Gov. Jerry Brown didn't attend last year's National Governors Association meeting, but it looks like he's making up for it, packing a lot of face time into his five-day visit to Washington, D.C., much of it closed to the press.
Thursday, Brown met with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Today's agenda includes a morning meeting with President Barack Obama, other Democratic governors and senior federal officials. Then there's lunch with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui, an afternoon meeting with State Department officials, and a Democratic Governors Association dinner -- closed to reporters -- at the Newseum's Great Hall of News.
Saturday, it's the association's opening session. Early Sunday morning, it's the Western Governors Association meeting. Then he's appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he's scheduled to share the lineup with Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. (You can watch it live Sunday starting at 6 a.m. Pacific Time on Sacramento's KCRA-TV Channel 3. If you're elsewhere, click here to find airtimes in your area.)
After that, there's a meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius plus the governors' White House dinner. Monday, the association holds its closing session before meeting with Obama. Brown will meet later with the California congressional delegation.
The governor, who hit the East Coast ATM on Thursday night for his tax ballot measure, will surely be interested in the latest Field Poll gauging support for his proposal and its rivals. His measure polled in the middle, with California voters giving the California Federation of Teachers' initiative the most backing. Molly Munger's proposal came in third.
Kevin Yamamura has more in today's Bee. If you want even more numbers, click here for the statistical tabulations compiled especially for Capitol Alert. You'll find the publicly released poll at this link.
The California Republican Party, meanwhile, kicks off its three-day convention in Burlingame today, with town halls and workshops scheduled Saturday. Check out our earlier post about the lineup, and find the agenda at this link. Don't forget to come back to Capitol Alert for coverage over the weekend, including GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's speech at the Saturday luncheon, as well as that of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who'll be addressing the Saturday dinner crowd.
So, what's the state of the state Republican Party? Who are the up-and comers? "This is the barest the cupboard's ever been," GOP strategist Rob Stutzman told The Bee's David Siders. Read more in today's Bee.
In other news, today's the day that proponents of a Republican-backed ballot measure to overturn the new Senate maps will find out whether the proposal has qualified for November. And today's also the last day for California legislators to introduce bills. AroundTheCapitol.com has been keeping track of the every-growing list. Check it out at this link. It'll save a few trees.
LTGOV: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom talks to members of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce about the state of the state. The event starts at noon.
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