Capitol Alert

As Democratic state leaders continue budget negotiations, Gov. Jerry Brown's tax hike on sales and upper-income earners officially qualified Wednesday for the November ballot, as did two other tax measures.

Brown's tax initiative will be joined by a rival measure to hike income taxes on all but the poorest Californians as well as an initiative to raise taxes on multistate corporations based elsewhere, the Secretary of State's Office announced. A total of 11 measures, including a water bond, are now on the November ballot.

Brown and lawmakers are counting on voters to pass his tax plan to generate an estimated $8.5 billion in the current budget cycle, which provides additional funding for schools and helps bridge the state's $15.7 billion deficit. Though state leaders considered its qualification a foregone conclusion, some political experts began to wonder whether it could miss the June 28 deadline to reach the November ballot as the date drew closer.

The Brown initiative would raise sales taxes by a quarter-cent on the dollar. It would also hike income taxes starting at $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for joint filers.

A rival measure filed by wealthy civil rights attorney Molly Munger would raise taxes along a sliding scale starting at $7,316 in taxable income for single filers and $14,632 for joint filers. Her initiative would raise about $10 billion annually, mostly for schools and early childhood programs, but with some initial funding to help relieve the state budget by about $3 billion.

The third tax measure to qualify Wednesday involves changing the state's corporate tax formula by forcing most companies to calculate their liability based on their share of sales in California. A recent law change allowed companies last year to choose the less expensive of two tax formulas. The proposal by hedge fund manager Tom Steyer would generate about $1 billion extra each year, initially split between the state budget and green energy projects before going entirely to the general fund in 2018-19.

The Brown administration is abandoning legislation it proposed to insulate California's high-speed rail project from environmental lawsuits, the administration told environmentalists today.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who is seeking legislative approval this summer to start construction on the $68 billion project, angered environmentalists when his administration proposed this month to limit the circumstances in which a court could block construction of the project under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act.

Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, said a Brown adviser sent environmentalists and transportation advocates an e-mail today indicating the Democratic governor was backing off.

Phillips said the administration suggested it could revisit the proposal later.

"They're not interested for now," Phillips said. "So I feel like I can sleep well tonight, and there will be another day when we will have to struggle with how we can ensure that we protect environmental quality."

Brown's office declined to comment. The California High-Speed Rail Authority did not immediately return calls for comment.

Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats are nearing a deal on welfare-to-work cuts that would reduce the amount of time families could receive full aid and child care, but with exemptions such as one for people in areas with high unemployment.

The Democratic governor and lawmakers are still working out how broadly the exemptions would apply, said sources close to the negotiations who did not want to be named because the deal remains incomplete. That criteria would determine how much the state could save and the extent to which Brown can declare a shift in the welfare model as he asks voters to raise taxes in November.

Brown wants lawmakers to remake the state's welfare-to-work program, known as CalWORKs, by imposing more severe consequences for not finding work. Democrats are willing to accept some changes, but they say the governor's plan is too severe when work is scarce even for more qualified job applicants in California.

"The typical CalWORKs recipient doesn't have a high school diploma," said Mike Herald, a lobbyist for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. "They're having to compete right now in a job market where even people with high school diplomas can't get hired."

Youth organizers are seeking Capitol support of a "bill of rights" for California young people that calls for a statewide effort to improve education and opportunities.

A resolution by Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, presents a multiple-point political platform, including access to affordable day care, health care and fair trials.

About 40 people attended an event marking its introduction at the Capitol. Participating organizations included the California Fund for Youth Organizing and the Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice.

Many members of the crowd, most in their late teens and early 20s, wore shirts reading "college prep, not prison prep."

George Galvis, an event organizer and the executive director for the Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, said the resolution marked important opportunities for the youth of California.

"This is an integrated collaboration and we are building on a statewide coalition," Galvis said. "It's a framework for a youth platform for California."

PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento Bee/Hannah Madans

Republican Sen. Bob Huff has decided to drop legislation that would ban chiropractors from treating allergies now that new rules prohibiting the use of laser therapy for the condition are set to take effect.

The Diamond Bar Republican introduced Senate Bill 352 out of concern that a patient with life-threatening food allergies could be hurt or killed if they felt they were cured after receiving medically unproven laser treatments being advertised by some chiropractors in the state.

The state Board of Chiropractic Examiners decided to ban licensed chiropractors from using lasers for allergy treatments earlier this year in hopes of persuading Huff to drop his bill. They argued that his legislation would prevent chiropractors from providing nutritional counseling and other services to address food sensitives and other allergies.

The rules, which were adopted in early May, which were recently approved by the Office of Administrative Law. They will be effective as of July 14, according to a press release issued by the board.

Huff suggested earlier this year that action by the board would lessen the need for his bill, which has cleared the Senate and is pending approval in the state Assembly.

"To the degree that they're taking care of it themselves, it takes pressure off a legislative fix," he said at the time.

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Bill seeks to ban California chiropractors from offering laser 'cure' for allergies

Bruce McPherson, a former state legislator and secretary of state who is now seeking a seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, is quitting the Republican Party, citing the "strident" nature of partisan politics.

"That's who I am," McPherson was quoted in a Santa Cruz Sentinel article."During my years in the California Legislature, I was widely recognized as the most independent voice in either the Assembly or the Senate. Now more than ever I think we need leaders who make decisions for the community and the people, not what's best for the party."

"It's as strident as I've ever known it to be," McPherson said of partisan politics. "I don't want to be identified as right or left."

McPherson is a moderate former editor of the Sentinel who had been hailed as the only Republican who can win in heavy Democratic Santa Cruz County. He's now locked in a runoff duel with Democrat Eric Hammer, having failed by 48 votes to achieve an outright majority and election in the June 5 primary election. But he says his decision to re-register as a "no-party-preference" voter is not connected to his looming runoff.

Editor's Note: This post was updated to reflect that the quote came from the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Updated 2:25 p.m June 20, 2012.

Call it good politics, call it kindness, call it grandstanding, call it whatever you want: Carly Burns just calls it amazing.

The 20-year-old Granite Bay woman was sitting at home, filling out a job application, when her phone rang Tuesday.

"Hello, this is Vice President Joe Biden," the caller said.

She thought it was a joke.

It wasn't.

Carly's mother and father, Dina and Michael Burns, the latter a partner in KP Public Affairs, had shaken Biden's hand minutes earlier at a fundraiser in the Sutter Club. They mentioned that their daughter had just graduated from the University of Oregon, had studied abroad in Tunisia, had been inspired by him, and had kept a newspaper from Election Day 2008 on the wall of her room.

"He said, 'Oh, get her on the phone,'" Dina recalled.

Biden congratulated Carly on her graduation, asked what she planned to do this summer, and quipped that her studies in the Middle East might come in handy for the Obama administration.

"We could probably use you in Syria," he quipped.

After two or three minutes, the conversation was over, a simple exchange in what seems to be an endless trail of fundraising and campaigning leading up to the November presidential election.

But Carly will never forget.

"It was actually surreal," she said. "It was amazing. I still can't believe he talked to me."

Dan Walters says California police unions and law enforcement groups usually get what they want in Sacramento -- but not this time.

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 today's video report, says police unions and law enforcement groups don't always get what they want in Sacramento.

Expect busloads of students and other young people from Southern California and the Bay Area to arrive at the Capitol today.

Organizations including the California Fund for Youth Organizing, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice and others are rallying on the west steps to support Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez's resolution to establish a statewide Student and Youth Bill of Rights to improve education and other issues.

Pérez is to make opening remarks, followed by other speakers as well as performances by young musicians and artists. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Inside the building, the Senate Rules Committee takes up Gov. Jerry Brown's appointments starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with the following required to appear: Caroll Mortensen, director of the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery; Robert T. O'Neill, director of the California State Lottery; Lottery Commission members Nathaniel Kirtman III, John Smolin and Phillip Tagami; and state Gambling Control Commission member Richard Schuetz.

Other committees meet in both houses. Click here for the Senate committee schedule, and click here for the Assembly's.

Elsewhere in Sacramento, the Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus is hosting its first annual film festival tonight at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K St., in Sacramento, showing two documentaries: "Vincent Who?" and "The Manzanar Fishing Club."

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Click here for more information and showtimes.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Republican Assemblywoman Diane Harkey turns 61 today.

California's recession-battered economy is improving but at a "slower than desired pace," says a new overview by Beacon Economics, a private firm that advises both private and public clients, including the State Controller's Office.

"California's economy is not headed for a double dip and will continue to grow although reaching the state's pre-recession peaks on some indicators is still several years away," the Beacon report says, adding that technology, agriculture, travel and business services seem to be leading the recovery.

Beacon's forecast, to be presented today at an economic conference in Los Angeles, closely parallels the economic assumptions of Gov. Jerry Brown's latest state budget. It sees a 1.5 percent increase in non-farm employment this year, followed by a 1.9 percent gain in 2013.

"California is clearly past the bottom it hit during the recession in terms of consumer spending, the residential real estate market, state GDP, and international trade," says Beacon economic researcher Jordan Levine, said in a statement.

"And although Los Angeles County is lagging the state, it also didn't fall as far as surrounding communities during the recession," Levine continued. "The biggest worry we have for Los Angeles is the fact that manufacturing -- traditionally an important source of growth in the region -- does not seem to be experiencing the same renaissance being seen in much of the rest of the nation."