Capitol Alert

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pledged today to put forward for the 2014 election a package of major changes to California's initiative process, including a provision to make it easier for legislators to place tax measures on the ballot.

The Sacramento Democrat, speaking at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon, outlined a trio of initiative reforms he said "will both strengthen California's tradition of direct democracy and empower the people elected by their communities...to make clear choices."

He said he plans to put the proposals on the 2014 ballot either through a vote of the Legislature, a task he said could be easier if Democrats secure a supermajority in the upper house this November, or by gathering the necessary voter signatures through the initiative process.

The California Lottery is taking down a new television ad that the California Legislative Women's Caucus said inappropriately "glamorizes violence."

The ad, which has been airing for about two weeks, had come under fire for a scene in which a woman acting as "Lady Luck" slaps a man playing a new scratch lotto game.

The Lottery decided today to replace that commercial with a version where the woman instead blows a kiss to the man at the end, said Russ Lopez, the Lottery's deputy director of corporate communications.

"That was not and would never be our intention to glamorize violence," he said.

Lopez said officials had always intended to run two versions of the commercial, which promotes the new Black Scratchers game. He said officials began discussion switching the ads earlier this week after hearing concerns from "a few" customers.

"We're not in the business of controversy," he said. "We're in the business of growing the lottery for the benefit of public education."

Lopez said the ad had received hundreds of "Likes" on Facebook and other positive feedback and just a dozen or so complaints. He also said participants in focus groups run before the ad went on the air did not raise concerns about the slap.

"Nobody had an issue with it," he said. "(They) saw a metaphor for being struck by Lady Luck."

The new version of the ad will continue to air in broadcast markets statewide. The cost of producing the spot and buying airtime was not immediately available.

Photo Caption: California State Lottery lady luck comercial.

RELATED POST:
Legislative Women's Caucus condemns California Lottery ad

UPDATE: 4:20 p.m. The California Lottery Commission is taking down the ad. Read more at this link.

Leaders of the Legislative Women's Caucus are demanding that the California Lottery Commission take a new television ad off the air, saying a scene in which a woman slaps a man who scores a win on a scratch ticket "glamorizes violence."

"We certainly believe this commercial not only portrays women in a poor light -- by perpetrating violence -- but also endorses the act of violence itself," Sen. Noreen Evans and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, who co-chair the caucus, wrote in a letter Wednesday to Lottery Director Robert O'Neil.

The letter, posted after the jump, asks the Lottery Commission to pull the ad and "scrutinize the content of future ads which may contain harmful messages that are paid for with public dollars."

"It is inappropriate for any entity, especially a state-funded Commission, to promote its products through the use of violence," the letter reads.

The "Luck has a new look" spot, posted below, shows a woman in black, assumed to be "Lady Luck," walking up to a man playing a California Lottery Black Scratchers ticket at a bowling alley. After she slaps him across the face, he looks at his scratch card and says, "I won!"

A spokesperson for the Lottery Commission was not immediately available for comment. The commission website lists several Lady Luck-themed promoted for the Black Scratchers game running through the month of April.

California would push political bloggers to disclose payments they receive from campaigns under a proposal that the state Fair Political Practices Commission will consider in coming months.

In closing remarks Thursday at a Sacramento symposium on a wide range of political and campaign issues, FPPC Chairwoman Ann Ravel announced plans to seek a vote by her commission on blogger disclosure.

Details of the proposal have not yet been worked out, such as what level of payments would trigger disclosure to readers on websites where bloggers post their political or campaign-related opinions

Ravel said she initially plans to ask the FPPC to pass an advisory measure, meaning that disclosure by bloggers would be suggested but not required for the November election. Her goal for future elections is mandatory disclosure, she said.

Under current state law, campaigns are required to report any payments they make to bloggers, but the latter need not report.

FPPC officials said they believe that passage of a mandate would make California the first state to require blogger disclosure of political payments.

The Senate moved forward today with plans to direct mortgage reform proposals sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris to a joint legislative conference committee, passing placeholder legislation over objections from Republican lawmakers who said the upper house was manipulating the legislative process.

The move would allow a six-member committee to hammer out the details of the proposals to apply terms of the major foreclosure settlement reached between 49 states and five major banks to apply to all California lenders outside the normal committee process.

The package of bills on the topic sponsored by Harris, which includes proposals addressing problems stemming from "dual tracking" and "robo signings," was pulled from committee agendas in the Senate and the Assembly this week.

Jeff Randle sure can pick a toughie. With the Republican presidential primary race all but locked up for Mitt Romney, it was announced today that the Sacramento-based GOP strategist will be a senior adviser to Romney's California campaign.

"Jeff Randle is one of California's most respected and accomplished political leaders, and his expertise is critical as we work to highlight Mitt Romney's vision for the Golden State," Romney political director Rich Beeson said in a prepared statement.

The California primary is less than seven weeks away. Romney led the field of Republicans here even when the race was competitive.

The general election is another story. California is so heavily Democratic that no Republican candidate is expected to campaign seriously here against President Barack Obama.

"I am honored to be part of what is an incredibly organized, focused and determined campaign team," Randle, who previously volunteered for Romney, said in the statement. "The team reflects Mitt Romney's leadership and mirrors his focus on building a winning organization that is primed to win the general election."

Doug Elmets, a Sacramento public affairs consultant who worked in Ronald Reagan's White House, thinks it's about time to erect a statue of his old boss at the state Capitol - and more than a few lawmakers agree.

Assembly Bill 2358, coauthored by just about every Republican in the Assembly, would authorize a statue of the late president and California governor on the Capitol grounds. Its construction and maintenance would be paid for by private donations.

"The reality is this," said Elmets, who plans to raise money for the effort. "He is one of the only presidents who has also served as governor of a state that does not have a statue at the state Capitol."

The bill is scheduled to be heard in committee next week.

Elmets said supporters of the project haven't decided where to put the statue, or who will make it. He estimated the cost at anywhere from $80,000 to $200,000.

The Legislature has some history with Reagan memorials. Two years after Reagan's death, lawmakers elected in 2006 to put a bronze statue of him in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall.

The statue displaced one of Thomas Starr King, the abolitionist who died in 1864. King's statue was moved to the state Capitol and dedicated there in 2009.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Thomas Starr King.

Republican Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, who is spearheading an initiative drive for a part-time Legislature, accused Democrats of hijacking one of her "good government" bills at a committee hearing Wednesday.

Grove said the intent of her Assembly Bill 1948 was to require the Legislature to live under labor rules it imposes on private industry. She characterized Democrats who oppose that notion as cowards, saying the incident shows why a part-time Legislature is needed.

"It's just another key to me, and it should be to the citizens of California, that we all need to be part time," the Bakersfield Republican said.

The Democrat who heads the Labor and Employment Committee, Sandré Swanson of Alameda, disagreed with both Grove's characterization of what happened and her contention that it backed up her push to make the Legislature part-time.

A Senate committee gave the green light today to legislation that would block public and private universities and employers from seeking access to applicants' social media accounts.

Senate Bill 1349, by Democratic Sen. Leland Yee, bans employers and educational institutions from asking prospective or current employees and students to hand over their user names and passwords or provide access to the account.

The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee 7-0. It now heads for consideration in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee.

Yee announced plans to pursue the legislation after an Associated Press report cited examples of such practices happening in other states, though the San Francisco Democrat said the issue had come up before in conversations with Silicon Valley interests. While California's public universities and colleges say they do not currently request such information, a legislative committee analysis says some private institutions have sought access to student athletes' accounts.

"While social media have provided a useful avenue for socialization and expression, the author contends that it has also put employees, job applicants, and students at risk of having their privacy blatantly violated by employers and schools," the committee analysis reads.

Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, introduced a similar proposal earlier this year. That bill, A.B. 1844, is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee next week.

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Bill would stop requests for job seekers' social media logins

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt, 17, and Bob Florian showcasing a Facebook page. Washington Post photo by Susan Biddle.

VIDEO: Dan Walters discusses the political and legal problems facing high-speed rail.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Read Dan Walters' columns here.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, looks at whether the California Legislature is likely to OK bond money to start construction on the state's high-speed rail project.

It's the day before "420," and a coalition rallying at the Capitol is urging Californians not to go to pot.

Members of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, which has proclaimed today to be "National No Pot Day," will be distributing its parents' pledge to educate their kids about marijuana. The event starts at 10 a.m. on the Capitol's north steps.

The number "420," of course, is a nickname for pot and also refers to April 20, the Fourth of July of weed. "This most unusual of holidays pays tribute to the legend of a group of 1970s high school students in San Rafael, who gathered at 4:20 p.m. every day to smoke marijuana," The Bee's Peter Hecht reported two years ago.

Over on the west steps, also at 10 a.m., the Keep California Beautiful campaign is launching its sixth annual beautification day. The event, which coincides with this week's Earth Day celebration, includes an e-waste collection from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Jesse Unruh State Office Building, 915 Capitol Mall. Learn more at this link.

Meanwhile, the Senate and the Assembly both have sessions this morning at 9 a.m., followed by five budget-related hearings in the upper house, related to issues ranging from realignment of child welfare service and adoptions to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and from trial court funding to Caltrans. All of the hearings start at 9:30 p.m. or after session adjourns. Click here to read the Senate committee schedule.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: The California High-Speed Rail Authority is discussing environmental reports for its planned route from Bay Area to the Central Valley. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. at Sacramento City Hall. Click here for the agenda.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE: The University of Southern California and the Fair Political Practices Commission are hosting a symposium on campaign finance and disclosure in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial decision in the Citizens United case. Listed speakers include former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and legal and government experts, plus Bee columnist Dan Morain and FPPC Chairwoman Ann Ravel. The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and will be streamed live at both the FPPC website and the California Channel website. For more information, click here.

BUDGET TALK: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is making his fourth appearance as Senate leader before the Sacramento Press Club, this time discussing the state budget and other issues. Click here to learn more. (The RSVP deadline has already passed.)

LTGOV: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking a noontime tour of NASA's new Sustainability Base, which a news release describes as "a highly intelligent and intuitive facility designed to anticipate and react to changes in sunlight, temperature, wind and occupancy." The building, which is at Moffett Field, is being considered for the highest LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

AWARD: Veteran California pollster Mervin Field -- founder of the Field Poll and Field Research Corp. -- has another honor to put on his resume. The Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley has presented him with an award named for long-time IGS supporters Darius and Sarah Anderson that honors Field for decades of work. As former Bee reporter Jon Matthews wrote back in 1996, Field and his organizations have measured voter sentiment "from Truman vs. Dewey in 1948 to Clinton vs. Dole in 1996, from Proposition 13 to Proposition 209" and beyond.

If you want even more information about California from the 2010 census than was released last year, the Census Bureau is providing it.

Beginning today, the bureau is releasing information about as many as 331 racial and ethnic groups down to the census tract level for California and four other states.

The new data dump will cover such topics as age, family relationships and home ownership not only by racial or ethnic group but by counties, communities, ZIP codes and congressional districts, as well as census tracts.