Democrats fight over tax ballot measures

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/capitolnotebook/article/Democrats-fight-over-tax-ballot-measures-3797312.php

Mark Leno will sponsor a bill to require the found funds be used to keep state parks open.

On Thursday, top elected Democrats in the state called on the California PTA to not mention, or attack, Proposition 30. That's the tax-raising ballot measure backed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The PTA is the leading proponent of Proposition 38, a competing tax measure.

U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, along with Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, and state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, had asked the PTA to go easy on Prop. 30. What Kocivar is referring to in her response is that the opposition to Prop. 38 is being led by Jason Kinney, Steinberg's chief political consultant.

The governor will call for a special session of the Legislature in December to make changes in state law to further implement the Affordable Care Act.

Dooley described the special session as "preventative medicine" to deal with the host of issues in enacting such a wide-reaching change. Those include expanding eligibility into Medi-Cal and the operations of service centers for new enrollees, among other things, she said.

The Democrat from San Francisco said this week that he will introduce legislation to direct the money toward park operations and deferred maintenance, including allowing a match for private donations, as Brown proposed. Leno said the bill - which is still being drafted - will also make it impossible for the state to shutter any parks for two years, and give the Parks and Recreation Commission more oversight power.