Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/331028
ByJulietWilliams TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO Gov. Jerry Brown scored a big win for California's $68 billion high-speed rail project by persuading fellow Demo- crats to dedicate a steady future funding source for it in the state budget. The $108 billion, 2014- 15 general fund budget ap- proved Sunday includes $250 million this year from the state's cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emissions fund. More important to rail supporters is the prom- ise of 25 percent of all fu- ture cap-and-trade reve- nue each year, an amount that could total $3 billion to $5 billion a year in com- ing years. The money is a fraction of the state's overall spend- ing plan. But to high-speed rail officials and the gov- ernor, it signals the state's investment in the belea- guered project, which has been saddled by delays and court challenges that have left it with little operating cash and uncertain politi- cal support. Rail officials believe the ongoing revenue will be enough to leverage bond borrowing and start work on new parts of the proj- ect, such as a segment con- necting northern Los An- geles County to Burbank. Building that section of the rail line could help gener- ate goodwill from the po- litically critical Los Ange- les area and blunt criticism over the decision to start construction in the less- populated Central Valley. The renewed attention to high-speed rail funding also is a reminder of the most pressing problem it faces: Where will the rest of the money come from? A Sacramento County Superior Court ruling last year, which is on appeal, has essentially blocked the state from selling $8.6 billion in voter-approved bonds that are supposed to be the primary source of construction funds for the first 130-mile segment from Merced to Bakersfield. The state also owes the federal government a $180 million matching payment due July 1 as part of the $3.5 billion in federal grants awarded to California. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican who is on the verge of becom- ing House majority leader, vowed in a statement to "do whatever I can to ensure that not one dollar of fed- eral funds is directed to this project," as long as he is in Congress. Four congressional Cali- fornia Democrats last week joined Republicans to block federal funds for the proj- ect as part of an amend- ment to the federal trans- portation bill by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock. The vote was mostly symbolic because no federal money was proposed this year, and it will likely be reversed in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate. The California High- Speed Rail Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, but the agency provided letters from nine major engineering and con- struction firms supporting a dedicated state funding source. Some firms indi- cated they might consider private financing if the funding were approved. AECOM, a Los Angeles- based engineering firm, wrote that multi-year fund- ing "sufficient to move the project forward on a more aggressive timeline, would attract our firm and private sector competitors from around the world." The let- ter addressed to legislative leaders and Brown also said the money should be "suffi- cient to complete the proj- ect, in combination with funds from the state." The revenue included in this year's budget falls short of that. Brown's plan to fund the project with cap-and-trade revenue has been a sore spot for Democrats and environ- mentalists, partly because of the intended mission of the program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help the state meet its air quality improvement goals by 2020. Critics believe the high- speed rail line will create more emissions than it re- duces during its 15-year construction timeline. Sen. Fran Pavley, D- Agoura Hills, author of the state's landmark green- house gas law, AB32, ab- stained from voting on it Sunday night. She said the money should go to proj- ects that can be completed in the quickest manner pos- sible. "Using such a large per- centage of continuously ap- propriated money for a proj- ect that, in the short term, will get minimal, if none, no greenhouse gas reductions, gives me pause," she said in an interview later. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D- Sacramento, characterized the cap-and-trade financ- ing plan as part of a holis- tic approach to infrastruc- ture that will better inte- grate communities with public transportation. The plan also allocates 40 per- cent of future revenue for water and energy efficiency, natural resources and clean transportation and 35 per- cent for public transit and affordable housing. Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, said the plan could be unconstitutional because the investments will not directly help meet California's air quality tar- gets. "They barely put a dent in the emissions reduction goals this state has set as a priority," he said. SACRAMENTO Lo ng -t er m mo ne y a bi g boost for high-speed rail The Associated Press LAKE ISABELLA A smoky mountain wildfire de- stroyed three houses and threatened 1,000 others despite progress Monday clearing fire lines west of a California lake near Bakers- field, officials said. At least two of the burned houses appeared to be abandoned, the U.S. For- est Service said in a state- ment. One other home was damaged by the blaze that charred about 3.4 square miles of trees and brush in and around Sequoia Na- tional Forest. Southern California Ed- ison power lines and com- munications facilities were also under threat. Firefighters using air tankers and helicopters were battling the fire that was about 10 percent con- tained. Flames being pushed by gusty winds from the west came within a mile of the mountain commu- nity of Wofford Heights, and authorities called on residents of about 1,000 threatened homes to evac- uate. Dozens of people stayed at a Red Cross shel- ter overnight. The fire broke out Fri- day night in a remote area about 40 miles north- east of Bakersfield and ex- panded Saturday as dry winds pushed the flames toward homes, prompting Kern County sheriff's dep- uties to knock on doors into the night to urge residents to leave. More than 1,100 fire- fighters were battling the blaze in steep, rugged ter- rain at elevations around 2,500 feet in a popular out- door recreation area. Air- craft were scooping water from Lake Isabella to use on the flames. Helicopters flew around the clock and crews were able to keep the fire from growing signifi- cantly. More crews were ex- pected to join the fight. Au- thorities planned to keep the augmented crews work- ing so they don't lose any time during shift changes to make progress, Forest Service spokeswoman Jen- nifer Chapman said. "It's going to be even hot- ter and drier at the end of the week," she said. The Forest Service said that camping, horseback riding, rafting and other ac- tivities in the Sequoia dis- trict were so far unaffected by the blaze. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Wildfire destroys homes, threatens 1,000 THEBAKERSFIELDCALIFORNIAN,CASEYCHRISTIE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Heavy smoke from the Shirley Fire above Wofford Heights is seen Sunday. By Judy Lin The Associated Press SACRAMENTO The state Senate on Monday named as its next leader a Los Angeles Democrat who is best known for champion- ing policies benefiting low- wage workers — even af- ter his name surfaced in a federal corruption probe against a fellow state law- maker. By voice vote, the 40-member chamber elected Sen. Kevin de Leon to succeed Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, who will step down Oct. 15, about seven weeks after this year's legislative session has ended. De Leon will become just the second Latino leader of the Senate, and the first in more than 130 years. Steinberg described de Leon as a lawmaker who is not afraid to lead. He cited his role last year in push- ing a bill that gave immi- grants in the country ille- gally a way to obtain driv- er's licenses, an attempt that succeeded after sev- eral years of failure. "Kevin is smart. He is seasoned. He is hungry to get big things done," Stein- berg told his colleagues be- fore the vote. His ties to the federal corruption investigation did not derail his ascension to one of the most power- ful political positions in the state. De Leon's name was mentioned dozens of times in an FBI affidavit that ac- cused suspended Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Monte- bello, of accepting about $100,000 for himself and family members in ex- change for promoting leg- islation to expand Holly- wood tax credits and to protect the financial inter- ests of a hospital that ben- efited from a provision of California's workers' com- pensation law. De Leon accepted $5,000 in campaign contributions from an undercover agent, money he returned to the FBI as soon as he learned it came from an undercover agent. He was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors but has a letter saying he is just a witness in the case and is not a target. No charges have been filed against de Leon. The U.S. attorney's of- fice in Los Angeles declined to comment Monday. Calderon was one of three Senate Democrats suspended this year af- ter being caught up in se- rious legal cases. Sen. Le- land Yee of San Francisco also is facing federal cor- ruption charges, and Sen. Rod Wright of Los Ange- les is awaiting sentenc- ing after being convicted of voter fraud and perjury. Before being elected to the Assembly in 2006, de Leon worked as a commu- nity organizer and adviser to the powerful California Teachers Association. He began representing the 22nd Senate District cov- ering Los Angeles and sur- rounding communities to the east in 2010. He will be termed out in 2018. During his time in the Legislature, de Leon has focused on labor issues, ed- ucation and programs that benefit lower-wage working families. In 2012, he championed legislation to create the na- tion's first state-adminis- tered retirement savings program for private-sector workers. Critics of SB1234 said it has the potential to create a new liability for taxpayers. SACRAMENTO Senate elects Los Angeles Democrat as next leader RICH PEDRONCELLI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi talks with reporters a er attending the opening of the new California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento on Monday. By Fenit Nirappil The Associated Press SACRAMENTO House Mi- nority Leader Nancy Pe- losi on a Monday visit to the state capital called for minimal military involve- ment in Iraq and praised California for passing a timely budget. The San Francisco Dem- ocrat and former House speaker was flanked by Gov. Jerry Brown and other elected leaders to open the California Demo- cratic Party headquarters. In her remarks, she praised the state Legisla- ture for passing a $108 bil- lion budget on Sunday be- fore the deadline. After the event, Pelosi told report- ers it could have included more money for social ser- vices. "We have an endless need for early childhood education and issues like that which I think are re- ally critical to the success of our families as well as our state and our coun- try," Pelosi said, mirror- ing similar sentiments from liberal advocates who wanted more money to help low-income Cali- fornians. She praised the budget for making ongoing pay- ments to the state's bullet train project using a fund meant to reduce green- house tax emissions. Pelosi brushed asides concerns that Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield Republican ex- pected to become the new House majority leader and a vocal high-speed rail critic, would dash the prospects of federal money for the project. "I know we would have the funding from D.C," Pe- losi said. "But one of the excuses they would use is, 'well we don't know if they are going to have any funding from California.' That question has been answered." Pelosi's visit came hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Yahoo News that the U.S. has not ruled out military co- operation with Iran in re- sponse to rising violence and deteriorating security conditions in Iraq. Pelosi said she was open to such discussions, though military officials have downplayed the pros- pect since Kerry's com- ments. "When they say mili- tary, as long as they don't mean boots on the ground, then we can talk about something if it means providing equipment or some other assist," said Pe- losi, who favors President Barack Obama's call for Iraqi leaders rather than the U.S. military to resolve the sectarian violence. Pelosi also said she would support providing arms to "responsible reb- els" in Syria. Pelosi praises state budget, Obama tactics on Iraq POLITICS By Michael R. Blood The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Thousands of mail-in ballots are be- ing invalidated in Cali- fornia elections because they arrive too late to be counted, government offi- cials and political experts said Monday. In the state's June 3 primary, Los Angeles County received about 2,400 mail-in ballots af- ter the election-day dead- line, the close of polls, making them ineligible to be tallied. That number of latecomers invalidated in Santa Cruz County was nearly 600, all post- marked on or before the election. The postmark isn't the deciding factor — the cut- off is the close of polls, when election officials must have the ballots in- hand. In a state with nearly 18 million registered vot- ers, the figures for late-ar- riving ballots are relatively tiny, but even small num- bers can make a difference in tight races. Votes are still being counted in the too-close- to-call state controller's contest. Former Assembly Speaker John Perez is lead- ing by a few hundred votes over Board of Equalization member Betty Yee in their battle for a second runoff spot to challenge Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearen- gin, according to unoffi- cial returns. "The only thing worse than not voting is people trying to vote and hav- ing their ballots go un- counted," said Kim Al- exander, president of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation, which has been researching the un- welcome trend. Californians have been choosing to vote by mail in larger numbers for years, and it's not uncommon to have half the vote come in through the mail. Political Data Inc., a re- search firm that sells voter information to campaigns, has estimated that more than 30,000 mail-in bal- lots were invalidated in 2012 because they were re- ceived too late, nearly half of them from voters un- der 30 years old. That es- timate was extrapolated from a review of data from 18 counties. Part of the problem stems from some voters being too lazy to get their ballots in the mail at an earlier date, raising the possibility of missing the deadline. But some ex- perts suggest that other- wise valid ballots are get- ting snagged in the postal system. ELECTION Thousands of mail-in ballots too late to count AUDREYSOLUS Audrey Solus, 88 of Red Bluff passed away Wednesday, June 5, 2014. She was a long time resident of Oakdale, CA. She is survived by her sons; Anthony Solus, Mike McQuillan and Mark Haveman, daughters; Patricia Cole- man, Shirley Ebert and Darlene Dixon, 21 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held at 1 pm Saturday, June 21 at Rio Vista Mobile Estates Club House, Red Bluff, CA. Obituaries TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A