Capitol Alert

Gov. Jerry Brown today revisits the subject of realignment, the state-to-local shift of responsibilities for public safety and other programs.

He'll join local government leaders and others to talk about the change, which starts Saturday. The news conference begins at 11 a.m. at the Capitol's Room 1190 and will be webcast on the governor's website.

Death penalty opponents want to get a ballot measure before California voters next fall to abolish capital punishment, but a new Field Poll indicates the initiative would be a tough sell, as The Bee's Sam Stanton reports in today's Bee.

Click here to read the publicly released poll, and click here to read the tabulations produced exclusively for Capitol Alert.

California's state budget will get scrutiny today from an Assembly Budget subcommittee, which will examine how California's health and human services programs could be affected by Washington's own budget battles.

Back in August, when Congress finally raised the federal debt ceiling, the budget bill that President Barack Obama signed also created a complex process intended to cut the federal deficit.

Think Super Committee. The Super Committee's deadline is Dec. 23, and if it's deadlocked on what cuts to make, automatic cuts would kick in instead.

The Assembly subcommittee, headed by Democratic Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles, will hear from Edwin Park of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Frank Mecca of the California Welfare Directors Association, Jean Ross of the California Budget Project, Anthony Wright of Health Access California and others. The hearing starts at 2 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 4202.

Click here to read a background paper on the federal budget act, and click here to see a flow chart of how the deficit reduction process will work. The Legislative Analyst's Office has also prepared an overview of federal funding in the state, which you can read here.

EDUCATION: Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, is joining the list of lawmakers lobbying Gov. Jerry Brown to sign their bills before the governor's Oct. 9 deadline. Eng heads to Rosemead's Garvey Intermediate School in Los Angeles County to tout his Assembly Bill 1156, which would broaden the definition of bullying in school, require prevention training and make it easier for kids who've been bullied to transfer to another school. Also expected to attend: Kathy Moffat of the California State PTA, which sponsored the measure. The news conference starts at 11 a.m.

HOUSING MARKET: Attorney General Kamala Harris joins Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, in San Francisco to talk about California's mortgage meltdown. The event runs from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the PPIC Bechtel Conference Center, 500 Washington St. Click here for more information.