Capitol Alert

The House Republicans' most dogged investigator of Obama administration doings, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Temecula, now faces his own ethics complaint.

On Wednesday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed complaints against Issa with the Justice Department and the Office of Congressional Ethics. Both complaints revolve around allegations that Issa violated federal law by including material from a sealed wiretap application in the Congressional Record.

Issa chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and led the charge to secure a House vote holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. As part of the June 28 debate over the contempt charge, Issa placed in the Congressional Record information from a 2010 wiretap application that included specific details "concerning operational tactics and individual targets" of the law enforcement operation called Fast and Furious, according to the complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

For the average Joe, revealing wiretap information is typically against the law. By placing the document in the Congressional Record, though, Issa can claim protection under the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause, which shields congressional speech from prosecution. The CREW complaint asserts that Issa should nonetheless be disciplined for his actions.

"It is shameful that an organization purporting to support good and transparent government is instead making itself complicit in an effort to cover-up a reckless government effort that contributed to the death of a Border Patrol agent," Issa's spokesman Frederick Hill told Roll Call newspaper.

PHOTO CREDIT: Darrell Issa, 2010. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

California State University trustees will vote next week on compensation packages for seven campus presidents, including three who would make more than their predecessors because they're slated to receive salary supplements from campus foundations.

The pay packages meet the terms of CSU's new executive compensation policy, but have angered the faculty union, which is planning to protest at Tuesday's meeting. The policy was established after public outcry last year when CSU hired a new president for San Diego State and paid him $100,000 more than his predecessor. It calls for paying new presidents a base salary no more than that of the person they are replacing, and allows for a supplement of up to 10 percent paid from campus foundations.

The board is voting on compensation for these campus presidents whose base salaries would be the same as their predecessors but who would receive additional boosts from foundations:

• Dianne F. Harrison, president of CSU Northridge: Annual salary of $295,000 and annual foundation supplement of $29,500.
• Tomás D. Morales, president of CSU San Bernardino; Annual salary of $290,000 and annual foundation supplement of $29,000.
• Leslie E. Wong, president of San Francisco State University: Annual salary of $298,749 and annual foundation supplement of $26,251.

A fourth new president -- Admiral Thomas A. Cropper of the California Maritime Academy -- would receive a salary of $250,000 and no supplement. That salary is $8,600 less than his predecessor's, said CSU spokeswoman Claudia Keith.

The board is also voting on compensation for the following interim presidents, who are in line to receive the same pay as the presidents they are replacing:

• Willie J. Hagan, interim president of CSU Dominguez Hills, $295,000
• Joseph F. Sheley, interim president of CSU Stanislaus, $270,000
• Eduardo M. Ochoa, interim president of CSU Monterey Bay, $270,315

The California Faculty Association, which represents CSU professors and is in contentious negotiations with the university for a new contract, criticized the salary proposals.

"This latest round of pay hikes will come despite months of public outcry from students, faculty and lawmakers about the merits of such pay increase at a time when student fees have skyrocketed, faculty and staff are being laid off and state funding for the CSU has been slashed by nearly a billion dollars," said a statement from the union.

Read the details of the compensation proposals here.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed into law legislation aimed at increasing protections for California homeowners facing the possibility of foreclosure.

The legislation seeks to curb "dual tracking" by prohibiting lenders from starting the foreclosure process while a loan modification is being negotiated, expands notice requirements as part of the foreclosure process and requires large institutions to give borrowers a single point of contact for dealing with their loan issues. It also gives borrowers opportunities to go to court if they are wrongly foreclosed upon and the bank does not correct its mistakes.

"Californians should not have to suffer the abusive tactics of those who would push foreclosure behind the back of an unsuspecting homeowner," Brown said in a statement. "These new rules make the foreclosure process more transparent so that loan servicers cannot promise one thing while doing the exact opposite."

The law stems from a legislative package that Attorney General Kamala Harris pushed for in the wake of a national mortgage settlement reached with 49 states and major lenders. Harris, who appeared with Brown at the bill-signing ceremony, said in a statement that the legislation will "give struggling homeowners a fighting shot to keep their home."

Brown signed two identical bills containing the language, Assembly Bill 278 and Senate Bill 900, which were drafted by a two-house conference committee controlled by legislative Democrats. The Legislature approved the legislation last week.

The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, makes California the first state to put into law and expand to other borrowers major provisions contained in the national mortgage settlement. California was awarded $18 billion as part of that agreement.

RELATED POSTS:
California lawmakers approve homeowner-rights mortgage legislation
Stalled mortgage bills headed for joint conference committee
Senate GOP cries foul over procedural move on mortgage bills
Barack Obama pushes mortgage relief in Reno

Editor's note: This post was updated at 5:22 p.m. with a statement from Harris.

Changes are coming to a state board that pays members $128,000 per year and has been a haven in years past for termed-out legislators appointed by the governor or legislative leaders.

Gov. Jerry Brown's signing of budget-related legislation last month included a provision that will trim the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board from seven members to five, eliminating two governor-appointed positions that currently are vacant.

Members now include former Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, and former Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Modesto. Former San Diego Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia's seat expired two weeks ago.

Other former lawmakers who served on the board recently include George Plescia, R-La Jolla; Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta; and Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego.

The legislation signed recently by Brown, Senate Bill 1038, also will require that members of the board be attorneys with at least five years practicing law or one year conducting judicial proceedings.

Two of the four current members - Kathleen Howard and Ashburn - are not attorneys, according to Alberto Roldan, executive director. Garcia also was not a lawyer.

Dan Walters says the role of California community colleges is about to change.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: In today's report, Dan Walters offers a history lesson on California community colleges and lays out how their role is about to change.

Gov. Jerry Brown heads to Los Angeles to sign the homeowner-rights mortgage legislation that lawmakers approved last week before going on summer recess.

Attorney General Kamala Harris, who pushed for the bill as part of foreclosure relief legislation, will join Brown at the signing ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan State Building, 300 S. Spring St. A news conference follows at 2 p.m. -- in San Francisco, at the State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave.

Speaking of foreclosures, this Bee interactive graphic shows how foreclosures gutted three Sacramento-area communities -- Elk Grove, North Natomas and Lincoln -- from 2006 to the present.

California voters, meanwhile, are still feeling gloomy about the economy, according to the latest Field Poll. Those supporting Democratic President Barack Obama are more sunny about the future than those supporting Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Even so, most Californians don't buy into "the official numbers about how the economy is performing," poll director Mark DiCamillo told reporter Dale Kasler. Find more in today's Bee. You can also read the publicly released poll at this link. Want even more numbers? Click here for the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert.

PROTEST: Health Access and other backers of the federal health care law are rallying at Sacramento County Republican Party headquarters, 9851 Horn Road, at 1 p.m. to urge Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and his House colleagues to stop trying to repeal the law.

PRESS CLUB: The executive director of California's health benefit exchange, Peter Lee, is talking at the Sacramento Press Club luncheon about the state's implementation of the federal health care law, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld it. The RSVP deadline has passed, but you can click here to learn more.