Capitol Alert

With $7.4 billion worth of budget slicing behind them, Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic leaders will try again today to secure the Assembly vote for redevelopment cuts that eluded them Wednesday.

Here was Brown's take on the day's work:

"Lot of good work on the side of the Senate Republicans. Great work by the Democrats in the Assembly. But for the Republicans, for some reason, known only to them, they don't want to balance the budget with cuts. And they don't appear to want to balance it with new revenues. So they must want a profound, continuing unbalanced budget. And that's unacceptable. And a very profound disservice to California."

He said he'll continue to take the process "day by day."

"Look, we've done a lot," he said. "Two months ago, we would have never thought we would have these cuts. So this place is never perfect. We've done some work. We have a lot more to go."

Is the state Republican Party its own worst enemy?

That's the subject for what promises to be a heated public debate today between two conservatives on the eve of the state party's spring convention.

In one corner is KTKZ 1380 AM radio host Eric Hogue, who believes Republican opposition to holding a tax vote is doing the party no good.

In the other is FlashReport.org founder and publisher Jon Fleischman, who believes that very opposition will help the party resurge next year.

The Sacramento Press Club is hosting the event at the Grand Plaza Halls at 1025 Ninth St. in Sacramento. Registration starts at 11:30 a.m., and lunch starts at noon. Cost: $25 for members; $30 for nonmembers. Click here for more information.

Also at noon, you can join Jon Ortiz of The Bee's State Worker blog for an hourlong live chat, "What's next for California's state employees?"

From California to Wisconsin and beyond, state workers have been in the headlines over pay, pensions and collective bargaining rights. Join the discussion at www.sacbee.com/live and share your opinions on what lies ahead.

You can get a head start on the latest pension-related news with Ortiz's report in today's Bee on the new Field Poll, which shows that Californians overwhelmingly support capping public pensions, increasing government employees' contribution toward their benefits and hiking their retirement age.

Read the poll and the tabulations, exclusive to Capitol Alert, at this link.

Bee columnist Dan Walters, meanwhile, talks about Gov. Jerry Brown's first 100 days (this time around) at a luncheon sponsored by the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Since Walters was around for Brown's original first 100 days, no doubt he's got something to say. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. at Chops restaurant, 11th and L streets. Click here for more information.