Capitol Alert

SAUSALITO - Gov. Jerry Brown, whose permissiveness of hydraulic fracturing has alienated many environmentalists, said Monday he is a "missionary" to oil executives in the fight against climate change.

The Democratic governor, who has made climate change a focus of his administration, told a meeting of The Environmental Council of the States, an association of state agency leaders, that reducing the use of fossil fuels requires broad support, including from within the oil industry.

"I'm kind of a missionary here," Brown said.

Brown, who has taken contributions from oil companies for his re-election campaign and other political causes, said he has spent hours meeting with oil executives he did not identify, adding that he keeps "going back." He reiterated dire warnings he has made for years about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment.

"We're setting in motion the presence of greenhouse gases that will be around for hundreds of years," he said. "And worse than that, it's not a slow walk to destruction."

Brown has come under criticism from environmentalists opposed to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, including a vocal demonstration during his speech to the California Democratic Party's annual convention this month.

Brown signed legislation last year establishing a permitting system for fracking and requiring an environmental review of the practice in which water and chemicals are injected underground to break up rock formations.

Brown told reporters Monday that the environmental impacts "are being very carefully examined."

Brown championed environmental causes when he was governor before, from 1975 to 1983, and he has set California out as a leader on climate change in his third term.

"We've got to reduce, systematically, increasingly, the use of fossil fuel," Brown said Monday. "That's oil, that's coal and, ultimately, that's natural gas."

Brown appeared resistant to a gas tax proposed last month by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, in what Steinberg called a more stable alternative to gas price increases likely to result from a requirement that oil companies buy carbon credits for fuel they sell starting next year.

Brown told reporters he has not seen the proposal, which many environmentalists oppose. However, Brown said, "I don't think there are going to be any new taxes this year."

PHOTO: California Gov. Jerry Brown looks at protesters opposing fracking after his speech at the California Democratic Party's convention on March 8, 2014, in Los Angeles. Associated Press/ Jae C. Hong

State Sen. Richard Roth went on Los Angeles radio Monday morning to float an idea for a Senate ethics ombudsman who could take tips of wrongdoing from staff members, lawmakers, and others.

Roth, D-Riverside, chairs the Senate Legislative Ethics Committee. Monday's proposal, which Roth emphasized is a personal idea that he has yet to run past colleagues, follows last Wednesday's arrest of state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, on federal corruption and weapons trafficking charges.

Last month, state Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, was indicted on corruption charges. And in January, a Los Angeles County jury convicted state Sen. Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, of lying about his residence when he ran for the Senate in 2008.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced Friday that the Senate will cancel one day of floor session and committee hearings and instead have an intensive, mandatory office-by-office review of Senate ethics policies.

Roth said his idea would build on that, and reflects concerns that some people with knowledge of wrongdoing may be intimidated by the existing process of voicing concerns. Under Senate rules, people can make allegations of suspected violations of Senate standards of conduct. But the complaints must be in writing and be signed under penalty of perjury.

"It's not as open a process, as free a process, as I would like to see," Roth said. "We need to create a different system, where staff or other individuals, and legislators, are free to contact someone like an ombudsman."

Roth, elected in 2012, said his office is just starting to survey ethics procedures in other states. His goal, he said, is to make sure "we have the best ethics program in the nation, period."

PHOTO: State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, during session in March 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

SAUSALITO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday called the Leland Yee corruption case a "tragedy" for the state Senate and "our democratic process," and he reiterated his call for Yee and two other senators accused of crimes to resign.

The Democratic governor, speaking to reporters at an environmental conference here, said "there's nothing that seems normal or understandable" about the case.
Yee was charged in federal court last week with corruption and conspiring to illegally import weapons.

"I just think that this is a tragedy for the Senate, for politics in general, for our democratic process, and the quicker we can move forward and have these cases resolved, the better it will be for everybody."

Brown said he had not read the extensive FBI affidavit outlining the charges against Yee, D-San Francisco.

Brown's remarks came after California lawmakers on Friday suspended three state senators accused in separate cases of crimes including corruption, perjury and conspiracy to traffic weapons. Brown issued a prepared statement Friday calling for the resignation of the Yee and two others senators, Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills.

Calderon was indicted last month on 24 counts of corruption for allegedly taking bribes, while Wright was found guilty of eight felonies in January for lying about living in the district he ran for in 2008.

Calderon has pleaded not guilty. Yee has not yet entered a plea.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown talks to members of the press after speaking at a rally for crime victims in Sacramento on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Neel Kashkari has tried to manage fundraising expectations around his run for governor by suggesting that, in a primary contest between two underfunded Republicans, he only needs to be the "strongest weakling" to succeed.

On the East Coast meeting with potential donors and media outlets, Kashkari on Monday offered a more vivid variation on that theme.

"Well, step one is to get through the primary," the former U.S. Treasury Department official said when asked about campaign money on CNBC's Squawk Box. "And I like to joke that I need to be the tallest Smurf to get through the primary. And then the tallest Smurf gets to go take on Gargamel in the November general election. So getting through the primary, we probably need to raise a few million dollars more."

Kashkari's remarks come after filings last week showed his fundraising effort tapering off after a fast start. He has more than $900,000 in cash on hand, far more than Republican rival Tim Donnelly, who has less than $11,000, but a fraction of the nearly $20 million Brown holds.

The "Smurf" reference appeared to work for Squawk Box.

"Tallest Smurf" one of Kashkari's hosts repeated later in the interview. "No one can get mad at that, because they're not real, are they?"

Said Kashkari: "Well, there may be little blue people somewhere."

PHOTO: Republican Neel Kashkari speaks with reporters at Oroville Dam on March 28, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

More than 150,000 people have signed up for Covered California health insurance in the past week, bringing total state enrollment to roughly 1.2 million and slowing the online portal to a crawl as residents rush to beat a midnight deadline.

Meanwhile, Medi-Cal has enrolled approximately 1.5 million new members though mid-March.

Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee said the number of household accounts opened since last week totaled about 390,000, including 123,787 on Saturday and Sunday.

"We are seeing more accounts open than any day ever. And we are seeing that today with a huge amount of interest on the site, and it is causing the website to be quite slow," Lee said.

The exchange is working on several ways to accommodate the spike. With about 12 hours left in the first open-enrollment period, the state exchange is placing a high priority on allowing people to begin their applications and then return to complete them by April 15.

Some customers will get a "congratulations" note telling them they have started the application process but because of the high demand they will not be able to finish the process Monday, Lee said. Officials have switched off the "preview plan" tool because of lagging performance but will retain the "shop and compare" function.

Despite hiring on 250 additional people, wait times at customer service call centers averaged 42 minutes in the last week and about 70 minutes over the weekend. A number of enrollment events are taking place across the state, including in Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles.

The SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West union is hosting two "enroll-a-thons" Monday at its Sacramento office, 1911 F St., from 7 a.m. to midnight. For details, call ( 888) 920-4517. See video below.

Affordable Care Act sign-ups: Where to get help before March 31 deadline

Covered California's website and call centers also will have extended hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

In addition, consumers can call a licensed insurance agent or go to health care websites, such as eHealthInsurance.com, which is extending its call center hours through midnight Monday (800) 977-8860.

What You'll Need: Whether enrolling by phone, online or in person, every individual family member should have: proof of identity (photo ID, driver's license, passport); proof of address (utility bill or postmarked mail); income information (two paystubs or recent tax return); proof of citizenship (birth certificate, permanent resident card, or naturalization certificate). Each person enrolling also must provide date of birth, Social Security number and ZIP code.

PHOTO: Karla Sanchez, 31, of North Highlands holds her son, Luis Marcial, 4, who naps in her arms while she makes her choice for insurance coverage at the SEIU union hall on Monday. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

California voters unfamiliar with congressional candidates often rely on a brief description - generally limited to three words - as they scan down the ballot.

While many incumbents select a customary designation such as "United States Representative," others take the opportunity to get considerably more creative.

Northern California Reps. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, and John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, nod to their rural roots with "U.S. Representative/Farmer," and "Congressman/Rancher," respectively.

Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, draws attention to his medical and education backgrounds before revealing his congressional affiliation with "Doctor/Teacher/Congressman," while Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock offers a pair of general occupations ahead of his day job with "Businessman/Farmer/Representative."

Fellow Central Valley Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, distances himself entirely from the post, stating simply "Farmer/Small Businessman."

Candidates can choose their own titles, and it's their responsibility to justify their proposed designation if it is challenged. The Secretary of State's list is available here.

Reps. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, keep it simple with "Congresswoman," whereas Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, goes all geographical with "Ventura County Congresswoman." The former longtime Los Angeles County resident, it seems, is still working to establish her bona fides.

Designations are unlikely to help bring business to moonlighting members, but if Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, needs a few extra bucks around tax time, his title, "United States Congressman/CPA," is unlikely to hurt.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 3:15 p.m. to clarify Brownley's place of residence.

PHOTO: Rep. Jeff Denham, chairman of subcommittee on railroads, pipelines and hazardous materials, listens during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014 in Washington, D.C. MCT/Pete Marovich

Forget House of Cards and Scandal.

The hottest political soap opera of 2014 is the California Senate, and its latest plot twist is a doozy: Last Wednesday, Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, was arrested by the FBI on charges of corruption and conspiracy to traffic weapons.

With the Capitol on holiday for Cesar Chavez Day, let's review what you may have missed during last week's crazy episode. Warning: spoilers ahead.

VIDEO: The state Senate's latest scandal is more ammunition for an election year battle over the Democrats' supermajority, Dan Walters says.

WEDNESDAY: The FBI arrested Yee at his San Francisco home Wednesday morning and raided his Capitol office as part of a sweeping sting of more than two dozen Bay Area figures suspected of selling drugs, smuggling guns and arranging murder for hire.

Among those connected to the case was Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, a Chinatown gangster who had been honored in the past by elected officials for turning his life around.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg was "extremely disappointed and upset" by the news, which follows the January conviction of Sen. Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, on felony charges related to living outside his district and the February indictment of Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, on corruption charges. Steinberg later called upon Yee to resign or he would be suspended.

The affidavit was unsealed in the afternoon, and it reads like a conspiracy thriller: illegal arms dealing, Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines, deposed Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and the nickname "Uncle Leland" all make appearances. The tangled web of San Francisco politicians, organized crime and undercover agents takes a map to keep track of.

THURSDAY: Pressure mounted on Yee to leave the Senate, with calls coming all the way from Washington, D.C. Though he ignored those requests, Yee did drop out of the race for California secretary of state. His name, however, will remain on the ballot.

FRIDAY: In what should have been a quiet per diem session before the long weekend, the Senate took an unprecedented step, suspending not just Yee but all three of its members facing legal troubles. The resolution says they can't resume office "until all criminal proceedings currently pending against them have been dismissed," but Yee, Wright and Calderon will continue to be paid.

Wright and Calderon had previously been allowed to take paid leaves of absence, but Steinberg said developments with Yee had changed his mind about how to deal with them. Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, was the sole dissenting vote. He argued that the measure did not go far enough and the disgraced members should be expelled.

That's a lot of plot development for one week, but the drama is not over yet. Stay tuned.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who turns 62 today.

The state Senate's latest scandal is more ammunition for an election year battle over the Democrats' supermajority, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, left, speaks on a bill, while his seat mate Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, works at his desk at the Capitol on March 26, 2014. The Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

Legislators never received ethics training about "gun running or other such sordid activities," California state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg noted during house debate Friday over whether to suspend three senators who have been accused of crimes including corruption, perjury and conspiracy to traffic weapons.

PHOTO: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, center, leads the Senate Rules Committee in voting unanimously to strip Sen. Ron Calderon of all committee assignments on November 12, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

VIDEO: The Sacramento Bee/Laurel Rosenhall

The California state senate suspended three lawmakers Friday: Democratic senators Leland Yee and Ron Calderon, who have been accused of corruption, and Rod Wright, who was found guilty by a jury of lying about living in the district he was elected to in 2008.

Residency questions have dogged many legislators, as The Bee noted last month, including Republican Sen. Mimi Walters who appeared at a press conference today following the Senate's suspensions. Capitol Alert asked Walters to clarify where she lives.

PHOTO: Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, listens to discussion on the main budget bill as senators prepared to vote on the state budget on June 28, 2011. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

VIDEO: The Sacramento Bee/Laurel Rosenhall

Multiple undercover agents were involved in compiling the sweeping criminal case against state Sen. Leland Yee, consultant Keith Jackson, alleged crime boss Raymond Chow and others included in Wednesday's 137-page federal complaint.

Click and drag to see how the five-year investigation came together. The text below explains the agents' different cover stories.

UCE 4599: Posed as an east-coast member of La Cosa Nostra, an Italian organized crime syndicate. He told people his money money came from illegal gambling, bookmaking, sports betting, drugs, and outdoor marijuana grows.

UCE 4773: Posed as a businessman engaged in real estate development who also represents a variety of investors and clients. He represented himself "as particularly being interested in expanding his business interests to California in general, and the San Francisco Bay Area in particular, and in making business and political contacts who could facilitate that expansion."

UCE 4212: Posed as "Sonja Schmidt," a business development manager helping CHS 12.

UCE 4684: Posed as a man that UCE 4559 talked to Sullivan and others about wanting to have killed in a murder-for-hire.

UCE 4138: Posed as "Ravi," a staff services manager with the Department of Public Health in Richmond, who talked to Yee about UCE 4212 and UCE 4773's "client."

UCE 4180: Posed as a businessman involved in the medical marijuana business in Arizona, who wanted to be the "Anheuser-Busch" of medical marijuana.

CHS 12: Posed as the owner of a software consulting business being helped by UCE 4212.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, speaks to members of the press in his office at the Capitol in Sacramento on February 14, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

The California state Senate today took the unprecedented step of suspending three of its members who have been accused of crimes including corruption, perjury and conspiracy to traffic weapons -- a move that takes away their power but maintains their pay.

With a vote of 28-1, senators ousted colleagues Democrats Leland Yee of San Francisco, Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills with a resolution that says they can't resume office "until all criminal proceedings currently pending against them have been dismissed."

Expelling them would be premature, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said, because Yee and Calderon have not been convicted of their corruption charges and Wright is waiting to see if the judge in his perjury trial upholds the jury's guilty verdict.

As the debate began, Steinberg said he understands the public concern.

"One is an anomaly. Two is a coincidence. Three?" he said. "I am calling on our entire body to take a deeper look at our culture."

He said he would cancel session on April 7 and conduct an "office-by-office ethics review."

Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, said Steinberg's move does not go far enough. He cast the lone vote against the suspensions.

"Which is it today, more smoke a mirrors, more paid holidays for bad behavior?" he asked. "There should be only one measure on this floor...and that's to expel these members."

Steinberg plans to introduce a constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to suspend members without pay. That, however, would have to be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature and then by voters before it could take effect.

Calderon and Wright have been on paid leaves of absence for roughly a month, which did not require a vote by the Senate. The latest case involving Yee has kicked up the pressure on Democrats to take a more formal action.

Yee was charged in federal court Wednesday with corruption and conspiracy to illegally import guns. A 137-page FBI affidavit alleges that Yee took numerous official actions as a legislator in exchange for contributions to his current campaign for secretary of state. The contributions, it turned out, were from undercover agents. The FBI affidavit also says Yee offered to help an undercover agent pull off an illegal international arms deal.

Yee was arrested Wednesday as part of a massive FBI sweep that involved more than two-dozen people accused of running guns, drugs, stolen liquor and cigarettes — and arranging murder for hire.

It was the latest turn in what's already been a tumultuous year for Democrats in the California Capitol. Last month, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Calderon on 24 counts of corruption. And in January, a Los Angeles jury found Wright guilty of perjury and voter fraud for lying about whether he lived in the district he represents.

PHOTO: Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, left, speaks on a bill, while his seat mate Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, works at his desk inside the Senate chambers in January 2014. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 5:55 p.m. to include mention of Anderson's vote.

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

Leland Yee pulls out of race for California secretary of state

California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg moved to suspend three of his Democratic colleagues today who have been accused of crimes including corruption, perjury and conspiracy to traffic weapons.

Two of them — senators Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills — have been on paid leaves of absence for roughly a month. But Steinberg said Thursday that the latest case involving Sen. Leland Yee has caused him to take things up a step by asking the Senate to cast a formal vote on the fate of their three disgraced colleagues. The senators would still be paid if suspended, because the Legislature's lawyers say they don't have the right to revoke pay unless a lawmaker is permanently expelled.

As the debate began, Steinberg said he understands the public concern.

"One is an anomaly. Two is a coincidence. Three?" he said. "I am calling on our entire body to take a deeper look at our culture."

He said he would cancel session on April 7 and conduct an "office-by-office ethics review."

Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, said Steinberg's move does not go far enough.

"Which is it today, more smoke a mirrors, more paid holidays for bad behavior?" he asked. "There should be only one measure on this floor...and that's to expel these members."

Yee, of San Francisco, became the latest state Senator to face criminal allegations when he was charged in federal court Wednesday with corruption and conspiracy to illegally import guns. A 137-page FBI affidavit alleges that Yee took numerous official actions as a legislator in exchange for contributions to his current campaign for secretary of state. The contributions, it turned out, were from undercover agents.

Yee was arrested Wednesday as part of a massive FBI sweep that involved more than two-dozen people accused of running guns, drugs, stolen liquor and cigarettes — and arranging murder for hire.

It was the latest turn in what's already been a tumultuous year for Democrats in the California Capitol. Last month, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Calderon on 24 counts of corruption. And in January, a Los Angeles jury found Wright guilty of perjury and voter fraud for lying about whether he lived in the district he represents.

Wright and Calderon both requested leaves of absence, so their colleagues in the Senate never actually cast a vote on their fate. Steinberg's move to suspend all three would require a majority vote by the Senate, and be an unprecedented action for the house.

A suspension is temporary, while expelling a legislator is a permanent ouster.

Steinberg said he does not think it's right to expel Calderon and Yee because they have not yet been found guilty. In Wright's case, Steinberg has said he is waiting to see if the judge upholds the jury's guilty verdict before taking an irrevocable action against him.

Steinberg plans to introduce a constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to suspend members without pay, though that would have to be approved by voters before it could take effect.

PHOTO: Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, left, speaks on a bill, while his seat mate Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, works at his desk inside the Senate chambers in January 2014. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli.

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

The Legislature is off Monday in observance of Cesar Chavez Day, so what should have been a quiet per diem session today will instead become the latest chapter in the bombshell saga of state Sen. Leland Yee, who was arrested by the FBI on corruption charges this week.

The floor session at 9 a.m. will be the first time the Senate meets since the explosive revelations of bribery and gun trafficking involving the San Francisco Democrat. State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and both of California's U.S. Senators have called upon Yee to resign.

It is expected he will be suspended, but what form that action takes remains up in the air. Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff has already introduced a resolution to suspend Yee, though the last time he tried that with a colleague, his measure was parked in the Senate Rules Committee.

VIDEO: Breaking with California's ignoble tradition of failed tech upgrades, a new financial management systems appears headed for success, Dan Walters says.

SÍ SE PUEDE: Cesar Chavez, the late labor icon who helped lead the movement to organize farm workers, is honored every year on March 31, his birthday, with a California state holiday. The Assembly plans to recognize the occasion by inviting 10 members of Chavez's family, including three of his siblings, to accept a resolution honoring the activist's legacy during the 9 a.m. floor session. The presentation was organized by Assembly members Nora Campos, D-San Jose, and Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville.

GOING HOLLYWOOD: This weekend also marks the release of a biopic, Cesar Chavez, starring Michael Peña. The United Farm Workers, a union that Chavez helped start, holds a special screening and panel discussion at 8:30 p.m. at the Century Stadium 14 theater. The event is preceded by a reception at Seasons 52 Fresh Grill on Arden Way at 6 p.m.

GIRL POWER: Sacramento women doing great things will be honored by their local representatives, Steinberg, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson and Rep. Doris Matsui, during the inaugural Women's Appreciation Awards ceremony. The event, which starts at 6 p.m. at the California Museum on O Street, marks the ends of Women's History — or "Herstory," if you prefer — Month, celebrated in March.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, who turns 54 today, and state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, who turns 45 on Saturday.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, leaves Federal Court in San Francisco on March 26, 2014. Bay Area News Group/Karl Mondon

Breaking with California's ignoble tradition of failed tech upgrades, a new financial management system appears headed for success, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: The Los Angeles Regional Transportation Management Center Oct. 18, 2013. The Associated Press/Reed Saxon

A day after Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco was charged with corruption and conspiracy to traffic weapons, the state Senate's Republican leader introduced a resolution to suspend him and California's two U.S. senators called on him to resign.

"The allegations against Senator Yee are shocking. It has become clear he has lost the confidence of his colleagues and for the good of his constituents should step down," said a statement from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer said in a statement that she agreed with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's demand Wednesday that Yee step down.

"If these allegations are true, they are beyond outrageous," Boxer's statement said.

The state Senate's Republican Leader, Bob Huff, introduced a resolution calling for the Senate to suspend Yee, an action that would require a majority vote of the 40-member house.

"We need to act decisively in order to begin restoring the public's trust," Huff said in a statement. "Senate Republicans agree with Senate President pro Tem Steinberg that Leland Yee is not welcome here anymore and he must resign from the Senate or face swift suspension by his colleagues."

Huff also called on the Steinberg-led Senate Rules Committee to act on two other resolutions he wrote that would suspend two other disgraced senators, Ron Calderon of Montebello and Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills, who are both Democrats. A grand jury last month indicted Calderon on corruption charges. In January, a Los Angeles jury found Wright guilty of eight felonies for lying about his residence when he ran for the Senate in 2008.

Huff had asked for the Senate to suspend Wright and Calderon a few weeks ago but Steinberg blocked a vote on the measures by sending them to the Rules Committee.

"While I appreciate Senator Steinberg's assurances that 'neither Calderon nor Wright are coming back,' we must treat all three equally," Huff's statement says.

"Only then can the Senate move beyond this dark cloud of ethics violations and corruption."

The Senate is scheduled to meet Friday at 9 a.m.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, speaks to members of the press in his office at the Capitol in Sacramento on February 14, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, two years ago promised not to take a congressional pension until key entitlement programs were secured for years into the future.

In addition to underscoring his support for reinforcing Medicare and Social Security, Bera's pledge also helped draw a contrast in his grudge match with Dan Lungren, who is entitled to taxpayer-funded retirement benefits from service in state and federal office.

As Bera prepares for a tough reelection bid in the 7th district, his office announced Thursday that he's made good on that oath, issuing a check for $4,915 to the U.S. Treasury Bureau of the Public Debt. The sum reflects the amount he accrued in pension benefits last year.

In a prepared statement, Bera said the country must honor the promises it made to parents and grandparents to provide them with the health care they need and a dignified retirement after a lifetime of work.

"My constituents should not be forced to pay for my retirement when many of their own retirements are still vulnerable," he said. "That's why I have pledged to not take a congressional pension until Medicare and Social Security are secure for this and future generations."

Bera's pledge could again put a Republican opponent in a difficult spot. His GOP challengers include former Rep. Doug Ose and congressional aide Igor Birman.

Ose, 58, estimates he will be eligible to receive about a $1,200 monthly pension when he turns 62. He has declined to make any pledges about his pension or congressional pay.

Sen. Leland Yee has withdrawn from the secretary of state's race, but his name will remain on the June ballot.

Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, was charged in federal court Wednesday on charges including corruption and conspiracy to traffic weapons. He sent a letter to Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announcing his immediate resignation from the race for the office that oversees California elections.

But state law prohibits Yee's name from being removed from the ballot because he's already declared his candidacy, said a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office.

A 137-page FBI affidavit alleges that Yee operated in a pay-to-play fashion as he raised money for his secretary of state campaign, performing favors in the Capitol for donors who turned out to be undercover agents.

California's drought has pushed high-speed rail out of the headlines in recent months, but the controversial project isn't forgotten. Republican legislators continue to introduce bills to defund the project and, in February, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled his support, suggesting the state should instead reallocate voter-approved rail bonds.

The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee holds a hearing to evaluate the project's potential for success at 1:30 p.m. in Room 112 of the Capitol. Among those scheduled to testify is Jeff Morales, chief executive officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

VIDEO: With Democrats in the state Senate now below the supermajority threshold, Republican members could swing some key issues this session, Dan Walters says.

LEADER OF THE PACK: As David Siders reported last night, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, leads all Republican opponents in the race for governor. A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California shows that Donnelly has five times more support among likely voters than rivals like Neel Kashkari.

HEALTH REFORM REFORM: As the first open enrollment session for Covered California comes to a close, Republican lawmakers plan to introduce a bill package that would put new restrictions on the health care exchange. Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway and other members of her caucus will gather at the Urban Hive on H Street at 10:30 a.m. to announce legislation aimed at ensuring privacy protections, affordable options and public accountability.

ILLEGITIMATE INDUSTRY: The Little Hoover Commission, the independent state oversight agency, holds a public hearing on California's underground economy, including the impact of black market sales on taxes and law enforcement, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 437 of the Capitol.

ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY?: A pilot program at more than 100 gas stations in Sacramento and Los Angeles would promote the California lottery and allow for the purchase of tickets as shoppers are buying their gas. The California State Lottery Commission will hear a presentation on the proposed Play at the Pump program, 10 a.m. at the lottery commission building on 10th Street.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Last year, economic think tank the Milken Institute released a report examining California's position in the science and technology sector. The report's author, Kristin Keough, will present the results in a policy briefing at 2 p.m. in Room 125 of the Capitol, which will be followed by panel discussion including Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank.

TO FRACK OR NOT TO FRACK: Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who bankrolled 2012's successful Proposition 39 closing a tax loophole for out-of-state corporations, is among the panelists who will be talking about the energy and economic potential of California's Monterey Shale formation, 2 p.m. at the Citizen Hotel on J Street. The conversation is sponsored by Next Generation, the Post Carbon Institute and Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, who turns 40 today.

PHOTO: A view of a high speed train moving through a wind farm in the proposed high speed rail network. Rendering by Newlands and Company Inc.

With Democrats in the state Senate now below the supermajority threshold, Republican members could swing some key issues this session, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, speaks to members of the press in his office at the Capitol in Sacramento on February 14, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Tim Donnelly leads the field of Republicans bidding to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown early in this year's gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.

Donnelly, with 10 percent support among likely voters, outpolls his closest GOP competitors by 8 percentage points, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday.

Neel Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official and the best-funded Republican in the race, was supported by 2 percent of likely voters, as was Laguna Hills Mayor Andrew Blount.

All Republicans trail Brown by an enormous margin. The third-term Democrat is supported by 47 percent of likely voters, while 36 percent of likely voters remain undecided, according to the poll.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said he was shocked and sickened by the allegations brought against a member of his caucus Wednesday, saying Sen. Leland Yee has until Friday to resign from office or face certain suspension.

Flanked by at least 16 of his colleagues, Steinberg characterized the charges against Yee, D-San Francisco, as extraordinary and said they gathered together to express their anger and revulsion at the day's events.

He said while Yee is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the indictment itself is "sickening" and "surreal," comparing it to something out of a Hollywood movie. Yee would be stripped of his committee chairmanship and all of his committee assignments, Steinberg said.

"Leave," Steinberg told Yee, who is accused of conspiring to traffic in firearms and public corruption. "Don't burden your colleagues and this great institution with your troubles. Leave!"

"I am angry on behalf of the people and I am angry on behalf of the 37 other members whose hard work everyday on behalf of the people is being tarnished because of events outside of their control and outside of our control," he added.

Steinberg's caucus has been hit with a string of legal woes - including cases against Sens. Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills and Ron Calderon of Montebello.

Democratic Sens. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles and Mark Leno of San Francisco took the opportunity to forcefully defend Stenberg given the growing number of scandals gripping his house.

"It is our good fortune that the leader of this house is exemplary, a pillar of integrity," Leno said. "Darrell Steinberg sets a tone and we all respond to that."

De Leon, the incoming Senate leader, echoed many of his colleagues.

"There is nothing that Darrell does that enables or creates conditions for this type of behavior in this great institution," de Leon said.

"Let me underscore and let me emphasize, this legislative body, specifically the Senate, has moved forward some of the most groundbreaking policy measures in the last few decades - in a generation," he added.

PHOTO: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento takes questions from members of the press earlier this month. (The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua)

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, who has denied having any criminal record before carrying a gun into an airport in 2012, on Wednesday blamed a larceny case in Michigan in 1985 on a drunken "prank."

The candidate's case came at the end of Donnelly's freshman year at University of Michigan. He left the school, moved to California and enrolled at University of California, Irvine, that fall.

Asked previously whether he had any criminal convictions prior to the airport incident, Donnelly said, "No."

The Twin Peaks assemblyman told The Bee on Wednesday night that he was telling the truth.

"All I know is that I was never convicted, and that's it," Donnelly said. "I was treated as a minor, and it was explained to me then that it would not result in a conviction, it would result in you doing some community service, paying restitution, and if you did that successfully ... there would be no, there would be nothing. It would be as if it never happened, and that I could honestly say for the rest of my life that I've never been convicted."

Records searches in Michigan produced no evidence of criminal charges ever being filed against Donnelly. But The Ann Arbor News listed a Timothy Michael Donnelly as receiving a fine and three years of probation for "larceny in a building" in a brief item in June 1985.

Donnelly, asked by The Bee about the incident earlier Wednesday, instead called in to the conservative "John and Ken" show in Los Angeles to pre-empt the report. He complained the incident was an insignificant "prank" that happened years ago.

"They want to break a news story about a prank that I pulled in college," he said on the radio show. "I got busted 30 years ago."

Asked what he did, Donnelly said, "I got drunk with my buddy, and we left his Sony Walkman in the hallway, and somebody took it. So we started looking for somebody who might have it, and we wound up breaking into somebody else's room and stealing a stereo from them."

He said, "When we sobered up we called the cops and told them where it was and, you know, boy, they wanted to throw the book at us."

He said "the consequences were severe enough for me that I basically quit drinking not long after that."

Donnelly said he was treated as a minor and that the record was expunged.

Donnelly, one of two main Republicans bidding to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown, has said he left Michigan because he longed to escape Midwest winters and to see the beaches of Southern California.

Bee researcher Pete Basofin contributed to this report.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 5:20 p.m. to include information from Donnelly's radio interview and at 8:45 p.m. to include his comments to The Bee

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly speaks with reporters at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 15, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the state Senate president pro tem, says that the arrest of Sen. Leland Yee is a "negative and unsettling development."

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

The 137-page criminal complaint naming state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and many others is full of drugs, guns and organized crime. The above "word cloud" highlights the most common words. Click on the photo to enlarge.

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

Hours after FBI agents raided the Sacramento office of Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, a sworn affidavit by an FBI agent describes Yee's alleged role in a gun trafficking conspiracy.

Here is the document detailing the case against Yee:

Unsealed Yee affidavit

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

Republican Igor Birman announced the endorsement of GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Wednesday, adding to his growing list of high-profile supporters in the crowded field taking on Rep. Ami Bera.

Rand Paul joins his father, the former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas, in supporting Birman, a 32-year-old aide to Rep. Tom McClintock. In an interview with The Bee, Ron Paul pointed to Birman's journey to the U.S. from the Soviet Union as evidence that he doesn't take his new-found freedom for granted.

"I think Igor recognizing that as great as we are, and as grateful as he is being here, he sees some changes in the attacks on civil liberties that have motivated him to speak out," Ron Paul said. "When I see someone like Igor come along, I think it's great that he's doing it, and I want to encourage him. I have as much conviction that you have to change peoples' minds on policy as I do just putting new people in office."

Rand Paul said he had no doubt Birman would stand with him "as a strong and passionate defender of liberty." "Our nation needs Igor in the halls of Congress and I will do all I can to help get his voice to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives," he said.

Birman's candidacy also is supported by Republican Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, along with GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and tea party-aligned groups like FreedomWorks.

His chief Republican rival in the race, former Rep. Doug Ose, has been endorsed by a large share of the elected officials representing parts of suburban Sacramento's congressional district. That includes nearly two-thirds of the council members across the four cities and a majority from the five-member county Board of Supervisors.

Elizabeth Emken, the other major Republican, draws some of her support from elected state lawmakers.

The 7th district, captured by Bera two years ago in a close race, is expected to produce one of the most competitive and expensive House contests in the state and possibly the country.

PHOTO: Igor Berman, a Republican who is running in the 7th Congressional District, meets with voters in Elk Grove on Feb. 7. (The Sacramento Bee/Jose Luis Villegas)

Federal officials raided Democratic Sen. Leland Yee's office at the Capitol on Wednesday, carting away at least nine packages of possible evidence.

Yee was arrested as the FBI said it was executing multiple search warrants and "conducting arrests in multiple locations today." Multiple Bay Area media reports have said he is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. in San Francisco.

In Sacramento, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Tony Beard told reporters that the officials arrived at Yee's fourth-floor office at the Capitol about 7 a.m. The officials, including representatives from the FBI, were seen leaving just before noon.

On their way out, Beard requested that photographers refrain from shooting their faces.

VIDEO: The Sacramento Bee/Christopher Cadelago.

PHOTO: Senate and federal officials remove several boxes of documents from Sen. Leland Yee's Capitol office on Wednesday. (The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua)

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

This morning's arrest of state Sen. Leland Yee roils the race for Secretary of State, although the San Francisco Democrat's standing in the six-person field seemed to be slipping in recent weeks.

Yee, D-San Francisco, is one of three Democrats running for the post. The others are state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, and Derek Cressman, the former California director of Common Cause. Republican Pete Peterson, independent Dan Schnur, and Green David Curtis also are candidates.

In fundraising reports filed this week, Padilla and Schnur, headed into the final 2-1/2 months before the June primary with the most cash on hand. Padilla had more than $614,000 in his campaign treasury as of March 17. Schnur, a former Republican-turned-independent, had $260,000.

Yee, though, had only $134,000 cash on hand after raising just $70,000 since January. It's unclear how Yee's arrest will change the race, and if it makes it more or less likely that Schnur will advance to the November runoff.

The charts below show how much each candidate's campaign raised and spent, cash on hand, and debt.

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

Legislation that would sharply increase California's minimum wage and index it to inflation cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday.

It's doubtful, however, whether Gov. Jerry Brown would sign another minimum wage boost a year after he and the Legislature enacted an increase.

The 2013 legislation raises the minimum wage, now $8 per hour, to $9 on July 1, then to $10 in 2016. Brown signed the increase after insisting that the Legislature remove an automatic inflation adjustment.

The new legislation,Senate Bill 935, is being carried by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and is backed by labor unions and advocates for the poor.

Leno told the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee that another boost is needed to stimulate the economy and combat poverty and the decline of California's middle class. Citing Wal-Mart and other employers, Leno said, "We, the taxpayers, are subsidizing the wealthiest people in this country."

Employer groups, particularly those representing restaurants and farmers, lined up against the Leno measure, saying it would raise their costs, make hiring new employees more difficult and doom some small businesses.

SB 935 would raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour on Jan. 1, 2015, and then $12 in 2016 and $13 in 2017. Beginning in 2018, the wage would be automatically indexed to inflation each year.

It cleared the Senate committee on a party-line 3-1 vote with one Democratic member, Leland Yee, absent. He was in San Francisco to face federal charges stemming from a wide-ranging FBI investigation.

Assemblyman Mike Morrell won an easy election to the state Senate on Tuesday, filling the unexpired term of former state Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands.

Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, received 62.6 percent of the vote in a five-way special primary election, easily clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a June 3 runoff, according to semi-official results. His closest rival, Democrat Ronald J. O'Donnell of Highland, received 15.3 percent of the vote.

"The residents of the 23rd Senate District will be in great hands through Mike¹s commitment to public service," Senate GOP Leader Bob Huff said in a statement.

The 23rd Senate Districts large parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties and a sliver of Los Angeles County's eastern edge. Since 2010, Morrell has represented an Assembly district that wrapped from Rancho Cucamonga to Redlands.

Emmerson easily won re-election to the redrawn 23rd Senate District in November 2012. He resigned Dec. 1, 2013 and shortly later became a senior vice president for the California Hospital Association.

Morrell barely won re-election in 2012 in the redrawn 40th Assembly District and faced a tough re-election in November. There will not be a special election to fill Morrell's vacancy after he resigns the Assembly because the vacancy will come after the candidate filing date in the final year of Morrell's two-year term.

PHOTO: The campaign website of state Sen.-elect Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga.

A former Chinatown organized crime figure reportedly arrested this morning in a sweep that also targeted Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, has received awards in the past from California elected officials.

An avowed former soldier in the San Francisco-based Hop Sing Tong gang, Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow served time in prison after being convicted on gun trafficking charges. He was released early for providing testimony that helped bring down alleged Chinese organized crime boss Peter Chong.

Chow has publicly distanced himself from his criminal past since then, winning an award in 2012 for former offenders who have since become assets to their community. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, issued a statement in 2012 recognizing Chow and other honorees.

Also in 2012, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, bestowed a "change agent" award upon Chow, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee gave Chow an award recognizing his "willingness to give back to the community."

"We celebrate your tenacity and your exceptional service as a valued member of our community," the certificate from Ammiano says. "Your efforts to turn your life around and help others to do the same have been an inspiration to us all."

In a statement, Ammiano said the plaudit came in response to a San Francisco organizations' request.

"One of the ceremonial aspects of being in the Assembly is providing recognition to people in the district at the request of respected community organizations," Ammiano said. "It appears that my office provided such a recognition to Raymond Chow as a 'change agent' at the request of the Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services organization. The group acknowledged Chow's efforts at reform and helping others. That is all there is to it."

Updated at 12:57 p.m. to include Assemblyman Ammiano's response.

PHOTO: A screenshot from the Facebook page of Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow shows him posing with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

READ MORE:

Sen. Leland Yee arrested, Capitol office searched by FBI

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

FBI agents are in the Capitol office of state Sen. Leland Yee this morning, and Bay Area news stations are reporting that the San Francisco Democrat has been arrested on suspicion of corruption.

FBI spokeswoman Gina Swankie would not confirm anything about Yee or others who may be targeted by the agency, but said "the FBI is executing multiple search warrants and conducting arrests in multiple locations today."

"At this time we are not elaborating due to the need for agent safety," Swankie said.

Yee's press secretary Dan Lieberman said he had no information but expected to provide a statement later today. Yee was photographed entering the federal building in San Francisco, apparently to be formally charged.

News reports said that a well-known former Chinatown gangster, Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, also had been arrested.

Yee, a child psychologist, has served in the Assembly and the Senate and is now running for secretary of state, with another state senator, Alex Padilla of Los Angeles, his chief Democratic foe. Yee has carried a wide variety of legislation during his career and is best known for his measures dealing with violence in video games and his advocacy for open records.

Two other Democratic state senators, Rod Wright and Ron Calderon, are already on leaves of absence due to criminal charges against them, and their departure erased the Senate's Democratic supermajority at least temporarily. Were Yee also to depart before his term expires, it would drop Democrats to 25 seats in the Senate and give Republicans a larger role in legislation that requires two-thirds votes, such as tax increases, constitutional amendments and a pending water bond issue.

A spokesman for Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said the pro tem planned to talk to media this afternoon. Minority leader Bob Huff issued a statement by email saying he is "deeply troubled" by Yee's arrest.

"Once again, the Senate has been tarnished by another FBI raid of a Senator's capitol office. There are hundreds of visitors in the State Capitol each day, and those who witnessed this morning's events have every reason to be concerned about whether the Legislature is more concerned about serving themselves than the people."

Updated at 11:48 a.m. with additional details.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, arrives at the San Francisco Federal Building on March 26, 2014 after being arrested on suspicion of corruption charges. Courtesy of KPIX

READ MORE:

Ex-con 'Shrimp Boy' linked to Yee arrest was honored by elected officials

Yee's arrest upends contest for California Secretary of State

VIDEO: FBI raids Sen. Leland Yee's office, carts away files

READ: 'Uncle Leland' involved in arms deal, FBI affidavit alleges

Yee criminal complaint "Word Cloud"

VIDEO: Steinberg says Yee arrest leaves him 'extremely disappointed and upset'

Darrell Steinberg to Leland Yee: Resign or be suspended

Proposition 37, which would have required labeling of genetically modified food, was one of California's most expensive ballot fights in the November 2012 election. The measure failed, but proponents pushed on to other states and have seen successes in the Maine and Connecticut state legislatures.

Now the fight returns to California with SB 1381, a bill by state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, that would prescribe labeling requirements for foods that are genetically engineered or contain genetically engineered ingredients.

Will taking their cause to lawmakers instead of voters change the outcome for anti-GMO advocates? That question could become clearer when the bill goes before its first committee, the Senate Health Committee, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4203 of the Capitol.

VIDEO: School districts and civil rights groups have been at odds over how to spend new school money to close California's "achievement gap," Dan Walters says. Now Democratic lawmakers have weighed in.

DRUG POLLUTION: New legislation from state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, aims to address potential environmental damage from people's disposal of medicine by creating a statewide drug take-back program for unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee will hold an informational hearing on the bill at 9:30 a.m. in Room 3191 of the Capitol and then vote on it.

MORE HEARINGS: The Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment meets at 10 a.m. in Room 444 of the Capitol to discuss resources available to female prisoners upon re-entry into society. The Senate Insurance Committee gathers at 1:30 p.m. in Room 112 of the Capitol for a hearing on California's earthquake preparedness and the risk to businesses and the economy.

GLOBAL CONCERNS: How should the international community respond to North Korea? The World Affairs Council of Northern California sponsors a briefing with Philip Yun, a North Korea adviser in the Clinton administration, noon in Room 2040 of the Capitol.

VETS VISIT: The California chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America is in town for its lobby day, starting with a gathering at 8:45 a.m. in the Capitol Basement Cafeteria to discuss legislation of interest and honor state Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, and Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley. Following legislative visits, the group will hold a public ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Capitol Park at 3 p.m.

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM: The California Grocers Association is also at the Capitol today and will host an ice cream social for legislators and their staffs on the south steps at 1:30 p.m., sponsored by Nestle Dreyer's Ice Cream.

POLICE FUNERAL: Last week, a Mendocino County sheriff's deputy was killed in a shootout with an armed kidnapping suspect. Gov. Jerry Brown will attend the funeral for the officer, Ricky Del Fiorentino, at 10 a.m. at the Cotton Auditorium in Fort Bragg.

PHOTO: Some packaged foods are labeled as being free of GMO at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op on September 18, 2012. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

School districts and civil rights groups have been at odds over how to spend new school money to close California's "achievement gap," Dan says. Now Democratic lawmakers have weighed in.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Students, parents and advocates from across the state march around the California Department of Education building on January 16, 2014 in Sacramento, Calif. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez held a 17-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage over fellow Democrat Betty Yee as of mid-March in the race for state controller, according to the latest campaign filings.

Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization, and Pérez are running to succeed Controller John Chiang, who is running for state treasurer.

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, the top Republican in the contest, only declared her candidacy earlier this month and did not file a report by Monday's deadline.

The chart below compares Pérez and Yee's fundraising totals for Jan. 1 through March 17:

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Tuesday that he has appointed Greg Lucas, a former San Francisco Chronicle political reporter who has, most recently, been a political blogger and host of a television interview show, as the state librarian.

Lucas, son of former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas, is also the husband of Donna Lucas, who runs a political public relations firm in Sacramento and is a former adviser to Republican governors.

The new librarian, who will earn $142,968 a year, is a Democrat. He left the Chronicle in 2007 after 19 years with the newspaper and has been an editor for the Capitol Weekly newspaper in recent years. He also hosted an informal political discussion program for the California Channel.

In his new job, Lucas will manage the California State Library, which is located near the Capitol. It houses historical books and documents, provides research to the governor and Legislature and acts as a liaison with local libraries.

PHOTO: The renovated Stanley Mosk Library & Courts Building. (The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Republican Tim Donnelly continued to lag behind in fundraising in California's gubernatorial race in the first three months of the year, with less than $11,000 in cash on hand mid-way through March, according to a campaign finance statement filed Monday.

In addition, Donnelly's campaign posted $149,068 in outstanding debts.

Donnelly, a tea party favorite, reported contributions from Jan. 1 to March 17 of $182,206, mostly in relatively small donations. But he posted payments of more than $190,000 including more than $59,000 to campaign consultants and campaign workers.

Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, is in far worse financial shape than his Republican rival, Neel Kashkari, who has banked $903,478.

The two Republicans are competing in a longshot bid to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown, and they remain far behind him in fundraising. The Democratic incumbent reported Friday that he holds nearly $20 million in cash on hand.

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly speaks with reporters at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 15, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

California's 23rd Senate District was vacated last fall when former state Sen. Bill Emmerson abruptly announced he would resign effective December 1, saying his "passion has waned" after nine years in the Legislature. A month later, Emmerson joined the California Hospital Association to oversee its lobbying operation.

Voters in the Republican-leaning district, which takes in swaths of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will head to the polls today for a special election primary to replace Emmerson. The top two are scheduled to face off on the June ballot, though the race could be over by tonight if one candidate gets at least 50 percent of the vote.

The presumptive favorite is Assemblyman Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, whose 40th Assembly District overlaps with about half of the 23rd Senate District. He faces Republican San Jacinto councilwoman Crystal Ruiz, Libertarian Calimesa Councilman Jeffrey Hewitt, Democratic health care consultant Ameenah Fuller and Democratic real estate educator Ronald O'Donnell.

The special election is expected to cost at least $1.1 million for Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

VIDEO: The budget may be balanced on paper, but we're running up debts with deferred maintenance on our crumbling highway system, Dan Walters says.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN: The Advancement Project has put together a buzzworthy list of names to discuss educational and economic opportunities for young children at its sixth annual Water Cooler Conference, taking place at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on J Street starting at 8:30 a.m. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will deliver the keynote address at noon. Also scheduled to speak are state Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles; Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles; Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego; State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson; and Camille Maben, executive director of First 5 California.

BEHIND THE TIMES: New legislation from Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, seeks to address a backlog of untested rape kits in California by outlining timeframes for law enforcement agencies and forensic labs to process forensic evidence from sexual assaults. The bill appears before Assembly Public Safety Committee at 9 a.m. in Room 126 of the Capitol.

COVER UP: The first enrollment period for Covered California ends March 31 and users won't be able to sign up for the health care exchange again until the fall. Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, joins with Diana Dooley, state secretary of health and human services, at Sacramento Fire Department Station #2 on I Street at 9:30 a.m. to publicize these final days of open enrollment.

FREE YOUR MIND: The Senate Select Committee on Emerging Technology: Biotechnology and Green Energy Jobs holds a hearing at 10 a.m. in Room 113 of the Capitol to discuss the BRAIN Initiative, a federal brain-mapping project announced last year, and the role California could play in the research.

MAZEL TOV: A new legislative caucus emerged earlier this session to focus on issues pertaining to the Jewish community. The Legislative Jewish Caucus, which includes nine lawmakers who identify as Jewish and several who do not but wanted to participate, kicks off its first event at 5:30 p.m. at Chops on 11th Street.

IT'S ALL DOWNSTREAM FROM HERE: Hoping to increase the odds of survival for salmon this year, state and federal fish and wildlife agencies are embarking upon a two-and-a-half month program to truck the fish from hatcheries to downstream release points, bypassing hazards in drought-depleted streams. The effort begins today with a demonstration in Rio Vista at 9:15 a.m.

The budget may be balanced on paper, but we're running up debts with deferred maintenance on our crumbling highway system, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: California Highway 49 sign. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

A fight by California Senate Republicans to qualify a GOP candidate for the ballot in the open 26th district appears to have stalled Monday, after elections officials again notified Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch that his paperwork was not accepted.

Mirisch submitted 49 signatures, 12 of which were originally deemed invalid by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. He needed to provide 40 valid signatures, spokeswoman Elizabeth Knox said Monday.

A single signature was later resuscitated, bringing the total valid to 38.

Mirisch's appearance on the ballot - alongside seven Democrats and one no-party preference candidate - would significantly alter the dynamics of the race covering coastal Los Angeles. At the least, a Republican likely would advance to the November runoff, and Democrats could be left without a candidate altogether in the fall.

Mirisch, aided by party attorney Chuck Bell, essentially argued that at least three households who signed for his campaign should have been allowed to have just one representative fill out their information such as a printed name and address.

The form requires that signers personally affix their own printed name, signature and registered address.

This is the second setback for Mirisch in as many weeks. Previously, he successfully sued state and county elections officials after they refused to accept his faxed candidacy papers. Mirisch was drafted by Senate Republican leadership on the eve of the deadline to run in the heavily Democratic district left open after Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, mounted a run to succeed retiring Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Beverly Hills.

Mirisch worked as an executive at Paramount Pictures and previously oversaw international distribution for IMAX. The field of Democratic candidates includes former Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, attorney Sandra Fluke, school board member Ben Allen, Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth and state surgeon Vito Imbasciani.

PHOTO: John Mirisch (City of Beverly Hills)

The Capitol plays frequent host to protests and press conferences, but one thing is sure to capture the attention of even the most battle-hardened Sacramento veterans: an inflatable walk-through colon.

Curious onlookers from both inside and outside the Capitol building stopped by the Strollin' Colon on the north steps Monday to learn about the screening process for colorectal cancer and maybe take their picture with a giant pink polyp.

The display, sponsored by pharmaceutical company Sanofi Oncology, was intended to raise awareness for colorectal cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.

"We've done a lot of teaching here," said Lisa Hullinger, a nurse and educator with Sanofi who takes the Strollin' Colon around Northern California, "and at least gotten some people who weren't gonna be screened maybe to think about it a little bit stronger."

PHOTO: Lisa Hullinger, left, of Sanofi Oncology, educates visitors to the Strollin' Colon about colorectal cancer. The Sacramento Bee/Alexei Koseff

After he raised nearly $1 million in the first two weeks of his gubernatorial campaign, Republican Neel Kashkari's fundraising appears to be leveling off.

In a financial statement Monday, Kashkari reported raising a total of $1.3 million from Jan. 1 to March 17, a figure that includes the strong numbers Kashkari posted soon after entering the race. His initial fundraising came after a year of courting potential donors.

Kashkari reported spending $430,347 on campaign operations and an ending cash balance of $903,478, a fraction of the nearly $20 million Gov. Jerry Brown has on hand.

Yet Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, remains far better-funded than his Republican rival, Tim Donnelly, more than doubling his fundraising effort so far. Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, has not yet filed a campaign statement due Monday but has previously reported raising about $500,000.

Kashkari's fundraising draws heavily from the financial industry, including former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who gave $27,200, and several employees of Goldman Sachs, where Kashkari previously worked. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch contributed $5,000.

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari speaks with reporters at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 15, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

Pavement conditions on California's highways are among the worst in the nation, but the state transportation department says they've gotten a bit better in the last four years, thanks to spending $3.9 billion in state and federal funds.

About 16 percent of the state's 50,000 lane-miles of highway are considered to be in poor condition, but that's lower than in some recent years. The Federal Highway Administration has consistently placed California near the bottom in pavement conditions among the states, both for its highways and its local streets and roads.

However, the state Department of Transportation warns in a new report that the money is running out and the backlog of unmet maintenance needs is likely to grow.

"The 2013 Ten-Year Plan anticipates pavement needs to be $2.8 billion per year over the next decade, although only $685 million per year is available, i.e., only twenty-three cents of every dollar," the report warns. "Consequently, distressed lane miles could increase from 16 percent today to 34 percent in the next 10 years."

The report points out that California's highway system was largely built during a few decades after World War II, and therefore is aging rapidly as it's pounded by 35 million vehicles which pile up about 300 billion miles a year.

The surge in maintenance, reconstruction and replacement work in recent years was financed by a transportation bond issue and federal stimulus funds, both of which are running out.

Gov. Jerry Brown has said he doesn't believe that general obligation bonds should be used for roadwork and has diverted transportation revenues from gasoline taxes and other sources into repaying the bonds that were issued during predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship.

A coalition of transportation groups, pointing to the projection of unmet needs cited in the Caltrans report, has been searching for ways to increase revenues. Its initial proposal was for an increase in vehicle license fees, but that was abandoned. Other ideas have included raising gasoline taxes — although they are already the highest in the nation — or going to a mileage-based tax that would capture money from electric and hybrid vehicles.

PHOTO: Drivers navigate their vehicles through blowing sand east of Owen's lake on Highway 136 near Lone Pine, Calif. on Nov. 21, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

Consumer Watchdog submitted more than 800,000 signatures Monday for a ballot measure that would modify the state's $250,000 cap on pain and suffering injuries in medical malpractice cases, touching off what promises to be a fierce battle with medical providers and their insurers.

The cap (known as MICRA) was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1975, during the first year of his first governorship, and has been the subject of political maneuvering ever since between the medical industry and Consumer Attorneys of California, whose members file and pursue personal injury cases.

Most recently, with signatures being collected for the measure, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has been trying to work out a legislative compromise on the long-burning issue, but that effort apparently failed. And once the 830,000 signatures were submitted, the measure, if qualified, could not be removed from the November ballot.

"My suggested compromise was to raise the MICRA cap on damages due to medical malpractice from $250,000 to $500,000," Steinberg said in a statement. "A cap of $500,000 is far below the rate of inflation since MICRA became law 39 years ago. That number is a reasonable compromise that fairly compensates injured patients without significant increases in medical costs.

"If one side says no, it's a terrible missed opportunity. An initiative battle is costly and uncertain, and will damage the reputation of two fine professions. This issue cries out for a legislative solution, and what I'm offering is a conservative increase that's fair to injured patients as well as the medical and legal communities."

Consumer Watchdog, a Southern California organization that has long been allied with the trial lawyers, submitted the petitions in Los Angeles and staged a news conference at which families of malpractice victims decried the limit. One was Robert Pack, a Bay Area businessman whose two children were run over and killed by a driver who had been overprescribed with drugs by doctors.

Pack, who is the out-front spokesman for the measure, said not only should the cap be lifted as a deterrent to malpractice but the proposal's other provisions, requiring drug testing of doctors and compelling them to check a registry of drug addicts to curb over-prescription of drugs, are needed to stop what was called a "patient safety crisis."

The medical and insurance industries have been gearing up to oppose the Consumer Watchdog-Pack measure and say they are ready to spend more than $30 million on a campaign against it. They contend that the cap has held down malpractice insurance rates, which also hold down medical costs, and that the drug-testing provisions of the measure are unneeded and mask a measure that would put more money in the pockets of lawyers.

Update: Amended at 11:50 to include Steinberg statement.

PHOTO: A West Sacramento billboard highlights the looming ballot fight to overturn the state law capping pain-and-suffering damages in medical negligence cases. Photo courtesy of Consumer Watchdog.

Ever since Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act during his first term in 1975, there have been efforts at the Capitol to overturn the law's $250,000 limit on medical malpractice awards for pain and suffering.

Passed to address medical providers' concerns that high damages payouts were drying up their insurance market, supporters of eliminating the cap argue that it shortchanges victims of botched medical procedures and makes attorneys less willing to take up their cases.

That battle may heat up once again if an initiative sponsored by Consumer Watchdog makes the November ballot. Though pushed as a measure to require drug testing for doctors, a provision that would eliminate the medical malpractice compensation cap could make it a big-money, fiercely contested contest this election cycle.

We'll find out soon whether the initiative has qualified: Consumer Watchdog and its allies have announced that they will turn in 830,000 signatures for the measure to the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters in Norwalk at 10:30 a.m.

VIDEO: Despite billions in unfunded liabilities that grow every day, legislators continue to ignore California's teacher pension woes, Dan Walters says.

BLAST OFF: Aerospace Week launches at the Capitol today, sponsored by state Sen. Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, and Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance. At 3:30 p.m, Dr. Ed Stone, the project scientist for NASA's Voyager mission, discusses the venture in Room 113. Events tomorrow include a joint hearing on California's aerospace industry at 2 p.m. in Room 127 and an informational display with a flight simulator starting at 11 a.m. on the west steps. Legislative visits follow on Wednesday.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND: Last year, the Public Policy Institute of California released a report suggesting that the state would face a shortfall of 1 million college graduates by 2025. PPIC hosts a conversation and Q&A on the issue with University of California President Janet Napolitano at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on J Street at 12:25 p.m. The event will also be webcast.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!: The Senate chamber gets a little more artistic this morning as the 35 finalists in California's high school Poetry Out Loud contest compete for a $200 prize and entry into the national championships in Washington, D.C., starting at 8:10 a.m.

BUTTING IN: Members from California Youth Advocacy Network, an organization that fights tobacco use among young adults, march and rally on the west steps of the Capitol at 1:30 p.m. to denounce tobacco companies, which the group says continue to target young people.

PASSING THROUGH: Surely this is one of the oddest events to ever hit the Capitol: Pharmaceutical maker Sanofi displays the "Strollin' Colon," an inflatable walk-through colon, on the north steps from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to demonstrate what a healthy colon looks like and provide information on getting screened for cancerous polyps.

PHOTO: Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. Photo by Kent A McInnis Jr.

Billions in unfunded liabilities for teacher retirement grow every day, but California lawmakers just keep putting off the problem, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: A bicyclist rides in the shadow of the CalSTRS headquarters building on Riverwalk Park in West Sacramento on September 30, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Manny Crisostomo

Gov. Jerry Brown has added to his dominant war chest in this year's gubernatorial race, reporting Friday that he has raised nearly $3 million since Jan. 1 and now has $19.7 million on hand.

The Democratic governor's donors include labor unions and a variety of business interests, including energy, tobacco and health care companies.

Seven different members of the Fisher family, which owns Gap Inc., donated $54,400 each to Brown, the maximum allowed. The donations come after members of the family appeared to be included on a sloppily redacted list of donors working against Brown in California's initiative wars in 2012.

Brown reported receiving $8,200 from a campaign account held open by former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, and $5,000 from eBay Inc., the former company of Brown's Republican opponent in 2010, Meg Whitman.

Brown is the heavy favorite to win re-election in this Democratic-leaning state, and he has been slow to spend money in the run-up to the campaign. In his latest disclosure, he reported that the Democratic State Central Committee of California had provided polling for his effort, and he paid political consultants about $65,000 since Jan. 1.

Brown's filing comes ahead of a Monday deadline for reports covering campaign donations and spending from Jan. 1 to March 17. Brown's main Republican opponents, Neel Kashkari and Tim Donnelly, have not yet filed those statements.

In previous filings, Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, has reported raising nearly $1.3 million. Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, has reported raising about $500,000.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown speaks at the California Chamber of Commerce's annual host breakfast in Sacramento on May 22, 2013. The Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

It's like a scene from one of his action blockbusters: Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rolls in on an M47 Patton tank, plowing through a taxi, 66 birthday cakes, bubble wrap and a giant Easter egg to the strains of "The Final Countdown."

"I finally have achieved my lifelong dream," he says. "Come to LA, and crush things in my tank!"

The video, which has been viewed more than 8.7 million times since it premiered online March 12, was part of a fundraising campaign by Schwarzenegger for his After-School All-Stars organization, which runs programs for almost 90,000 low-income youth across the country.

The simple hook, inspired by a Reddit Q&A: One lucky donor and a friend would be chosen to join Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles and spend an afternoon crushing things with the tank he drove in the Austrian Army. (Schwarzenegger acquired the tank two decades ago when it was decommissioned by the Austrian government and it now resides at the Melody Ranch film studio.)

This week, Schwarzenegger announced a winner: Alex Mihelick of Dallas, Texas, who will get an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to crush a car and other things to be determined.

The campaign also brought in more than $500,000, which will be matched by Schwarzenegger.

"I am very excited about all of this," he said in a statement. "Because so many people donated money, so many kids will have the chance to dream big and reach all of their goals in school and life."

PHOTO: Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks after being honored by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 4, 2011. The Associated Press/Mark J. Terrill

Gov. Jerry Brown has named one of his top aides to head California's Employment Development Department.

Patrick Henning, 41, becomes department director after serving as Brown's chief deputy appointments secretary since 2011. Henning's father, Patrick W. Henning, led the department for several years under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Before joining the Brown administration, Henning lobbied for the California State Council of Laborers and held positions at the state Labor and Workforce Agency (which oversees the employment department) and the Department of Industrial Relations.

Henning's résumé also includes four years in Washington, D.C. as a legislative assistant for former Congressman Vic Fazio and as congressional liaison and special advisor to President Bill Clinton.

Brown's appointment ends a 14-month stretch that Chief Deputy Director Sharon Hilliard served as the department's acting director. During that time the EDD has endured deep federal funding cuts, a computer system snafu and a recent revelation that a former EDD official brushed aside federal assistance that would have collected hundreds of millions of dollars in benefit overpayments.

Henning, a Democrat, will earn $150,112 annually as director.

PHOTO: Binders full of resources at the Employment Development Department office in Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

The good news is that with a recent surge of employment, California has regained virtually all of the million-plus jobs it lost during what many call the Great Recession.

The Employment Development Department reported Friday that California's unemployment rate, which hit a high of 12.4 percent in 2010, dropped to 8 percent in February. California had added 336,000 non-agricultural jobs in the previous 12 months.

The bad news is that despite regaining those lost jobs, California still has one of the nation's highest jobless rates, surpassed by only a handful of other states, and it's still well above the national average of 6.7 percent.

How can that be?

It's because over more than seven years of economic decline and recovery, California's population has grown and therefore so has its potential workforce, and the unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force that doesn't have jobs.

California's lowest unemployment rate in recent history was 4.8 percent for a few months in late 2006, when about 850,000 of the state's 17.8 million available workers were unemployed.

In the 7-1/2 years since then, California's labor force has grown by 800,000-plus to 18.6 million but the state has only 193,000 more people employed, leaving 640,000 more Californians without jobs than there were in 2006. Hence, with 1.5 million unemployed, the state has a much-higher unemployment rate now than it did then.

Two other factors also round out California's employment picture, and undercut somewhat the positive news of recent job gains.

One is labor force participation - the percentage of Californians of working age who either are working or seeking work. That's just 62.2 percent, the lowest rate in more than three decades, according to EDD. Were more Californians between the ages of 16 and 64 to join the labor force and seek work, the state's unemployment rate would be higher.

The second is what the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calls "U-6" - the percentage of the labor force that's not only unemployed, but involuntarily working part-time or "marginally attached" to the labor force. BLS calls it "labor underutilization."

For 2013, California had the nation's second highest U-6 rate, 17.3 percent. And in Los Angeles County, which has more than a quarter of the state's population, it was 19.8 percent.

PHOTO: A group meets during a workshop for unemployed people at a community center in Corona, Calif., Aug. 7, 2012. The New York Times/Monica Almeida

San Jose State University was embroiled in controversy last fall when news surfaced that an African-American student had allegedly been subjected to racially charged harassment by four white roommates, including being nicknamed "Three-fifths," as slaves were counted for census purposes, and having a bicycle lock fastened around his neck.

The incident led to a $5 million claim against the university by the student and to the creation of the Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate in January to explore issues of diversity, tolerance and student safety at California's public colleges and universities.

The committee, chaired by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, and including a bipartisan roster of 14 other members, will hold its first meeting at 12:30 p.m. at San Jose State's Morris Dailey Auditorium. The university's president, Mohammad Qayoumi, is scheduled to testify, as are students and faculty from other Bay Area schools, local law enforcement and several anti-discrimination groups.

SWITCHING TRACKS: With California pushing to graduate more college students faster, the state community college system has been developing a new degree program that would ease transfers to a California State University campus. Colleen Moore, a higher education researcher at Sacramento State, discusses the effectiveness of the program at a talk sponsored by Public Policy Institute of California, noon at the CSAC Conference Center on 11th Street.

READY TO RIDE: As transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft soar in popularity, the state and federal government face mounting questions over how to regulate them. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones leads an informational hearing on insuring this growing industry at 1 p.m. in Room 112 of the Capitol.

ACA-NNIVERSARY: The fourth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act is this weekend, so Health Access has released a report on implementation efforts in California, including pending legislation such as SB 1005, which would extend health care subsidies to undocumented immigrants.

TEACHER'S LOUNGE: The California Federation of Teachers holds its annual convention in Manhattan Beach this weekend. State Attorney General Kamala Harris is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Saturday morning and state Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, will be honored.

NEW JOB: Welcome back to Amanda Fulkerson, who joined the office of the Assembly Republican Caucus this week as press secretary. Before a stint as chief communications officer for Las Vegas' school district, she worked in the Capitol as chief of staff to former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.

CELEBRATIONS: An early happy birthday to state Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, who turns 41 on Saturday, and Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, who turns 45 on Saturday.

PHOTO: Champagne Ellison, left, a senior at San Jose State University, marches Nov. 21, 2013 in a protest over reported racial hazing of an African-American freshman by his dormitory roommates. San Jose Mercury News/Karl Mondon

The University of California Board of Regents approved a pay hike Thursday for UCLA's offensive line coach that would more than double his pay over the next two years.

Adrian Klemm currently earns $340,000. In an effort to keep him from leaving for rival USC, the university offered him a two-year contract guaranteeing that he will receive $650,000 in 2014-15 and $750,000 in 2015-16.

Because the 91.2 percent raise in the first year exceeds the 30 percent allowed under UC rules, it required approval from the Board of Regents, who discussed it during closed session and passed it without objection.

The deal would keep Klemm's $250,000 base salary, but boost his talent fee from $90,000 to $400,000 and then to $500,000 over the next two academic years. The contract, which runs through June 2016 and also includes a $63,000 signing bonus, would be funded through athletic department revenue and private fundraising; no state funds would be used.

UCLA's head football coach, Jim Mora, made $1.88 million in 2012.

The raise for Klemm was part of a package of five compensation changes approved by the UC regents, including a 2.7 percent merit increase to $451,010 for A. Paul Alivisatos, laboratory director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and 28 percent raise to $219,000 for Anne L. Shaw, who will step in as interim secretary and chief of staff to the regents.

PHOTO: UCLA ball carrier Eddie Vanderdoes follows a wave of blue into the end zone as he scores a touchdown against USC at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 2013. Los Angeles Times/Luis Sinco

Following a letter-writing campaign by students and alumni, President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address at UC Irvine this year, the White House announced Thursday.

The commencement ceremony, set for June 14 at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, will kick off the university's 50th anniversary celebration. In June 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated the land that would become UC Irvine.

"We are thrilled that the President has accepted our invitation to deliver the keynote address at our commencement exercises this June," Chancellor Michael V. Drake said in a statement. "We are proud of the progress we have made during our first half century, and are looking forward to even greater achievements in the years to come."

UC Irvine first extended an invitation to Obama in April 2013. This year, approximately 10,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni sent postcards to the White House requesting the president speak at the university's commencement, which will honor more than 8,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional school students.

This is not the first time a University of California school has gotten a graduation visit from the Obama administration. In 2009, the first graduating class of UC Merced successfully lobbied First Lady Michelle Obama to speak at their commencement.

PHOTO: President Barack Obama delivers a statement on Ukraine on the South Lawn of the White House on March 20, 2014. Abaca Press/Olivier Douliery

Tougher laws and more money would help California law enforcement combat international organized crime, according to a report from the California Attorney General's office.

While it may first evoke an image of intercontinental drug routes, the term "transnational organized crime" can also encompass human trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime. California's size, its sprawling transportation infrastructure and its proximity to Latin America make it an attractive hub for organized crime networks, the report says.

Attorney General Kamala Harris was scheduled to discuss the report this morning in Los Angeles.

"These groups - with roots in places around the globe - have flocked to California to engage in an increasingly diverse range of criminal activities," the report says, adding that transational crime groups are active in every major California city.

Policymakers can better equip law enforcement to crack down on organized crime, the report says, by bolstering laws that could help pursue leaders of crime networks and by restoring law enforcement budgets that diminished during the recession.

It's National Sunshine Week! While we here in Sacramento have indeed been blessed with great weather, this is actually an event promoting public access to government information. In observance, California Forward is hosting a summit on using government data to improve decision-making and solve policy challenges from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UC Center Sacramento on K Street.

Among those participating are Kish Rajan, director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development; Erin Peth, executive director of the Fair Political Practices Commission; former Assemblyman Rick Keene; budget and campaign contribution data websites OpenGov and MapLight; and The Sacramento Bee's own deputy editorial page editor, Mariel Garza.

VIDEO: California is a leader in technological advances, Dan Walters says. So why does state government have such a bad record with updating its computer systems?

COMMITTEE CORPS: It's a budget kind of day for the state Senate. All five budget subcommittees are meeting at the Capitol starting at 9:30 a.m.: Education in Room 3191; Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation in Room 112; Health and Human Services in Room 4203; State Administration and General Government in Room 2040; and Corrections, Public Safety and the Judiciary in Room 113.

BORDER BATTLES: Ahead of a visit to Mexico next week, the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris will release a report Thursday examining the impact of transnational crime on California. Harris is scheduled to lead a delegation of state attorney generals to Mexico City from March 24-26 to increase collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico on issues including international money laundering and human, drug and firearms trafficking.

DRIVERLESS DEBATE: Self-driving cars may not be available for another decade, but California is getting a head start, allowing developers to test the vehicles on the road and working with the public on regulations. What are the advantages and risks of this new technology for traffic, safety and the environment? Nidhi Kalra, an information scientist at the RAND Corporation, hosts a policy briefing at noon in Room 125 of the Capitol.

NEW JOB: The Internet Association is expanding beyond Washington, D.C., opening a new office in Sacramento this week. The trade association has hired former TechAmerica lobbyist Robert Callahan to head its California operation.

California leads the way in technological advances, Dan says. So why does state government have such a poor track record with updating its computer systems?

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: The Los Angeles Regional Transportation Management Center Oct. 18, 2013. The Associated Press/Reed Saxon

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein still has doubts about legalizing marijuana in California, adding her voice Wednesday to mounting debate about the wisdom of legitimizing the drug following tax-generating efforts in Colorado and Washington.

"The risk of people using marijuana and driving is very substantial," Feinstein, D-California, told the Associated Press in an interview.

It has been 18 years since California became the first state to decriminalize marijuana for medical purposes. Four years ago, voters here rejected Proposition 19, which would have lifted the ban on adults 21 and older from smoking, growing and transporting pot for recreational purposes.

At the time, Feinstein signed the ballot argument against the initiative. She called the proposal "a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe."

In the interview Wednesday, Feinstein said it was unclear how the culture would improve through legalizing marijuana. She said serving during the 1960s on the California Women's Board of Terms and Parole gave her first-hand experience of how marijuana negatively impacted the lives of women inmates.

Said Feinstein: "I saw a lot of where people began with marijuana and went on to hard drugs."

Feinstein's remarks closely follow a nationally televised interview with Gov. Jerry Brown in which the Democrat questioned whether pot legalization would stymie the state's competitive advantages.

Gov. Jerry Brown touched on California's worsening water shortage Wednesday in brief remarks to representatives from the state's agriculture community.

"We're doing everything we can to respond to the drought," Brown said outside the state Capitol as the California Department of Food and Agriculture hosted its annual Ag Day. "We've got to emphasize water conservation, and water recycling and managing the water."

But the governor avoided a reporter's question about new proposals to boost water storage.

On Wednesday, Reps. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, and Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, trumpeted legislation to construct a massive reservoir in Northern California. In Fresno, the House Natural Resources Committee held a field hearing about the drought.

Several storage-related proposals are being weighed by state and federal lawmakers.

Brown on Wednesday did not address the prospects for a water bond on the ballot this November. Instead, he again framed the issue as part of a broader effort to reduce greenhouse gasses and combat global climate change.

"Whether it's in agriculture, or our homes, or businesses, or in how we travel, we've got a lot of big challenges," he said.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown speaks at the annual Ag Day at the state capitol, March 19, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Christopher Cadelago

Facing a budget shortfall of more than a hundred million dollars, the University of California Board of Regents expressed doubts at its bimonthly meeting Wednesday that it could sustain the current tuition freeze for students.

"Obviously, none of us want to increase tuition," board chairman Bruce D. Varner said. But realistically, "we will need to have increases that make sense" going forward.

Tuition has been held at 2011-12 levels--$12,192--for the past three years and Gov. Jerry Brown has offered modest annual funding increases for UC as long as fees remain flat through the 2016-17 academic year.

But Brown's January budget proposal, which would allocate another $142 million, or 5 percent, to the university, still falls $124 million short of the UC budget that regents approved last November, said Nathan Brostrom, UC's executive vice president of business operations.

The difference covers three major areas, he added: enrollment funding, deferred maintenance and $64 million in pension contributions.

"Those are the areas we should be hitting on in our meetings with the Legislature and the governor's staff," Brostrom said.

Regent Hadi Makarechian argued that it is not viable to keep freezing tuition when fees are the university's biggest source of income. He suggested that recent borrowing and overspending could put UC on the path to bankruptcy.

Some regents strongly disagreed with the prospect of raising tuition. Regent Sherry L. Lansing said that the university should ask for help from the state in funding its pension and retiree health care commitments, as the state does for the California State University system.

"Why are we treated differently?" she said. "It makes no sense."

Student regent Cinthia Flores said she hopes the university will be "honest and upfront" about the possibility of a fee increase, so that students won't be hit with another 32 percent jump in tuition "out of nowhere" like in 2009.

UC also released the results of a new campus climate report during the meeting. The survey of more than 100,000 students, faculty and staff followed a series of racially charged incidents, including a "Compton Cookout" party at UC San Diego in 2010 that mocked Black History Month.

The report showed that more than three-quarters of respondents felt comfortable with the climate at their location, but those numbers were slightly lower among members of minority groups. About 9 percent of respondents said they had experienced exclusionary behavior that affected their ability to work or learn.

Aimée Dorr, executive vice president for academic affairs, said each campus will be expected to develop "two or three areas where they can improve" and "have goals, metrics and be working on it" by the end of the year.

"The ultimate goal needs to be, in part, to get a critical mass of folks" from underrepresented minorities on campuses so they don't feel excluded, added Gibor Basri, UC Berkeley's vice chancellor for equity and inclusion.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 2:54 p.m. to specify that UC tuition is $12,192 annually.

PHOTO: Janet Napolitano speaks at a University of California Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco after being elected president of the UC system on July 18, 2013. The Associated Press/Eric Risberg

MAXWELL -- In a rare moment of unity for two ideological antagonists, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, on Wednesday unveiled legislation to build a new large-scale reservoir in Northern California.

That Garamendi and LaMalfa found common ground illustrated how the drought desiccating California has led both Republicans and Democrats to clamor for more water storage. If the state is to endure droughts, storage proponents say, it must build more capacity to trap precipitation in wetter years.

"There's a world of hurt in the fields and orchards around us because we failed in the past to prepare for the inevitable drought," Garamendi said, gesturing to fields bordered by the languidly flowing Glen Colusa canal.

The Sites Reservoir, for which the bill would direct a feasibility study and authorize construction, would be capable of holding up to 1.9 million acre feet of water.

Proponents said pouring that extra water into California's existing plumbing system would. benefit a multitude of users: farmers and urban faucets in addition to protected fish who could see additional discharges through the Delta.

"The more storage we have anywhere in California helps all of us," LaMalfa said.

The bill does not guarantee any federal funds. LaMalfa said that would ease its passage by reassuring critics wary of earmarks, and he predicted that other funding sources would surface.

"We have private sector funding that is waiting to happen if they have confidence in this project," LaMalfa said.

The so-called Sites Reservoir - technically called the North of the Delta Offstream Storage project - sits on a short list of storage projects California officials are trying to push forward, goaded by the historically devastating drought.

Other projects included in active bills before Congress include efforts to raise Shasta Dam, enlarge the San Luis Reservoir and construct a dam on the Upper San Joaquin River, popularly referred to as Temperance Flat.

"This is one of several storage projects that have to take place," Garamendi said, but he called Sites "the best of all."

In a recent speech to the Association of California Water Agencies, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, mentioned all four.

"The lesson is clear: we must build more storage to prepare for the next drought which is sure to come," Feinstein said.

And the calls for more water storage haven't been confined to Congress. The halls of the state Capitol in Sacramento hum with talk of placing a water bond on the 2014 ballot, with seven separate proposals on tap to replace a politically unpopular $11.1 billion measure currently scheduled to go before voters in November.

All include some amount of money for storage. But one authored by Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, is aimed predominantly at the Sites Reservoir and the Temperance Flats projects, offering $4.8 billion for those two dams.

Logue is challenging Garamendi this year, seeking to unseat the Democrat in the recently redrawn 3rd Congressional district.

PHOTO: Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, left, and John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, at a press conference to introduce a bill to study a possible reservoir near Maxwell, Calif., on March 19, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

An electronic milking cow named Buttercup and exhibits on advances in aquaculture take over the west steps of the Capitol as the California Department of Food and Agriculture once again hosts its annual Ag Day. The informational event, celebrating the state's agricultural community, starts at 10:30 a.m. for elected officials and their staff, then opens to the public for education and healthy treats at 11:30 a.m.

At noon, California Secretary of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross and Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, announce a new marketing campaign to promote California as a destination for food tourism.

Over on the north steps at 11 a.m., Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, and a bipartisan group of more than a dozen other legislators are scheduled to welcome hundreds of young people from Future Farmers of America to the event and to discuss a new bill that would offer grants for technical education in agriculture fields.

VIDEO: Despite evidence that charter schools are outperforming their public counterparts, Los Angeles is squandering their promise, Dan Walters says.

MOVIE NIGHT: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, will join President Barack Obama and others at the White House today for a private screening of the feature film "Cesar Chavez." The film's director, Diego Luna, and cast will be there, too.

EXTRA CREDIT: The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development is launching California Competes, a tax-credit program worth $180 million over the next two years for businesses that want to expand or relocate to California. The month-long application period begins today with a registration workshop at Sacramento City Hall at 9 a.m.

THE PEOPLE'S COURT: Groups representing businesses that say they have suffered abusive lawsuits call on the Legislature to change a legal system they argue is hurting job creation in California. Representatives from California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and the Civil Justice Association of California, among others, will be at Tsakopoulos Library Galleria on I Street at noon.

VEGGIE TALES: If it wasn't already clear that the drought is California's hottest political issue these days, even PETA is using it for leverage. Arguing that producing meat takes too much water, members of the animal-rights organization will be showering in front of the Capitol at noon to encourage veganism.

HIGH FIVE: First 5 California, which funds programs meant to improve early-childhood development, began fifteen years ago when voters passed a tobacco tax. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and the directors of county First 5 commissions celebrate that anniversary at 5 p.m. in the Eureka Room at the Capitol.

POLS IN TOYLAND: It could be Christmas in March for lawmakers and their staff who attend the Toy Industry Association's legislative reception, 5:30 p.m. at the Senator Hotel on L Street, where the trade group hands out goodie bags with toys and games produced by its members.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Burbank, who turns 41 today.

PHOTO: Jonathan Vera, 8, attempts to rope a fake bull during California Agriculture Day at the State Capitol on March 20, 2007. The Sacramento Bee/ Brian Baer

Despite evidence that charter schools are outperforming their public counterparts, California's largest school district is discouraging their development, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Parents protest a Los Angeles Unified order to reorganize elementary school classrooms by English language fluency on October 18, 2013. Los Angeles Times/Al Seib

The department charged with regulating more than 1,000 vocational schools and other private postsecondary institutions has "placed the public at risk" through inadequate oversight, according to a new state audit.

Lawmakers created the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education after its predecessor agency shut down following years of criticism from critics who said it offered students little protection from dishonest school operators.

"Unfortunately, during our current audit of the bureau, we found that many of the problems of the past persist today, four years after the Legislature reestablished the bureau to fill the regulatory void left by the sunset of its predecessor," reads today's Bureau of State Audits report.

Auditors reviewed 10 institutions regulated by the bureau, including a commercial truck-driving school and a degree-granting institution.

The audit recommends several improvements, including cutting the bureau's responsibilities or shifting them to another state department entirely.

Compliance inspections still take months longer than they are supposed to, the audit found. Proposed schools face lengthy delays in receiving permission to operate. And the bureau takes an average of 290 days — more than three times the 90-day goal — to process student claims for reimbursement after schools go out of business.

"The bureau also failed to appropriately respond to complaints against institutions, even when students' safety was allegedly at risk," the audit found.

The bureau is part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. In her response to the audit, department Director Denise Brown said the department agrees with the auditor's recommendations but took issue with the title of Tuesday's audit: "Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education: It has consistently failed to meet its responsibility to protect the public's interest."

"In our opinion, we do not believe that the title of the report accurately reflects the conditions found at the BPPE," Brown wrote.

The audit follows a December review of the bureau by the Legislative Analyst's Office. That report suggested that the bureau focus its energies on schools that have a history of problems.

PHOTO: A student inspects the engine compartment of a truck at the Center for Employment Training, a vocational school, in 2009. A new Bureau of State Audits report examines how such schools and other private institutions have been regulated by the state. The Sacramento Bee/Paul Kitagaki Jr.

Foreshadowing a clash between car makers and a prominent auto insurance company, Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, on Tuesday unveiled a bill to loosen car manufacturers' grip on data generated by vehicles.

Framed by a computer-equipped car parked on the steps of the State Capitol, Monning said his Senate Bill 994 would allow consumers to see what data their car generates and decide with whom they want to share the information. The measure is sponsored by AAA Northern California and its south state counterpart, the Auto Club of Southern California.

"It is your car, it is your data, and it should be your choice," Monning said.

Cars have evolved beyond simple conveyances of steel and rubber into transmitters of data, capturing driver statistics that can include, where and how fast a person drives, the number of passengers in a car to the road tunes a driver is playing.

Currently, car manufacturers control that data. Monning said the bill will let consumers see what information is emanating from their cars and allow them to share it with, for instance, an auto mechanic.

"If I have a car problem, a red light on the dash board, I want to be able to take that to a repair service that with my authority they could access that data to make a repair," Monning said.

The legislation has already prompted a public relations counteroffensive from automakers, who call the bill an insurance industry ploy to gain access to consumer information that could be resold or invoked to raise insurance rates.

"This is about AAA wanting to suck the data out of your car," said Rob Stutzman, who is working for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers on the bill.

In response to those concerns, Monning said his bill preserves a segment of California law that prohibits insurers from using data other than mileage to set rates. Law enforcement could still obtain car data if they went through the necessary legal process.

If a consumer enables another company to see his or her car data, that company could conceivably pass that data along to someone else - but only, Monning said, if the consumer signs off.

"I would expect in that conversation and in that contract, I'd want to make sure they're not going to share it with anyone else," Monning said.

The New York Times this week is regurgitating something that occurred more than three decades ago in California — something that Gov. Jerry Brown would like to forget.

The newspaper, as part of a series called "Retro Report" that's aimed at bringing readers up to date on old issues, delved into an infestation of Mediterranean fruit flies that threatened California's tree fruit industry in 1981 and 1982.

The Retro Report on the Medlfy includes both a written account and a video that uses much old footage, including clips of a much-younger Brown who was then winding up his first gubernatorial stint and running for the U.S. Senate.

It delves into how Brown at first refused to order pesticide spraying for environmental and health reasons, then caved in to pressure from the federal government — headed by President Ronald Reagan, a former California governor — and consented to aerial spraying.

The retrospective updates the Medfly story by noting that California has seen infestations in the decades since, and probably will in the future. It also notes that Brown lost his bid for the Senate in which his erratic handling of the Medfly crisis was a negative factor.

But the Times article omits another facet of the crisis — a virtual rebellion by the Legislature against Brown on the issue. And, unfortunately, it does not include the most memorable words to emerge from the Medfly crisis.

"I'm getting a bit bugged by this bug," Brown said as the controversy over his initial refusal to spray erupted. "It's got a lot of politicians panicked or foaming at the mouth."

The Medfly issue so consumed the Capitol at the time that a worker on the building's restoration, then underway, fashioned a tiny plaster fly that was attached to the ceiling of one of the building's museum rooms.

PHOTO: In this 1987 file photo, Rod Clark of the state Department of Food and Agriculture sprays the pesticide Malathion on a fruit tree in Maywood, Calif., The Associated Press/Mark Terrill

Gov. Jerry Brown has a new argument for high-speed rail: Get senior citizens off the road.

"There's a lot of old people who shouldn't be driving," the Democratic governor joked at a dinner hosted by labor leaders in Sacramento on Monday night. "They should be sitting in a nice train car working on their iPad, having a martini."

Brown, who will turn 76 next month, has other means of transportation, as he is chauffeured by a California Highway Patrol officer. He has made high-speed rail a priority of his administration, despite legal setbacks, funding uncertainty and a fall-off in public support.

Tim Donnelly and Neel Kashkari, the two main Republicans bidding to unseat Brown this year, have hammered him on the project.

But Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman and Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, are little known to the electorate, and the prospects of either beating Brown in this Democratic-leaning state are slim.

Brown suggested as much Monday.

"I won't talk about my opponents," he said, "because most of you don't know their names."

PHOTO: California Gov. Jerry Brown looks at protesters opposing fracking after his speech at the California Democratic Party's convention on March 8, 2014, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong

Protecting consumer data has been a hot topic around the Capitol this year: The Senate and Assembly both held hearings last month on the holiday data breaches that compromised credit card information for tens of millions of shoppers at Target and Neiman Marcus. New bills this session aim to stop educational websites and apps from compiling and selling information about K-12 students and to prohibit the California health care exchange from disclosing any personal information without an individual's permission.

Now state Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, turns the attention to automobiles, which have increasingly sophisticated on-board operating systems that collect data about vehicles and their owners. Monning will announce new legislation at 10:30 a.m. on the north steps of the Capitol that would give car consumers more access to the data, which is controlled primarily by automakers. He will be joined by representatives from AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah, the Automobile Club of Southern California and various business groups.

VIDEO: Once a leader on issues of open access to public records and meetings, California is now playing catch-up with other states, Dan Walters says.

PEEVEY PRESENCE Public Utilities Commission President Michael R. Peevey is among the scheduled witnesses for today's informational hearing on the PUC by the Senate Energy, Utilities And Communications Committee. The appearance by Peevey, who angered some lawmakers last year after rebuffing requests to testify to legislative panels, comes as state and federal lawmakers have raised alarm about last spring's sniper attack on a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power substation and follows a recent state audit that found that the PUC had not reviewed large energy utilities' balancing accounts containing $37.6 billion. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. in Room 3191.

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?: The Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment will hear from juvenile justice experts and educators on the "school-to-prison pipeline," 10 a.m. in Room 126 of the Capitol.

The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee speaks with California water experts, including Department of Water Resources director Mark Cowin, about challenges in managing the state's groundwater, 1:30 p.m. in Room 113 of the Capitol.

Senate and Assembly select committees on the wine industry and sustainable agriculture hold a joint hearing on sustainable wine-growing efforts and how they have been affected by the drought, 3 p.m. in Room 2040 of the Capitol.

READY, SET, GO: An organization of retired military leaders, holds its legislative lobby day to encourage greater investment in education, health and physical fitness programs for young children. Mission: Readiness California meets at 8 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency on L Street before visiting with lawmakers.

BUSINESS DINNER: Following a legislative summit and office visits, the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce hosts a reception for elected representatives, 5:30 p.m. at Mayahuel on K Street.

GIVING KUDOS: The National Association of Social Workers honors Assembly members Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, and Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, for their service in the Legislature at 5 p.m. in the Eureka Room of the Capitol. Eggman and Yamada are both former social workers and introduced a resolution declaring March "Social Work Month."

POLITICAL PATH: California Trailblazers, a group that recruits and advises Republican politicians, celebrates its "Pathfinder" program candidates from more than a dozen legislative races at 5:30 p.m. at Hock Farm on L Street.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, who turns 49 today.

PHOTO: New Honda automobiles are displayed at Mel Rapton Honda on Dec. 10, 2012 in Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee/Paul Kitagaki Jr.

Once a leader with public records and meetings, California is now playing catch-up to other states, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: The California Capitol dome. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

California faces a "civil rights crisis" because of years of funding reductions for the judicial branch, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said Monday afternoon during her third State of the Judiciary Address.

Speaking to a joint legislative session in the Assembly Chamber at the Capitol, Cantil-Sakauye asked for partnership across the government to address what has been nearly half a billion dollars in cumulative budget cuts since 2008. She said the reductions have deprived more than two million Californians of access to a local court and have had a particularly negative effect on civil cases, which cede precedence to criminal justice.

"We face astonishing and harmful delays in urgent family matters, in business contracts, wrongful termination, discrimination cases, personal injury cases across the board," she said. "We want to be a partner in fair and collaborative solutions."

Cantil-Sakauye tied her comments to the 50th anniversary of the federal Civil Rights Act. She called the landmark legislation, which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, "the fair thing and the right thing to do."

"But it also took collaboration" to create and enforce, she added. "That's how an effective democracy works--all three branches in collaboration."

She pointed to recent efforts within the California judiciary, including the creation of problem-solving courts, which emphasize rehabilitative programs over punitive solutions, and a push to address disparities in the juvenile justice system, where African-American, American Indian, disabled and foster youth are over-represented.

At the top of the speech, lawmakers gave a standing ovation to Justice Joyce L. Kennard, who will retire in April after 25 years on the California Supreme Court. Honoring her rise from immigrant to judge, Cantil-Sakauye saluted Kennard's "uncommon intellect, integrity and courage."

PHOTO: Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye delivers her State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers on March 11, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

With a single vote to spare, Republicans blocked a California campaign finance reform bill on Monday, demonstrating the limits of a diminished Democratic caucus.

The basic premise of requiring more disclosures of campaign donations is sound, said Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, but he objected to the timeline. The bill carried an urgency clause that would allow it to take effect in July, before the upcoming election.

"We will be subjecting people to a different process," Huff said. "They will not have had time to understand the rules of engagement changed."

Bills amending the Political Reform Act require a two-thirds vote, making them closely watched tests of Democratic dominance. Legal troubles have ensnared two Democratic senators, Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills and Ron Calderon of Montebello, and dropped Senate Democrats below their two-thirds margin.

Last year, when Wright and Calderon still sat in the Senate chambers, Correa's measure advanced beyond the Senate without a single Republican vote. During debate on the Assembly floor in February, Republicans decried a bill they said would muffle dissenting voices and unfairly alter the rules in the middle of an election cycle.

By the time it got back to the Senate to sign off on Assembly amendments on Monday, Wright and Calderon were gone and the GOP was able to block it. Democrats mustered all 26 of their votes, but four Republicans voted no. The other seven GOP members did not vote.

Lawmakers and the California Fair Political Practices Commission have sought to crack down on undisclosed campaign donations since outside groups used an elaborate network of nonprofits to funnel millions into the 2012 election.

Senate Bill 27, by Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, seeks to lift the veil on outside spending by compelling nonprofits to identify their donors if they hit certain benchmarks, such as when the nonprofit spends $50,000 in a given election or donors give at least $100 for explicitly political purposes.

Under the current rules, a nonprofit's initial campaign expenditure - its "first bite of the apple" - does not trigger disclosure requirements. Subsequent spending would require a group to detail its donors, but advocates of tighter rules say outside groups can currently channel a single large, anonymous sum into an election.

Correa argued that donors would have plenty of time to adjust to new guidelines, which would only apply to contributions after July 1. Along with other Democrats, Correa said the legislation would apply giving requirements uniformly by depriving would-be secret donors of a place to hide.

"This bill is about equity. This bill is about transparency," Correa said. "This bill does not limit what you spend but rather says let the world know, let the voters know in a timely basis the source of those expenditures."

PHOTO: Senator Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana during a joint session in the Assembly chambers in Sacramento, Calif. on Monday, March 11, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/ Hector Amezcua.

In an historically significant decision, Assembly Democrats on Monday voted to make Assemblywoman Toni Atkins their next speaker.

Atkins will be the first openly lesbian leader of the Assembly and the first speaker from San Diego. In a nod to the latter distinction, Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Los Angeles, gave Atkins a San Diego Padres jersey with her name and the number 1 on the back.

In her acceptance speech, Atkins mostly stuck to thanking her colleagues and a broad promise of re-establishing the effectiveness of California's state government. But she did veer into specifics at one point, emphasizing some issues she has focused on during her political rise.

"If I could add my own personal concern, reducing homelessness and providing affordable housing, including for our state's growing population of veterans," Atkins said.

In followup remarks to reporters, Atkins said California suffers from a dearth of reasonably priced housing.

"California has an issue with provision of affordable housing across the spectrum, whether it's for homeless individuals or working families," she said. "So regardless, we need to be looking at how to fund and afford housing for our citizens."

The exact date when Atkins takes over from current Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, remains in flux, but Atkins said the transition will happen some time this spring.

As lawmakers rose to express support for Atkins' nomination, many paid homage to her humble roots in Virginia coal country. Others lauded her as a consensus-builder and an approachable policy mind, with two San Diego Republicans - Rocky Chavez and Brian Maienschein - noting her open-mindedness.

"We've agreed on issues and we've disagreed on issues, but it's always been a respectful exchange," Chavez said.

It was also a momentous event for the LGBT community, with Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, referencing "its significance, its resonance, its poignancy." Atkins' spouse, affordable housing and development consultant Jennifer LeSar, sat beside her during the nominating speeches and vote.

"That is surreal to me," Atkins said in response to a reporter's question about becoming the first openly lesbian speaker.

PHOTO: Speaker John A. Pérez, and Assemblywoman Toni Atkins discuss Atkins becoming the next speaker in the State Capitol building in Sacramento, Calif. on January 22, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Jeremy B. White.

California voters will not be asked this year to decide whether to roll back California's ban on racial preferences in college admissions, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez announced Monday.

At the request of Sen. Ed Hernandez, author of Senate Constitutional Amendment 5, Pérez said he is sending the measure back to the Senate without taking any action in the lower house.

"It really is driven most by my interest in making sure we come out with the best policy outcomes," Pérez said.

"And as it's currently written I don't think SCA 5 gives us that. As it's currently written it requires a two-thirds vote of both houses, and those votes don't exist in both houses."

Pérez said he and Senate leader Darrell Steinberg will form a task force to discuss whether California should change the way it admits students to public universities.
The group will include representatives from the University of California, California State University and the community colleges, he said.

The move came a week after three Asian-American state senators -- who had previously voted for SCA 5 -- asked Pérez to put a stop the measure.

"Prior to the vote on SCA 5 in the Senate, we heard no opposition to the bill. However, in the past few weeks, we have heard from thousands of people throughout California voicing their concerns about the potential impacts," Sens. Ted Lieu of Torrance, Carol Liu of La Canada Flintridge and Leland Yee of San Francisco wrote to Perez on March 11.

The measure would overturn part of Proposition 209, which voters approved in 1996, by allowing public colleges and universities to use race and ethnicity as a factor in judging students for admission. Democrats in the state Senate used their two-thirds supermajority to pass SCA 5 in January, sending it to the Assembly for consideration. Since then, Asian-American advocacy groups have been organizing opposition around the state, arguing that affirmative action will help some ethnic groups at the expense of others.

"As lifelong advocates for the Asian-American and other communities, we would never support a policy that we believed would negatively impact our children," Lieu, Liu and Yee wrote in their letter to Pérez.

"Given that many in the (Asian Pacific Islander) and other communities throughout the state feel that this legislation would prevent their children from attending the college of their choice, we have asked Senator Ed Hernandez to hold SCA 5 until he has an opportunity to meet with affected communities and attempt to build a consensus."

Here is a video of Pérez discussing how he thinks Proposition 209 has impacted California's public universities:

PHOTO: : Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles points to the desk of Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose before legislators are sworn in during the first day of session at the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 . The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Editor's note: This post was updated at 12:39 p.m. to include comments from Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and updated at 1:09 p.m. to include a video.

When California's largest union group comes to Sacramento, it gets the attention of top government officials from both sides of the aisle.

Gov. Jerry Brown will deliver the keynote address at the California Labor Federation's annual legislative conference tonight. The dinner program begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on J Street. The conference, which is also sponsored by the State Building and Construction Trades Council, features sessions on maintaining health benefits and changing the public perception of unions, as well as speaking appearances by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and state Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres.

On Tuesday, attendees head to the Capitol for visits with lawmakers, advocating for pro-labor legislation including a bill by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, that would require California employers to give paid sick days.

VIDEO: From the Bay Bridge to the high-speed rail, politicians' legacy projects often spell trouble, Dan Walters says.

COMMANDER-IN-CHEF: Who said the lieutenant governorship is a job without duties? Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will deliver remarks and present a scholarship during the awards ceremony for the ProStart Cup, a culinary and hospital management competition for high school students sponsored by the California Restaurant Association, 4 p.m. at the Sacramento Convention Center.

NEW BEGINNINGS: Freshman Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, faces a tight re-election race against three Republican opponents in the 7th Congressional District. He will celebrate the opening of his new campaign headquarters in Elk Grove at 6 p.m.

DELTA RESTORATION: The Delta Stewardship Council hosts a noon seminar examining efforts to restore wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a source of carbon offsets for the state's cap-and-trade program, at the Park Tower Building on 9th Street.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown speaks at the California Chamber of Commerce's annual Host Breakfast in Sacramento on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. The Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

Focusing on big ideas at the expense of what needs to get done has been a costly problem for California, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on December 4, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Manny Crisostomo

BURLINGAME - Boisterous party activists cheered Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly as he addressed the California Republican Party's biannual convention here Sunday, a demonstration of Donnelly's continued appeal to the party's conservative base.

"We can win in 2014," Donnelly said. "I need your help to retire Jerry Brown and replace him with Tim Donnelly for governor."

The crowd erupted in applause, with supporters yelling, "Tim! Tim! Tim!"

Donnelly's speech comes after a difficult week for his campaign. The Twin Peaks assemblyman remains severely underfunded, and his campaign manager, Jennifer Kerns, left in recent days.

But conservative activists play a vocal role at GOP conventions, and the weekend gathering appeared to give Donnelly a lift.

Neel Kashkari, a better-funded, more moderate candidate, spoke before Donnelly and garnered more reserved applause. Two lesser known candidates, Laguna Hills Mayor Andrew Blount and Glenn Champ, who described himself as a "new breed of Christian soldier," also addressed the convention.

That the candidates would be allowed to speak at all was only determined last week. The party dismissed a proposal by Donnelly to debate Kashkari but offered speaking spots. They were invited to the podium moments after the gathering was officially adjourned, a measure that prevented any effort to endorse either candidate from the floor.

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly is cheered at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 16, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

California Republican Party convention coverage:

Kashkari is trying to build a bigger GOP tent

VIDEO: Donnelly told supporters the party needs to "reconnect with the church"

VIDEO: Both candidates addressed the Republican National Hispanic Assembly

Prominent actress helping Donnelly said she has concerns about campaign

BURLINGAME - Major California Republican congressional challengers steered clear of the state party convention, but the weekend of activism helped bring early definition to some of the state's most contested House races.

Republicans Doug Ose of Sacramento, Brian Nestande of Palm Desert, Jeff Gorell of Camarillo and Carl DeMaio of San Diego stuck to the campaign trail rather than rubbing elbows with the hundreds of delegates gathering here.

Their absence underscored a dynamic taking place through the races: The four contenders each have more conservative challengers running to their right -- in addition to the freshmen Democrats they hope to unseat in November.

Ose, the moderate former congressman, has focused much of his public attention on Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove. Yet the 7th district primary also features a pair of conservative GOP candidates -- Elizabeth Emken and Igor Birman, who both attended this weekend.

"This is far from the district, but it's important to inspire activists and volunteers to assist in what is shaping up to be one of the most contested races in the state," Birman said after to a liberty forum Saturday.

Ose's spokesman said he chose to remain in the district to attend an event honoring American veterans and to visit with voters. He's familiar with conservative challenges having lost the primary to GOP Rep. Tom McClintock in 2008.

In the Palm Springs-area 36th district held by Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz, Nestande is being opposed by former state lawmaker Ray Haynes. Haynes is more conservative, and in a recent interview said he wasn't confident in Nestande's ability to raise the kind of money needed to knockout an incumbent.

Gorell's conservative Republican challenger in Democrat Julia Brownley's Ventura County-centered 26th district is Rafael Dagnesses, who has tea party backing and reportedly signed a pledge to serve no more than eight years.

And the San Diego-area 52nd district controlled by Democrat Scott Peters features a political skirmish between the party's standard-bearer DeMaio and Kirk Jorgensen and Fred Simon. Jorgensen, a marine veteran, is backed by former Rep. Duncan Hunter and the conservative California Republican Assembly.

Photo: Former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose when he announced his candidacy for the 4th Congressional District seat on Feb. 1, 2008. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

A California Energy Commission official Friday said the agency wasn't aware that the state had become a destination for crude oil shipments by rail, even though Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal made note of it two months ago.

The Bee reported in January that the state was already receiving the shipments and expecting more. According to the energy commission's own numbers, California received nearly 1.2 million barrels of crude oil by rail in December, up from fewer than 100,000 a year earlier.

The Bee identified at least two locations where crude oil was being unloaded from trains, including Richmond and Bakersfield, with several more terminals under development.

But Gordon Schremp, senior fuels specialist at the commission, told CBS San Francisco Friday that "we don't have any of those facilities operating in California."

When the TV station showed him video of rail cars of crude oil at the Kinder Morgan facility in Richmond, Schremp modified his statement.

"It's certainly a recent change that you know, we haven't been made aware of that," he told the TV station.

State and local officials across the country have become concerned about the safety of crude shipments by train since a derailment killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July, and leveled the center of the town with explosive force.

Many communities, from Washington state to New York state, have voted to bar the expansion of such operations until their safety is improved. But it's not clear that those measures have any legal authority, because the job of regulating rail shipments falls to the federal government.

Railroads and the Department of Transportation last month agreed to a series of voluntary safety improvements, but many state and local officials would like to see more swift, decisive actions from the federal government to protect their communities.

Lori Sinsley, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission, said her agency has been tracking crude by rail developments since 2009 and did know the state had become a destination for the shipments. However, she added that the agency was not aware of the Richmond operation identified in last week's CBS San Francisco report and in a Bee story in January.

Here is the CBS San Francisco report:

Editor's note: This post was updated at 3 p.m. March 17 to include comments from Sinsley.

PHOTO: In this July 6, 2013 file photo, emergency workers examine the aftermath of a train derailment and fire in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada. Forty-seven people were killed. U.S. federal regulators are further tightening testing requirements for companies that transport oil by rail after a spate of explosions caused by crude train derailments in the U.S. and Canada. Associated Press/Ryan Remiorz)

BURLINGAME - Parties hosted by Neel Kashkari and Tim Donnelly spilled over into early Sunday at the California Republican Party's biannual convention, and as the booze flowed and music played, one more difference between the two candidates for governor emerged.

While Donnelly and his wife, Rowena, danced at the tea party favorite's "Liberty Extravaganza," Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, resisted.

"I love to dance," he said, "but my campaign team has forbidden me from dancing."

There were video cameras in the room, after all. Still, Kashkari said "the point of tonight is to have fun."

Down the hall, Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, was still pushing for volunteer sign-ups and donations.

"I know this is a party," he said. "But I want it to be a working party. And then we can dance, and then we can sing, and then we can celebrate a victory in 2014."

Christopher Cadelago of The Bee Capitol Bureau contributed to this report.

PHOTO: Delegates file into the California Republican Party convention in Burlingame on March 16, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

BURLINGAME — Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin may be the best hope for California Republicans to reclaim a statewide office in November.

But the 41-year-old rising star of the party and candidate for state controller was taking things slowly here at the state GOP convention this weekend.

"We really want to draw attention to how important this office is for the things that we would like to see in California: Economic competitiveness and managing the state's resources," she said in an interview.

"It's just an often-overlooked position," she added. "As I've talked with people around the convention this weekend, and I start laying out all of the things that are included in the state controller's job description, everyone's eyes are getting big and they are starting to realize this is an important office."

Swearengin is running to succeed Democrat John Chiang, who is termed out and vying for state treasurer. Her primary opponents include Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Board of Equalization member Betty Yee, both Democrats.

Swearengin was re-elected as mayor in 2012. Tim Clark, her political consultant, told The Bee the campaign has received many unsolicited offers of help from donors and party activists.

"It's just been very exciting trying to manage this excitement," he said.

PHOTO: Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin at the state GOP convention in Burlingame. Christopher Cadelago/The Sacramento Bee

BURLINGAME — Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari dismissed questions Saturday about resistance to his candidacy from the party's most conservative activists, saying scheduling conflicts kept him from addressing a group of conservatives here.

"The Republican Party has a lot of folks inside the tent," he said. "I want to make it a bigger tent, so even more people are welcome. And I've really been pleased how I've been received by a very diverse group of Republican groups here at the convention and around the state."

Kashkari, a moderate Republican, is in a primary election race against Tim Donnelly, the tea party favorite. Kashkari was well received Saturday at meetings of young Republicans, Latinos and the gay GOP group Log Cabin Republicans.

Yet Kashkari is not universally popular at a convention where Republican activists sang "God Bless America" and marched through the hotel Saturday chanting "Taxed Enough Already."

"This is a place that Kashkari doesn't understand," said Mike Spence, president of the Conservative Republicans of California.

He objected to Kashkari's record running the federal bank bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and to his vote for Barack Obama in 2008.

Kashkari told reporters he has been doing "a lot of conservative talk radio in the last couple months" and has been "really pleasantly surprised how well they've embraced me."

He said, "You know what Republicans want? They want their kids to get a good education, and they want a good job. That's the same thing that independents want. That's the same thing that Democrats want. I think we can unite Republicans and unite Californians around these messages."

Donnelly faces his own challenges within the party ranks, with many moderate Republicans viewing the strident conservative as a liability to the party's efforts to attract new voters.

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari speaks to reporters at the California Republican Party's biannual convention on March 15, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

BURLINGAME - Rep. Pete Sessions, the former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, offered his support for the California Republican Party's strategy of focusing on key congressional and legislative seats rather than potentially spreading itself thin with competitive candidates in every statewide race.

"I would say to you that there are a lot of things about giving your team reason to believe that they can make a difference," Sessions, R-Texas, chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee, told reporters ahead of his dinner speech at the California Republican Party convention. "I believe, actually, by the (state) party winning seats ... that does make a difference.

"Putting a person in every single race is not an effective way to use your money or your resources," he added. "I think having great candidates with a good message, and going and organizing and talking about the huge success that Barack Obama and the Democrats are having to turn our country into a welfare state, makes a lot of sense to me."

California GOP Chairman Jim Brulte described his party's strategy Friday as putting the icing on -- not actually baking the cakes. The three-pronged approach calls for helping retain Republicans' House majority, working to eliminate the Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature and building a "farm team" of local GOP officials.

Republicans also are targeting a handful of House Democrats including Ami Bera of Elk Grove, Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert, Julia Brownley of Westlake Village and Scott Peters of San Diego.

Critics of the California GOP's approach suggest the lack of marquee statewide candidates could harm candidates in more competitive down-ticket races. But Sessions said Democrats' defense of the health care overhaul speaks to their insistence on following "shrill liberalism and dogma" and will lead to their downfall.

"That is not a way to make life better and the Republican Party will add to our numbers because of that," he said.

PHOTO: Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, speaks Saturday at the California Republican Party convention in Burlingame. Christopher Cadelago/The Sacramento Bee

BURLINGAME — Perhaps no candidate for statewide office is more active on social media than Neel Kashkari, whose tweets are voluminous and, more often than not, come off as unscripted.

But this is a gubernatorial campaign, and certain elements are staged. Kashkari is trying out a new, baseball-inspired slogan at the California Republican Party convention this weekend, and on Saturday he attempted to post a video to Instagram.

"I'm running for governor to bench Jerry Brown," Kashkari said, before completing brief remarks and asking the videographer, "Did it take?"

"I think it was on 'photo,'" the aide said.

There were a few groans, and Kashkari said, "One more time."

Take two was a success. Kashkari uploaded it on a cell phone, then turned to a group of reporters and said, "Somebody needs to send this to Gov. Brown."

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari speaks with reporters at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 15, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

BURLINGAME - Condoleezza Rice said by weakening its military muscle abroad the U.S. leaves a vacuum that will be filled by the likes of nationalists in China and terrorists in Iraq.

Harnessing Ronald Reagan's "peace through strength," the former U.S. Secretary of State said America must lead to lessen the world influence of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Vladimir Putin in Russia.

"I know that people are tired. I know that after more than 10 years of war and terrorism and engagement abroad it sometimes doesn't look like there's a light at the end of the tunnel," Rice told a lunchtime gathering of the California Republican Party on Saturday. "We can think 'Oh, let someone else do it.' But nobody else will."

"In sustaining our role abroad we will be safer and more secure here, too," she added.

On Sunday, Crimean residents are set to weigh in on a referendum that could lead to their joining Russia from Ukraine, or becoming independent.

Rice, a professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, told the audience that California, too, is in need of a rebuilding of sorts. She called for the state to embrace the principles of individual responsibility and liberty, private sector-led growth and a private space that is respected by, and in which people "respect the choices of each other."

Said Rice: "California has always had a certain sheen, a kind of exceptionalism of its own."

PHOTO: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks to the delegation at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, on Aug. 29, 2012. (Lionel Hahn/Abaca Press/ MCT)

BURLINGAME - Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly said Saturday that the California Republican Party needs to "reconnect with the church," rallying conservative activists in his primary contest with Neel Kashkari.

"Elections are not just about connecting with people," Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, told a meeting of conservatives at the California Republican Party's biannual convention. "I believe we need to reconnect with the church."

For Donnelly, no audience is more sympathetic. The Legislature's most outspoken gun rights and anti-illegal immigration advocate is a tea party favorite and has the endorsement of the conservative California Republican Assembly in the GOP's longshot bid to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown.

Neel Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, is preferred by many members of the party's donor and professional class for his more moderate social views.

Donnelly, facing ongoing controversy surrounding his own gun use, including pleading no contest to two misdemeanors after carrying a loaded gun into Ontario International Airport in 2012, remained unperturbed.

"If you know that there's a group that has not been voting because they're not inspired, and because we don't have candidates who are willing to at least stick to their guns," he told the conservative group, pausing. "Oh, did I just say that?"

The room erupted in laughter and applause.

"It's all right," Donnelly said. "You can clap."

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly speaks with reporters at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 15, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

BURLINGAME - Republican Ron Nehring, a candidate for for lieutenant governor, issued a forceful rebuke of marijuana legalization on Saturday, saying advocates of decriminalizing the drug are putting children in harm's way.

"Anyone who thinks that this is only going to be limited to adults needs to put the crack pipe down because that is simply not reality," Nehring said at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame.

Colorado and Washington thrust the issue onto the national stage when the states legalized marijuana.

At the convention, Nehring, the former state GOP chairman, stood beside a poster quoting Gov. Jerry Brown from a recent appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." In that interview, the Democratic governor questioned how California could be expected to prosper while people get stoned.

"I think Jerry Brown is exactly spot on," Nehring said. He called for a debate on pot with Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who favors legalizing the drug.

"If Gavin Newsom is not willing to debate me, then perhaps he would be willing to debate Gov. Brown," Nehring said. "And maybe they can have a debate on high-speed rail while they're at it."

Despite Nehring's concerns about the "social costs," of increased drug use, Californians appear to be turning a corner on marijuana. The Field Poll from December -- for the first time ever -- found clear majority support for legalization. Eight percent of voters supported allowing anyone to purchase cannabis and 47 percent said it should be available with the types of controls that govern alcohol sales.

PHOTO: Republican Ron Nehring speaks at the California Republican Party Convention in Burlingame. Christopher Cadelago/The Sacramento Bee

BURLINGAME - Neel Kashkari told Latino Republicans on Saturday that he is making Spanish-language media a priority in his campaign for governor, while his GOP rival, Tim Donnelly, said "we have to stop pandering" to different segments of the electorate.

The candidates' remarks, to the California Republican National Hispanic Assembly, came as Kashkari and Donnelly sprinted from caucus to caucus, lobbying delegates at the California Republican Party's biannual convention. The Hispanic group is significant to a party attempting to overcome years of failure appealing to Latino voters.

"The first TV interview that I did was on Univision, and it ran statewide," Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, said. "And they asked me, they said, 'Why are you coming to Univision first?' I said, 'Because I want your viewers to know they're not an afterthought, they're my first thought.'"

Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman and tea party favorite, took the floor immediately after Kashkari.

"I think we have to stop pandering, thinking that there's a different message because of someone's skin color, because the colors of freedom are red, white and blue," he said. "What I believe people want is they want to live free, and they want to get the government out of their way, so that we can all enjoy the bounties of liberty."

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidates Neel Kashkari, left, and Andrew Blount at a dinner at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 14, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

BURLINGAME - After letting reporters listen to remarks from one Republican candidate for governor, Neel Kashkari, county chairmen at the state party's biannual convention Friday closed the room for the speech given by another candidate, Tim Donnelly.

The move visibly frustrated Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, who had wanted the meeting to be open press.

He said afterward, "That's tweetable, right there."

Mark Pruner, president of the county leaders' group, said later Friday that momentum had been building throughout the day to close the meeting to the media and had only to do with Donnelly holding a later speaking spot than Kashkari.

County chairmen, he said, "were concerned about what the press would write ... It kind of built up, built up, built up."

The state party comes into the weekend laboring to reverse decades of decline. No Republican holds statewide office, and the GOP has seen its voter registration fall to less than 29 percent statewide.

"This is a party that, whether we like it or not, has been in decline for over two decades in this state," Jim Brulte, chairman of the state party, told reporters. "We have a significant rebuilding operation on our hands."

Donnelly and Kashkari met in passing Friday, and they shook hands, while Kashkari and a third candidate for governor, Laguna Hills Mayor Andrew Blount, engaged in friendly conversation at a dinner.

"How are things? Things are good? Kashkari said to Blount.

Blount said they were.

"How about you, man?" he asked Kashkari. "I see your signs everywhere."

PHOTO: Supporters of rival gubernatorial candidates Tim Donnelly and Neel Kashkari post signs beside each other at the California Republican Party's biannual convention in Burlingame on March 14, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com

BURLINGAME - Tim Donnelly, who has made gun rights a centerpiece of his campaign for governor, has a complicated history with firearms.

The Legislature's most outspoken Second Amendment advocate, he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors after carrying a loaded gun into Ontario International Airport in 2012, and he acknowledged recently that the gun was not registered in his name.

As he's traveled the state in recent months, he has handled and fired guns at campaign events, raising questions about whether he was complying with the terms of his probation.

He has also experienced tragedy, the death of a family member following a gun-related arrest. His brother Paul E. Donnelly hanged himself in a Laurens County, S.C., jail in 2000 after he was arrested on charges that included assault with intent to kill, according to records reviewed by The Bee.

In a lengthy interview with The Bee on Friday, Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, talked about his brother's death and gun ownership. What he will not say is how many guns he owns. While he said "everything that I have is legal," he declined to say whether all of his guns are registered.

"I find gun registration to be offensive," Donnelly said. "I think gun registration is simply so that someday the government can confiscate it."

BURLINGAME - Maria Conchita Alonso, the actress Tim Donnelly has appeared with at campaign events and featured in a web ad, still thinks Donnelly would be a good governor, but campaign developments in recent weeks have given here some pause.

As she prepares to join Donnelly for a party at the California Republican Party's biannual convention this weekend, Alonso said in a telephone interview Friday that she is concerned about this week's departure of Donnelly's campaign manager, Jennifer Kerns, and a tweet in which Donnelly compared President Barack Obama's gun control policies to those of leaders such as Adolf Hitler.

"This is something that I've got to talk to him about," she said. "I want to hear first what he has to say before I can make a comment."

Alonso appeared with Donnelly in a bilingual web ad in January that gained thousands of hits for its quirkiness and brash language. Her support is considered significant to Donnelly, a former member of the anti-illegal immigration Minuteman Project, in appealing to Latino voters.

Donnelly told supporters in an email that Alonso would be the special guest his "Liberty Extravaganza" party at the convention on Saturday night.

The Venezuelan-raised actress said she will focus her remarks at the party on events in Venezuela.

"I've read certain things about what's going on with Tim," she said. "I spoke to him, I spoke to the other people, but we have to sit down and talk ... what and if the next step is going to be."

She said, "I do like him, I do believe in him, that he can do a good job, but there have been some issues that we need to just sit down and discuss."

PHOTO: An image from a Tim Donnelly web ad shows the candidate with actress Maria Conchita Alonso.

Forget basketball: it's March Madness for California elections.

The deadline to file for legislative races came and went this week, an election cycle milestone that maps the field for the 2014 campaign season. The Secretary of State still needs to certify the filings, but here's a preliminary look at what we learned in the Sacramento area:

6th Senate District

Two incumbent Assembly Democrats will compete to replace Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who is termed out of at the end of the year.

Assembly members Roger Dickinson and Richard Pan will vie for Steinberg's soon-to-be former post, a race whose outcome will be less predictable with the entry of Republican challengers James Axelgard and Jonathan Zachariou, who ran for Dickinson's seat in 2012. It's a heavily Democratic district, but the presence of some Republicans raises the possibility that either Pan or Dickinson won't finish in the top-two in June and advance to the general.

By jumping into the Steinberg sweepstakes, both Dickinson and Pan have forfeited their Assembly seats. There's no shortage of prospective state legislators happy to fill the void.

7th Assembly District

Two Sacramento City Council Democrats will seek the 7th Assembly District seat Dickinson now holds: Steve Cohn and Kevin McCarty. McCarty, who has distinguished himself as a skeptic of a new Sacramento Kings arena, narrowly lost to Dickinson in the 2010 primary.

Also vying for the reliably Democratic district is Democratic West Sacramento City Council member Mark Johannessen. Counterbalancing the 7th District Dems are Republican Ralph Merletti, who unsuccessfully sought a school board seat in the Sacramento City Unified school district, and Republican Oliver Ponce.

8th Assembly District

In the 8th Assembly District, incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Ken Cooley will fend off challengers from Libertarian candidate Janice Marlae Bonser and Republican Douglas Haaland, who worked as a staffer for Republican members of the Legislature like Phil Wyman and Shirley Horton.

9th Assembly District

Appealing to the district's conservatives are Republicans Manuel J. Martin, a libertarian-leaning conservative activist, and Tim Gorsulowsky, who moved to Elk Grove in 2012 after a failed write-in bid for the Saratoga City Council.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 1:50 p.m. to reflect Merletti's party designation.

PHOTO: Election officials process the ballots by machine as a last step after the hand count at the Sacramento County Elections office on November 13, 2012. The Sacramento Bee/Renée C. Byer

Gov. Jerry Brown and Controller John Chiang unlawfully redirected $369 million in homeowner relief secured by Attorney General Kamala Harris, according to a lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court on Friday morning.

A coalition of Latino and African-American faith groups and an Asian-American home counseling organization brought the suit, demanding that California send millions to homeowners trying to stave off foreclosure.

"To this day, countless California victims of the mortgage and foreclosure crisis and their supporters are waiting to receive any benefit, much less the full benefit, of the settlement the Attorney General obtained for the State of California as compensation for the harms
the victims suffered and continue to suffer," the lawsuit reads.

The plaintiffs are represented by Neil Barofsky, who achieved prominence as the Treasury Department's inspector general policing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, which bailed out the spiraling banking industry.

Harris in 2012 was instrumental in extracting a landmark $25 billion settlement from banks related to the predatory lending practices that helped fuel the housing market's collapse in 2007. Struggling homeowners were supposed to get financial relief from the deal, but the lawsuit filed today demands that Brown repay millions diverted to plug budget gaps.

"The frontline victims of the crisis, struggling homeowners, received mostly unfulfilled promises they would get the help they desperately needed," Barofsky said during a press conference.

As California struggled for ways to balance its books through years of recession-crippled revenue, borrowing from other funds became a common stopgap. The budget lawmakers passed and Brown signed in 2012 transferred $410 million out of the mortgage settlement account.

"The Governor had no legal right to divert these funds in the first place and, even if he did, he certainly has the statutory duty to replenish them in this year of surplus," reads the lawsuit.

A spokesman for the California Department of Finance defended reallocating the money.

"While we haven't yet seen the complaint, we're confident that our budget actions are legally sound," H.D. Palmer said in an emailed statement.

The budget maneuver was controversial. Harris herself opposed using the money to cover a budget deficit, saying in a statement at the time that "While the state is undeniably facing a difficult budget gap, these funds should be used to help Californians stay in their homes."

The Legislative Analyst's Office, in contrast, supported the move.

In announcing the lawsuit, National Asian American Coalition general counsel Robert Gnaizda praised Harris for having done "an outstanding job for the homeowners" but said Brown undercut the settlement's purpose, faulting the "slow and often inadequate pace of homeowner relief."

The lawsuit asks for the money to be channeled back into a special fund that Harris would then administer. Gnaizda said Harris has so far declined to meet with the plaintiffs but that they would seek to meet with the attorney general to "see how she can play a role in expediting" the payments to homeowners.

Read the suit:

Complaint Final (B&W Petition) (1)

PHOTO: A foreclosed home in the Oak Park neighborhood October 18, 2008. The Sacramento Bee/Autumn Cruz.

For months, former state Sen. Sheila Kuehl stood alone as a candidate to replace termed-out Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

No more. Several rivals have emerged with the most prominent being Santa Monica City Councilman Bobby Shriver, brother of California's former first lady, Maria Shriver, and a member of the Kennedy political family.

A seat on the five-member board is widely regarded as one of the state's top political prizes because of its power in a county with more than 10 million residents. Two of the five seats are being vacated this year due to term limits. Former congresswoman and labor secretary Hilda Solis is considered to be a shoo-in to succeed Gloria Molina in the other one.

Shriver has declared that he won't abide by voluntary campaign spending limits and will at least partially finance his campaign with family money - and that's causing Kuehl to put out urgent pleas for campaign money in anticipation of a high-dollar shootout for the seat in the June primary election and possibly a November runoff.

One of Kuehl's appeals for money harkens back to her career as a television actress before becoming a lawyer and politician - to the early 1960s when, as Sheila James, she played lovelorn "Zelda" on the popular TV comedy, "The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis."

Kuehl is staging "A Night at the Movies with Zelda" on April 5 to raise money, including screenings of old episodes from the show, and says some of her Hollywood pals will make an appearance.

LA Observed, a website that covers local affairs, has the whole story.

PHOTO: Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, holds a rally on the north steps of the state Capitol on Monday Jan. 28, 2008. The Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer.

Freshman Rep. Ami Bera has been fielding attacks from a trio of Republican rivals on everything from his jobs record to his support for the federal health care overhaul.

Now Bera, D-Elk Grove, is being assailed for something he didn't do. On Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee issued a news release accusing Bera of voting against House Resolution 3973.

"Bera's failure to support a common-sense check on this administration shows that he's putting Washington loyalties and special interests before his constituents," the NRCC said in the release.

In fact, Bera voted to support the Faithful Execution of the Law Act, which requires the attorney general to provide Congress with an explanation when agencies decide not to enforce the law.

"I supported this commonsense check on the administration because I took an oath to put the people of Sacramento County before politics, and that means holding the president, his administration, and Congress accountable for their actions," Bera said.

He is facing off against Republicans Igor Birman, Elizabeth Emken and Doug Ose.

Both the NRCC and its Democratic counterpart frequently issue news releases from their respective sides that feature identical or nearly-identical wording covering a wide swath of members and candidates. Similar versions of the NRCC's cut-and-paste release targeted at least three-dozen other Democrats across the country.

"It was a staff error that was corrected once we noticed the mistake," NRCC spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton said of the anti-Bera release. "Regardless, California voters won't forget Ami Bera's support for ObamaCare come November."

PHOTO: Ami Bera at a press conference in 2012. The Sacramento Bee/Lezlie Sterling/

California Republicans open their biannual convention in Burlingame on Friday, and the state Democratic Party is lobbing over a digital stink bomb.

Fightontheright.com, a website posted Friday, features images of the two main Republican candidates for governor standing nose to nose in a boxing ring under the headline, "The Confrontation for the Nomination."

On the left is "'Wall Street'" Neel Kashkari. On the right, "Tim 'Tea Party' Donnelly," a Twin Peaks assemblyman.

The site criticizes Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, for his role overseeing the federal bank bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, though many Democrats supported the measure.

It calls Donnelly, the Legislature's most outspoken gun rights and anti-illegal immigration advocate, the "designated flag-bearer for 'true conservatives' in Golden State."
The site pokes both candidates for missing voting in several previous elections.

Tenoch Flores, a spokesman for the California Democratic Party, called the site a "voter education tool."

Donnelly and Kashkari are expected to have major presences at the convention. They and a third Republican candidate, Laguna Hills Mayor Andrew Blount, are all expected to address delegates Sunday.

PHOTO: Image from fightontheright.com , a website posted by the California Democratic Party on Friday, March 13, 2014.

The California Democratic Party's annual convention last weekend exposed some intraparty tensions and produced some soul-searching about its future, but was mostly a celebratory affair.

The California Republicans face a more difficult challenge when they meet in Burlingame for their spring convention starting today -- whip up excitement for the election slate of a party that has become a superminority in the Legislature and no longer holds a single statewide office.

Leading the charge will be Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State under President George W. Bush and current professor at Stanford University, who will deliver the keynote address at Saturday's luncheon. Gubernatorial candidates Neel Kashkari, Tim Donnelly and Andrew Blount also have speaking slots. Newly-elected San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus kick off the festivities on Friday evening.

Stay tuned to Capitol Alert throughout the weekend for updates on the convention from reporters David Siders and Christopher Cadelago.

VIDEO: Election year raises create a political conundrum for legislators, Dan Walters says.

INTERNET SAFETY: State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg attends Google's Online Safety Roadshow assembly at Leonardo Da Vinci School at 9 a.m. for a presentation to middle school students about being smart with the content they share online. Steinberg introduced a bill last month that would prohibit websites and apps used for educational purposes from compiling and selling information about K-12 students.

STEM THE TIDE: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will welcome high schoolers from across the state to the FIRST Robotics Competition and speak about the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, 5 p.m. at the ARC Pavilion at UC Davis.

SACRAMENTO SPLASH: Actress Daryl Hannah joins environmental activists for a rally and march calling for an end to fracking in California, Saturday at 1 p.m. on the north steps of the Capitol.

GIFT DATABASE: The Bee's Data Center has updated its database of legislative gifts with the 2013 filings. See every gift given to state legislators and their aides by lobbyist employers since 2000, now totaling more than $5 million.

PHOTO: Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivers a speech after unveiling the new statue of late U.S. President Ronald Reagan during a centennial commemoration in Budapest, Hungary on June 29, 2011. The Associated Press/Bela Szandelszky

The possibility of pay raises in an election year is tricky political ground for a Legislature that is still unpopular with many voters, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Twenty-eight of the new Assembly Members undergo orientation inside the Assembly Chambers on Nov. 12, 2008. The Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer

A new state audit blasts California's Employment Development Department for ignoring an offer of federal help to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in overpaid unemployment benefits.

Thursday's report by the Bureau of State Audits estimates that EDD will have missed out on an estimated $516 million in overpayments from February 2011, when the federal program took effect, to September of this year, when the EDD expects to belatedly begin to participate in it.

About $99 million of that would offset the department's administrative costs, saving the state money amid a time of deep budget reductions. The other $417 million would have paid down the $10 billion debt — with interest — that California owes on federal loans to its insolvent unemployment fund.

EDD officials told auditors that they lacked the staffing needed to compile the necessary computer records to participate in the federal program. Yet the audit, triggered by a whistleblower, found that the EDD estimated in 2012 that it would require only about $323,000 in staff time.

"EDD did not even attempt to hire any contractors to perform the work, so Official B's conclusion that EDD could not hire anyone with the appropriate skills to perform the work was pure speculation at best," the audit reads, referring to an unnamed "high-ranking EDD official," who it described as retired.

The number of Californians enrolling in coverage through the state's new health insurance marketplace reached 923,832 through Sunday, officials said.

Covered California announced Thursday that 762,174 of the 880,000 residents to select plans through the end of last month were eligible for federal subsidies, surpassing projections for the entire first enrollment period that runs through March 31.

Another 1.34 million are likely to be eligible for Medi-Cal coverage.

"We are rolling toward a strong finish, but we're here to encourage consumers to not wait until March 31 to join the millions of Californians who have already found their pathway to affordable coverage, and enroll today," Executive Director Peter V. Lee said in a prepared statement. "We're building momentum on many fronts: among Latinos, among young people and in communities throughout the state. Californians' desire for health insurance to protect themselves and their families is building on friends telling friends and family telling family."

About 85 percent of all enrollees have paid their first month's premium, Lee added.

PHOTO: A Sacramento State student looks at a pamphlet with information on Covered California on Thusrday, October 16, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua.

Do lawmakers deserve a raise?

With rising revenue elevating California above years of gaping budget gaps, a panel that sets elected officials' salaries seemed receptive Thursday to boosting salaries for member of the Legislature.

Members of the California Citizens Compensation Commission will not make a decision until they meet in June, after the state has put out more up-to-date budget numbers. But as California recovers from year of fiscal tumult, commission members said it may be time to contemplate higher salaries.

"If the fiscal situation in the state is improved and is stable, then we need to consider the possibility of raising compensation of legislators and for the constitutional officers," commission member Scott Somers said in an interview after the hearing.

The pay panel voted last year to give lawmakers a five percent raise, hiking their salary to $95,291 a year. That falls short of a full restoration to pre-recession levels, Dalzell said, noting that lawmakers accepted consecutive cuts of five percent and 18 percent.

"I think there are a couple pieces of data that leave room for action," Thomas Dalzell, the commission's chair, said after the hearing. "I think the fact that we are still 18 percent away from where they were five years ago, the salaries of boards of supervisors that we're told to look at and the fact that the increase almost certainly has no impact on the budget - all of that leaves room."

A carcinogen commonly found in napping mats for babies and a paint-stripping chemical linked to more than a dozen deaths made a first-ever list of hazardous products state officials released Thursday, putting manufacturers on notice to find alternative ingredients or face government action.

Department of Toxic Substances Control Director Debbie Raphael issued the list during a press event in downtown Sacramento as the next step in a multi-year effort to reduce toxics used in consumer products.

"We are starting a conversation with manufacturers," Raphael said.

The chemicals on the state's new "Priority Products" list were chosen because of their prevalence. More will be added over time.

• Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate: Also known as TDCPP, This fire retardant has been linked with cancer and infertility. It's used in foam-padded baby products such a playpens and changing mats and binds to dust before it's ingested. Baby goods are a particular concern because infants spend many hours each day sleeping on or near items infused with the chemical.

• Methylene chloride: A chemical found in paint- and varnish-stripping solvents and some surface cleaners. A Michigan State University study found 13 people using products containing the chemical to strip paints or glazes from residential bathtubs died after inhaling fumes between 2000 and 2011.

California lawmakers in 2008 approved a "green chemistry" law that set in motion a process to encourage manufacturers to find cleaner alternatives to hazardous substances in their products.

Manufacturers with products that use a chemical on the list are supposed to notify the toxics department and begin a search for alternatives. Over the next several months the state will hold a series of workshops focusing on the chemicals and then write specific regulations for them.

Products that still contain the toxics once the regulations are set face a range of actions, from government-mandated labeling to an outright ban on selling the products in California.

PHOTO: Former Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angles, in 2009. Feuer, now Los Angeles city attorney, wrote the green chemistry law in 2008. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen made it clear this week that she has some problems with a major non-profit effort to improve elections and increase the number of people registered to vote.

Bowen and David J. Becker, the director of election initiatives for the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Charitable Trusts, shared a panel during a Senate hearing this week on science and innovations to improve voter participation.

The two disagreed soon after sitting down. Becker, citing U.S. Census data and other research, said 8.2 million Californians are eligible but do not register to vote, a number greater than the populations of all but 13 states.

Bowen interjected, saying the eligible-but-unregistered number is actually 6.4 million. Her office's latest registration report shows almost 24.1 million people eligible to vote and almost 17.7 million voters. Becker said the official registration number does not reflect hundreds of thousands of people who have died or moved.

The disagreements continued. Bowen questioned a Pew-organized effort called the Election Registration Information Center, or ERIC. Several nearby states, including Colorado and Utah, participate in the project and share voter-registration data. Its goal is to identify voters who have moved between states, and ensure they are re-registered quickly.

But Bowen said her concerns about the data-sharing project — such as ERIC automatically removing voters from the rolls — have been ignored. "Unfortunately, rather than embrace the concerns and the critics, ERIC simply chose to exclude their critics from the discussion," Bowen said Tuesday. "What happened after I wrote that letter is I was never invited back again to another ERIC meeting."

Not so, say Pew and ERIC officials, who added that they long ago ruled out automatically removing voters flagged by ERIC without first contacting them. Pew, Becker said later, has invited Bowen's office to six Pew-sponsored meetings since January 2011 to discuss ways to improve elections, including ERIC. Pew received no response to most of the invitations, including for a meeting later this month in San Francisco, he said.

"Not having California being part of a really important data exchange...hurts the other states and I think it hurts California, too," Judd Choate, Colorado's director of elections and ERIC's chairman, testified.

This week's hearing was led by state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, one of six candidates running to succeed Bowen. At a forum last week, Padilla talked of the importance of registering eligible people to vote but was noncommittal Tuesday about joining Colorado and the other states in ERIC.

PHOTO: Secretary of State Debra Brown at a Capitol hearing in March 2012. The Sacramento Bee/Lezlie Sterling

New regulations adopted last October by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control require manufacturers to seek safer alternatives to harmful chemical products used in consumer goods.

The agency will announce today the first batch of products it is asking companies to find new ways to make. These products contain at least one chemical the department has determined could potentially harm public health or the environment.

The announcement takes place at 10 a.m. at the Cal EPA building on I Street.

VIDEO: Even as they continue to receive their salaries, the Senate's refusal to acknowledge state Sens. Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, and Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, is rather Orwellian, Dan Walters says.

SHOW ME THE MONEY: Is Gov. Jerry Brown making what he deserves? What about the Legislature? The California Citizens Compensation Commission meets at 10 a.m. at Sacramento City Hall to begin discussions on whether any changes should be made to state officeholders' and lawmakers' pay. Last year, the commission handed out five percent raises, undoing some of the cuts made during the recession.

IN MEMORIAM: Gov. Brown will be in Los Angeles this morning to attend the funeral of a police officer who was killed last Friday when his squad car collided with a big rig. The service for Nicholas Lee takes place at 9 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

TECH TALK: From Twitter accounts to wiki bills, California legislators have been embracing technology in their public service. Camille Crittenden, deputy director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society at UC Berkeley, will talk about the impact these new online tools and resources can have on democracy and civic engagement, noon at the UC Center Sacramento on K Street.

CHLORPYRI-FOES: Residents of Tulare County who say they found high levels of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in the air and their bodies are calling for a ban on its use across the state. They will be joined by farm workers and environmental advocates at 10:30 a.m. on the north steps of the Capitol to present petitions to lawmakers.

CELEBRATIONS: Congratulations to Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, and his wife, Laura, who welcomed a new baby boy, Steven Edward, Wednesday morning.

Even as they continue to collect their salaries, the Senate's refusal to acknowledge Sens. Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, and Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, is rather Orwellian, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, at right with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg on June 10, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Manny Crisostomo

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly said Wednesday he was "already looking for somebody else" before Jennifer Kerns, his campaign manager, announced she was quitting the campaign.

"I knew it was going to happen," he said. "It was just, the timing caught me by surprise."

When Kerns announced earlier in the day that she was quitting the campaign, Donnelly said, "That's news to me."

In an interview Wednesday night, the Twin Peaks assemblyman said, "I was already looking for somebody else. It just wasn't a good fit there, for either of us."

He called her departure a "mutual" decision, saying, "I don't know that my brand of grassroots suited her expectations of what a gubernatorial campaign would be like."

Donnelly said, "We don't ever stop. We don't sleep ... Everybody's working their fingers to the bone."

When he promoted her to campaign manager earlier this year, Donnelly released an online video celebrating her promotion and giving her high praise.

"They say beside every good leader is a great woman," Donnelly tells the camera after opening clips of Kerns running and Donnelly drinking coffee with his wife, Rowena. "I've got two."

He said Wednesday, "You go out and make a video like we did, and it makes it tougher to make the change you need to make."

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly visits the Outdoor Sportsman store in Stockton on Feb. 11, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

California will need to find billions of dollars annually to improve its water system, according to a new Public Policy Institute of California report.

Lawmakers are currently debating several water bond proposals for the 2014 ballot, but the report cautions that the state cannot rely on uncertain bond money to improve water management. It advocates a "broader mix of funding sources" that includes new taxes and fees.

"Although this is a fixable problem," the report says, "it will not happen without a bold, concerted effort on the part of California's state and local leaders, who must convince California's residents to support the necessary changes with their votes and their pocketbooks."

Aging infrastructure and climate change represent pressing issues, the report says, while water agencies are constrained by constitutional restrictions on how much money they can reap from ratepayers. Bond money requires fickle voter approval and crowds out General Fund dollars for education and health care.

Despite those funding obstacles, the report estimates that California needs $2 billion to $3 billion annually, breaking that up into five distinct areas: furnishing small communities with safe drinking water; flood protection; stormwater management; nurturing ecosystems and the endangered species that live there; and integrated water management.

The report's authors are generally optimistic about local entities that perform such services as providing drinking water and managing wastewater or stormwater. User fees generate much more money than what comes from the state or federal sources.

But because local fees and taxes generate the bulk of water funding, the report warns, tax-related ballot initiatives like Propositions 13, Proposition 218 (1996) and Proposition 26 (2010) have made it hard to keep up with maintenance costs.

Higher water-quality standards present a looming cost, as does the need to treat water when chemicals like arsenic and nitrate seep in — a problem that "will get worse before it gets better, because the accumulated chemicals in the soil are slowly moving through the state's aquifers," the report says.

Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to construct two massive water tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could also bring higher costs as users pay back the cost of construction, the report says. The expense will be less for urban users than for farms where "this price increase could be prohibitive for many agricultural activities," the report said.

Farms will also face issues like scarce groundwater, a symptom of overpumping, and increasingly salty soil.

"Because of these problems," the report says, "we expect a continued decline in agricultural water use and irrigated acreage and a rise in the share of higher-income farming activities that can support higher water costs."

PHOTO: A Folsom woman examines a drip irrigation emitter at her home on Friday, March 7, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton.

Jennifer Kerns, Tim Donnelly's campaign manager, quit Donnelly's gubernatorial campaign Wednesday.

The announcement comes just days before the California Republican Party's convention in Burlingame and is a setback to the Twin Peaks assemblyman's bid. Donnelly, reached Wednesday afternoon, said he was unaware of the departure.

"That's news to me," he said.

Kerns said in a prepared statement that she is "proud to have taken a candidate from the launch of a campaign as an unknown, underdog candidate to frontrunner status in the polls, as well as having cleared the field of our closest GOP competitor."

She said a filmmaker who produced campaign video ads for Donnelly has also left "making this now two top strategic advisers who have left."

Donnelly had made Kerns a significant part of his campaign, In January he posted an online video celebrating her promotion to campaign manager.

"They say beside every good leader is a great woman," Donnelly tells the camera after opening clips of Kerns running and Donnelly drinking coffee with his wife, Rowena. "I've got two."

Editor's note: This post was updated at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday to include the statement from Kerns.

PHOTO: Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, speaks in Baldwin Park Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. Associated Press/Nick Ut

Assembly Democrats will vote in their next leader on Monday.

After months of intrigue and speculation, Democrats in January removed any drama around who would replace termed-out Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez by unanimously backing Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat and the current majority floor leader.

The Monday vote represents the next step in the leadership transition. Atkins will likely take over from Pérez before June, although the exact timeline remains in flux.

"That is still to be determined," said John Casey, Atkins' chief of staff.

A former San Diego City Council member elected to the Legislature in 2010, Atkins will lead a large, but inexperienced Democratic caucus.

Democrats have a two-thirds majority allowing them to pass new taxes or enact effective-immediately "urgency" bills without Republican votes. As speaker, Atkins will direct Democratic efforts to preserve that edge come November.

Atkins will also be managing a class of relatively fresh-faced members: a majority of Democratic Assembly members are serving their first terms.

During her rise through politics, Atkins has focused on issues that include gay rights, housing development and reproductive rights.

PHOTO: Speaker John A. Pérez, and Assemblywoman Toni Atkins discuss Atkins becoming the next speaker in the State Capitol building in Sacramento, Calif. on January 22, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Jeremy B. White.

A years-long battle over the direction of the California court system, pitting the San Francisco-based state court bureaucracy against rebel judges and court employee unions, took another tack Wednesday.

The system's critics, led by the Alliance of California Judges, scored a win when the Joint Legislative Audit Committee directed State Auditor Elaine Howle to look into how
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the Judicial Council she chairs and the Administrative Office of the Courts are spending money.

The Alliance, paired with court employee unions, has claimed that trial courts are being starved for funds and have been forced to shut down courtrooms and furlough employees while money was wasted on an inoperative computer system and lavish salaries and fringe benefits for AOC employees.

The battle has been waged within the Judicial Council, in the Legislature and in the media, culminating in a request by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, for a comprehensive management audit that is expected to take six to seven months.

"I don't want anecdotes anymore," Jones-Sawyer, a member of the audit committee, said. "I want answers."

The unanimous committee vote for the audit essentially rejected a plea from Steven Jahr, the AOC's top executive, representing the chief justice, for it to be pared down and/or delayed.

Jahr said that Cantil-Sakauye and the Judicial Council had already undertaken extensive studies of AOC staffing by an outside consulting firm and faced a financial audit by the state Department of Finance and that the staff had been "considerably...downsized" — a contention that critics dispute.

Members of the Alliance, including its president, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White, and union representatives said it was vital to resolve conflicting accounts over spending priorities.

The state cut financing for courts when it faced severe budget deficits, and while some of the money has been restored, trial judges complain that financing from the AOC has been inadequate.

PHOTO: California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye answers questions from The Bee's Editorial Board at the offices of The Sacramento Bee in Sacramento on Jan. 14, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Jack and Jill's climb up the hill received a rare mention at a Capitol press conference Wednesday morning, as several legislators touted a new $9 million publicity campaign to get California parents to spend more time talking, reading and singing with their children.

That kind of face-to-face interaction between parents and small children helps young brains develop and leads to greater achievement later in life, according to research promoted by First 5 California, which uses money from cigarette taxes to offer services for children up to age 5.

The agency is required to spend 6 percent of its funds on mass media efforts. It's spending $9 million on an advertising campaign that launches statewide on Thursday pushing a simple message on parents: "Talk. Read. Sing."

Several wriggly toddlers sat through the unveiling of the ad campaign Wednesday that included Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva leading the room in reciting the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme.

"Why do you remember that? Because you were taught it," said Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton.

"We have entered a decade where many of our favorite rhymes and songs have stopped being taught. We see people on their cell phones. We see people texting and they're not talking. I see moms with their strollers and they're not talking (to their children). They're talking on their phones."

Other legislators used the event to promote their bills on early childhood education. Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, plugged his SB 837 which would create public preschool for all 4-year-olds at a cost of at least $1 billion a year.

"By age 3 kids born into low-income families have heard roughly 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers. That leaves many California children predestined for success or failure before they enter kindergarten," Steinberg said.

As he pointed to the front row of the press conference, where several parents tried to keep their children quiet with bottles and snacks, Steinberg said: "Parents, all parents, should understand that what they choose to do on a daily basis makes a huge difference. And these little ones are never too young to start learning."

PHOTO: Parents and children listen as legislators and advocates in the Capitol introduce a new ad campaign geared at them. The Sacramento Bee/Laurel Rosenhall

Back in the 1970s, San Diego was a hotspot for political namephreakers because the city had three top-drawer politicians named Wilson.

Pete Wilson, later to become a U.S. senator and governor, was San Diego's Republican mayor, Democrat Bob Wilson was a local congressman and another Democrat Bob Wilson was a state senator.

None of the Wilsons was related, but the situation created great confusion among voters, especially when they were merely urged in billboards and other media to "vote for Wilson."

An even odder three-way situation is shaping up in Long Beach this year, because Congressman Alan Lowenthal will be seeking re-election while his former wife, Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, runs for mayor and their former daughter-in-law, City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, runs for the Assembly.

Suja Lowenthal's former husband Dan, a Superior Court judge, was re-elected in 2012, so at least his name won't be on the ballot this year.

As political junkie Scott Lay points out in his Nooner blog, "If no candidate receives 50 percent in April 8's mayoral election and Bonnie places in the top two, three of the four Lowenthals will appear on the June 3 ballot for Long Beach voters."

Update: Modified at 3:16 p.m. to clarify family relationships.

PHOTO: Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach during session in the Assembly chambers in Sacramento, Calif. on Monday, March 11, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Republican Neel Kashkari, rebuffing opponents' depiction of him as a wealthy financier, said Tuesday that Gov. Jerry Brown is the gubernatorial candidate of privilege and wealth, again challenging the Democratic governor to release tax returns.

"Jerry Brown owns a million dollars of Jack in the Box stock," Kashkari told the conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt on his show Tuesday. "I eat at Jack in the Box. That's the difference between me and Jerry Brown."

Kashkari's remarks came less than a week after he filed a required financial disclosure with the state. He reported receiving salary of more than $100,000 from Newport Beach-based Pacific Management Investment Co. last year in the form of a lump sum payment of stock. Kashkari left the job in January 2013.

In addition to interests in real estate and retail concerns, Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, have reported owning more than $1 million in stock in Jack in the Box.

Kashkari said of Brown, the son of a former governor, "Nobody was born into a life of privilege like Jerry Brown."

Kashkari, a former Goldman Sachs executive and U.S. Treasury Department official, said he will release his tax returns for any year Brown will release them.

Dan Newman, a political spokesman for Brown, said in an email that "a wealthy banker who's spent his entire life on Wall Street is not credible lecturing about poverty to the governor who slept on a futon and assisted Mother Teresa."

But Brown's campaign dismissed - at least for now - Kashkari's invitation to release tax returns that would provide more detailed financial information about the candidates. Newman said "we'll spend more time responding to the incessant tweets, videos, and challenges of whomever emerges from the Republican primary."

Neither Brown nor Republican opponent Meg Whitman agreed to release tax returns in the 2010 election.

Whitman, a billionaire, also took criticism for her self-financing of her campaign, but she was also damaged by revelations that her former maid was an undocumented immigrant. The woman, Nicky Diaz Santillan, was represented by Gloria Allred, the famous Los Angeles lawyer.

On the air on Tuesday, Hewitt asked Kashkari, "Is there a Gloria Allred press conference in your future, on anything?"

Kashkari said he had undergone a background check before being confirmed to his Treasury post and that there is nothing scandalous in his past.

"No housekeepers, nothing?" Hewitt asked.

"I've got a guy who cleans my house," Kashkari said. "He gave me a copy of his U.S. passport before I hired him."

PHOTO: Neel Kashkari prepares for an interview at KFBK radio in Sacramento on Feb. 19, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

Sometimes California lawmakers focus on the little things, crafting locally-tailored legislation known in Sacramento parlance as a "district bill."

But it would be difficult to find a more specifically-aimed bill than Senate Bill 124 by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, intended for a single monk.

Abbot Archimandrite Theodor Micka, the founder of the Holy Cross Monastery in Alameda County, is gravely ill and nearing the end of his life. But burial permitting requirements make it difficult for Micka to be laid to rest beneath the grounds of the monastery that is the physical manifestation of his life's work.

"There's no where else he wants to be," said Father Stephen Scott, who helped Micka raise the monastery. "It's just where he feels God planted him, and he wants to be buried here."

So they sought the help of some Stanford Law students. The students reached out to Corbett, whose district includes the monastery.

Employing a common bill transforming technique known as gut-and-amend, Corbett slipped language allowing for Micka's swift burial into legislation about clean energy contracts that has already been voted out of the Senate and is ascending through the Assembly.

"A compelling request has been made of me and I feel it's my duty to bring this forward for my constituents," Corbett said, pointing out the Legislature offered a similar exemption for the 2005 burial of a Fresno County spiritual leader. "Under the circumstances, because of his failing health it's important that this move quickly and we're able to grant his request."

PHOTO: Abbot Micka (far left) on July 4, 2009. Image by Popadia Lisa Butrie, courtesy of Father Stephen Scott.

Is California meeting its goal to reduce greenhouse gases in the state to 1990 levels by 2020? Should it take a more global approach to addressing climate change or keep emission reduction programs such as "cap and trade" focused solely on California? What happens to the state's efforts after 2020?

The Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Climate Change will consider these and other questions related to the implementation of AB 32, the 2006 law mandating a reduction of California's greenhouse gas emissions, during an oversight hearing at 9 a.m. in Room 4203 of the Capitol.

Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, headlines the panel discussions on the current progress and potential future of the AB 32 programs. She also testified at an Assembly hearing about the law on Monday.

VIDEO: State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, is the latest lawmaker to use an informational hearing to boost an election campaign, Dan Walters says.

BABY GENIUSES: A full hand of legislators joins First 5 California to announce a new campaign encouraging early brain stimulation for babies and toddlers. The press conference at 10 a.m. in Room 317 of the Capitol includes state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Sen. Carol Liu, D-La Cañada Flintridge, and Assembly members Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, and Shirley Weber, D-San Diego.

HOMELESS YOUTH: The Assembly Select Committee on Homelessness discusses the challenges and needs of homeless students in California's public schools at 9:30 a.m. in Room 126 of the Capitol.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The California Trucking Association is rolling up to the Capitol for its lobby day with a high-tech trailer that simulates the experience of driving a big rig. Those interested in taking the simulator for a spin will find it on 10th Street between L and N streets from 3:30-6 p.m.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, who turns 37 today.

PHOTO: A tanker truck passes the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond on March 9, 2010. The Associated Press/Paul Sakuma

Many informational hearings are just an opportunity for legislators to promote their re-election campaigns, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Senator Alex Padilla, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, listens to testimony on why the state Energy Commission has been unable to spend millions of federal stimulus dollars on August 01, 2011. The Sacramento Bee/Jose Luis Villegas

Neel Kashkari and Tim Donnelly may not be debating at the California Republican Party's annual convention this weekend, but they will be offered speaking spots, Jim Brulte, the party chairman, said Tuesday.

Neither candidate was previously listed as a speaker. They are expected to address delegates Sunday, the final day of the convention.

Brulte said he heard from candidates "this morning, for the very first time, three days before the start of the convention" that they would like to address delegates. He said he told them, "Makes sense to me."

The announcement comes a day after Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman and tea party favorite, challenged Kashkari to a debate at the gathering of party activists in Burlingame. Both Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, and party leaders dismissed the invitation.

Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the party, said, "The CRP doesn't involve itself in discussions between primary candidates in a contested race."

PHOTO: Neel Kashkari, a Republican candidate for governor, speaks to reporters after addressing the Sacramento Press Club on March 6, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

Utah Sen. Mike Lee said Tuesday that his national conservative reform agenda could be applied by California Republicans to help narrow the chasm with state Democrats.

"I think one of the reasons why we have struggled as a party in a lot of places has to do with the fact that we don't always connect the dots between our conservative policies and where we are trying to go with them," Lee said.

Lee, a favorite of the tea party movement, made the remarks in a telephone interview with The Bee to endorse Republican Igor Birman, who is challenging freshman Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, in suburban Sacramento's 7th district.

Birman, 32 and an aide to Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, is hoping to emerge from a crowded field of GOP candidates that includes former Rep. Doug Ose and Elizabeth Emken, a former nonprofit executive who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2012.

Birman and his family emigrated from the Soviet Union two decades ago and his campaign draws heavily from their shared experiences. He believes the freedom too many here take for granted is in jeopardy because of government policies.

"He has experienced first-hand what it's like to live under exactly the kind of government regime that is oppressive and wrong having been born in the Soviet Union," Lee said. "He has seen the reasons why we need limitations on the authority of government and he understands standing up for the limitations imposed on government through the constitution, and sticking to conservative values, will be the best way to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy."

Lee's comments come less than a week before California Republicans meet outside San Francisco for their biannual state convention. Last week, he urged conservatives to redefine their movement and said failure to adopt new ideas would land them on the losing end of future elections for years to come.

"It's time for the Republican Party to stop talking about Ronald Reagan and start acting like him," he told the Conservative Political Action Conference.

PHOTO: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah speaks at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md., March 6, 2014. Associated Press/Cliff Owen

As recession gripped the state a half-decade ago, Californians receiving what used to be called food stamps more than doubled to more than four million, a legislative hearing was told Tuesday, but the state still has, relatively, a very low rate of utilization.

Californians' use of what is now called CalFresh may be the lowest in the nation, a report from the Legislature's budget analyst says.

The state's utilization rate of 57 percent of eligible low-income Californians was calculated by the federal government for 2011 and was tied with Wyoming for the lowest. The national average was 79 percent that year, indicating that were California to reach that level, another 1.4 million Californians would be receiving the electronic benefit cards that replaced food stamps and are used in grocery stores to purchase approved foods.

The report said that the food assistance program increased from two million persons in 2006-07 to more than four million in 2013-13 and showed an especially large jump — nearly 25 percent — in 2009-10, during the depths of the recession. While enrollment is still growing, the rate of increase has dropped to scarcely 5 percent a year as the economy has improved.

However, the report from Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor's office warned legislators that the federal data on utilization may be outdated and otherwise not a true picture of what's happening with the federally financed program in California, although it did not question that the state's use is below average.

The joint hearing by the Assembly and Senate human services committees was called to delve into ways to increase utilization. It heard from a variety of advocates for the poor, as well as state and local officials who administer the program.

PHOTO: Volunteers sort boxes of food at the Elk Grove Food Bank Services in Elk Grove on Feb. 20, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Kicking off her high heels, Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, demonstrated her skills on an electrically-motorized skateboard Tuesday in support of AB 2054, a bill that would legalize the boards for street use. After a wobbly first run, a barefoot Olsen led the crowd in rides up and down 11th Street across from the Capitol, looking confident enough to give interviews while skating backward.

Early versions of motorized skateboards were prohibited by the vehicle code in 1977 because of concerns over loud and bulky gas motors. Olsen is seeking to allow new electric prototypes, which she said are silent and environmentally-friendly, to operate where bicycles are allowed.

"It's a great, viable transportation option for those short commutes," Olsen said.

She also promoted the job-creating possibilities of companies that make the electrically-motorized skateboards, introducing the founders of ZBoard, a start-up that manufactures its boards in Riverbank, to share their story.

"It just doesn't make any sense to allow an industry to build in California, but not to grow roots here," Olsen said.

PHOTO: Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, rides an electrically-motorized skateboard across the street from the Capitol on March 11, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Alexei Koseff

Three days after learning he would face an intraparty challenger, Republican Rep. Tom McClintock has come out swinging against what he's calling an attempted "total liberal takeover."

"It's obvious -- the liberals want to entice enough Republicans to break off and join Democrats to elect a liberal Republican in a district that won't elect a liberal Democrat," McClintock wrote in an email to his large network of donors.

The fundraising appeal follows Republican Art Moore's entry into the 4th district contest. Under the state's new primary rules, the top-two votegetters, regardless of political party, advance to the general election in November.

Jeffrey Gerlach, who is not affiliated with a political party, is also running.

McClintock's campaign noted that at least three prospective Democratic candidates pulled papers to run, but ultimately stayed out of the race.

Most of the voters live in Placer and El Dorado counties, but the district stretches south to Fresno County and is heavily Republican. With no Democrats on the ballot, the district's 117,765 registered Democrats may be inclined to choose the more moderate Republican candidate.

In his fundraising email, McClintock asserts that a well-funded liberal coalition, in coordination with Democrats, is testing a new strategy to silence conservatives in California. That contention, at this point, is more of a suspicion than anything else.

None of the Democrats have admitted to any coordination. Kris Johnson abandoned her campaign saying a recent injury would require a long rehabilitation period. Donald Colbourn suspended his campaign after a brief flirtation. El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago, who expressed interest in the race, did not return a call seeking comment about her decision not to run.

Moore, a military officer who lives in Roseville, touts himself as a conservative Republican who believes in individual liberty and limited government.

"Art hopes to elevate the dialogue of this race above petty fear mongering," said Rob Stutzman, Moore's campaign strategist. "He thinks voters aspire to better campaigns than that. And I assure you, this decorated infantryman is no liberal."

Meantime, McClintock is telling supporters it will require a full-blown and expensive campaign right through to November.

"There's good news," he wrote. The people in the 4th district know me and know where I stand, and I believe we will keep this seat as a conservative one."

PHOTO: Rep. Tom McClintock address the Northern California Tea Party Patriots at a rally Sept. 12, 2010 in Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee/Paul Kitagaki Jr.

California's election and voting systems have been criticized as creaky and outdated, resulting in civic disengagement and low voter turnout — even by the candidates seeking the state's top elections post.

The Senate Select Committee on Science, Innovation and Public Policy will hold a hearing at 9 a.m. in Room 2040 of the Capitol to explore technological solutions for modernizing voter registration, improving access to election information and boosting voter participation. Among those scheduled to testify are California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and members of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration.

The hearing was called by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, who is in the midst of his own campaign for secretary of state. The office is one of the most competitive statewide races this year, with three Democrats, a Republican, an independent and a Green Party candidate running. At the California Democratic Party's annual convention this past weekend, no candidate won the official primary endorsement.

VIDEO: Anti-fracking activists scored political points for Gov. Jerry Brown at the California Democratic Party convention, Dan Walters says.

SWEET RIDE Have you ever wanted to see a legislator ride an electric skateboard? Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, will show off her skills in support of a new bill that would make the boards street legal, 11:30 a.m. at Gallegos Square on 11th Street.

FALLING BEHIND: California's food stamp program has the lowest participation rate of any state in the country among eligible residents. The Senate and Assembly human services committees hold a joint hearing at 1:30 p.m. in Room 437 of the Capitol to examine barriers to participation and efforts to increase the reach of the program.

LOOK MA, NO HANDS: When self-driving cars eventually make it onto the roads, should blind people be allowed to operate them? What about children? The California Department of Motor Vehicles has been working through those questions as it develops regulations for autonomous vehicles. Another public workshop to discuss requirements and safety standards will be held at 10 a.m. at the DMV headquarters on 1st Avenue.

INTERIOR INTEREST: As California's water woes continue to draw national attention, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will tour the C.W. "Bill" Jones Pumping Plant in Byron today to check out the waterworks and discuss the federal response to the drought. She'll continue on to Point Arena on Wednesday to celebrate the White House's recent designation of the coastal nature preserve as a national monument.

PHOTO: Voters cast their ballots on Nov. 6, 2012. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

A noisy demonstration at the California Democratic Party convention over the weekend helped Gov. Jerry Brown boost his image as a moderate, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown addresses the California Democratic Convention on March 8, 2014, while a protester holds a sign against hydraulic fracturing. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly challenged rival Neel Kashkari on Monday to an "old-fashioned debate" at this weekend's gathering of the California Republican Party, an invitation immediately dismissed by Kashkari and party leadership.

The challenge, issued in a letter on Donnelly's website, came just days before the CRP opens its Burlingame convention.

"While we are both attempting to sway convention goers to ride along with our respective campaigns, it is imperative our fellow Republicans learn as much about our plans, our backgrounds, and our campaigns as possible," Donnelly wrote. "Even though we both have an 'R' behind our names, you and I have different life experiences, ideas for California, and campaign focuses."

Donnelly, a Twin Peaks assemblyman, said "a good old-fashioned debate at the upcoming California Republican Party convention is the perfect place to make that happen."

Donnelly, who is far more conservative than Kashkari, is embraced by tea party activists but faces resistance within the party's professional ranks. Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, would have little reason to engage Donnelly at a meeting of party activists.

"It's our understanding from the CRP that there will not be a debate at this weekend's convention," Jessica Ng, a Kashkari campaign spokeswoman, said in an email. "That being said, Neel looks forward to continuing to share with voters his vision for California, and there will surely be many opportunities for voters to hear from him and all the gubernatorial candidates in the coming months, including in a debate setting."

Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the party, said, "The CRP doesn't involve itself in discussions between primary candidates in a contested race."

PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly visits the Outdoor Sportsman store in Stockton on Feb. 11, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

For the third time in less than two weeks, Democrats in the California state Senate have blocked Republican attempts to formally oust two Democratic senators who are involved in criminal cases.

The latest move came Monday after Senate Republican leader Bob Huff introduced two resolutions, one calling for the Senate to suspend Sen. Rod Wright and the other to suspend Sen. Ron Calderon. Republicans have previously asked for Wright to be dismissed but Monday was the first time they asked for a vote on Calderon's fate in the Senate. The resolutions, SR 34 and SR 35, call for temporarily removing the senators, with pay, until their legal cases are resolved.

Wright, of Baldwin Hills, has been found guilty of eight felonies including perjury for lying about whether he lives in the Inglewood-area district he represents. Calderon, of Montebello, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 24 counts related to corruption. Both men are on a voluntary paid leave of absence from the Senate.

"I believe we should have the opportunity to weigh in on something that is not breaking new ground... it's merely out there and codifying what's already been done," said Huff, of Diamond Bar.

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, called the resolutions a waste of time and ordered them sent to the Rules Committee, where they could permanently stall.

"Another day here on the floor of the Senate, another drill," Steinberg said. "Senators Wright and Calderon have already left the building."

The Senate voted 22-12, largely along party lines, to support Steinberg's maneuver to delay action on the resolutions. Sen. Ted Lieu, a Torrance Democrat running for Congress, and Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, a Stockton Democrat in a competitive district, joined Republicans in the vote.

Monday's votes followed an attempt on Thursday by Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, to permanently expel Wright, which Steinberg quickly shot down, and a similar effort by Anderson and three fellow Republicans the week before.

PHOTO: Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento speaks with Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff on Thurs., Feb, 27, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

The California Student Aid Commission reports a rise in the number of high schools submitting students' grade-point averages electronically, as state legislators weigh whether to require the electronic GPA reports.

The commission, which runs the Cal Grant scholarship program, said it has received 383,948 electronic GPA submissions for this year's awards, up from 290,468 in 2013. Verification of GPA is the second part of a two-step process for determining whether students qualify for the scholarships.

Diana Fuentes-Michel, executive director of the student aid commission, credited pilot partnerships with school districts such as Los Angeles Unified for the boost in electronic GPA submissions. The commission is still sorting through another 30,000 paper applications.

"The numbers continue to show that students, especially those trying to enter college, have gotten the message that there is student aid available," Fuentes-Michel said. "But we need to do more to streamline the process."

That is the goal of the bill introduced last month by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, which would require high schools to submit electronic GPAs for all graduating seniors to the student aid commission. About 50,000 Cal Grant applications last year were not considered because the GPA could not be verified.

PHOTO: Prospective student Eva Vega, left, is counseled by financial aid technician Sonia Diaz during a college workshop at the Mexican Consulate office in Sacramento on February 1, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Emphasizing that young students who frequently miss school are far more likely to fall behind and commit crimes later in life, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and half a dozen lawmakers introduced an anti-truancy bill package on Monday.

The legislative effort ties to a a report from Harris' office that depicts the repercussions of an estimated one million truant elementary school students a year, good for a 29.6 percent truancy rate among California youngsters.

Missing a substantial amount of school carries cascading consequences, Harris said: children who are already behind reading level by third grade are four times as likely to drop out of high school. In turn, high school dropouts suffer higher unemployment rates and become more likely to turn to crime.

"There's a direct connection between education and public safety," Harris said.

School districts also incur an economic cost, Harris said, given that funding is linked to school attendance rates. The report estimated that absent students cost districts $1.4 billion annually.

Legislators promoted a set of five bills focused on data collection and reporting, from requiring the State Department of Education to track truancy rates to having district attorneys explain the outcomes of school attendance-related prosecution.

A bill by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would require all counties to create entities called school attendance review boards, which some counties already use to give chronically absent students an alternative to entering the juvenile justice system. A bill by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, would have existing school attendance boards share more data.

Harris and lawmakers acknowledged that enhanced data collection will not by itself affect the outside issues that keep kids out of school, from poor health to volatile homes to overworked parents. But they said it is a starting point, allowing policymakers to understand why desks stay empty.

"If we don't know what the problem is or where the problem is, we can't solve it," said Buchanan.

Low-income students whose families lack the resources to compensate for missed classwork suffer acutely from skipping school, lawmakers said, as do children of color. Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, called addressing early childhood truancy key to breaking the cycle of poorly performing students churning through the criminal justice system.

"Stemming the tide of truancy is a critical component to disrupt the school to prison pipeline," Monning said.

PHOTO: Attorney General Kamala Harris greets Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson at a press conference at the Capitol on Monday March 10, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Legislative budget subcommittee hearings on Gov. Jerry Brown's January spending plan are in full swing, with lawmakers, administration officials, the Legislative Analyst's Office and others debating the proposal's finer points.

And then there are the numbers themselves. Democrats and Republicans debate what is the most accurate way to depict the changes in state expenditures and revenues over the years.

Below are charts showing California expenditures and revenue since 1992-93. The top chart summarizes general fund, special fund, and bond spending and includes adjustments for inflation based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It does not reflect the federal money that runs through the state.

The bottom chart shows the pieces of the state's revenue stream during the same time period.

Click on the legend to highlight a category.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown discusses his revised budget plan at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Renée C. Byer / Sacramento Bee

Determined to keep kids attending school, Attorney General Kamala Harris will stand alongside a half-dozen lawmakers today to promote anti-truancy legislation.

Skipping school carries more consequences than missed tests: a report released last year by Harris' office estimated the annual fallout in the billions of dollars and linked chronic absences to unemployment and crime.

It's not a new issue for Harris, who made a push to police truancy while serving as San Francisco's district attorney and touched on the issue in her first speech as California's top law enforcement official. Slated to join her at today's announcement of a truancy-focused bill package are State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, Sen. Bill Monning and Assembly members Raul Bocanegra, Rob Bonta, Joan Buchanan, Isadore Hall and Chris Holden. It starts at 10:45 a.m. in room 1190 of the State Capitol.

VIDEO: Add another item to the list of worrisome public-employee obligations, Dan Walters says.

HAPPY ENDINGS: We brought you news earlier this year of how cities and cops want California to work out the kinks in soon-to-sunset massage parlor regulations. A sunset oversight hearing, conducted jointly by business and professions committees in both houses, will offer a preview of the looming debate about the California Massage Therapy Council. Also coming under the microscope will be the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Bureau of Automotive Repair and the California Tax Education Council. The hearing begins at 9 a.m. in room 4203.

LGBT-ERRIFIC: Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will be among the honorees at an Equality California event tonight, with Brown receiving accolades for his support of a bill for transgender students that recently survived a referendum challenge. Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, both have roles in the ceremonies.

WARMING PLANNING: Several years after California passed its landmark cap-and-trade law, lawmakers are poised to debate some major changes. Today we'll get an update on how California is doing on Assembly Bill 32's other key component, the requirement that the state cut down on emissions. Mary Nichols of the Air Resources Board, Tiffany Roberts of the Legislative Analyst's Office and a slate of experts will discuss the current plan during an afternoon hearing of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

PHOTO: Attorney General Kamala Harris prepares to talk before a hearing in Sacramento on April 22, 2012. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua.

The state has billions of dollars in unfunded healthcare costs for public retirees, but it's not doing anything about the problem, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: Jose L. Beltran, an RN and Assistant Nurse Manager in the telemetry unit, wears a face mask while working at Sutter General Hospital on February 17, 2011. The Sacramento Bee/Autumn Cruz

William Hauck, former longtime head of the California Business Roundtable and a current member of the California State University Board of Trustees, has died.

Mr. Hauck died Friday evening at Sutter Roseville Medical Center after an eight-month battle with brain cancer, said Rick Brandsma, a close family friend. He was 73.

Mr. Hauck was a prominent figure at the California Capitol for decades, having served in leadership posts for politicians of both parties, including former Democratic Assembly Speakers Bob Moretti and Willie Brown and Republican Govs. Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

From 1996 to 2011, Mr. Hauck headed the California Business Roundtable, a leading public policy advocacy association for businesses. He later joined the Sacramento-based Goddard Claussen/West (now Redwood Pacific) political consulting firm as senior adviser.

At the time of his death, Mr. Hauck had served more than 20 years on the CSU board, having been appointed by Wilson and re-appointed by Gov. Gray Davis and later Schwarzenegger. He also was a member of the board of directors of Blue Shield of California.

Private services are planned.

PHOTO: Bill Hauck, president of the Business Roundtable, addresses the media Tuesday, May 19, 2009 after the failure of Proposition 1A. The Sacramento Bee/Carl Costas

LOS ANGELES - Betty Yee, the state Board of Equalization member competing against Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez in the Democratic race for state controller, issued a vague but stinging indictment of the state party Sunday, suggesting its leadership has become too heavy-handed and is disconnected from grassroots activists.

Her remarks, on the final day of the California Democratic Party's annual convention here, highlighted the intensity of a fight for the party's endorsement in the race, one of the most competitive statewide contests.

In delegate voting following two days of lobbying, neither Yee nor Pérez received sufficient support to win the endorsement. The speaker, with nearly 48 percent of the vote, finished ahead of Yee by just more than 3 percentage points.

In his convention speech, Pérez, a former labor organizer, recounted legislative achievements and electoral pick-ups made by Democrats in the Legislature during his tenure.

"We're expanding the map everywhere," he said. "In California, red to blue is not a slogan. It's a reality."

Without offering specific examples, Yee accused some members of the party of bullying activists "so power may remain in the hands of a few political leaders." She said "grassroots activists often are relegated to ridicule."

PHOTO: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez addresses the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles on March 9, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - The California Democratic Party added planks to its platform Sunday calling for the legalization of marijuana and a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing.

The platform's adoption, on a unanimous or near-unanimous voice vote, reflected the influence of the party's more liberal wing at its annual convention. Both positions are at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown. The Democratic governor has expressed reservations about legalizing marijuana and faced protests when he spoke here Saturday over his permissiveness of hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of oil extraction.

The platform calls for the party to "support the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana, in a manner similar to that of tobacco or alcohol."

On hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the party calls for "an immediate moratorium on fracking, acidizing, and other forms of oil/gas well stimulation" until more restrictive regulations are enacted.

The platform change comes a week after Brown made headlines with remarks critical of marijuana legalization.

"Well, we have medical marijuana, which gets very close to what they have in Colorado and Washington," Brown said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I'd really like those two states to show us how it's going to work."

Brown feared advertising and the legitimization of marijuana use could lead to a lack of alertness by the citizenry.

"The world's pretty dangerous, very competitive," Brown said. "I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together."

In a speech to delegates on Saturday, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a supporter of legalization, said "it's time to legalize, it's time to tax, it's time to regulate marijuana."

He said, "This is a serious debate for serious people ... This is not a debate about stoners."

PHOTO: The California Democratic Party convenes during its annual convention in Los Angeles on March 9, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's Twitter handle and photographs of gay weddings he oversaw while mayor of San Francisco lit up the side of The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites on Saturday night, and for a few hours at the California Democratic Party's annual convention no politician was in higher demand.

At a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the "winter of love" - the precursor to years of debate over same-sex marriage and, eventually, the overturning of California's gay marriage ban - hundreds of supporters drank cocktails on a poolside patio and crowded around Newsom to heap praise on the lieutenant governor.

"If you were any cuter, I might throw up right now," said Carnie Wilson, a member of Wilson Phillips, which played at the event. "Gavin, you are one awesome human being."

For gay rights advocates, the event highlighted how far their movement has come in the years since gay marriage was outlawed here.

For political watchers, it was a reminder that Newsom has not always occupied the least influential of statewide offices, and that he maintains a base of support that will benefit him if he runs for higher office in four years.

"I'm grateful for the folks behind me, for their courage, for standing on their principle," Newsom told the crowd. "They didn't have to show up in 2004 when we opened up the doors. They didn't have to show up and say, 'I do,' and continue with the sense of faith and love and devotion and constancy as they have for the last ... 10 years."

A decade ago, he said, "We started a conversation ... It was millions of those conversations that were won that ultimately has led to where we are today."

PHOTO: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses supporters at a party at the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles, while an image of his Twitter handle is projected on a wall on March 9, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - Following two days of intense campaigning by candidates in the two most competitive statewide primary contests, delegates at the California Democratic Party convention reached no consensus Saturday on either race, issuing no endorsement for controller or secretary of state.

The campaigns had been at the center of delegate activity in Los Angeles, with a dispute about whether delegates should make any endorsement and, if so, who. The party chairman, John Burton, had recommended that candidates not seek an endorsement. His advice was ignored.

After balloting concluded Saturday, the party announced no endorsement had been reached.

"At the end of the day, we stand united as a party, dedicated to making our elections more inclusive and our democracy stronger," state Sen. Leland Yee, one of three Democrats running for secretary of state, said on Twitter.

He is competing in the race against former California Common Cause official Derek Cressman and state Sen. Alex Padilla.

The race for controller features Betty Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization, and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez.

PHOTO: State Sen. Leland Yee works the crowd at the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles on March 7, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post was updated to expand on John Burton's position.

LOS ANGELES - Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Saturday that Senate Democrats will make pre-kindergarten a priority in budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown this spring, calling last year's school funding overhaul inadequate to address shortcomings in public education.

"No funding formula will prevent a 16-year-old from dropping out of high school because she fell behind years earlier," Steinberg told delegates at the California Democratic Party's annual convention. "And no funding formula addresses the reality that the achievement gap is formed well before, well before children arrive in kindergarten."

Steinberg's remarks constituted a glancing response to Gov. Jerry Brown's continued focus on a school funding overhaul that shifts more money to low-income and English language learners. Brown has said he will consider any proposals by legislative Democrats to expand the state's pre-kindergarten program, but he did not propose funding for any such measure in his January budget plan.

Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and other legislative Democrats have proposed allowing every 4-year-old in the state to attend pre-kindergarten classes, at a potential cost of about $1 billion to the state general fund.

The pre-kindergarten proposal is one of several points of contention Brown is likely to have with members of his own party in the Legislature this year, with social service advocates and their liberal allies pushing him to approve increased spending.

Steinberg, who is terming out, said "there is plenty of unfinished business to take care of" at the Capitol this year.

He said, "This is our time."

PHOTO: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, addresses the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles on March 8, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - Oh, the indignity of a minor speaking spot - and the self awareness of its holder.

Only a smattering of Democratic activists remained when Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the final speaker of the afternoon, took to the podium to address the state party's annual convention Saturday.

"Thank you very much," he said. "It's good to see all four of you."

The crowd applauded, thin though it was after a day of convention activities.

"I'm getting to finally live out a lifelong dream of achieving a profound and highly sought after honor of being the last speaker of the day," Newsom said. "The question I've been asking myself in the back is what did I do to deserve this spot? So I think I've come up with a few explanations. No. 1, Gov. Brown chose the speaking order."

Newsom and Brown have a distant relationship, and there were some howls in the convention hall. Newsom said, "I could have said (first lady) Anne Gust, or Sutter," the governor's dog.

Newsom offered two other possible explanations for his spot in the speaking order, then left the subject with one more.

"No. 4, and this may actually be the real reason," he said. "The party makes a lot of money if people leave early and head to the bar, which clearly I think folks have."

PHOTO: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles on March 8, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - Hours after Gov. Jerry Brown drew protests from environmental activists over his permissiveness on hydraulic fracturing, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer called Saturday for legislation requiring a two-thirds vote of the electorate in any county before the controversial form of oil extraction can go forward in that area.

The remarks reflect the expansion of Steyer's effort to lobby the state Legislature on oil. He previously announced an effort to push for a tax on oil extraction in California, although such efforts failed to gain support in past years.

"In California, it takes a two-thirds vote by the Legislature to impose taxes, and in local communities it requires a two-thirds vote to impose taxes," Steyer told delegates at the California Democratic Party's annual convention. "The business community has argued for years that this two-thirds vote is important to make sure they are not taken advantage of. Well, that exact same logic should apply when it comes to fracking."

Steyer has refrained from criticizing Brown on his environmental policies, despite their differences. Asked after his speech if his remarks were a challenge to the Democratic governor, Steyer said, "No, we didn't write this speech in the two hours in between then and now."

PHOTO: Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer speaks to reporters at the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles on March 8, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Jerry Brown called on California Democrats on Saturday to join him on a "crusade" against climate change, even as a rift between Brown and environmental activists over hydraulic fracturing gained heightened attention.

Environmentalists frustrated with Brown's permissiveness of the controversial form of oil extraction held signs and chanted just feet from the podium where Brown addressed delegates, prompting him to engage them directly.

"All you guys who like to make noise, just listen a moment," Brown said.

He said "Californians, and most of you included, are driving over 330 billion miles a year," urging environmentalists to focus on a range of issues, not only hydraulic fracturing. He said the "challenge here is gigantic" and that California is "leading the way."

Brown has been heckled at public events by environmental activists since he signed legislation last year establishing a permitting system for fracking, but never before have the activists managed to engage him during such a a major speech.

"You can be sure that everything that needs to be done to fight climate change that we can accomplish, we'll do it," Brown said. "And I ask all of you, every one of you in this room, to join in a crusade to protect our climate, to find other ways of mobility, and to make sure this California dream is alive and well both now and for generations to come."
At the end of his address, he said, "Thanks a lot, and keep protesting, but add a bunch of more stuff."

Brown's speech comes after months of fundraising and his long-anticipated announcement a week ago that he will seek re-election.

The frustration of environmental activists over hydraulic fracturing can be awkward for Brown, who was celebrated by environmentalists when he was governor before, from 1975 to 1983. It is unlikely to hurt him in the election, however. Brown has raised more than $18 million and faces two lesser-known and underfunded Republicans, Twin Peaks Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and former U.S. Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari.

Still, the protest appeared to annoy California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton. He told delegates when Brown finished speaking, "Just in the future, don't come up with signs."

PHOTO: California Gov. Jerry Brown looks at protesters opposing fracking after his speech at the California Democrats State Convention on Saturday, March 8, 2014, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong

LOS ANGELES — While the California Democratic Party's most fervent members opened the party's annual convention Friday with an "evening of Cumbia and cocktails" and a "funkfest" billed as "the convention's hottest hospitality dance party," the disillusioned assembled over coffee and desserts at a café on Flower Street.

The host was the Progressive Democrats of America, the featured speaker Tom Hayden.

"I wouldn't say this is like an AA meeting, but this is an unusually sober oasis in the middle of a Democratic convention," the former California lawmaker and legendary activist said. "People actually speaking and thinking. I don't know how long this can last."

Hayden's audience consisted of about 150 activists, most of them liberal Democrats frustrated with a party they complain has become too moderate on issues including the environment and healthcare.

"Let me start by really sharing what I'm depressed about, so that you can start drinking afterwards," Hayden told them. "What I'm really concerned about in the long run is the lack of real understanding of the crisis that our youngsters are facing. First of all, the evidence is that they will live shorter lives than their parents. Secondly, they will have more medical afflictions and health problems than their parents. Third, they will be the first generation that anyone can remember to experience downward economic mobility - downward. And when they listen to us, and they listen to scientists, the message that comes across is that the world as we know it is going to be fundamentally altered if not destroyed by climate change. So the world will end while you're getting sicker and living shorter."

It was not all so sour. Hayden, who was involved in protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, urged the activists to continue working to push the Democratic Party to the left, and he said progressive traditions of social justice can be kept alive.

"I have confidence that this generation will rise to the occasion in ways that I can't predict," he said. "But it is going to be a bad time."

PHOTO: Tom Hayden, the former California lawmaker and legendary activist, speaks at an event in Los Angeles on March 7, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - Two years after the California Democratic Party gained supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature for the first time in more than 100 years, California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton said Friday that maintaining the position is not a priority, in part because Democratic lawmakers have been unwilling to use the power to raise taxes.

"They haven't done anything with it, because the only thing it allows them to do is raise taxes, and I don't see them raising taxes," Burton told reporters as the party opened its annual convention here this weekend.

Burton said the "main goal is really to try to pick up two or three more congressional seats." In the state Legislature, he said, a "supermajority is not as important as it used to be" since voters in 2010 lowered the threshold for budget passage to a simple majority.

The California Republican Party believes it has a chance to undo the Democrats' two-third majority this year, and it has made pick-ups in the Legislature a priority. If Burton was seeking to lower expectations in his remarks to reporters, he told delegates on a patio at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites that the party will work to keep two-thirds majorities in the Senate and Assembly "just to prove we can keep them and two years ago wasn't a fluke."

The Legislature's Democratic leadership comes into the convention with fresh controversies over two senators, Rod Wright and Ron Calderon, who are on paid leave of absence while dealing with legal problems. Wright, of Baldwin Hills, was convicted of eight felonies related to lying about where he lived, while Calderon, of Montebello, has been indicted on corruption charges.

Burton said Republicans hammering Democrats on the subject "have to jump on something, because they've got nothing" else. While acknowledging the seriousness of the charges against Calderon, Burton suggested Wright's crime was less than heinous.
"As a Catholic," he said, "I think that would be more a venial sin than a mortal sin."

PHOTO: California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton addresses delegates at the party's annual convention in Los Angeles on March 7, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

LOS ANGELES - As the California Democratic Party opened its annual convention here Friday, candidates in the two most competitive statewide primary contests - controller and secretary of state - set up satellite offices and flooded the convention hotel with volunteers.

But as they circled each other at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, it was not the candidates' own credentials that filled the air, but a question about whether the party should endorse any Democrat in these races at all.

"Party unity is the way to go," Stephanie Ng, a volunteer for state Sen. Leland Yee, told passers-by she stopped in the hall. "So, no endorsement."

Yee is one of three Democrats running for secretary of state. The others are former California Common Cause official Derek Cressman and state Sen. Alex Padilla, whose name was emblazoned on room keys at the hotel.

Padilla is pushing for an endorsement.

"We're Democrats," he said, "and this is a Democratic process."

John Burton, the party's chairman, asked the candidates for secretary of state and controller not to seek the party's endorsement, but Padilla and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, who is running for controller, pushed ahead.

The other Democrat running for controller, Betty Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization, said she can "see it both ways." She expects some activists in Los Angeles this weekend will be "very uncomfortable" with the competition between members of the same party.

On the other hand, she said, endorsing candidates is a "primary responsibility of delegates."

PHOTO: State Sens. Alex Padilla (top) and Leland Yee (bottom) work the crowd at the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles on March 7, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/David Siders

There are dozens of special funds in state government, but few have gotten as much attention from state auditors in recent years as the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund.

The scrutiny continued this week, when the Bureau of State Audits released its third review of the SDF's operation. And as with audits in 2007 and 2011, the latest review flags similar types of problems in how the money is spent.

The fund is a product of the state's legalization of casinos on tribal land in 2000. Various tribes with casinos have paid into the distribution fund over the years to help mitigate casino impacts. In 2012-13, $9.1 million was allocated to local benefit committees to distribute.

Neel Kashkari reported receiving salary of more than $100,000 from Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. last year, while holding no reportable investments, according to a financial disclosure filed Friday.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate's salary payment, the exact amount of which is not required to be disclosed, came in the form of a lump sum payment of stock Kashkari earned while at the firm, his campaign said. Kashkari left the job in January 2013.

Kashkari reported that in October, friends Lew and Kelly Jacobs gave him a baseball ticket worth $1,500 and a football ticket worth $100, and they paid $3,146 for a flight and hotel to attend the games. Kashkari's campaign said the baseball ticket was for a World Series game, and the football ticket to see the Cleveland Browns.

Kashkari's disclosure noted the gifts and travel payments were received before Kashkari became a candidate for governor "and are therefore reportable, but not subject to limits."

In June 2013, Accel-KKR, a Menlo Park-based private equity firm, paid $2,775 in flight, hotel and meals for Kashkari, who traveled to Denver to give a speech.

Kashkari, a former U.S. Treasury Department official and Goldman Sachs executive, has put his net worth at less than $5 million, not enough to self-finance his campaign.

Something stinks in Sacramento.

Not just in the metaphorical sense. A faint but unmistakable sour odor pervaded the California State Capitol building on Friday afternoon - the legacy, evidently, of a wayward skunk.

A staff member's iPhone video showed the black-and-white critter flopping and skittering in the bushes outside the north entrance before animal control workers, armed with a net, apprehended the animal.

Because the fumigating occurred on a Friday, when legislators have generally returned to their districts for the weekend, it was the legislative staff that endured the malodorous matter. Naturally, some took to social media to air grievances.

"Ramifications are being felt throughout the Capitol," Rhys Williams, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, wrote on Twitter.

PHOTO: A skunk roams around at Miller Park on Thursday, September 1, 2011. The Sacramento Bee/Lezlie Sterling.

Republican Art Moore has taken out papers to challenge GOP Rep. Tom McClintock, casting himself as a pragmatic supporter of limited government with deep roots in the foothill-based 4th Congressional District.

"It's very clear that federal government is not working for this district," Moore, a businessman and military officer from Auburn said in a video posted on his campaign website. "The leadership that is going to get us through this is not going to be provided by career politicians. It's going to be provided by people like me, who have a totally different perspective of public service."

Moore, a 35-year-old graduate of Placer High School and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, brings to the campaign a combined 14 years of active duty and National Guard service. He spent 30 months deployed overseas and currently is a major in the Army National Guard.

Moore also has worked as an executive in the building products industry and as a management consultant serving government clients in the intelligence community.

McClintock, a lion of conservative causes for decades, secured the congressional seat in a tough race six years ago and since has had little trouble retaining it. Despite his long record and high profile, he holds just over $350,000 in his campaign account.

His role in the protracted fight over the partial federal government shutdown received criticism and helped draw a Democratic opponent out of the woodwork. But Kris Johnson, a Granite Bay businesswoman, dropped out of the race for personal reasons.

TV newsman Walt Gray also flirted with a run, but ultimately decided against it.

The 4th district takes in portions of Roseville and extends from Lake Tahoe past Yosemite National Park. A native of Thousand Oaks, McClintock represented Ventura-area districts in the state Legislature and mounted unsuccessful runs for controller, lieutenant governor and governor.

4th Congressional District

"One of the dynamics of this campaign is a career politician versus somebody that has a business career and a military officer career who wants to just go and make Washington work," said Moore, who moved to Roseville from the Washington D.C area in December.

Now that merciless teenage taunting has migrated from locker rooms and high school hallways to the Internet, policymakers are paying more attention to the types of harassment and bullying that happens on Facebook and other social media venues.

Citing the role online viciousness seems to have played in the suicide of 15-year-old Audrie Pott, Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, will unveil today a bill he is calling "Audrie's Law." The legislation would criminalize maliciously distributing sexual images and would toughen penalties for sexual assault committed against unconscious or developmentally disabled victims.

Beall will introduce the bill alongside Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, whose office drafted the bill, at the Saratoga Library from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

VIDEO: A Democratic bill package meant to address gift-giving and money reporting doesn't inspire much confidence, Dan Walters says.

DEMS CONVENTION: Break out the business cards and the buttons, because today the California Democratic Party launches its spring 2014 convention in Los Angeles.

We'll bring you more on the confab as it unfolds, but speakers will include Gov. Jerry Brown, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Sacramento legislative leaders current (Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez) and future (Assemblywoman Toni Atkins and Sen. Kevin de León). And because who can resist a trip to California, prominent out-of-state attendees will include Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro.

CAREERISM: Before he gets into convention mode, Steinberg will be promoting a policy that's dear to his heart: career-tailored education. He'll be joined by Los Angeles education officials and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson to discuss the state's new $250 million career-linked learning fund.

THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY: Happy birthday to Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, who turns 53 today.

PHOTO: A student learns how to type on a laptop computer at River Oaks Elementary School on Thursday, July 25, 2013 in Galt, Calif. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua.

Democrats are touting a package of political-ethics reforms, but Dan says they're avoiding the central issue.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Representatives of the Education Coalition told a state Senate budget subcommittee Thursday that despite increases in school spending in the current state budget and promises of more in the next one, California still needs to spend much more money on education.

The Education Coalition, a consortium of unions, school boards and administrators, backed voter approval of Proposition 98, the state's school finance law, in 1988 and lobbies for higher school spending continuously.

How much more would be needed to meet its goal?

Steve Henderson of the California School Employees Association, representing the Ed Coalition, told the committee that its aim, implied in Proposition 98, is to raise spending to the per pupil average of the nation's 10 highest-spending states on education.

No number was mentioned, but Census Bureau data indicate that reaching that goal for six million K-12 students would cost about $36 billion more a year.

The latest data Census Bureau report on school spending is three years old, and pegs California's per pupil spending from all sources at $9,139 per pupil in 2011 and the national average at $10,560. Individual states ranged from a high of $19,076 in New York to $6,824 in Idaho.

The average for the 10 highest-spending states was $15,181, $6,042 above California, and raising it to that level would translate into $36.3 billion more a year. Since 2011, California has increased spending substantially - to at least $10,000 per pupil from all funds - but other states have done so as well, so the California's relative standing probably hasn't materially changed.

The Education Coalition cites Education Week magazine's rankings, which count only state and local funds and omit federal funds, that peg California's spending at $8,341 per pupil, $3,523 under the average of $11,864 for all states. Raising California school spending to that level would cost about $20 billion more a year.

PHOTO: At right, Maiya Miller, 8, hugs Principal Shana Henry on the first day of school at Pacific Elementary school in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, September 3, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

Leveling his most partisan attack yet in California's gubernatorial campaign, Republican Neel Kashkari on Thursday accused Democrats around the nation of "actively fighting against poor, black and brown kids" while, in California, he said Gov. Jerry Brown has destroyed the middle class.

In a speech to the Sacramento Press Club, the former U.S. Treasury Department official faulted Brown for unemployment, public education problems and the state's nation-high poverty rate.

"Jerry Brown's legacy is the destruction of the middle class of California," Kashkari said.

Kashkari and Tim Donnelly, an assemblyman from Twin Peaks, are the main Republicans competing in an uphill effort to unseat Brown, a third-term Democrat.

Kashkari, who has made education a focus of his campaign, said there are examples in which the "Democratic establishment" is "actively fighting against poor, black and brown kids," criticizing the U.S. Justice Department's involvement in a voucher program in Louisiana and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's policies on charters schools in his city.

Kashkari has not provided detailed policy proposals of his own, but he said he will release education and jobs plans "soon." He said he has not released them yet because "most voters aren't paying attention to the election yet, and we want to roll these out when people are paying attention."

Following a spate of ethical problems to hit the state Capitol in recent months -- including two senators taking leaves of absence to fight criminal charges, and two lobbying firms paying record-setting fines for violating lobbying laws -- California lawmakers are poised to introduce a package of bills to reform the way they do business.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, along with Senators Ricardo Lara and Kevin de Leon have called a press conference for Thursday to announce a package of bills they tout as "major upgrades to public service accountability rules and practices."

De Leon said the bills would include proposals to:

- Ban fundraisers at lobbyists' homes
- Ban all gifts from lobbyists - even those under $10 that are now currently allowed
- Lower from $440 to $200 the limit on the value of gifts officials can receive from a single source

Other sources said the package would also include proposals to:

- Prohibit officials from receiving as gifts tickets to concerts, sporting events and other types of entertainment
- Increase the frequency of campaign finance report filings

"I think it has the ability to restore the public's confidence and the public's trust," de Leon said of the bill package.

"It's the most far reaching, comprehensive (change to the) Political Reform Act in over two decades."

De Leon and Lara have together introduced four spot bills that call for changing California's Political Reform Act, which governs campaign finance laws, lobbying and other areas of political ethics.

Lara's SB 1441 says the Legislature intends to alter the limit on the value of gifts government officials may receive. His SB 1442 says the Legislature intends to alter campaign committee reporting schedules.

De Leon's SB 1443 and SB 1444 are even more vague but would, respectively, make changes to the Political Reform Act and review the responsibilities of the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Lara and de Leon are part of the Senate's "ethics working group," a band of Democrats who have been meeting behind closed doors to come up with political reform proposals. The group also includes Sens. Ellen Corbett, Jerry Hill, Bill Monning, Richard Roth and Norma Torres.

The proposals come weeks after nearly 40 state officials received warning letters from the Fair Political Practices Commission for having campaign fundraisers at the home of Sacramento lobbyist Kevin Sloat. Sloat's lavish hospitality at the events -- including fine wines, top shelf liquors and expensive cigars -- amounted to prohibited campaign contributions because they exceeded the limits of how much lobbyists can give to officials whose votes they seek to influence.

The $133,500 fine Sloat paid last month set a new record in California as the highest fine paid for violating lobbying regulations. The previous record was set in September, when the California Strategies public affairs firm and three of its partners agreed to pay a $40,500 fine for working to sway government decisions without registering as lobbyists. One of those partners, Jason Kinney, is a political consultant to the Senate Democrats.

Two Senate Democrats are now on leaves of absence while they fight criminal charges. Sen. Rod Wright was found guilty of perjury in January for lying about where he lived. Sen. Ron Calderon was indicted by a federal grand jury last month on 24 counts of corruption. Both men contest the charges.

De Leon, who is in line to become the Senate President pro Tem later this year, said the bills would heal some bruises the body has taken in recent months.

"This is an amazing institution," he said. "The men and women of the Senate work extremely hard for their constitutents. We've had a few bumps in the road because of the trails and tribulations of a couple of members. But nonetheless that's not a reflection of the hard work that Democrats and Republicans do or produce for their constituents."

PHOTO: Sen. Ron Calderon

A trio of Democratic senators — President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens and Kevin de León of Los Angeles — are scheduled to unveil a package of bills to change ethics and campaign rules for California officials during an 11 a.m. press conference in Room 1190 at the Capitol.

Lara and de León are part of an "ethics working group," a band of Senate Democrats who have been meeting behind closed doors in recent weeks. The group formed after a spate of problems hit the Capitol: Sen. Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, was found guilty of perjury; Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, was arraigned on federal corruption charges; and two of the most high-profile lobbying firms in town were slapped with fines for breaking ethics laws.

The latest proposals follow a bill package from Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, that includes a ban on fundraising within 100 days of the end of session, and a bill package from Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, that includes a ban on fundraising at lobbyists' homes.

VIDEO: California's state workers earn about as much annually as the entire economy of Vermont, Dan Walters says.

PARTYLESS POLITICIAN: Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, will join with former Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and former Assemblyman Fred Keeley in Room 126 of the Capitol at 10:30 a.m. to announce a constitutional amendment that would make the Secretary of State a non-partisan office. The measure, which would also move the responsibility of writing titles and summaries for statewide ballot initiatives from the Attorney General to the Secretary of State, needs a two-thirds vote from both houses of the Legislature to pass. If the governor signed it, the amendment would then go to the ballot for a public vote. Fourteen other states currently have Secretary of State offices that are non-partisan.

STUMP SPEECH: The Sacramento Press Club hosts Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari to talk about his campaign to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown and his plans for California. The lunch event takes place at the Capitol Plaza Ballroom on 9th Street at noon.

BUDGET CONFERENCE: The California Budget Project, a group focused on budget policies affecting low- and middle-income Californians, holds an all-day conference about creating "shared prosperity." Among the scheduled speakers are state Sens. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, as well as local journalist and author Sasha Abramsky. The conference begins at 9 a.m. at the Sacramento Convention Center.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: UC Davis law school professor Richard Frank discusses the role of courts and litigation in creating California's environmental policy at noon at the UC Center Sacramento on K Street.

HAPPY HOUR: The New Leaders Council, which trains "progressive political entrepreneurs," hosts a networking happy hour with its 2014 fellows at the Fox & Goose Public House on R Street at 5:30 p.m.

PHOTO: Senators >Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, talks with Senator Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, during an informational hearing on gun laws in January 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Annual salaries and benefits paid to state workers equal the entire economy of Vermont, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

PHOTO: The DMV office on La Mancha Way in south Sacramento on June 27, 2007. The Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton

State Sen. Ted Gaines has filed a lawsuit against the state health insurance exchange, claiming agency officials exceeded their power when they instructed participating health insurance companies to terminate existing policies for hundreds of thousands of Californians.

Covered California later declined a presidential offer letting insurance companies extend the canceled policies to roughly 1 million Californians.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks to prevent the exchange from requiring cancellation of policies that do not comply with the provisions of the federal law. That, presumably, would allow insurance companies to continue offering the plan.

"A lot of people have policies that have not changed, and they've had them in place for decades, and now they are out," said Gaines, R-Rocklin, a candidate for state insurance commissioner. "They were forced out of the plan into something that was more expensive and in many cases with higher deductibles. There are some real abuses."

Gaines' lawsuit also alleges the exchange is wasting taxpayer dollars on public relations.

Anne Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the exchange, declined to address Gaines' claims.

"Covered California hasn't received service in this matter," she said. "When it does, our legal team will review the complaint."

The exchange last fall refused to give insurance companies more time to end individual policies that don't conform to the federal heath care overhaul. The cancellations applied to individual plans purchased after passage of the health law.

The decision came shortly after President Barack Obama in November allowed states to extend millions of canceled insurance policies for one year amid uproar over his statements that customers who like their plans could keep them.

Among the most vocal critics of the exchange at the time was state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, a Democrat. Jones also used the threat of legal and other action to persuade two insurance industry giants to delay terminating scores of plans across the state.

Still, Gaines, the president of Gaines Insurance in Roseville, argues Jones did not do enough to prevent the plans from being canceled.

His lawsuit also requests an order from the court to halt exchange spending on things like infomercials and public relations. Specifically, it identifies as unrelated to the exchange's mission allocating $1.3 million for a six-hour infomercial featuring health and fitness guru Richard Simmons, more than $10 million on a contract with the public relations firm Weber Shandwick and "untold funds" on a contract with Ogilvy Public Relations.

PHOTO: Senator Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, during session in the Senate chambers in Sacramento on March 11, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua.

Rep.Ami Bera, an Elk Grove Democrat who's facing a tough re-election in the fall, just gave his Republican opponents a bit more ammunition — by voting with them on health care.

Last summer, Bera voted to delay the mandate for employers to provide insurance, but not for individuals to get insurance. Wednesday, though, he voted for a House Bill to delay the individual mandate, a key component of President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

In a press release, former California Rep. Doug Ose, one of three Republican challengers vying to oust Bera, paraphrased a line that famously sank Secretary of State John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race.

"Congressman Bera was for Obamacare's individual mandate before he was against it," Ose said. "He can't be 'kind-of' for Obamacare one day, and 'kind-of' against it the next."

Ose even took a shot at Bera's involvement in a bipartisan group called the No Labels Coalition. Wednesday's vote, Ose said, demonstrated that Bera couldn't make up his mind.

"Bera's 'No Labels Coalition' should be renamed the 'No Position Coalition,'" Ose said.

In a statement on his website, Bera characterized his vote as a response to the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act last fall and a way to give people more time to sign up.

"While getting the uninsured coverage remains critical, there have been a whole host of problems with implementation starting with the roll-out of the website," Bera said, "and I couldn't in good conscience vote to penalize people who haven't yet enrolled."

PHOTO: U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, attends the California State Society's inaugural luncheon on Jan. 19, 2013, in Washington, D.C. McClatchy Tribune/Tish Wells

Republican James Gallagher has scored two key endorsements that could put him ahead in the open race for California's 3rd Assembly District.

The sprawling district north of Sacramento is solidly Republican, and with incumbent Dan Logue, R-Marysville, running for Congress, the race appears to be between Gallagher, a Sutter County supervisor from a longstanding farming family, and Ryan Schohr, another Republican with roots in the region's agricultural community.

The conservative California Republican Assembly backed Gallagher at its convention this past weekend, citing his "core conservative principles."

He also received an endorsement last week from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The powerful anti-tax group seldom gets involved in intraparty primary races.

"I am excited to receive the endorsement of such a respected taxpayer organization," Gallagher said in a statement. "I'm humbled that they have recognized my work on the Board of Supervisors and my commitment to protect taxpayers from government waste and abuse."

Schohr, a farmer who serves on the Butte County Water Commission, said he is "not a politician or a bureaucrat," so he has not been seeking out those statewide endorsements.

"I've got the support of hundreds of families and farmers and business owners in the district," he said. "I've got a record of fighting taxes and wasteful spending and harmful regulations... I'm happy to work with anybody who has those same conservative ideals."

Gallagher and Schohr also face Democrat Jim Reed in the June primary.

PHOTO: Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, works on the Assembly floor on February 8, 2010.

As California Democrats head to Los Angeles this weekend for their state convention, the party's leader has declared neutrality in the two most competitive statewide Democratic primary fights: controller and secretary of state.

In an e-mail Wednesday to party activists, California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton said he has heard complaints that "my name's being used one way or the other or that people are being bullied one way or the other" by the campaigns of competing candidates.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, faces fellow Democrat Betty Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization, in the race for controller. State senators Leland Yee and Alex Padilla and former California Common Cause official Derek Cressman are Democrats running for secretary of state.

In his e-mail, Burton said he had asked the five in January to not seek the party's endorsement, with mixed success. Pérez and Padilla continue to push for the party's embrace.

"I thought it was in the best interest of the party not to have fights about endorsements between good Democrats. I still feel that way," Burton wrote.

"I've known John Pérez since he worked for the food and commercial workers, I've known Betty Yee since she worked on the Budget Committee in the State Assembly, I've known Alex Padilla since he was on the L.A. City Council, I've known Derek Cressman from his work with Common Cause, and I've known Leland Yee since we were volunteers on Nancy Pelosi's congressional campaign some twenty something years ago."

"They're all friends and they're all good Democrats. So I strongly resist efforts to pull me into one camp or another," he said. "What other members of the Party do is totally up to them. But at least you know now where I actually stand and why."

PHOTO: California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton, left, talks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Attorney General Kamala Harris after her remarks to Democratic delegates in April 2011 at the Sacramento Convention Center. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Sacramento's Sloat Higgins Jensen & Associates lobbying firm lost three prominent clients last month as revelations surfaced that founder Kevin Sloat would pay a record-breaking fine for giving prohibited campaign contributions to California officials.

Sloat lost contracts with Accenture, the San Francisco 49ers and Verizon, according to the latest filings with the Secretary of State's Office. Verizon was Sloat's most lucrative client last year, paying his firm $352,000 in 2013. Accenture paid the firm $179,000 last year and the 49ers paid it $105,000.

A fourth client — the Orange County Transportation Agency — publicly discussed this week whether to drop Sloat's firm, according to a report in the Voice of OC. The agency paid Sloat Higgins $258,000 last year.

The report quotes Jeff Lalloway, an Irvine councilman, and Todd Spitzer, an Orange County supervisor, saying they want the agency to cut ties with Sloat because of his violations of state lobbying ethics laws. Spitzer said he hopes lobbyist Moira Topp will continue to represent the transportation agency by leaving Sloat's firm, the Voice of OC reported.

Sloat paid a $133,500 fine to the Fair Political Practices Commission last month for hosting dozens of lavish campaign fundraisers at his home that included pricey wine, cigars and liquor in excess of what California law allows lobbyists to give state officials. Nearly 40 politicians — including Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders in both houses — received warning letters for participating in the events. Sloat's fine set the record as the largest a lobbyist has paid the state for violating political ethics laws.

RELATED STORIES:

Sacramento lobbying firm fined for lavish fundraisers with lawmakers

Sacramento lobbyists can make politicians feel at home - for $500

Record-setting fine hits Sacramento lobbyist Kevin Sloat

PHOTO: Aji Japanese Bistro in El Dorado Hills offers 17 wines and champagne by the glass on January 21, 2014. The Sacramento Bee/Jose Luis Villegas

Lawyers for state Sen. Tom Berryhill, R-Twain Harte, say in a new filing that an administrative law judge got it wrong when he concluded that the lawmaker illegally coordinated with county Republican committees in steering campaign dollars to his brother's Assembly campaign in 2008.

In his Jan. 31 proposed decision, made public Wednesday, Judge Jonathan Lew called the money-laundering violations "serious and deliberate." The senator, Lew wrote, contributed $40,000 to GOP central committees in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties "with the clear understanding that the monies would be contributed to Bill Berryhill."

Tom Berryhill, Bill Berryhill, and Republican central committees in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties face a combined $40,000 in fines. The California Fair Political Practices Commission is scheduled to consider Lew's decision April 17.

But Wednesday's opposition brief said Lew misinterprets the law as well as contradicts the legal standard applied in last year's case by the Fair Political Practices Commission challenging an Arizona nonprofit organization's donations to California campaigns before the November 2012 election.

Last October, the FPPC approved a $1 million fine as part of a settlement with several political groups that had given about $15 million to block a tax increase and weaken union influence in California in 2012 without properly reporting the source of the money. Among the groups were the Center to Protect Patient Rights, Americans for Responsible LeadershipAmericans for Job Security.

The latter group was not included in the fine because of insufficient proof that it had earmarked its contributions to ARL, according to Wednesday's filing. That contradicts the FPPC's standard in the Berryhill case, it contends.

"There is substantial doubt about why the Enforcement Division would contend in settling the ARL case that 'hope' and 'no specific direction' or 'no specific purpose' were insufficient to conclude that AJS had 'earmarked" its contributions to CPPR, and that AJS had acted in accordance with current law, whereas when Tom Berryhill acknowledged that he 'hoped,' but did not specifically direct or specify a purpose for his contributions of $40,000 to two central committees, that earmarking had occurred," it reads.

PHOTO: Sen. Tom Berryhill, R-Twain Harte, is shown during session in the Senate chambers in Sacramento on March 11, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua.

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin has filed papers to run for state Controller.

Swearengin, a Republican, would likely face two Democrats -- Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Board of Equalization member Betty Yee -- in the June primary, with the top two heading to the November general. The seat is open because State Controller John Chiang is termed out and running for state treasurer.

The Fresno Bee's John Ellis has more.

PHOTO: Ashley Swearengin responds to questions from other mayors during the United States Conference of Mayors at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2013. MCT/Rod Lamkey Jr.

Gov. Jerry Brown has been quite the diplomat recently: Last week, he established a trade agreement with Peru and met with the president of Portugal. Today, he joins Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Bay Area to sign an economic pact between California and Israel.

According to the governor's office, the agreement will emphasize "water conservation, alternative energy, cybersecurity, health and biotechnology, education and agriculture technology," along with allowing Israeli companies to access California's Innovation Hub network of research parks, technology incubators and business development programs.

The meeting takes place at 10:30 a.m. at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

VIDEO: Legislators' financial disclosure statements are an annual source of political dirt, Dan Walters says.

HEAR YE, HEAR YE: The Senate Committee on Education holds an informational hearing at 9 a.m. in Room 4203 of the Capitol to discuss teaching in the 21st century. The hearing includes panels on teacher recruitment, professional development and Common Core standards, as well as remarks from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

The Senate Committee on Health convenes at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4203 to explore the cost of health care in California and the state's efforts to provide affordable options.

The Senate Committee on Rules also gathers at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113 to confirm Laura A. Alarcon as chief of the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Though sent to the rules committee last week, the Republican resolution to expel Sen. Rod Wright, D-Baldwin Hills, from the Senate is unlikely to be heard.

OVERTIME BATTLE: In January, in-home supportive caregivers rallied on the steps of the Capitol in opposition to a budget proposal that would prohibit them from working overtime. They'll attend the Assembly's budget hearing on health and human services today, appearing outside Room 4202 at 1:00 p.m. to ask legislators to reject the restriction.

COMING HOME: State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, in conjunction with the California Youth Homeless Project research initiative, hosts a screening of the short film "Children of Re-Entry" at 1 p.m. in Room 112 of the Capitol. The film is followed by a panel talk on how incarceration and re-entry into society affect families.

CATCH A FIRE: Members of California Professional Firefighters are holding "live fire" training sessions for the public on the west steps of the Capitol starting at 9 a.m., with a special trailer that simulates the conditions of a fire attack.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown speaks at the California Chamber of Commerce's annual Host Breakfast in Sacramento on May 22, 2013. The Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

The annual filings show who is trying to influence whom in Sacramento, Dan says.

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

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Laguna Hills Mayor Andrew Blount, who has joined the field of Republican candidates running for governor, posted an introductory video from a Kern County raceway Tuesday, heralding the location - and his campaign - as an example of ingenuity.

Blount, a software developer who won election to the Laguna Hills City Council in 2012, laments California's regulatory climate in the video, in which he wears an untucked shirt and appears at a Kern County raceway beneath the headline "Andrew Blount On-Track."

"This used to be a field, and somebody decided that they wanted to be able to race cars, and so they built it, and they created it, and they made an audience, and they used their own two hands to do it," Blount says. "As you look around you, there's fields that have been created, there's trucks that have been created, there's trailers that have been created. People have ingenuity right here in California."

Without offering any specifics, Blount says "what's happening in our state today is that we're saying, 'No, what you create with your own two hands isn't good enough, it has to meet this regulation and that regulation.'"

He tells the camera "we have to create an environment where it's OK to build things here in California, it's OK to do things in California."

Blount joins two Republicans, Twin Peaks Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and former U.S. Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari, bidding to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown.

Blount has developed a political application for mobile devices that he has said will help him reach voters at a low cost.

PHOTO: From Andrew Blount's website for his 2012 campaign for city council in Laguna Hills. Photo by Michelle Blount