SENATE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS
James L. Brulte, Chairman
DAILY BRIEFING
Wednesday
September 15, 1999


PETER SCHRAG COLUMN

For Davis, The Trail Of Tears Ends At A Slot Machine

Guilt serves all sorts of purposes in American politics -- some of them entirely admirable -- but rarely, if ever, has it been the monstrous fig leaf for political venality that it was in last week's sellout to the Indian gambling casinos. By now the outlines of that sellout are pretty clear.

With only a handful of exceptions, virtually every politician under the Capitol dome, from Gov. Gray Davis down, joined the stampede to approve the largest expansion of slot machine gambling in state history.

That's significant enough all by itself, but it's likely to open the doors even wider in the coming years as other interests come to the trough for their share of the action.
http://www.sacbee.com/voices/news/voices05_19990915.html

BUSINESS

Study Predicts Higher Job Growth In California

Times have been good in California these past few years, but if a Palo Alto think tank's forecasts are accurate, even better days may be ahead.

The study projects that total jobs in California will increase from the 1998 level of 15.5 million to a 2005 level of 17.7 million, a 14.6 percent growth rate. Meanwhile, jobs in the United States are expected to grow by 8.1 percent.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/15/MN51615.DTL

EDUCATION

CSU, UC To Align Entry Requirements: Systems Seek To End Confusion Among College-Bound Students

The state's two university systems are poised to align their admissions requirements for the first time, a move that would enable high school students to take the same set of college-prep courses whether they want to attend California State University or the University of California.

At its meeting today in Long Beach, the CSU board of trustees is expected to approve the policy for students entering in fall 2003 and beyond. UC regents approved their portion of the alignment last spring.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local03_19990915.html

Cal State Raises

Final approval is scheduled today for raises averaging 12% for the chancellor and campus presidents of California State University system.

These are the third annual raises for the presidents as part of a three-year effort to narrow the salary gap between Cal State's leaders and those of comparable universities around the country. http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/STATE/t000082481.html

STATE POLITICS

Sen. Burton Hospitalized In South Lake Tahoe

State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton was hospitalized last night in South Lake Tahoe after complaining about shortness of breath.

Burton, D-San Francisco, became ill at a hotel where he was to receive a legislative award from the Laborers International Union of North America.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/15/MN106314.DTL

Davis And Key Gaming Tribe Reach Deal

In a move expected to avert another initiative war over gambling on Indian land, Gov. Gray Davis reached a pact Tuesday with one of California's most ambitious gambling tribes on the future of its casino operations.

Other tribes agreed to a similar deal Friday that grants them exclusive rights to operate slot machines and Nevada-type card games in California, and assures them limited rights to expand their casinos.
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/STATE/t000082441.html

MISC

Latino, Asian Growth Surge Continues

Led by California, Hispanic and Asian populations in the United States continue to surge, with Latinos growing by more than 35 percent and Asians more than 40 percent since 1990, the Census Bureau said Wednesday.

Demographic experts say the nation's rapid move toward a multiracial, multiethnic society, mirrored in the gains seen by California, is likely to continue into the next century. By 2015, according to Census Bureau projections, minorities will make up one-third of the population.
http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/minority15.htm

Drop In State's White Population Reverses

For the first time since the deep recession of the early 1990s, more whites are again migrating to California than leaving, mirroring a well-established trend among other ethnic groups, according to estimates to be released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Five years of net "white flight" from the state stopped in 1997 and had reversed by mid-1998, when an estimated 32,000 more whites lived in California than the year before, the new data show.
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/STATE/t000082438.html

SACTO BEE EDITORIALS

Capitol Price Club: Want To Kill Competition? Shop The Legislature

The California Legislature offers warehouse shopping at its finest. If you have the money in your pocket and want government action to block your competitors, you no longer have to go from place to place, shopping at city councils and boards of supervisors.

You just drive to the big box in Capitol Park and quickly get anticompetitive legislation off the shelf in the wholesale size.
http://www.sacbee.com/voices/news/voices03_19990915.html

LA TIMES EDITORIALS

The Next Step On Medical Pot

Three years ago, when California voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized the medical use of marijuana, then-Gov. Pete Wilson struggled to reconcile the contradiction between the measure and federal drug laws that forbade marijuana use.

Gov. Gray Davis has tried to avoid the quagmire by pointing out that federal laws trump state laws and that it would be illegal for his administration to sanction any use of the drug.
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/COMMENT/t000082430.html

SF CHRONICLE EDITORIALS

Shopping For A Veto

The state Legislature has no business deciding for Californians whether they should be buying their groceries at the corner market, the neighborhood supermarket or the nearest Costco or Super Kmart.

The bottom line is that Californians deserve a choice. In perhaps the most transparent special-interest bill of the session, your elected representatives just voted to narrow your options.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/15/ED92579.DTL

SJ MERCURY NEWS EDITORIALS

The Supermarket Power Play

Anti-consumer legislation, passed quickly and quietly, is sitting on Gray Davis' desk. The bill is a brazen attempt to protect stores like Safeway and Lucky, and their unions, from `big box' competition. The governor should send it packing.

To preserve and encourage more local jobs, the California Legislature this session banned warehouse chains like Costco and Wal-Mart from selling groceries in more than 15 percent of the area in their stores. This protectionist, anti-consumer bill passed the Legislature and now lies a signature away from becoming law.

http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/opinion/edit/BIGBOX.htm