Capitol Alert

Question: What takes 64 pages to change just a few words?

Answer: Senate Bill 1395, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown today.

The measure switches the name "Bureau of State Audits" to "California State Auditor's Office," and switches "State Auditor" to "California State Auditor."

Five words altered.

But the bill extends dozens of pages because it identifies every sentence in state codes where the old terms exist.

Existing statutes can cause confusion by using the terms State Auditor and Bureau of State Audits when referring to the duties of a single state office, according to a legislative analysis of SB 1395.

"The proposed change would clarify that there is one single state entity responsible for audits," the analysis said.

The new law requires that all supplies, forms, signs or logos using the old terms for the auditor's office be used up, not replaced.

A legislative analysis says the cost of the change would be "minor and absorbable within existing BSA resources."

State Auditor Elaine Howle sponsored SB 1395.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation today barring landlords from requiring their tenants to pay rent online.

Democratic Sen. Ted Lieu of Torrance proposed the measure, Senate Bill 1055, in response to concerns that demanding online payments can hurt tenants who know little or nothing about using computers.

A judge today refused to overturn former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's commutation of the prison term of one-time Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez' son, Esteban Núñez, who is serving time on a voluntary manslaughter conviction.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly characterized as "repugnant" Schwarzenegger's decision to cut Esteban Núñez' prison term from 16 years to seven. Schwarzenegger issued the commutation as one of the final acts of his administration in January 2011.

But even though Connelly said he believed the commutation was an abuse, he said it was still an authority the governor had under his executive powers.

Generosity, sacrifice, noble heights -- and lobbyist.

Not many Capitol stories contain those words, perhaps, but they combine to describe how lobbyist David Wolfe, who suffers from cerebral palsy, plans to scale a 10,000-foot Yosemite peak Saturday.

The 29-year-old Sacramentan, who can't walk without crutches, is counting on the generosity and sacrifice of numerous friends, business associates and a local nonprofit group, Noble Heights, that has assisted with similar trips since 2008.

"This will be a dream come true," said Wolfe, who is often spotted at the Capitol in a motorized scooter.

The Fair Political Practices Commission is asking Gov. Jerry Brown to tighten disclosure rules for independent expenditure committees through a bill that cleared the Legislature with bipartisan support.

The measure, Assembly Bill 481, targets a segment of politics that has grown significantly the past decade - independent political campaigns that support or oppose candidates or ballot measures but are not coordinated by them.

FPPC Chairwoman Ann Ravel touts the bill "a major step to ensure accountability and public disclosure of independent expenditures."

Corporations, unions and other groups can spend unlimited sums on independent expenditure campaigns. An FPPC report in June 2010 found that $127 million had been spent the past decade on such efforts.

VIDEO: Dan says things didn't work out at the Democratic National Convention exactly how Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa would have liked.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: Dan Walters talks in today's report about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's run-in with the words "God" and "Jerusalem" at the Democratic National Convention.

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is in California collecting campaign cash for the Romney-Ryan ticket, starting out in the south state, according to the Fresno Bee's Jim Boren.

Ryan will be heading north for a breakfast fundraiser Saturday at the Danville home of former 49ers tight end Brent Jones and his wife, Dana. (Click here to view the flier.)