Capitol Alert

Lemurs and owls and penguins, oh my.

SeaWorld San Diego is bringing critters to the Capitol to highlight conservation and animal care. Look for the animals and their people on the north steps from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

What critters will make the trip? The news release mentions lemurs, kangaroos, penguins, owls, porcupines and a type of lizard called a water monitor, but says that the animals that show up could be subject to change.

A publicist told Bee colleague Niesha Lofing, however, that the menagerie will include Pete and Penny Penguin, who are the warm weather Magellanic kind that hang out in coastal South America.

After the public event, the SeaWorld team will bring the animals inside to the Senate Lounge to greet legislators and staff members for an hour, followed by an hour in the governor's office.

Hm. Will Gov. Jerry Brown's canine pal Sutter be greeting the guests?

Under the dome, it's a red letter day. That's because it's the first time since late 2008 that neither legislative house has a vacant seat.

As Sen. Ted Gaines tweeted yesterday: "Looking forward to tomorrow morning, when @BethGainesAD4 will be sworn into the State Assembly!"

Beth Gaines won a runoff last week to replace her husband in the 4th Assembly District seat. The Roseville Republican's swearing-in will make it official during the lower house's floor session, which starts at 9 a.m.

The Senate has also set a floor session for 9 a.m., after which its Budget Committee is set to take up Senate Bill 14, which would require the Department of Finance to put together the governor's budget plan using performance-based budgeting practices.

Also on the Senate Budget Committee's agenda: Senate Bill 15, which would direct Finance to prepare annual budgets for two fiscal years, not one, and to plot out revenue and spending projections for the three years that follow.

A committee analysis warns: "Five months matters in the accuracy of forecasts, and rarely do we know in January how much money we will have in May. The longer the horizon for projections, the less likely those projections will be accurate and thus useful."

Click here for the Senate's schedule, and click here for the Assembly's.

TOBACCO: University of California-affiliated researchers will talk about the impact of California's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program. The panel runs from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 113. For more information on the program, click here.

INFORMATION: The California State Employees Association holds a benefits fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

HEROES: California Highway Patrol's assistant commissioner Warren Stanley joins Pete Dunbar of the California Police Chiefs Association and others to honor 9-1-1 heroes. The ceremony starts at 10:30 a.m. on the Capitol's south steps. Bee colleague Cathy Locke has more here.

BUDGET: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, heads to Silicon Valley with Democratic Assembly members Jim Beall of San Jose, Nora Campos of San Jose, Paul Fong of Cupertino, Rich Gordon of Menlo Park and Jerry Hill of San Mateo for a jobs budget summit. The meeting starts at 2 p.m. at Silver Spring Networks Atrium, 585 Broadway St., Redwood City. A live webcast will be available here.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, turns 65 today.

PHOTO CAPTION: A rescued Magellanic penguin shakes water off at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif. Thursday, April 7, 2011. Five Magellanic penguins arrived at the aquarium Thursday after they were rescued after being found stranded off a beach in Brazil. (AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong)