Capitol Alert

Twenty-nine layoffs were announced today by California's Administrative Office of the Courts, which sets policy and distributes funding for all levels of the state's court system.

Interim director Jody Patel said the layoffs were forced by pending budget cuts and ranged from entry level to senior positions.

"Sadly, this is not the end of our staff reductions," Patel said in a prepared statement.

The layoffs affected AOC offices in San Francisco, Sacramento and Burbank. Spokesman Phillip Carrizosa said he did not have a breakdown of how many workers were affected at each or how much money would be saved by them.

Patel called Thursday's layoffs distressing, but added: "Unfortunately, given the current fiscal reality that affects all areas of the judicial branch, we were forced to make this difficult decision."

Thursday's 29 layoffs marked the first wave of cuts targeting 190 positions, including layoffs of contractors and temporary employees, voluntary separations and retirements, spokesman Carrizosa said.

By the start of the new fiscal year July 1, the AOC anticipates having 860 full-time or part-time employees, contractors and temporary workers.

A little under a thousand people gathered at the Capitol Thursday to deliver 75,000 petitions and ask legislators to reject cuts to the in-home care system.

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget cuts include a 7-percent cut to caregiver hours and the elimination of domestic services in shared households, adding up to a $224.5 million reduction.

Doug Moore, executive director of the UDW Homecare Providers Union, said he came to the rally because he was "preparing for attack on the budget proposal by the governor."

He said IHSS saves the state money. Putting someone in an institution can cost around $5,000 a month, he said, while caring for them at home costs $800 a month.

"I'm sick and tired of having to be here every year, but I'm not too sick and tired to not fight back," Moore said.

An architect of California's new top-two primary system has turned his attention to shaking up how campaigns are funded.

Steve Peace, a former state legislator and finance director who now chairs the Independent Voter Project, said Wednesday that he plans to file a ballot measure on campaign finance for the 2014 ballot. He said his attorneys are now focused on the "legal aspects" of the proposal, which has been in the works for a year.

"Our lawyers are working very hard on understanding what the limits of Citizens United is and is not and some pretty dramatic ways in which we can change, and I mean very dramatically change the way campaigns are run," he said, referring to the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case that opened the door to unlimited spending by federal super PACs.

Peace wouldn't offer specifics on his ideas, which he plans to unveil after the November election. But he cited discounted postal rates for bulk mail sent by political parties as well as the influence of independent committees that, unlike candidate campaigns, can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence a race.

"No organization, whether it's the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, or an (independent expenditure committee) ought to be able to operate as a Laundromat," he said. "I think we've reformed ourselves into a Gordian knot ... with the perverse result of separating the candidate from their messaging."

PHOTO CREDIT: Then-state Sen. Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista, speaks to reporters Monday, June 17, 2002, in Sacramento. (AP Photo/ Rich Pedroncelli).

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders have been meeting daily this week behind closed doors to resolve about $2 billion in differences over budget cuts that would affect the poorest Californians.

Facing a June 15 constitutional deadline, Democratic leaders say they intend to send Brown a budget by next Friday, and preferably a budget that the governor will sign.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, have made it clear that legislative Democrats disagree with Brown specifically on his cuts to welfare-to-work, Cal Grants, In-Home Supportive Services and child care for low-income families.

Steinberg said Thursday those differences amount to roughly $2 billion. He suggested that, for the most part, legislative Democrats agree with the remainder of Brown's solutions to bridge a $15.7 billion gap. Some policy exceptions include the governor's plan to restrict wildfire liability and change tree-cutting requirements, as well as dealing with state park closures.

Democrats are privately suggesting alternatives to the cuts to buy down as many of them as possible. In the past, Steinberg has suggested reducing Brown's $1 billion reserve.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said last month that lawmakers could find $1.9 billion by interpreting the state's school funding requirement differently than Brown did. That would bridge nearly the entire $2 billion gap dividing Brown and lawmakers.

But Steinberg said that is not being seriously considered because lawmakers don't want to cut schools further, and they believe that it could invite a lawsuit. School groups have not been shy in the past about filing a lawsuit or threatening legal action around the Proposition 98 constitutional requirement.

Dan Walters says that the California primary's most important results had to do with local measures on public pension reform in San Jose and San Diego.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in his video report today, believes that pension reform battles produced Tuesday's most important votes.

With the primary behind us, the Legislature's next major task is passing a budget by midnight next Friday, June 15.

The Senate Budget Committee will meet in the Capitol's Room 4203 after the upper house adjourns its 9 a.m. session. The committee's agenda ranges from IT contracts to the rural fire fee, as well as long-range funding plans for California's universities and colleges. Click here for the rather long list.

The Assembly is also meeting at 9 a.m., after which a special committee scrutinizes Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for government reorganization for the second time in two days. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 4202. Click here to read the agenda.

Speaking of budgets, members of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission are talking about how to handle ongoing legal issues and other matters once the commission's funding runs out at the end of June.

They'll also hear a report on how much redistricting has cost the state. Another item of note: "Discussion of the Reversion of Unused Funds to the General Fund." The meeting starts at 10 a.m. at 901 P St. in Sacramento. Click here to read the agenda.

The Franchise Tax Board, meanwhile, is discussing "The Tax Gap, The Underground Economy, And The Criminal Element," as the agenda puts it. That gap is estimated at $10 billion a year after enforcement and collections. The meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. at 9646 Butterfield Way, Town Center's Gerald Goldberg Auditorium in Sacramento.