Rise and Opine is your morning source, Monday through Wednesday, for California opinion, push back from readers and news tips collected with a bit of attitude by The Bee's editorial board. Send tips and suggestions to sleavenworth@sacbee.com.
Editorials
Yesterday, I noted all the positive editorials about Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal. As if on cue, UT San Diego (which used to be known as the San Diego Union-Tribune) rips into the governor's plan to fund education. The paper notes that $1.3 billion of the $6 billion dedicated to schools will actually go to "sate employees." Sate employees? I think the UT meant "state employees," but whatever. The point is a reasonable one: How much of the Prop. 30 money will actually go to classrooms, as opposed to members of the teachers unions that helped pass the measure?
Opinion
David Lazeras of the Los Angeles Times writes about the cat bite that turned into a $55,000 hospital bill. He argues that Obamacare might take a bite, or a least a nibble, from these kinds of charges.
Deadline
Friday is the deadine for engineering teams to submit design and build plans to build the first stretch of high-speed rail through the Fresno area. The high-speed rail authority is pushing ahead with the project, even though valley Republicans Kevin McCarthy and Jeff Denham say the project is a "field of dreams."
Push back
Richard B., a reader who often frequents the messages left on my voice mail, disagrees there are few transit options to and from the Sacramento International Airport, the point of our editorial Monday.
Richard says he has been pleased with the service provided by Super Shuttle. So I have I -- except, that is, when I am returning from the airport. Super Shuttle almost always picks us up on time. But on the return? My wife and I have had to wait an hour or longer for a shuttle to take us home, even when we have made reservations. We are a big enough city to have more competitive options than this.
And no, I don't want to prevail on friends for airport shuttles, no matter how generous they might be.
Did you miss it?
Sen. Michael Rubio and environmental attorney Tom Adams debate whether the state should make major modifications to its landmark 1970 statute, the California Environmental Quality Act. This will be a hot topic in this year's Legislature -- an ongoing focus of our Sunday California Forum section.
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