plans to freeze salaries for top-paid state workers; to abolish a waste board stacked with handsomely paid former legislators; to scale back a $185-million project for a new lottery headquarters; and to generate up to $2 billion by selling surplus property.
This time, a different political picture
State Democrats decline to endorse 3 of 6 ballot measures
Survey finds California school funding dilemma
Republicans pitched most of the plans to help deal with the deficit -- which is expected to hit $8 billion by summer -- but even some from moderate Democrats were rejected.
"If the Legislature can't even make this, the easiest of cuts," said the author of the waste board proposal, Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Atwater), "it's going to be a long summer."
Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) criticized the ruling Democrats' "hardheadedness."
Democrats said some of the Republican bills would have jeopardized important programs for minimal savings.
"Wholesale deregulation -- anti-environment, anti-worker, anti-consumer bills -- smack of the Bush-era policies the nation and Californians in particular overwhelmingly rejected in November," said Shannon Murphy, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles).
Some of the GOP ideas, such as selling the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, were just "goofy," said Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood).
State officials have projected the midyear budget shortfall as a result of the recession. And if voters reject the budget-related ballot measures in the May 19 special election, the deficit could top $14 billion.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supported SB 44 to abolish the Integrated Waste Management Board and save up to $3 million a year, Denham said. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee rejected it Monday on a party-line vote.
The board has been criticized as a way station for retired lawmakers. Among its members are former legislators Sheila Kuehl, John Laird and Carole Migden; each is paid $132,000 a year.
"A vote against this is a vote against a streamlined, more cost-effective and more efficient manner of running government and meeting our environmental goals," Schwarzenegger said.
Committee Chairman Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) said the board had helped local agencies meet the state's goal of diverting 50% of waste from landfills and develop new markets for recycling.
Another GOP proposal, to eliminate compensation for 12 state commissions that pay big salaries and meet once or twice a month, would have saved $7 million a year, according to its author, Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks). But SB 685 died Tuesday in a deadlocked Senate Government Organization Committee.
Wright, the committee's chairman, said that commissioners worked many more days than they meet and that they earn their pay.
But Strickland called it "irresponsible" to hand out "massive paychecks" to part-time commissioners at a time of teacher layoffs and government furloughs.
In the Assembly, Chino Hills Republican Curt Hagman argued that a proposal to spend $185 million on a state lottery headquarters, including two office towers to be rented out, should be scaled back to a $40-million renovation of the lottery's existing building.
But the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee disagreed, voting down his bill to do so, AB 662.
Opponents of his plan said backing away from the larger project would send a negative message amid efforts to borrow against future lottery revenue.
One of the measures on the special election ballot would authorize such borrowing.
Sen. John J. Benoit (R-Palm Desert) proposed to require random drug tests for welfare recipients -- and to eliminate payments to those who didn't complete a drug treatment program. The Senate Committee on Human Services rejected his SB 384 along party lines.
Denham, author of the waste board bill, had another proposal blocked too: SB 28, which would have raised up to $2 billion by selling San Quentin State Prison to a developer. Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) shelved the bill, saying it could add to prison overcrowding.
Republicans were not the only ones to see their cost-saving ideas shot down.
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) proposed AB 53 to freeze salary increases and overtime until 2012 for state employees earning more than $150,000 -- saving at least $2.5 million and affecting 820 executives, he said.
But opponents on the Assembly Appropriations Committee said freezing pay would make it hard to recruit and retain executives.
patrick.mcgreevy@ latimes.com
eric.bailey@latimes.com
Committees kill proposals to freeze state executives' salaries, abolish a well-compensated board, rein in a lottery headquarters project and more. Even Democrats' measures fall victim.
By Patrick McGreevy and Eric Bailey
May 2, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento -- Despite the swelling state deficit, the Legislature this week dumped several proposals that would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
Killed in committee were plans to freeze salaries for top-paid state workers; to abolish a waste board stacked with handsomely paid former legislators; to scale back a $185-million project for a new lottery headquarters; and to generate up to $2 billion by selling surplus property.
This time, a different political picture
State Democrats decline to endorse 3 of 6 ballot measures
Survey finds California school funding dilemma
Republicans pitched most of the plans to help deal with the deficit -- which is expected to hit $8 billion by summer -- but even some from moderate Democrats were rejected.
"If the Legislature can't even make this, the easiest of cuts," said the author of the waste board proposal, Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Atwater), "it's going to be a long summer."
Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) criticized the ruling Democrats' "hardheadedness."
Democrats said some of the Republican bills would have jeopardized important programs for minimal savings.
"Wholesale deregulation -- anti-environment, anti-worker, anti-consumer bills -- smack of the Bush-era policies the nation and Californians in particular overwhelmingly rejected in November," said Shannon Murphy, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles).
Some of the GOP ideas, such as selling the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, were just "goofy," said Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood).
State officials have projected the midyear budget shortfall as a result of the recession. And if voters reject the budget-related ballot measures in the May 19 special election, the deficit could top $14 billion.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supported SB 44 to abolish the Integrated Waste Management Board and save up to $3 million a year, Denham said. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee rejected it Monday on a party-line vote.
The board has been criticized as a way station for retired lawmakers. Among its members are former legislators Sheila Kuehl, John Laird and Carole Migden; each is paid $132,000 a year.
"A vote against this is a vote against a streamlined, more cost-effective and more efficient manner of running government and meeting our environmental goals," Schwarzenegger said.
Committee Chairman Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) said the board had helped local agencies meet the state's goal of diverting 50% of waste from landfills and develop new markets for recycling.
Another GOP proposal, to eliminate compensation for 12 state commissions that pay big salaries and meet once or twice a month, would have saved $7 million a year, according to its author, Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks). But SB 685 died Tuesday in a deadlocked Senate Government Organization Committee.
Wright, the committee's chairman, said that commissioners worked many more days than they meet and that they earn their pay.
But Strickland called it "irresponsible" to hand out "massive paychecks" to part-time commissioners at a time of teacher layoffs and government furloughs.
In the Assembly, Chino Hills Republican Curt Hagman argued that a proposal to spend $185 million on a state lottery headquarters, including two office towers to be rented out, should be scaled back to a $40-million renovation of the lottery's existing building.
But the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee disagreed, voting down his bill to do so, AB 662.
Opponents of his plan said backing away from the larger project would send a negative message amid efforts to borrow against future lottery revenue.
One of the measures on the special election ballot would authorize such borrowing.
Sen. John J. Benoit (R-Palm Desert) proposed to require random drug tests for welfare recipients -- and to eliminate payments to those who didn't complete a drug treatment program. The Senate Committee on Human Services rejected his SB 384 along party lines.
Denham, author of the waste board bill, had another proposal blocked too: SB 28, which would have raised up to $2 billion by selling San Quentin State Prison to a developer. Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) shelved the bill, saying it could add to prison overcrowding.
Republicans were not the only ones to see their cost-saving ideas shot down.
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) proposed AB 53 to freeze salary increases and overtime until 2012 for state employees earning more than $150,000 -- saving at least $2.5 million and affecting 820 executives, he said.
But opponents on the Assembly Appropriations Committee said freezing pay would make it hard to recruit and retain executives.
patrick.mcgreevy@ latimes.com
eric.bailey@latimes.com
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