Which Way, L.A.?

Closing the Gap on the State Budget

California's dot-com boom helped to increase state revenues in the 1990's. Then the bubble burst, followed by the energy crisis and September 11. Now, legislators have until Saturday to decide how to make up a $ 23 billion deficit, almost a third of what the state spent last year. Governor Davis has asked for spending cuts and increased taxes but Republicans are opposed, and the need for a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and Senate gives them veto power. Health, welfare and school programs could be hit hard, and a tax increase isn't out of the question. We get a taste of the deficit debate from two members of the Assembly Budget Committee, Democrat Jackie Goldberg and Republican Rod Pacheco, and an outsider's assessment from Dan Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee. Newsmaker: Valley Wins Westside Seat in Council Redistricting While the LA City Council has redrawn its boundaries to reflect the latest census, the new districts don't reflect the electorate. For the last year of her term in office, Ruth Galanter, elected from the Westside, will represent the San Fernando Valley. Rick Orlov, City Hall bureau chief for the Daily News, looks at the reasons and ramifications of LA's newest political puzzle. Reporter's Notebook: FBI-CIA Spying at UC in the 60's Ronald Reagan was elected Governor on a promise to clean up the University of California. America's largest public educational system was both the custodian of the nation's nuclear research labs and the site of massive free-speech and anti-war protests. Now, newly opened documents tell a dramatic story of the FBI's involvement in California politics during the 1960's. The San Francisco Chronicle's Seth Rosenfeld explains.