President Bush was flanked by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and Annette Lantos — widow of the late House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo — yesterday as he signed the H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.

“As one of the original co-authors of not only this bill but the original legislation in 2003, it has been a tremendous bipartisan effort to get to this day,” Lee, a co-author of the bill, said in a statement issued shortly afterward. “This bill is the latest in a long string of bipartisan initiatives on global HIV/AIDS that have been born out of a willingness to work together and put the United States on the right side of history when it comes to this global pandemic. Despite his failings on so many critical issues, the President deserves recognition for working with Congress to enact this important legislation.”

The new law authorizes a $48 billion increase to the program, which Lee said will make it possible to prevent 12 million new HIV infections globally; provide treatment for at least 3 million individuals with HIV/AIDS; treat 450,000 children; and ensure care for 12 million individuals, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children in communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Lee said she’ll use her seat on the House Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs to “ensure we meet the funding commitments and targets we set out in this important new law.”

The law also removes the statutory ban on travel and immigration for people living with HIV/AIDS. “It’s far past time we got rid of this shameful policy,” Lee said. “I’m glad we were able to remove the statutory ban and pass this bill less than three before the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did as he’d promised today and signed an executive order freezing state hiring, suspending all overtime pay, lowering the pay of more than 200,000 state employees to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour, and laying off as many as 22,000 temporary state workers. Here’s how he explained it (roll your cursor over the viewer to find the “play” button):

State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, had this to say:

“This regrettable action undermines the state’s shaky economy, inflicts hardship on 200,000 hard-working Californians who have nothing to do with the state’s budget stalemate and reduces services to everyone who visits a DMV office, expects safe highways or needs other state assistance.

“Cutting state services reduces the quality of life for all Californians; that’s why the Democrats have a plan that avoids gutting education, health care, higher education and transportation by balancing the budget with a mix of cuts and new revenue.

“The Governor’s suggestion that the Legislature did nothing on the budget prior to May 14 shows how little attention he has paid to this process. The Senate held 67 subcommittee and full budget committee hearings going through the Governor’s proposal line by line. In mid-February, we took $7 billion in bipartisan budget actions – enough to solve half of the state’s deficit.

“On May 14, the Governor proposed a revised budget with a $7 billion hole in it. The Budget Conference Committee fixed this by balancing the budget in six weeks.

“If the Governor disagrees with the conference committee’s plan for filling the hole in his budget, we’re open to his suggestions on possible alternatives.

“On Monday, the Senate will hold a hearing examining the far-reaching impact of the Governor’s executive order.

More responses, after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

A new study makes a compelling case for a pending bill that would require all California employers to provide their workers with paid sick days, researchers say.

The report – produced by Human Impact Partners (an Oakland-based nonprofit project of the Tides Center) and the San Francisco Department of Public Health – says the proposed law “would help reduce the spread of flu; protect the public from diseases carried by sick workers in restaurants and in long-term care facilities; prevent hunger and homelessness among sick low-income workers; and enable workers to stay home when they are sick or when they need to care for a sick dependent,” according to its findings summary .

The summary also notes that about 70 percent of California’s accommodation and food service workers don’t have paid sick days right now, so they’re apt to come to work sick rather than lose that pay. I know I’ll think about that the next time a server coughs while taking my order.

This is “not only a labor policy but also a sensible and effective public health policy” which could save the state significant healthcare costs, said Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, the San Francisco Public Health Department’s director of Occupational and Environmental Health, told reporters on a conference call today.

His office provided much of the research from this report – data it had gathered when San Francisco was considering such a law. The city’s law has now been in effect since early 2007.

AB 2716, the California Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act of 2008 — authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, and co-authored by assemblymen John Laird, D-Santa Cruz; Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland; and Alberto Torrico, D-Newark — would guarantee that all workers in the state accrue at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours. A small business (having 10 or fewer employees) would be able to limit an employee’s use of this accrued sick time to 40 hours or five days in each calendar year; larger employers would be able to limit it at 72 hours or nine days in each calendar year.

Dr. Jody Heymann, founding director of both the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University and the Project on Global Working Families at Harvard University, said the idea that such a law would make California less competitive is a fallacy. “If we just look at the 10 countries that have been ranked by businesses as the most competitive countries, nine out of 10 have guaranteed paid sick leave – the United States is the only one that doesn’t.”

The bill, which the Assembly passed May 28 on a party-line vote of 45-33, is pending before the state Senate Appropriations Committee.

Californians’ tempers are flaring as the budget deadlock threatens their livelihoods.

About 40 working parents, child-care providers and kids rallied this morning outside the Elihu Harris State Office Building on Oakland’s Clay Street, demanding that the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger get a budget in place immediately. Starting Aug. 1, they noted, thousands of child-care providers won’t receive state payments for child-care services provided to working poor families, leaving these providers and families struggling to stay afloat.

The protest was organized by Parent Voices, LIFETIME, the California Partnership, and the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, joined the protest, hoisting a picket sign that said, “Child Care Keeps California Working!”

“Our children deserve our best efforts,” he told the crowd, noting that if we’re to remain one of only three states requiring a two-thirds Legislative majority to pass budgets, “we need to anticipate that the budget will be delayed until that changes.”

Anticipating, he said, means making sure there’s bridge money in place so working families don’t suffer every year. “We forget about the most important part of economic growth — the ability of a family to work depends on child care.”

Agreed Jennifer Greppi of Parent Voices: “Child care is the engine that keeps this economy running.”

An aide read a statement from state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, who said protests such as this “show the Republicans and all Californians how this budget-stalling is hurting real people.” He said Democrats will stick to their philosophy that “those who have benefitted the most from California should pay the most to keep California on track.”

“And that is why we don’t want John McCain!” a man shouted from among the onlookers.

Greppi urged people to call Assemblyman Guy Houston, R-Livermore, and state Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and demand that they “be leaders, stand up and reach across the aisle… and do what’s right for children living in your district.”

After that, I drove up to the state Department of Motor Vehicles facility on Claremont Avenue in Oakland’s Temescal District, where 10 employees — mostly clad in purple Service Employees International Union t-shirts — were outside with picket signs; about 40 had turned out for a 7:30 a.m. rally, they said. They’re among the state employees who stand to lose pay under Schwarzenegger’s proposed executive order lowering state workers’ salaries to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour.

“With this minimum wage, I’ll go into bankruptcy and lose everything I have… I’m on the edge now already,” said Michelle Freeman, 42, of Antioch, a married mother of two whose husband is a law enforcement officer. She has worked at the DMV for four years, but said “with these gas prices, it wouldn’t be worth me coming to work on minimum wage.”

Sonia Johnson, 40, of Oakland, has been with the DMV for 10 years, and said the pay cut “would really, detrimentally hurt my household because I’m the only working income right now — my husband is recuperating from heart failure, and we have two children.”

Kathy Shipp, 47, of Oakland, said she’s “very upset — we just bought a home last year and we’re just barely scraping by,” she said, adding her husband “just had to switch jobs because of the economy, so he’s still on probationary status” without full pay or benefits yet. A stay-at-home mom of three boys for 15 years before coming to the DMV three years ago, she had to rejoin the workforce to help support her family, and now that support is about to be weakened.

Laura Vincent, 55, of El Cerrito, has worked for the DMV for four years; the former West Contra Costa Unified School District worker said she’s paying off her son’s college loan debts. “I really love my job, I like to help people” as a DMV call center employee, she said, but it’s a “staggering” work load in which one operator can assist up to 200 callers in a single, long day. “I just don’t know any other telephone operator in the private sector who works for minimum wage and has that pressure to perform — our productivity is watched carefully — so I would hope the governor will reconsider.”

I hear as many as 100 SEIU-represented Caltrans workers will be rallying outside the agency’s building at 111 Grand Ave. in Oakland at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, July 31.

Money is being stripped out of a bill aimed at doing right by those wrongfully convicted of crimes in California, even as this year’s legislative clock ticks down.

AB 2937, authored by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana, has until Aug. 7 to make it through this session, and the Assembly passed it on a 64-2 vote back in May, but the state Senate Appropriations Committee voted 14-0 on July 7 to place the bill in its suspense file — a holding place for bills carrying a price tag of $150,000 or more.

That’s because the bill would’ve raised the compensation paid to exonerees. Under current law, a claimant would be awarded $100 per day of prison confinement, or $36,500 per year; it’s the same amount for people who sat on death row. This bill would have increased the prison-confinement amount to $50,000 per year, or about $137 per day; for those who were on death row, it would have increased the pay to $100,000 per year, or about $274 per day.

From the Senate Appropriations Committee summary:

“The average annual claim paid from the General Fund is $671,380 for the years 2002-2006. The Legislature did not approve a claim of $74,600 for David Jones in 2007. This bill would provide for a 37% increase of the amount paid per day of prison confinement. Thus, the state would expect to pay about $250,000 more each year in claims. Since none of the claims in recent history has involved a death row inmate, there would be significant, but unknown costs. If a person had been on death row for 20 years, he or she could claim approximately $2,000,200 under this provision.

“In addition, this bill would extend the timeframe in which a person may file a claim from 6 months to 2 years after his or her exoneration date. This could lead to additional claims filed.”

Now former state Attorney General John Van de Kamp, chairman of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, which made the recommendations on which this bill is based, says raising the compensation is basically off the table for this year “simply because of the budget situation.”

“We’re trying to do whatever possible to limit the costs so they can get it out,” he told me this afternoon. “We’re not getting even close to 100 percent of what we’d like, but it’s a start.”

The Commission in February issued a report recommending remedies for wrongful conviction, and the stripped-down bill still includes some of those suggestions, Van de Kamp said. For example, it would amend state law so that people who were coerced into giving false confessions aren’t excluded from compensation; it would require that exonerated people’s criminal records automatically be sealed; and it would require counties to offer exonerated people or those released due to reversal of their convictions the same community re-entry services provided to parolees.

Van de Kamp said Solorio’s office and supporters including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California are working closely with Appropriations Committee staffers to get the bill out of the suspense file; one legislative staffer told me today he’s “unable” to gauge the chances of success.

Upstart search engine Cuil — pronounced “cool” — launched to generally lousy reviews yesterday:

Yeesh. Tough crowd. But, why am I writing about this on a political blog, you might ask?

Because as you’ll see from the article at ChannelWeb — ” ‘Cuil works about as well as if I typed random URLs into the browser. Absolutely useless!’ ” — the company’s vice president of communications is Vince Sollitto, a former chief deputy press secretary to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

These Cuil reviews make you wonder whether Sollitto wishes he could be fielding questions about the $15 billion state budget deficit or the governor’s unpopular plan to cut state workers salaries to minimum wage. Probably not, though — even a stumbling startup probably pays more than government service. Or journalism.

This week – as “The Dark Knight,” having made a record-shattering $300 million in two weeks, stalks “Titanic” for the all-time box office record – let’s recall Arnold Schwarzenegger’s contribution to the Batman canon, as Mr. Freeze in 1997’s “Batman and Robin:”

Sure, I know, this was meant to be campy. But Heath Ledger he ain’t.

Previous SVOTWs: July 22, July 8, July 1, June 24, June 17, June 10, June 3, May 27, May 20, May 13, May 6, April 29, April 22, April 15, April 8, April 1, March 25, March 18, March 11, March 4, February 26, February 19, February 12, February 5, January 29, January 22, January 15, January 8, January 1, December 25, December 18, December 11, December 4, November 27, November 20, November 13, November 6, October 30, October 23, October 16, October 9, October 2, September 25, September 18, September 11, September 4, August 28, August 21, August 7, July 31, July 24, July 17, July 10, July 3, June 26, June 19, June 12, June 5, May 29, May 22, May 15, May 8, May 1, April 24, April 17, April 10, April 3, March 27, March 20, March 13, March 6, February 27, February 20, February 13, February 6, January 30.

I’m sitting in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel, having just covered a fundraiser for John McCain here. My story has been filed and should appear on the Web site soon, but space constraints prevent me from including much detail in the story. Not so on the blog!

Contributors began gathering beneath the crystal chandeliers of the Gold Room — an ornate, French Provincial-styled ballroom — at around 6:30 p.m., then sipped California wines — Mountain View Vintners Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine — or other beverages and snacked on hor’s d’oeuvres including ahi tuna tartare, chicken sate skewers, bruschetta, crab cakes and local artisanal cheeses while mingling and awaiting the candidate. The crowd of about 250 — campaign staffers declined to say how many people attended the dinner and reception, or to estimate how much money was raised Monday evening — appeared mostly white or Asian, and diverse in age.

McCain entered at 7:49 p.m. with California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who introduced the event’s chairman, Howard Leach, the former U.S. Ambassador to France. Leach introduced Cindy McCain, who said she recently returned from Rwanda on a trip with One, the anti-AIDS and poverty organization founded by U2 frontman Bono. She said it was a remarkable experience, witnessing reconcilation between Rwandan woman and those who’d brutalized them during the genocide of 1994. “I can honestly tell you I’m not that strong… I’ve never been so moved and I’ve never been so honored to be in the presence of woman as strong as that,” she said. She then explained that she was telling this story because she realized it reflected the strength and forgiveness her husband showed during and after his time as a Vietnam prisoner of war. “He is the true epitome of what is great about America and Americans: hope, honor, dignity and strength.”

McCain began speaking at 7:57 p.m., thanking the crowd for coming and promising not to let them down but rather to “run a campaign you’re going to be proud of.” He also said he was glad to be back in “one of the most beautiful cities on earth.”

He described himself as an underdog, said he loves that status and said he’s doing better at this point than he thought he would be doing. “I will compete and I will win in the state of California,” he said, then quipped after applause, “and following that I will take back to Arizona all the water that you’ve stolen from us.” He then praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as “a great guy.”

He said his campaign is “about reforming the way government does business,” noting Congress is at an all-time low 9-percent approval rating. “In our nation’s capital, we’re gridlocked and not working for the American people,” but he can and will reach across the aisle to get things done, he said.

He said he was proud to have never sought or received any pork-barrel, earmark spending. Congress once earmarked $3 million to study bear DNA in Montana, he noted: “I don’t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue” but “the American people are sick of it.”

On energy, he said, we should pursue alternative energy sources but also beef up our nuclear energy industry — France gets 80 percent of its power from nuclear energy, he noted — and “I believe if the states approve we ought to drill offshore” as “a bridge to this independence from foreign oil.

McCain spoke about a “transcendent challenge of radical Islamic extremists,” and asserted that “we have succeeded in Iraq… and we will come home with honor and we will not have to go back.”

“There was a time when I said, ‘We’ve got to send more troops to Iraq because we’ve got to win there,’ and it wasn’t a popular thing to do… I said at that time I’d much rather lose a campaign than lose a war,” McCain said, then recounting how a New Hampshire woman last year had asked him to wear a bracelet with her slain soldier son’s name on it, and asked him to promise her son’s death wouldnt be in vain. “I take that very seriously. I want to be president becuase I believe I can inspire a generation of young Americans to serve a cause bigger than their own self-interests.”

McCain said he believes he can follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and is humbled to be receiving their party’s endorsement.

He said he was tempted by an opportunity to be freed before his fellow POWs, but put his honor and country first and stayed. “I will always put my country first,” he said, concluding his remarks at 8:09 p.m.

He then took several questions from the audience. One person asked whether he believes its appropriate for a presidential candidate to apologize for America’s mistakes while visiting overseas. McCain said he didn’t see Obama’s big speech, but would prefer to wait to give a speech in Berlin until he’s president. “I think America has made mistakes, I’m sure that throughout our history the United States of America has made some mistakes” but “the United States is unique in the history of the world in that we have sent our young Americans to shed their blood in all four corners of the earth, usually in defense of someone else’s freedom,” and he hopes the nation will remain what Ronald Reagan called the world’s “shining city on the hill.”

On California’s allowance of same-sex marriage: “I have to tell you my personal opinion is that I do not agree with that, but I believe states should make the decisions within the states as to what those issues should be.”

Someone asked him how he would ensure nobody else suffers, as he did, the pain of torture, war and violence, either by staying in Iraq or by attacking Iran. “My position is that as President of the United States, I will declare we will never torture anyone in our custody.” He said a former high-ranking al Qaeda official now cooperating with U.S. troops told him the Abu Ghraib photos had been the terrorist group’s “greatest recruiting tool… So I don’t think torture works, number one, and number two it hurts us as far as winning the long-term ideological struggle.”

Someone asked what his position would be if Israel feels mortally threatened. “I believe that we can still impose sufficient pressure and sanctions on the Iranians… They have a weak economy, I believe that with diplomatic trade and other tough sanctions on Iran, we can still change their behavior.” He then added, “If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it destabilizes the whole region… The United States of America can never ever allow a second Holocaust, and as President of the United States, I will not allow that to happen.”

An African-American man said the Republican Party hasn’t given African-Americans a reason to rally to the GOP, and asked McCain how he would help minorities move their first-generation wealth to their children, and also about his stance on affirmative action. “I’ve never believed in and do not believe in quotas,” McCain replied. “I think we ought to do everything we can to provide Americans with an equal opportunity.” To that end, he said, “I believe the biggest civil rights issue of the 21st century is education… When we condemn Americans to a terrible education because of their income and their location, we have done a grave injustice… I want every American to have the same choice that Senator Obama and his wife had and that Cindy and I had, and that is to send their children to the schools of their choice” with a voucher system. “We will reform education in America,” he vowed, noting “education is on the upswing” in New Orleans, where rebuilding from Katrina led to a proliferation of charter schools.

McCain said goodbye and left at 8:22 p.m.

Hillary Clinton will be making her first big Bay Area appearance since dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination this Thursday morning, as she addresses the national convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. (Al Gore is speaking there Wednesday, but that’s completely closed to the press – what gives?)

Later Thursday, she’ll be feted at a private “unity” fundraiser in Los Altos Hills, organized through Barack Obama’s campaign and aimed at retiring her campaign debt; the requested contribution is $500. Former Menlo Park Mayor Gail Slocum had this to say in announcing the fundraiser on Obama’s blog:

“I was originally an Edwards supporter/fundraiser, and I’m keeping the big picture strategy in mind here for electing Barack: The RNC and McCain have about a $40 million advantage over our side’s combined funds on hand as of the end of June. Without the strongest possible enthusiastic support from Hillary’s and all the candidates’ fundraising and organizing leaders over the next 3 1/2 months, we will not realistically be able to run a winning 50-state Presidential campaign (as well as widen Dem margins in Congress). I am also mindful that Hillary’s debt is owed to many small business people who provided campaign services. Finally, Hillary has kept her promise to support Barack and urge her supporters to do so too, and this is a concrete way to say thank you. We need unity now to win and show McCain that they can’t divide us this time.

Plus, on a more personal level, I plan to bring our 9 year old daughter to meet Hillary and witness personally the remarkable leader who made women’s history this year and has already influenced our daughter’s perspectives greatly “Mommy, WHEN I’m President, I’ll…”).

Steve Geissinger, who for years brought you news from our Sacramento office before falling victim to our company’s latest downsizing late last month, has landed on his feet, just as I knew he would: He’s the new reporter for Capitol Television News Service, as reporter Rob Griffith moves up to be bureau chief.

CTNS is an independent, subscriber-driven news service supplying dozens of television news departments across the state with daily satellite video feeds and news stories on state news and political developments. CTNS News Director Steve Mallory, himself a former correspondent, said Steve will continue CTNS’ tradition of reliable and objective reports to its subscriber stations: “For more than 20 years, CTNS has delivered the cold, hard facts on state politicians. I’m confident Steve will be a solid addition to our aggressive team of journalists.”

Being back in the saddle means Steve’s reinstatement as president of the Capitol Correspondents Association of California — not an easy post to stomach, given all the downsizing happening at news outlets everywhere.

“Amid state budget chaos, this is one of those historic times to keep an eye on the Capitol. But after I was forced to leave MediaNews in the downsizing of its Sacramento bureau, there were no mainstream newspaper job openings covering the Capitol,” Steve told me.

“Actually, I was told there will be more cuts and more cuts in the newspaper industry. Nobody really knows where it will stop. So I was very lucky a TV news service job opened at the right moment. But TV is under the same economic pressures caused by the Internet. Maybe something on the Internet will develop into a mainstream, objective watchdog independent of for-profit newspapers and TV. But right now, the watchdog that’s so key to democracy is fading away.”

Steve said as CCAC president he’s willing to assist any nonprofit foundation willing to step up to restore that watchdog.