Capitol Alert

After $54 million in surplus parks funds were discovered last week, the Department of Finance said it will release findings next week on whether similar pockets of special fund money are hiding elsewhere in state coffers.

The parks money was found in part because state controller's data showed tens of millions more dollars than the Department of Finance reported in its own figures. Finance, which is responsible for building Gov. Jerry Brown's budgets, is now examining all 560 special fund accounts to determine if similar differences exist.

But finance officials have cautioned against a straight comparison between data provided by the Controller's Office and those issued by the Finance Department on their websites.

In many cases, the controller's numbers differ from finance's for legitimate reasons, Finance Chief Deputy Director Michael Cohen said last week. Finance uses budget accounting, which counts money received and spent at different times of the year than the controller does. In a basic example, if a department buys supplies in May but does not pay its bill until August, Finance and the controller may account for the same purchase in different fiscal years.

Dan Walters talks about a lawsuit brought by UCLA's retired chancellor Charles Young challenging California's Proposition 13.

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See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: In today's report, Dan Walters talks about the latest legal chapter in the ongoing saga of California's Proposition 13.

Will the California Democratic Party's executive board endorse Gov. Jerry Brown's tax measure? What about Molly Munger's or Tom Steyer's?

Board members are meeting in Anaheim today through Sunday to consider, among other things, their endorsements for propositions that voters are considering in November. They'll also be electing 19 members of the Democratic National Committee. Click here for more information.

(For the record: Brown's measure is Proposition 30, Munger's is Proposition 38, and Steyer's is Proposition 39. It may take Capitol Alert a while to learn this, what with 11 propositions on the ballot.)

Back in Sacramento, more than 50 African American high school juniors and seniors are taking part in an annual youth leadership training conference, complete with a mock committee hearing from 10 a.m. to noon in the Capitol's Room 3191 as well as a mock legislative session in Senate chambers from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

The students will even be arguing about and voting on their own version of the state budget. The California Black Legislative Caucus is hosting the event.

Meanwhile, the Judicial Council of California is meeting in San Francisco to discuss this year's budget cuts to the state Supreme Court, its appellate courts and other judicial bodies. Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is scheduled to give a report at 10 a.m. as the meeting starts. Click here to read the agenda.

ELECTION 2012: The California NAACP's Alice Huffman and gay rights activist Zoe Dunning, a retired U.S. Navy commander, are helping kick off the state's "It Takes One" campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama, with events in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Roger Hernández, D-West Covina, turns 37 on Sunday.