Capitol Alert

California's election turnout last month set a record low for a presidential primary in the state, with more than two of every three registered voters opting not to cast ballots.

Turnout statewide was 31.1 percent, shattering the previous record low of 41.9 percent for a presidential primary, recorded in 1996, according to state statistics tracking balloting since 1914.

The Secretary of State's office also reported that 65 percent of votes were cast by mail, surpassing the previous record of 62 percent in the 2009 special election.

The dismal turnout was expected because there were few fireworks on the ballot: California was insignificant to the Republican presidential contest, President Barack Obama had no challenger among Democrats, and there was a dearth of hot-button issues statewide.

Neither Proposition 28, involving changes to legislative term limits, nor Proposition 29, a proposed tax on cigarettes, was likely to drive up turnout significantly, said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo days before ballots were cast.

Under legislation that Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law today, California motorists can dictate, send or listen to text-based messages while they're behind the wheel if they're using voice-activated, hands-free devices.

Brown's signing of Assembly Bill 1536 alters state law to treat texting much as it does wireless telephone calls now: Motorists can engage in such activities provided that they are not holding cellular phones or other electronic devices.

Assemblyman Jeff Miller, R-Corona, paints AB 1536, which takes effect Jan. 1, as allowing drivers to use the "most modern communications systems and devices while maintaining the safety of hands-free operation," according to a legislative committee analysis.

Miller contends that Americans spend an average of 64 minutes per day commuting to and from work, and that it is "unfair to require them to be out of touch while behind the wheel as long as they are abiding by the law," the analysis said.

Other bills Brown signed today included Assembly Bill 1047, to prohibit law enforcement from conducting motorcycle-only checkpoints, and Assembly Bill 1854 to bar the rewiring of an airbag safety system to indicate it is functional when it is not.

California has the worst credit rating of any state now and the nation's worst credit rating record over the past 11 years, according to a new nationwide compilation by the Pew Center on the States.

The compilation is based on Standard and Poor's credit ratings and covers every year since 2001. Thirteen states sit atop the Pew chart with AAA credit ratings while California is alone at the bottom at A-minus and is the only state to dip to the worst possible rating, BBB, during the 11-year period.

That happened in 2003, during a state budget crisis so severe that then-Gov. Gray Davis was recalled. The highest rating California achieved during the period, A-plus, came in 2006.

"The states with the lowest grades typically have trouble keeping their spending in line with their tax revenues." Pew's Stephen C. Fehr writes in an explanation of the research. That observation applies to California, which has struggled to balance its budget for the past decade and whose current budget assumes that voters will approve sales and income tax increases in November.

Credit ratings affect the interest that states and other public entities must pay on their bonds. California politicians have tended to downplay their significance, however, citing a provision of the state constitution that gives high priority to bond service, the state's unblemished record of making bond payments, and the apparent willingness of lenders to buy the state's debt offerings, albeit at somewhat higher interest rates than those paid by other states.

Four states - Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia and Utah - have held AAA credit ratings for 46 years or more, Pew noted.

Dan Walters says that backers of this fall's ballot measures will be hitting up against Californians' pessimism about the economy and the direction of the state.

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See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: In today's report, Dan Walters says that proponents of November's ballot measures will be hitting up against Californians' pessimism about the state.

Should Californians be able to gamble on sports events in their own state? Bring it on, say 58 percent of registered voters surveyed in the latest Field Poll.

More men than women back the idea, and younger voters are more enthusiastic than older ones.

Think office pools and betting among friends. "If they're going to do that anyway, you might as well legalize it and have the state reap some tax revenue from it," Mark DiCamillo, poll director, told The Bee's Jim Sanders in today's Bee. "I think that's the reason for the support."

Voters aren't so sure about legalizing online poker -- 49 percent favor it, and 45 percent say no dice.

Click here to read the publicly released poll. You'll find the statistical tabulations, compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert, at this link.

SCHOOL-BUS SMACKDOWN: Six California school bus drivers are heading to Wisconsin to take part in a two-day bus driving competition. The National School Transportation Association is hosting the 42nd annual event Saturday and Sunday in Milwaukee. The Golden State drivers will be competing in all three categories: conventional bus, small bus and transit bus.

PRESSER: Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, joins members of the California Faculty Association and others to urge the California State University trustees to stop holding closed door meetings on the selection of a new chancellor. Pan will also discuss his plans to introduce an Assembly resolution calling for transparency. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. at 3020 State University Drive E. on the Sacramento State campus in Modoc Hall, Suite 1009.