Week in review

Another law will make it a crime to forge, counterfeit or sell Clean Air Stickers, which are generally found on low-emission vehicles and allow the vehicles to use freeway carpool lanes without adhering to the minimum two-passenger rule.

Other laws that will become effective this year were created to put limitations on drunk driving offenders.

Motorists who were convicted of driving under the influence and are on probation for the offense will be prohibited from driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .01% or more. The new law requires those motorists to take a Preliminary Alcohol Screening test.

If they refuse to take the test or take it and have an blood alcohol level of at least .01%, they will be cited, their California driver’s license will be taken away and suspended and their vehicle will be impounded.

Judges also will be allowed to order motorists who were previously convicted of drunk driving to enroll in a licensed DUI program for a minimum of nine months.

Judges are required to revoke a motorist’s driver’s license if she or he does not enroll or complete the program.

Another law reduces the blood alcohol level from .20% to .15% or greater in order to allow judges to consider the installation of a Ignition Interlock Device — a mechanism installed in a vehicle’s dashboard that requires a driver to blow into it before starting the vehicle ignition — for first-time convicted drunk driving offenders.

EDUCATION

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new budget proposal outlined Wednesday calls for $2.08 billion in midyear cuts to education, which, although lower than his originally proposed $2.5 billion in reductions, would still leave school districts with the task of making challenging cuts while classes are in session, Glendale Unified School District Supt. Michael Escalante said.

About 42% of the state’s revenues is constitutionally guaranteed to schools, and the current budget initially required a minimum of $58.1 billion to be paid for kindergarten-through-12th-grade education.

But the state’s revenue fell 15% this year, resulting in an adjusted guarantee of $51.5 billion from the state, said Ana Matosantos, chief deputy director at the Department of Finance.