Very little to report from Sacramento today. There is supposed to be a Big 5 meeting this afternoon but it doesn't seem like much is expected to occur since many of the budget staff were told they would not have to work Saturday. Some unconfirmed reports said the negotiations "collapsed." It appears that several major areas of the budget are not finalized including school repayments, loans for local government, CalWORKs, IHSS and the Governor's many non-budget items including his effort to privatize public benefit eligibility.

Actions focused on the Governor continued today at his Brentwood home. We are hearing that at least two people were arrested and released for civil disobedience.  KCAL is there filming it all. Film at 11! On Monday a number of groups are going to hold an action  based around children's themes and more actions are being planned for later in the week.

The media drumbeat questioning Governor Schwarzenegger's human service proposals continues unabated. Reuters news service did a very good piece that talked with CalWORKs recipients about the impact the cuts would have on them. Today the Los Angeles Times penned an editiorial slamming the Governor for his budget negotiations while also criticizing the Governor's remarks about waste, fraud and abuse. The Times took note that what the Governor is suggesting is simnply false when it comes to LA County's CalWORKs programs. Here are the links to the LA Times story, the Reuters piece is attached.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-budget17-2009jul17,0,1088962.story