Schwarzenegger seeks bigger budget
Sacramento, Calif. With California’s tax revenues surging ahead of expectations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed an ambitious spending plan Tuesday that is 7 percent higher than the current fiscal year’s and would not raise taxes.
His $125.6 billion plan for the 2006-07 fiscal year also marks the first time in years that the state is counting on enough tax revenue to cover spending without significant borrowing.
The big winners appear to be public schools and health and human services agencies. Education groups attacked Schwarzenegger last year after he proposed tying teacher pay to merit rather than seniority and tried to make it harder for teachers to win tenure.
Schwarzenegger is proposing a $4.3 billion boost in funding for kindergarten through 12th grade and community colleges, raising per student spending to its highest level ever in California – $11,000.
Recall petition filed against Blanco
Baton Rouge, La. A Republican who says she has never worked on a political campaign filed documents Tuesday launching a drive to oust Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who was harshly criticized for her response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Kat Landry, who filed a recall petition with state elections officials, said Louisiana needs new leadership to recover from the storms’ back-to-back blows.
In Louisiana, getting a recall on the ballot requires petition signatures from at least one-third of the state’s registered voters, or about 900,000 people, in 180 days, according to Jennifer Marusak of the secretary of state’s office.
The 180-day period for gathering signatures began Tuesday, when the petition was filed, Marusak said.
If the proper signatures are gathered, a majority of voters in a recall election would have to vote to get rid of Blanco, a Democrat, before she would be forced out of office.
Blanco was out of the country Tuesday, studying flood-control measures in Holland, and unavailable to comment. A spokesman of hers would not comment on the petition.
Day-care provider accused of caging kids
Santa Barbara, Calif. A Santa Barbara day-care provider has been arrested on suspicion of child cruelty for allegedly keeping two of her four adopted children in cages and forcing another to live in a filthy, locked room, authorities said Tuesday.
Sylvia Jovanna Vasquez, 50, was booked into jail by Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies. Her children, ranging from ages 6 to 13, were placed in protective custody.
Acting on an anonymous tip, deputies said they went to Vasquez’s house last week and found the children living in squalid conditions. A 12-year-old girl appeared to be well cared for, but the others were “undernourished and had clothing that was soiled with urine and feces,” according to a department news release.
The woman’s 6-year-old daughter told social workers that she slept on a mattress in a 3-foot-by-5-foot “cage” mounted on a wall above her bed, the release said. Her 9-year-old sister slept in another bedroom inside a 4-foot-by-5-foot plywood chamber with a small wire-mesh window and a lock that worked only from the outside. Vasquez’s 13-year-old son allegedly stayed in a room where deputies found a bucket containing excrement.
Officials on Tuesday were trying to learn more about the day-care business operated by Vasquez, a licensed provider.