Governor Schwarzenegger will be holding a press conference at noon today to discuss his CalWORKs proposals with the press. He will be joined by HHS Secretary Kim Belshe and DSS Director John Wagner. The Governor has now made CalWORKs the focus of attack three times since last Thursday, clearly believing that this issue is resonating with the public. WCLP, CWDA and CSAC will be available after for press comments. You can view the webcast live by going to the Governor's website, www.gov.ca.gov and clicking on the announcement for the press event.

Yesterday WCLP, the county welfare directors and the county supervisors association organized a press conference to rebut the Governor's charges. A summary of our comments is attached. We argued that the Governor was misleading the public and that the Administration was using a measure that they had repeatedly said was unfair. This line of argument was picked up in very good story by Ventura County Star columnist Tim Herdt. Here's the link:

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jul/08/welfare-as-we-knew-it/?partner=RSS 

Negotiations on the budget seem to be on the back burner as the Governor continues to conduct a media blitz to convince the public that he is standing up for their interests. His approval ratings have shot up while the Democratic leadership is savaged for boycotting budget meetings. Yesterday's civil disobedience by disabled activists may begin to turn the tide the other way if a human face of the cuts can become the press story. Many Democratic legislators came down and talked with the protestors including Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Jim Beall, Denise Ducheny, Gloria Romero, Carol Liu, Nancy Skinner and John Perez who bought the group pizza. Members seemed buoyed by the protest and it may have done as much for the morale of Democratic members as anything else.