Larry gets the latest on the state budget and talks about the future of transportation in America with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
Budget update- state to issue IOUs
Faced with a $26 billion deficit, state officials are set to begin issuing IOUs later today to pay for part of California's bills. Those on government assistance, including the elderly, disabled, and low-income individuals, will still receive their regular checks, while businesses with state contracts and taxpayers awaiting refunds are most likely to receive IOUs. Payments to state workers, schools, Medi-Cal providers, and other services are protected by law from receiving an IOU instead of a real check. As part of the budget crisis, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and ordered government workers to take a third unpaid furlough day each month. Larry Mantle gets the latest on the ongoing budget battle.
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the 3rd district.
Frank Stolze, KPCC reporter
Gary Toebben, President and CEO of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce
Julie Small, KPCC's State Capital Reporter
How will America get from point a to b in the future?
The Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, is in the western United States to promote several federal initiatives related to transportation. He was in Denver on Tuesday to break ground on a Recovery Act project – a major highway resurfacing and bike trail initiative. On Wednesday, he was in Portland, Oregon to help unveil a new street car for an extension that received federal funds this past spring. Today, Secretary LaHood will join Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make a major announcement about high-speed rail between California and Nevada. Also, the Secretary and DOT are working hard to get the CARS program up and running. CARS stands for the “Car Allowance Rebate System”, and is the program that allows drivers to turn in low-mileage cars and buy a more fuel efficient vehicle at a discount. Larry and Ray LaHood discuss these projects and the future of transportation in America.
During the segment, Larry Mantle gets a breaking news update from KPCC reporter Julie Small on the interest rate and maturation date for the IOUs that California will begin issuing today.
Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation
Julie Small, KPCC's State Capital Reporter
Pay-per-mile
A federal government transportation commission has endorsed a plan to switch from a traditional fuel tax to a pay-per-mile road tax using GPS systems. Rather than an 18-cent per gallon surcharge on gasoline, drivers would be taxed per-mile, with the option of charging more during rush hour. Although the White House has rejected the plan, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission believes such a system will be put into effect by 2020. Would a per-mile driving tax discourage drivers from getting behind the wheel of fuel-efficient vehicles? Is this plan a better way to distribute the cost of highway maintenance? Larry Mantle takes your calls.
Boy alone
Karl Taro Greenfeld had far from an idyllic, suburban childhood. He grew up in the 1960’s coping with the all-consuming demands of his brother Noah's autism, which his Father wrote about in a bestselling book called "A Child Called Noah". In "Boy Alone: A Brother's Memoir" Greenfeld expresses all the frustration and fury of living intimately with his brother’s severe disability. He describes Noah's erratic behavior as well as his own isolation, the flip side of his brother's inability to function as a self-sufficient adult. Larry Mantle talks with the author about the challenges families and especially siblings face in living with an autistic child.
Karl Taro Greenfeld, author of "Boy Alone: A Brother’s Memoir" (Harper Collins)