Capitol Alert

An anti-gay rights group has purchased hourly radio spots in Sacramento to urge parents to keep their children home from school on Harvey Milk Day, which honors the gay rights pioneer.

Randy Thomasson, president of the SaveCalifornia.com, said the group bought more than 100 time slots for a radio ad in Los Angeles and Sacramento. It urges parents to "protect your children from Harvey Milk indoctrination," by keeping them home from school Wednesday.

"This is harmful to children," Thomasson said. "This is not academic, it's brainwashing."

John O'Connor, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California, said the radio spots "expose homophobia" and "encourage discrimination."

Milk served less than one year on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as the first openly gay elected official in California before he was fatally shot in 1978 along with Mayor George Moscone by colleague Dan White. Milk's life was depicted in the Academy Award-winning movie "Milk." In 2009, the state Legislature designated Milk's birthday, May 22, as a "day of special significance."

The law encourages schools to conduct "suitable commemorative exercises" to mark Milk's life.

Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, an openly gay legislator from San Francisco, called SaveCalifornia.com's efforts "pathetic."

"There will always be haters, but Milk said you must have hope," said Ammiano, who coauthored the bill creating Harvey Milk Day. "And we have hope that there are changing attitudes toward the LGBT community."

PHOTO CREDIT: Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco cuts a cake with the image of civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk during a 2009 celebration of the gay rights activist's birthday.
Hector Amezcua / The Sacramento Bee

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor projected state revenues Friday that are $3.2 billion higher than those projected by Gov. Jerry Brown this week in his revised budget proposal.

The difference translates into $400 million for the current fiscal year and $2.8 billion for the year that begins in July. The projection sets up a potential battle between Brown and fellow Democrats in the Legislature. who want to spend more than he proposes.

Both Brown and Taylor urge fiscal restraint, however, because revenue projections are largely dependent upon economic factors ranging from employment to housing prices. Both also agree that the bulk of the money will go to schools under state law.

Brown, in his new proposal, had lowered projected revenues by $1.8 billion from his January estimate.

Though tax revenue has run about $4.5 billion ahead of projections through April, Brown said much of that money is unlikely to carry over into future years.

A new report on recidivism rates calls into question whether Gov. Jerry Brown's sweeping prison realignment plan has really had any effect, Dan says.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, right, is releasing his take on Gov. Jerry Brown's revised May budget today.

The LAO questioned Brown's higher education plan and generally approved of his school funding overhaul back in February.

SENIOR LOBBY DAY: The phrase "lobby day" conjures an image of interest groups holding a rally on the steps of the Capitol, some sympathetic legislators in tow, before proceeding inside to meet with lawmakers. The California Alliance for Retired Americans is taking a different approach today, and not just because elected officials have vacated Sacramento for the weekend.

Because the organization's members are spread out throughout the state, they'll be visiting their representatives at various district offices today -- as of Thursday morning, Capitol Alert was told 112 lawmakers could be expecting visits. The seniors are pressing in particular for a bill by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, that has to do with posting traffic warnings to protect the elderly and a bill by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, that would create a program to collect expired prescription drugs.

VIDEO: The debate over prison realignment has come to feel like a circular argument, Dan Walters says.

KAMALA ON GUN VIOLENCE: Attorney General Kamala Harris will be talking about ways to reduce gun violence today, in particular the illegal gun tracking program that has an additional $24 million coming its way. Joining Harris will be Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley and former Assemblyman Mike Feuer.

GREENLINING GABFEST: The Greenlining Institute is hosting a symposium today on California's changing demographics and economic outlook. Speakers will include Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and former Obama administration adviser Van Jones. Starting at 9 a.m. at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

GO FORTH, SAYS PELOSI: Students graduating from law school at UC Davis will be welcomed into the legal world today by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who will be speaking during a 4 p.m. campus ceremony.

COVERED CALIFORNIA We've brought you news of how the federal health care rollout is proceeding with community organizations across the state receiving outreach grants. Today, constituents who want to learn more about obtaining insurance can stop into a hearing co-hosted by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, and Peter Lee, head of the fledgling health insurance marketplace dubbed Covered California. Starting at 1:30 p.m. at the UC San Diego Hospital Auditorium.

PHOTO CREDIT: Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, in 2011. Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee.

The Assembly passed a bill Thursday designed to reduce the number of deportations and immigration holds for people arrested, charged or convicted of minor crimes.

Written by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, Assembly Bill 4 would prevent local police from detaining people based on immigration status when they are arrested unless they have prior serious or violent felony convictions.

The bill, which Ammiano and supporters have dubbed the "Trust Act," is an expanded version of legislation proposed last year that was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

As the measure moves to the Senate, Ammiano is expected to offer amendments to win Brown's support.

The bill is designed to dictate how police deal with requests for information under the federal Secure Communities Program. Under current state law, police have the discretion to send information to federal officials, who automatically check the immigration status of people using fingerprints obtained upon arrest.

Ammiano said the Secure Communities Program is supposed to target serious offenders, but that hasn't been the case.

Not a single member of the California Legislature earned an A from the tough graders at the University of California Student Association, who released their first-ever legislative scorecard at the regents meeting in Sacramento Wednesday.

Not Sen. Marty Block, a former professor who chairs the Senate Education Committee. Not even Sen. Leland Yee, who holds a doctorate in psychology and takes every possible opportunity to publicly bash university management.

"As students we get a lot of grades, and we're turning the table on legislators," said Justin Chung, a grad student at UC Irvine.

The legislative scorecard is a common lobbying tool for interest groups around the Capitol. They list the bills they care about and "grade" legislators on how they voted. For UC students, important bills from last session included Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's effort to create free digital textbooks, Assemblywoman Toni Atkins' stalled bill to put polling places on every college campus and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez's failed attempt to give scholarships to middle-class students by taxing out-of-state corporations.

Millions of Californians who contact the state's new health exchange to buy insurance will be given the opportunity to register to vote, too, a move that some Republicans fear could benefit Democrats.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen made California the first state to designate its health exchange as a voter registration agency Wednesday but others are expected to follow suit, said Shannan Velayas, Bowen's spokeswoman.

"This is about making sure that all eligible Californians are offered the chance to register to vote," Velayas said Thursday.

A 1993 federal law requires states to designate their agencies and offices that provide public assistance or disability services as voter registration agencies, Velayas said.

The federal law commonly is known as "motor voter" because it ensured that applicants for drivers' licenses nationwide would be asked if they wanted to register to vote.

Public agencies in California that currently serve as voter registration outlets include the Department of Motor Vehicles and offices overseeing the state's welfare, tax collection, and in-home supportive services.

California's health-care exchange, Covered California, is creating a marketplace for millions of uninsured Californians to compare prices and buy health insurance policies this fall to take effect Jan. 1.

Many of Covered California's clients are expected to be families of low and moderate incomes. Some will be eligible for taxpayer subsidized policies and others will have incomes low enough to qualify for Medi-Cal.

Gov. Jerry Brown's revised 2013-2014 budget blueprint may pass political muster, but Dan's not so sure it passes an accounting test.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Most of the delegations that visit Sacramento to meet with lawmakers have a few bills they're advocating for, or at least a vague agenda, but it's a little hard to press your cause if you lack opposable thumbs and the capacity for abstract reasoning. Yes, a team of "animal ambassadors" from SeaWorld will be dropping in on the State Capitol today to spread some furry cheer.

The current guest list includes two penguins, two lemurs, a kangaroo, a peregrine falcon and a boa. You can come say hello on the north steps from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Assuming they're not feeling too temperamental, the penguins and the lemurs will be venturing into the building, first to meet legislators in the Senate Lounge and then to drop in on the governor's office (hopefully they don't get spooked by the bronze bear).

VIDEO: The revised budget Gov. Jerry Brown released on Tuesday balances the state's finances only if you ignore a few big prevailing costs, Dan Walters says.

CARBON AND CLIMATE COSTS: We're now a few months into California's experiment with creating a carbon market as mandated by AB 32, and today a select committee on 32 implementation and climate change is parsing the results. Witnesses expected to testify include Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird, Mary Nichols of the California Air Resources Board, Alejandro Becerra of Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Dirk Forrister of the International Emissions Trading Association, Mark Fischer of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Linda Rudolph, director of public health for the city of Berkeley.

DELTA STEWARDS VOTE: Our watery week continues with a meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, an advisory agency that could vote on whether to lend its approval to the Delta conservation plan. The meeting runs all day and commences at 9 a.m., at 1250 Halyard Drive.

Meanwhile, the Department of Water Resources is holding the final of five public forums on its integrated regional water management plan. Instead of relying on a procession of speakers, the meetings are intended to be collaborative sessions where people stay for the duration. Today's workshop runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District building.

REGENTS REMAIN: Today is the second day of the University of California Regents' meeting at the Sacramento convention center. This morning features a couple of closed-door sessions on finance and compensation, followed by a public comment period before the meeting wraps up.

DRINKING AGE DEBATE: The University of California Center Sacramento is holding a talk today on public health lessons gleaned from Canada's lower drinking age. Carlos Dobkin of the University of California at Santa Cruz will be delivering "The Mechanisms of Alcohol Control" from noon to 1:30 p.m. at 1130 K Street.

WORKERS WITH BENEFITS: The California State Employees Association is holding a fair on the south steps this morning, where vendors from around California will offer information on various member benefits.

PHOTO CREDIT: Can you imagine these little guys giving a speech on the Senate floor? We can. Image courtesy of Mike Aguilera for SeaWorld.

Gov. Jerry Brown wants to get Californians through college faster, arguing that a speedier education will open up seats for others so more students can get a degree.

But so far he's finding it's a lot easier said than done.

A day after Brown released his revised state budget that dropped a proposal to cap the number of units students can take at the cheaper in-state tuition rate - which was supposed to create incentives for them to graduate on time - the governor said he's still trying to figure out how to make higher education speedier.

"We are searching for ways to, as they say in the business world, align the incentives," Brown said to the University of California's governing board of regents, who were meeting Wednesday at the Sacramento Convention Center.

"I don't like that phrase, but we are searching for ways to push people along."

Gov. Jerry Brown reiterated his resolve to remake how California finances public schools by giving districts with large numbers of poor and/or English-learner students more money when he presented a revised state budget this week.

"I think it's fair. I think it's just," Brown declared, adding, "I think it has great moral force."

Defending his plan, Brown stressed that overall, schools will see substantial increases in state aid and 80 percent of the money would still be distributed in "base grants" on a per-pupil basis, with the remaining 20 percent going to districts based on their numbers of poor and English-learner students, and just 4 percent going into "concentration grants to districts with especially large proportions.

But Brown's school plans are continuing to take heavy flak in the Legislature as education factions outside the Capitol ramp up pressure.

In a rare display of bipartisanship on major legislation, the U.S. Senate passed Sen. Barbara Boxer's water resources bill Wednesday.

The $12.5 billion bill, which includes a long-sought authorization for levee improvements in Sacramento, drew overwhelming support from Democrats and Republicans. The vote was 83-14.

"This type of a bill is not easy to get through. Every state has its own needs," Boxer said. "We were able to meet the needs of the entire country."

After the vote, Boxer praised the work of her staff, and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, her Republican partner on the Environment and Public Works Committee, which she chairs.

Vitter, who agrees with Boxer on little else, called her a "great partner."

"We can come together on the infrastructure side of our committee," he said.

By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

University of California police arrested 13 people this morning who staged a noisy but orderly protest during the governing board of regents' meeting at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Hospital workers who are part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union are locked in bitter contract negotiations with UC management. UC officials say that union members are unwilling to participate in the university's plan for reduced pension benefits for new employees. AFSCME representatives say the university's proposals compromise patient safety.

Workers interrupted the meeting with chants of protest and sat on the floor with locked arms. Police gave them several warnings before beginning the arrests. After about 20 minutes, police arrested 13 people, said UC spokesman Peter King. They will be processed and released, he said, unless any have outstanding warrants.

Gov. Jerry Brown was expected to attend the regents meeting but had not arrived at the time of the arrests.

PHOTO CREDIT: Police arrest protesters at UC regents meeting in Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

The annual rite of passing a few dozen empty budget "spot bills" to be filled in later has increasingly become the way things get done in Sacramento, Dan says.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Yesterday, Gov. Jerry Brown's budget and his proposal to overhaul K-12 funding dominated the conversation in Sacramento. Today, higher education gets its turn, with the University of California Board of Regents convening at the Sacramento Convention Center for a two-day meeting. UC President Mark G. Yudof and Regents Chair Sherry Lansing will deliver opening remarks.

In January, the ascendance of online education was the big story, especially given Brown's rare appearance at a Regents meeting to push for more online instruction. Today's meeting occurs against the backdrop of a potential strike by workers at UC medical centers, which the university hopes to block via the courts.

VIDEO: It's getting closer to budget time in Sacramento, which reminds Dan Walters of one of the most insidious trends in state politics.

STUDENTS DO THE GRADING: While the UC leadership discusses its agenda, UC students will publicly grade their elected representatives. The UC Student Association has scheduled a 12:30 p.m. press conference at the convention center to release a series of report cards gauging legislators' support for higher education.

LATINO LEADERSHIP: The Latino Community Foundation will hold a conference at the Sheraton Grand today, where the group will be welcomed by Aída Álvarez, former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the first Latina woman to hold a cabinet-level position, and Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles. An evening reception at the Mayahuel Tequila Museo, beginning at 4:30 p.m., is expected to feature speeches from Senators Mark Leno, Alex Padilla and Ben Hueso, along with Assembly members Shirley Weber, Mariko Yamada and Tom Ammiano.

SPECIAL DISTRICTS: The California Special Districts Association is in town for a two-day legislative conference. Today, attendees will hear keynote addresses from Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird, followed by roundtables hosted by organizations ranging from the California Public Employees' Retirement System to the California Association of Public Cemeteries.

OBAMACARE OVERTURE: Health care workers and advocates are mobilizing for a "Health Care Access 4 All" event today, where they will urge lawmakers to ensure the federal health care law goes into full effect. Speaking at the rally will be Senate Health Committee chair Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, and Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, doctors both. 11 a.m. on the east lawn.

OFF-RESERVATION GAMBLING: The Senate Committee on Governmental Organization is holding a hearing on a pair of compacts between California and two Native American tribes, the Wiyot and the North Fork Rancheria of Mono. The basic upshot is that the agreements, which the Assembly ratified a couple of weeks ago, would permit the North Fork tribe to build a casino far from its existing land. 1:30 p.m. in room 4203.

TOO FEW DROPS TO DRINK: Why has California been sitting on nearly half a billion dollars earmarked for improving water delivery systems? That's the topic of a Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing today, starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 3191.

SEA LEVELS KEEP ON RISIN': The Assembly Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy will hold a hearing today on, well, exactly what you just read. Expected to testify are Natural Resources Secretary John Laird and Cat Kuhlman of the California Ocean Protection Council. Starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 444.

BUDGET BACKLASH: Gov. Jerry Brown was pretty blunt yesterday about the prospects for boosting social service funding ("Anyone who thinks there's spare change around has not read the budget"), but today advocates from the Women's Foundation of California will rally for Brown to restore funding. They'll be on the north steps from 11:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: University of California President Mark G. Yudof addresses an assembly of high-achieving students. October 1, 2010 by Randy Pench/The Sacramento Bee.

Efforts to cut Lake Tahoe in half, or at least the governance of the basin surrounding California and Nevada's shared treasure, were put to rest Tuesday after an agreement was reached to continue the two-state partnership known as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Nevada passed a law in 2011 that had the Silver State withdrawing from the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact in 2015 following a longstanding dispute centered on how much development to allow and where. The two states have tussled over Nevada's calls for more development in order to boast the economy and California's efforts to preserve the natural environment.

California Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill earlier this year to create a contingency plan should Nevada officially end the 44-year marriage. The California bill will be amended to reflect today's agreement and Nevada will repeal their 2011 law.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and California Gov. Jerry Brown issued a joint statement calling off the divorce: "This agreement renews our commitment to work together to do what's best for the environment and economy of the Lake Tahoe region."

The newly reached compromise, which needs approval from Congress, requires each state to consider economic impacts when adopting regional plans for the area and establishes a burden of proof for challenging a regional plan.

Both states still reserve the right to withdraw from the planning agency.

PHOTO CREDIT: A kayaker paddles along the south shore of Lake Tahoe under the watchful eye of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in 2009. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

The UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities and the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency have a million reasons to celebrate today after the state agency overseeing a federal health-care overhaul announced 48 winners of education and outreach grants.

The two Sacramento-area groups were among 16 winners of million-dollar grants by Covered California, which is implementing federally mandated changes to health care by creating an exchange for buying health insurance. The agency cumulatively awarded 48 grants totaling $37 million.

"They're organizations that are connected with and trusted by the communities that we will serve," said Diana Dooley, the state's secretary of Health and Human Services and a member of the Covered California governing board. "They're engaged in social services, they're language assistance groups, they're food and nutrition groups - they're many kinds of groups at the local level."

The goal is to create a statewide community network to promote insurance coverage, answer questions and discuss options about the national health-care law, effective Jan. 1, that requires nearly every American to buy health insurance or pay a fine. Covered California's campaign will target 5.3 million uninsured Californians.

Thirty-seven grants target outreach to Latinos, while 32 focus on African American communities, 24 Caucasian, 20 Asian-Pacific Islander, and 11 Middle-Eastern, according to Covered California.

The largest single grant recipient was a nonprofit group at California State University Los Angeles, University Auxiliary Services, which is charged with reaching students and their families throughout the CSU system.

Other million-dollar grant recipients were the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, California Black Health Network, Community Health Councils, Infoline of San Diego County, John Wesley Community Health Institute, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Vision y Compromiso, Small Business Majority, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, the UC Regents, United Ways of California, and two units of Service Employees International Union.

Covered California's grants ranged from $250,000 to $1.25 million. Widely known groups chosen to receive grants included the Los Angeles Unified School District, $990,000; California Council of Churches, $750,000; Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte, $694,000; California NAACP, $600,000; and University of Southern California, $500,000.

The agency has reserved $6 million for additional outreach and education efforts next year.

See the full list on the jump.

Republicans in California have taken to aligning themselves more with the fiscally cautious budget priorities of Gov. Jerry Brown than with their Democratic colleagues in the Legislature, and party leaders had some tentative praise for the governor's revised 2013-2014 budget on Tuesday morning.

Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chair Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, said it was "appropriate for the governor to have conservative revenue projections" given that a surge of surplus revenue is "probably short-lived." But he criticized Brown for moving to scale back enterprise zones, saying the proposal would undercut businesses who had "relied on this program in good faith," and called on the governor to dedicate more reserves as a cushion against a future downturn.

"To truly preserve the legacy for any sort of austerity for the governor, he needs to identify a very hard and fast, solid rainy day fund into which revenues are placed when they come in over projections so we can use those to buffer the peaks and troughs or the fits and starts of California financing and budgeting we've had over the last twenty years," Gorell said.

The terrain for the 2013 version of California's annual budget trek got a little clearer on Tuesday morning, with Gov. Jerry Brown releasing an updated blueprint..

Brown continued to emphasize restraint with a windfall of new money, but he detailed some new investments in schools. The revised budget would direct another $240 million towards the governor's plan to revamp education funding and send more money to disadvantaged students.

It also sets aside $1 billion to implement the new Common Core educational standards that California teachers, like their counterparts in states across the country, are beginning to implement in their curricula.

"This is a prudent budget," Brown said. "It's one that responds to our educational and our health challenges, but it's one that unlike those of the past will be very prudent, because we're sailing into some rather uncertain times, as we always have."

You can watch a piece of Brown's press conference below:

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown talks about his revised budget proposal in the Capitol. Jeremy B. White/The Sacramento Bee.

California Gov. Jerry Brown detailed his revised budget proposal this morning. Read The Bee's coverage of the plan here, then see what legislators, advocates and others are saying about the proposal in this rapid response roundup.

This post is being updated throughout the morning as details emerge.

Despite income tax revenue running about $4.5 billion ahead of expectations through April, Gov. Jerry Brown included relatively low revenue figures in the revised budget he released this morning, likely dampening expectations for greater program spending.

The budget Brown proposed will assume revenue in the current fiscal year only $2.8 billion ahead of expectations, with revenue next fiscal year down $1.8 billion from Brown's January estimate.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's budget revision, speculation mounted that Brown could take advantage of $4.5 billion that rolled into state coffers unexpectedly this spring. But the governor took a more cautious approach, projecting that economic growth will be slower than previously thought because of federal spending cuts and a higher payroll tax on workers.

"Four percent growth has now become 2 percent," Brown said.

The governor also assumes that the spring revenue spike was partly due to wealthy taxpayers taking more income in 2012 in anticipation of federal tax changes. That means the state potentially would receive lower tax revenues in 2013-14 than Brown previously expected.

"We have climbed out of a hole with a Prop 30 tax," Brown said, referring to his initiative last year that hiked income taxes on the wealthy and sales taxes. "That's good. But this is not the time to break out the champagne."

The proposed budget includes a $1.1 billion reserve. It increases funding for Brown's effort to overhaul California's educational finance system by $240 million. In his education proposal, Brown also proposes $1 billion to implement English, math and other subject guidelines known as the Common Core Standards.

Brown continued to ask lawmakers to approve his new funding formula, which directs more money to K-12 districts with large numbers of impoverished students and English learners. He was skeptical of critics who consider his plan flawed because wealthier suburban districts stand to receive less money than they would otherwise.

"Ask somebody in Beverly Hills or Palo Alto or Piedmont, 'Would you like to move to Compton? Would you like to move to Watts?' And if they say, 'Yeah, let's do it because I want to get the extra money,' then I'll believe it," Brown said.

The governor has dropped his January proposal to cap the number of state-subsidized classes that public university students can take. He had pitched the idea as a way to make the University of California and California State University systems more efficient.

Brown proposed a statewide approach - not a county-by-county effort - to implement California's expansion of Medi-Cal under the federal health care overhaul.

The budget includes $500 million in additional Medi-Cal spending, and more funding for California's prison realignment, in which the state shifted responsibility for certain low-level offenders to counties.

Brown seemed resistant Tuesday to Democratic proposals to raise additional taxes. He also dismissed calls to increase spending beyond education, mocking the Capitol as "a big spending machine."

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown unveils the revision of his budget proposal. The Sacramento Bee/Melody Gutierrez

The daughter-in-law of former Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata died over the weekend.

Catherine Perata, who was married to the son of the Oakland Democrat, drowned in a pool at the family's Napa home Saturday morning. She was 38.

The Associated Press reports:

Napa Police Capt. Jeff Troendly says 38-year-old Catherine Perata was found unresponsive Saturday morning by her husband in their backyard pool. ...

Troendly says while foul play is not suspected, investigators are waiting for a toxicology report before concluding the death investigation.

Don Perata served more than a decade in the Legislature, including four years as pro tem, before leaving office due to term limits in 2008. He lost a 2010 bid to become mayor of Oakland.

Read more from the Associated Press at SacBee.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: Don Perata, shown in 2008. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

Gov. Jerry Brown today will propose spending $1 billion to implement English, math and other educational standards in California's public schools, part of a revised budget plan he is scheduled to release this morning, a source said.

The revised budget proposal comes with state income tax revenue running about $4.5 billion ahead of expectations through April. Nearly all of the additional revenue could be required to go to schools and community colleges under Proposition 98, California's school-funding guarantee.

Brown is seeking a major overhaul of education funding, seeking to give local school districts greater flexibility in how they spend state money while directing more money to school districts with high proportions of poor students and English learners.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and other Democratic lawmakers have argued more money should be allocated to all districts on a per-pupil basis.

The $1 billion Brown will propose will be to implement the so-called Common Core State Standards adopted by California and more than 40 other states since 2010.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown speaks at a news conference at the Capitol on Jan. 10, 2013. Randall Benton / Sacramento Bee

Gov. Jerry Brown called Monday for a "smooth and rapid" path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, telling U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in a letter that he is working to find state money that may be used to implement potential changes to the nation's immigration system, including employment requirements and assistance learning English.

"In order to avoid dire consequences for our state, comprehensive immigration reform must occur this year and the resulting path to citizenship must be smooth and rapid," Brown said in a letter to Feinstein ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on a bipartisan immigration bill.

The Democratic governor said California and the nation "are choosing to accept the undocumented workers who have entered our country illegally because neither industry nor the workers themselves were ever given any viable option to fill our labor demands legally."

Brown said those workers should be afforded an expeditious path to citizenship, not "held in a state of purgatory for ten years."

The Legislature continues to content itself with tinkering around the edges of tax policy rather than tackle a broad overhaul, something Dan says could come back to haunt California.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

At last, the fiscal moment we've all been waiting for. We'll get a better sense of where things stand on Gov. Jerry Brown's 2013-2014 budget after he releases the updated version during a 10 a.m. conference at the state Capitol.

The governor has been telegraphing restraint in the face of projections of a multi-billion dollar surplus, so it should be interesting to see how signs that California is back on fiscal terra firma manifest themselves in his new budget plan. Look for a heavy emphasis on Brown's much-discussed plan to overhaul education spending, which should also come into clearer focus with today's release.

VIDEO: Rather than do some serious work to clean up the tangled thicket of California's tax code, lawmakers are just trimming the edges, and Dan Walters says they will come to regret it.

BAY BRIDGE BACKLASH: The governor's take notwithstanding, lawmakers are sufficiently concerned about the structural issues and delays plaguing the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to have called a hearing. The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee will be hearing more from state auditor Elaine Howle about a recent report faulting the California Department of Transportation for testing lapses, and several different officials from Caltrans, including director Malcolm Dougherty, will also be testifying. Starting at 1:30 p.m. in room 4203.

SPECIAL ELECTION: It may get largely drowned out by the budget brouhaha, but today also features a special election to find a successor for former state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod's now-vacant seat in the 32nd district. A March primary winnowed the race to today's contest between Ontario mayor Paul Leon, a Republican, and Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona.

SEEKING SERVICES: A new budget release means a new opportunity for advocates to press their case, and today the Health and Human Services Network of California will be rallying across the state for restored social services funding. The Sacramento installment will feature a press conference in room 4202 after the governor has finished speaking.

NURSING NUMBERS: Speaking of health care-related demonstrations, the California Nurses Association is holding a 12:30 p.m. press conference on the south steps to discuss data on the gap between the costs hospitals incur and the fees they charge. CNA representatives will be joined by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, both of whom are authoring bills that the nurses are promoting: Wieckowski's would tighten the conditions hospitals would need to satisfy to claim nonprofit status and the associated tax benefits, while Yee's would have hospitals adopt violence protection plans.

COVERED COMMUNITIES: Covered California, the health insurance marketplace California has been busy setting up per the new federal health care law, is announcing 48 community partners who will help with the monumental task of getting Californians to participate. Board member Robert Ross and Executive Director Peter Lee are making the announcement today in Los Angeles.

WOMEN'S WORKPLACE WOES: Members of the Women's Caucus will be discussing workplace injuries common among women at a breakfast put on by the California Applicants' Attorneys Association. Sen. Hannah Beth-Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will be speaking, and Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, and Assembly members Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, and Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, are expected to attend. Starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Eureka room.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, who is 51 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown explains his initial 2013-2014 budget proposal during a press conference at the California Capitol in Sacramento. Thursday, January 10, 2013. Randall Benton/The Sacramento Bee.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez said he feels it's important that he not ignore a common question included on biographies for state legislators that asks about marital status. In new handbook directories for the California State Assembly, Pérez said he answered the question so that it reflects the unequal marriage rights afforded to gay and lesbian people.

Under marital status, Pérez wrote "constitutionally prohibited."

"If it is important enough to have driven a ballot measure, it's important enough to be reflected in the record of who serves in this house," said Pérez, the Assembly's first openly gay speaker.

Two Assembly members, Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Richard Gordon, D-Menlo Park, included their same-sex spouses in their biographies. Both were married in California in 2008, before passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriages.

Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, included her partner's name.

"The reality is that I, as well as a handful of other people in this body and a lot of other people in this state, are denied the constitution rights afforded to the vast majority of people," Pérez said.

The U.S,.Supreme Court took up a case challenging Proposition 8 and could make a ruling next month. In February, Pérez joined 22 legal scholars from across the nation to file an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, D-Los Angeles speaks at the Sacramento Press Club on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 in Sacramento. Hector Amezcua / The Sacramento Bee

A controversial bill that would indirectly increase local taxes on commercial property was stalled - perhaps permanently - Monday in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 188, by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, had support from labor unions and liberal groups, which said it would close a loophole that has deprived schools and local governments of much-needed revenue, but was opposed by business and the California Chamber of Commerce labeled it as a "job killer."

Revenue and Taxation Committee chairman Raul Bocanegra announced that the bill would be "on hold" as he went through a list of significant tax bills and declared which would be allowed to proceed to floor votes this year.

AB 188 would need a two-thirds legislative vote and Gov. Jerry Brown's signature to be enacted because it is a tax increase, and has been considered a test of the Democrats' newly minted supermajorities in both legislative houses that would, on paper, allow them to generate two-thirds votes without Republicans.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg weighed in on the latest developments in the ongoing fight over the Sacramento Kings Monday, saying the hiked bid offered by a group of investors who want to bring the team to Seattle "looks desperate."

Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen.and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have increased the price they've agreed to pay the Maloof family for a stake in the team to $406 million since a National Basketball Association committee recommended against approving a move. The NBA Board of Governors meets later this week to consider the team's future.

RELATED:

Crucial week ahead for Sacramento group's offer to buy Kings

California is the nation's most populous state but ranks fourth in the number of boats plying oceanic and inland waterways.

Conversely, the state is second behind only Florida when it comes to the number of boating accidents and boating fatalities, according to a new data report from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Florida has the nation's highest number of boats, almost a million, followed closely by Minnesota, Michigan and California. Florida was also No. 1 in boating accidents in 2012 with 662, according to the Coast Guard, in fatalities with 50 and in injuries with 398.

However, California was second in accidents (365), in fatalities (49) and in injuries (249). The state has been trending downward in boating accidents, the report's five-year spreadsheet also showed, but the number of fatalities has remained fairly constant, ranging from a low of 45 in 2008 to 52 in 2011.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Peters & May hydroplane race boat driven by JW Myers at Granite State Beach in Folsom on Thursday, September 8, 2011. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton