Special Session Update – November 12, 2008
The “Big 6” met today, November 12, 2008, but we have no details regarding the content of their discussion. We understand that the group plans to meet daily.
Following yesterday’s release of the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s (LAO) Overview of the 2008 Special Session Proposals, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D, Los Angeles) was reported (by the Sacramento Bee) to have said that “the nation's most populous state deserves the same bailout consideration given to financial and other industries teetering on the verge of disaster.” We expect the federal government will look at the possibility of assisting the states that are in a fiscal crisis but think it’s unlikely that any federal help will be of the magnitude California will require. The non-partisan LAO said that the state will need $27.8 billion in solutions over the next 20 months.
The Assembly Budget Committee will hear the Governor’s Special Session proposals on Friday, November 14, 2008, but the Senate has no hearings planned at this time. Stay tuned . . .
—Deborah Harmon