BREAKING: Perata gets $500,000 from builders, scuttles builder-opposed bills

This week, just as Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata put on hold an eight-bill package of flood-protection legislation, one of his political committees received a $500,000 donation from the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), one of the package's biggest opponents. The donation is the single largest that a Perata committee has received since he became Senate leader in 2004. On the same day, the builders donated another $500,000 to Let's Rebuild California, a campaign committee that is not controlled by Perata but employs top Perata confidant Sandra Polka as the chief strategist. Paul Hefner, a Polka associate and spokesman for both committees, denied that there was any connection between the donations and Perata's decision to scuttle the flood-protection package. "The senator makes his decisions about legislation on the merits and nothing else," said Hefner "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why the Building Industry Association would be in favor of an infrastructure plan that calls for building roads, building schools, building homes and building levees." Find the rest of the story here.