California Insider

Here's the quick bottom line from the LAO's overnight assessment of the governor's budget:

The 2006-07 Governor’s Budget now projects that the state will be able to fund much more than a current-law budget and still maintain fiscal balance in 2006-07. The plan, however, moves the state in the wrong direction in terms of reaching its longer-term goal of getting its fiscal house in order. Given the state’s current structural budget shortfall, we believe that the 2006-07 budget should focus more on paying down existing debt before making expansive new commitments.

Indeed. Read the whole thing here.

The Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State has a new poll out that shows an uptick in Schwarzenegger's approval ratings since his State-of-the-State speech. The improvement comes on the strength of better ratings from Democrats and independents. He's sinking among Republicans.

The governor's statewide approval rating was 40-51, compared to 36-53 in September.

The poll also found that Schwarzenegger's two Democratic opponents, Steve Westly and Phil Angelides, would both lose to the governor in hypothetical match-ups.

The California Professional Firefighters, the group that led the opposition to the Davis recall and helped spearhead the defeat of Schwarzenegger's reform agenda last year, will announce today that it is endorsing Phil Angelides for governor.