Capitol Alert

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in the latest video report, talks about Proposition 29, which would raise cigarette taxes $1 a pack.

President Barack Obama is back in California for the second time this month, scheduled for two campaign fundraisers this evening in the Bay Area.

First up, dinner in Atherton where tickets cost $38,500 a pop, then a reception at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, where tickets start at $250 and Ben Harper is scheduled to play. Obama won't be venturing any farther east than that before Air Force One heads out on Thursday.

The president raised almost $15 million for Democrats earlier this month at a Los Angeles fundraiser hosted by George Clooney.

Phillip Reese and David Siders have details of presidential fundraising in California in today's Bee.

Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker John Boehner will be in the Bay Area himself tonight at a fundraiser co-hosted by California Reps. Jeff Denham, Dan Lungren, Wally Herger and David Dreier. Tickets top out at $35,800 for the reception at Stacey and Tom Siebel's Woodside home.

Back in Sacramento, Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, joins the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California as its officials unveil a report assessing the impact of Obama's health care overhaul on California's Latinos. That presser starts at 11 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 127.

Meanwhile. the word of the day -- outside the dome, at least -- is "science."

Intel Corp. is sponsoring a science fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Capitol's south steps, while the California Association of Professional Scientists is hosting the 24th annual State Scientist Day over on the west steps from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

CAPS' event features lots of third- to sixth-graders checking out insects, an earthquake machine and other cool stuff. At noon, Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, gets the nod for honorary state scientist for her resolution declaring the annual event.

LEGISLATURE: Budget panels meet in both houses to consider Gov. Jerry Brown's revised proposals. Click here to read the Senate's schedule, and click here to read the Assembly's.

BAKE SALE: Looking for baked goods? You'll find them on sale on the north steps from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Proceeds benefit Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary.

Dan Walters Daily: In his latest video report, Dan notes a new report that 188 school districts are in financial trouble.

Gov. Jerry Brown will address the Sacramento Host Breakfast at the Sacramento Convention Center this morning. It's the 87th annual rendition of the event, which lets business and government leaders mix and mingle from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. If you just want to catch the governor, he's scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m.

Today is also California's third annual Harvey Milk Day, a day of 'special significance' established under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009.

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus will appear on the west steps of the state Capitol at 4 p.m. to mark the occasion. They'll be performing the premiere of "Give 'em Hope," an anthem written to honor the slain gay rights activist.

Joining about 70 members of the chorus will be Shara Perkins-Murphy, executive director of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and Sen. Mark Leno, whose bill required schools to recognize the day. They'll present high school teachers with copies of the choral work's score.

The group will also perform at 8 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2620 Capitol Ave., featuring music from such musicals as Godspell, Wicked and Hairspray in a concert benefiting the gay and lesbian center.

Fundraising is front and center in California politics this week, as pols from both parties gear up for the November election.

President Barack Obama will be in Redwood City Wednesday for a fundraising event at the Fox Theatre.

Today, Speaker of the House John Boehner will appear in Modesto for Rep. Jeff Denham. The $500-a-plate luncheon will be held at the Del Rio Country Club. Boehner also plans a fundraising stop on Wednesday in Woodside at the home of business software billionaire Thomas Seibel.

The Public Policy Institute of California will hold a luncheon discussion on California welfare recipients today. The event, part of The James Irvine Foundation Briefing Series, will include an overview of CalWORKS and those it serves.

Participants will include PPIC policy fellow Caroline Danielson, PPIC director of government affairs David Lesher, Cheryl Davis, human services director for Placer County Health and Human Services and Noelle Simmons, deputy director of policy and planning for San Francisco Human Services.

The session is set for noon at the CSAC Conference Center, 1020 11th Street. No charge for the lunch, but PPIC asks that you register before you attend.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in his latest video report, says California had a hard week last week, and then counts the ways.

If you were hoping last week was nothing but a long, bad dream, Capitol Alert is sorry to disappoint you. The Senate has scheduled 11 hearings this week to consider Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget, including two today that will look at health and general government issues. Two Assembly budget panels meet today as well.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, continues working through fiscal bills as its members face Friday's deadline for approving measures and sending them on to the Senate floor. One measure of note is Senate Bill 1001 by Democrat Leland Yee, which would increase the filing fee for lobbyists to $50 a year and require political committees receiving contributions of $1,000 or more a year to pay it as well.

Both houses have floor sessions set for noon. Click here to read the Senate's schedule, and click here to read the Assembly's.

Outside the building, hundreds are expected to rally on the Capitol's north steps for the 16th annual Immigrant Day, which organizers say will draw busloads of immigrants from San Diego to San Francisco. Following a procession from the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on 11th Street, participants will visit legislators. Listed speakers include Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, and Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, several Democratic and Republican Assembly members are holding a presser to tout Assembly Bill 1589, which would set up a California State Parks Protection Fund. Listed speakers include Democrats Jared Huffman, Wes Chesbro and Roger Dickinson, and Republicans Kevin Jeffries, Diane Harkey and Kristin Olsen. Robert Hanna, a great-great-grandson of John Muir, is also expected to speak. The event starts at 11 a.m. near the fish pond on the east side of the Capitol.

DEADLINE: Today's the last day to register to vote in the June 5 primary.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in his latest video report, says judges aren't the only critics of Gov. Jerry Brown's new budget numbers.

Gov. Jerry Brown is taking his pitch on California's state budget to a national television audience, talking with Charlie Rose on "CBS This Morning." The interview, which was taped Thursday, will air at about 7 a.m.

Brown tweeted Thursday that it's "a lively conversation."

Attorney General Kamala Harris is joining Holly Petraeus, who's the director of the Office of Service Member Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at Travis Air Force Base to talk up legislation sponsored by Harris that is intended to give property owners more foreclosure protections. Their presser will be followed by a town hall at 11 a.m.

The Legislature has no floor sessions, but four legislative panels are meeting elsewhere in the state.

The Senate Agriculture Committee, chaired by Republican Anthony Cannella, heads to Fresno to learn about agricultural metal theft.

A Senate select committee chaired by Democrat Ellen Corbett, is in Fremont looking at electric vehicle deployment.

Meanwhile, an Assembly select committee is in San Diego -- where chairman Nathan Fletcher is running for mayor as an independent -- for a hearing on "current workforce realities and keeping innovation domestic."

Yet another Assembly select committee -- this one headed by Democrat José Solorio -- explores the future of storm water, including its capture, storage and supply, in Los Angeles.

Click here to read the Senate's schedule, and click here to read the Assembly's.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: The California High-Speed Rail Authority is holding a special closed telemeeting starting at 10 a.m. to discuss hiring a new chief executive officer to replace Roelof Van Ark, who resigned back in January. The authority has scheduled four more closed meetings on the same subject next week and the week after.

DEADLINE: Monday is the last day to register to vote in the June 5 primary.

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlie Rose of "CBS This Morning" tapes an interview with California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, May 17, 2012. "CBS This Morning" photo distributed via Twitter.

VIDEO: Dan Walters asks in today's video report whether legislative term limits have done what they were supposed to do since California voters approved them back in 1990.

The funding dispute between the Judicial Council of California and the Alliance of California Judges spills over into the council's emergency meeting this morning. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White of the alliance is expected to argue that the state Administrative Office of the Courts should see cuts before local courts take another budget hit.

Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget would require the state court system to use reserve funds and delay its courthouse construction program, a $544 million cut, as Kevin Yamamura reported earlier this week.

The San Francisco-based council, which Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye heads, is considering how Brown's revised numbers will affect the court system. Brown's finance director, Ana Matosantos, is also scheduled to speak at the meeting, which starts at 11 a.m. at the AOC's regional office in Sacramento at 2860 Gateway Oaks Drive. Click here for the agenda.

The alliance has accused the council and the AOC of wasting money on bureaucracy, a computer system and the courthouse construction, columnist Dan Walters wrote in a column last month.

Meanwhile, members of the California arm of the Society for Human Resource Management are at Sacramento's Hyatt Regency Hotel for a two-day legislative conference.

Today, they'll be lobbying legislators from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on two measures -- Assembly Bill 1450, which would ban employers from screening out applicants who aren't employed, and Assembly Bill 2039, which would expand family and medical leave to include an adult child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law. The California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups oppose both bills.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have set floor sessions for 9 a.m. Three budget panels meet in the upper house, with Proposition 98 formulas for K-14 education and prison spending among the issues. An Assembly subcommittee will consider Brown's revised proposals for health and human services. Click here to read the Senate's schedule, and click here to read the Assembly's.

CAPITOL STEPS: Members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, is holding a presser at 10 a.m. on the south steps to announce opposition to Assembly Bill 1544 by Democratic Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, which would set up a guest worker program for employees in agriculture, domestic and janitorial services, housekeeping and food preparation. The California Hunger Action Coalition, meanwhile, is sponsoring a rally on the north steps at noon in between visits to legislators.

LIVE CHAT: Jon Ortiz, The Bee's baron of our sister blog The State Worker, will be taking questions about Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed four-day workweek for state employees. The hour-long live chat starts at noon. You can find the chat at this link, where you may also sign up for an email reminder before it starts.

CAPTION CONTEST: The Bee's editorial board is sponsoring a caption contest for guest cartoonist Steve Greenberg's depiction of Gov. Jerry Brown dressed as the Grim Reaper while unveiling his revised budget. Find the cartoon at this link. The winner gets a signed color print of the cartoon with the winning caption in the word bubble. The deadline for submitting captions is noon today.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, turns 58 today.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says in today's video report that even though California legislators have a month to pass a budget, the real action won't start until June 6.

Neither house has a floor session scheduled today, and many budget panels have yet to gear up.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee keeps working through dozens of fiscal measures, including Assembly Bill 1501, one of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez's "middle-class scholarship" measures, and Assembly Bill 1616, Assemblyman Mike Gatto's proposal to lift restrictions on homemade prepared food. That hearing starts at 9 a.m. in the Capitol's room 4202.

The Senate Rules Committee considers the governor's appointments starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with Askia Abdulmajeed of the Juvenile Parole Board and three commissioners on the Board of Parole Hearings -- Dan Figueroa, Jack Garner and Peter LaBahn -- required to appear.

Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio is holding a presser at 1 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 2040 to talk up his Senate Constitutional Amendment 22, which would bar the University of California from enrolling more than 10 percent of out-of-state students in the first-year class on each campus as well as across the system.

Meanwhile, the Assembly has welcomed a new member. Robin Swanson, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, added to her and her husband Michael's family Tuesday with the birth of son Logan Michael Kanotz.

"Appropriately, Robin's labor began on Mother's Day," Pérez said in a statement announcing Logan's arrival. "Typically, she had some of her hardest labor during the May Revise. The LAO has not yet commented on how long recovery will take."

Click here for the Senate's daily agenda, and click here for the Assembly's.

SOLAR: Solar industry officials and workers will be on the Capitol's north steps at 10 a.m. to urge legislators not to approve any new fees on solar energy users.

GREEN FAIR: SAGE, which works to improve recycling and sustainability efforts in state agencies, is hosting a "green fair" from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

BARBECUE: The California Beer and Beverage Distributors are hosting a barbecue lunch for legislators and staff as part of the group's annual legislative day starting at 11:30 a.m. on the south steps. Bring ID.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: As California absorbs the magnitude of the newly estimated budget deficit, Walters wonders whether voters will demand a gimmick-free spending plan.

Kevin Yamamura hosts a live chat today on the state budget at noon today. Follow the conversation (and schedule a reminder for yourself) here.

Sam Stanton reports that UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Cruz Reynoso, who headed a task force probe into last year's pepper spray incident that was highly critical of her leadership, are among officials scheduled to appear before a legislative panel today:

Katehi, Reynoso and a number of other officials are among those expected to be heard from during a joint oversight hearing by the Senate Education Committee and the Assembly Higher Education Committee.

The hearing, set for 1:30 p.m. in Capitol Room 4202, follows a December hearing that was called in the wake of the Nov. 18 incident that created worldwide outcry after video of campus police pepper spraying protesters went viral on the Internet.

Tuesday's session is scheduled to include a report from Linda Bisson, chair of the UC Davis Academic Senate, and a student representative.

The hearing also is scheduled to include remarks from UC President Mark G. Yudof and other UC officials on the university system's overall responses to campus demonstrations.

The report by Reynoso, a former state Supreme Court justice, was released last month and was highly critical of the campus police and the university leadership.

SUSTAINABLE FARMING: Cuts to agricultural conservation programs and will be among the topics at a hearing today of the Assembly Select Committee on Sustainable and Organic Agriculture. The committee, chaired by Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada of Davis, will meet at 1:30 p.m. in room 126 at the Capitol.

Those testifying include Alan Forkey, farm bill program manager for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Dr. Jeff Dlott, chairman of the Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel for the California Department of Food and Agriculture and Brise Tencer, policy director for California Certified Organic Farmers.

Find more information here. Watch the hearing live here.

BOOK-SIGNING: The California Legislative Women's Caucus and The 20 Million Minds Foundation host a book-signing reception today at 4:30 p.m. The session is just 45 minutes long, so don't be late. The author is Lisa Bloom, a TV legal analyst and lawyer. The book is "Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness and Thug Culture." The location is Ambrosia Cafe, 1030 K Street.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's report, says that California legislators are playing second fiddle to the state's ballot initiatives.

Just how bad will it be?

Gov. Jerry Brown is releasing his revised budget in Sacramento at 10 a.m., and with his deficit estimate now at $16 billion, nobody thinks it'll be easy on the eyes. As Kevin Yamamura reported Sunday, "No sector that relies on state funding is likely to escape deeper cuts. Brown has already told state worker unions to expect at least a 5 percent compensation reduction."

Brown's morning news conference will be streamed live on the California Channel's website. The revised budget itself will posted online shortly after 10 a.m. at this link. Afterward, the governor will head to Los Angeles for a second news conference at 2 p.m. Come back to Capitol Alert later today for details and reactions from legislators and others.

The Senate's budget panels will start considering some parts of his plan on Wednesday, but some Capitol denizens won't be waiting that long to weigh in. The Women's Foundation of California has organized a rally on the Capitol's north steps at 11 a.m. to protest against cuts to social services and community colleges. Expected speakers include Los Angeles Democrats Sen. Kevin de León and Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell as well as Jack Scott, the California Community Colleges chancellor.

Both houses of the Legislature have set floor sessions today for noon. The Senate Appropriations Committee agenda lists more than 70 bills -- with pet groomers and state park closures among the issues -- as members work toward the May 25 deadline for measures to pass out of fiscal committees to the floor. Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, turns 54 today, while Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, turns 50.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's video report, talks about an obscure subject that promises to rile up the California Legislature.

Generating jobs and improving regional competitiveness take center stage at the California Economic Summit, which runs all day at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

Sponsored by the California Stewardship Network and California Forward, speakers include former U.S. Labor Secretary George Shultz, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and author Thomas Friedman as well as Gov. Jerry Brown's adviser Michael Rossi.

Later, Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway and Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio will talk with former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg about the Legislature's role. Click here for the full agenda. Learn more at this link.

Closer to the dome, members of Occupy Sacramento gather at Cesar Chavez Plaza at 11 a.m. to protest treatment of the homeless, then march to the Capitol.

Gov. Jerry Brown, meanwhile, heads to San Francisco for the ninth annual dinner of the Asia Society Northern California, where he'll be feted tonight for working to strengthen the state's relationship with Asia.

COMMENCEMENT: California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye delivers the commencement speech at 2 p.m. Saturday to this year's graduating class at McGeorge School of Law at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, celebrates her 66th birthday on Saturday.

VIDEO: Dan Walters warns Californians in today's video report that Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget won't be pretty.

SeaWorld San Diego is in town. Call it SeaWorld's annual effort to convert the Capitol into a zoo to highlight animal care and conservation. Check out the lemurs, penguins and reptiles on the north steps from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menagerie moves to the Senate lounge from 2 to 3 p.m., then to the council room in the governor's office from 3 to 4 p.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown will be elsewhere, at least in the morning. He and supporters of his ballot tax measure will deliver signed petitions to the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters office on 65th Street at 10 a.m.

Back at the dome, both the Senate and the Assembly have set floor sessions for 9 a.m.

One bill that's drawn the attention of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is Assemblyman Roger Hernández's Assembly Bill 2127 to allow a sheriff or other official to let a participant in a work release program to get credit for participating in educational, substance abuse and other programs.

AB 2127 has a long list of supporters, including the California State Sheriffs' Association, and the Senate Public Safety Committee passed the measure Tuesday, 5-2. One of the no votes came from Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, who has signaled that other Republican senators aren't going to be fans of the measure either.

Alert readers will recall that Hernández, D-West Covina, is facing drunken driving charges in Contra Costa County.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Kamala Harris is heading to the Capitol to testify before a conference committee on mortgage and foreclosure matters. Click here for the agenda. Several budget panels will also convene. Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

PRAYER BREAKFAST: Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, and Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, are co-chairing the 51st annual California Prayer Breakfast at the Sacramento Sheraton Grand. The keynote speaker is Patrick Lencioni, author of "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." The program begins at 7 a.m.

POTUS: President Barack Obama will be in California air space, with Air Force One scheduled to touch down at LAX at 6:20 p.m. Obama is hitting the Golden State's ATM with a fundraiser with actor George Clooney. Obama is scheduled to leave LAX at 10:15 a.m. Friday.

THINK TANK: Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, has announced that he's launched a new think tank called the California Reform Institute. Billed as being bipartisan, it will be seeded with $750,000 from wealthy Republican activist Charles Munger Jr., who had backed giving the job of drawing political districts to a citizens commission.

NEW GIG: State Controller John Chiang has appointed Julio Martinez as his director of legislative affairs. Martinez most recently was chief of staff to Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bakari, a 10-year-old lemur, sits on the shoulder of David Jackson, director of the SeaWorld animal ambassador team. SeaWorld San Diego returned to the Capitol with a team of educators, animal ambassadors and a bevy of exotic animals on Thursday, May 12, 2011.
Randy Pench / Sacramento Bee file, 2011.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's video report, asks whether California Forward will keep pushing its ballot proposal to change the state's budget and governance, "or will it succumb to politics as usual?"

Welcome to the brave new world of campaigning in the digital age: No fewer than 15 of the 23 candidates challenging U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the June 5 primary have said "yes" to participating in The Bee's live chat today about the election.

The 15 are all over the political map. They include three fellow Democrats, nine Republicans and one member each from the American Independent, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom parties.

It's a given that Feinstein will make it into the top-two runoff in November. Which of her rivals will join her? Torey Van Oot moderates. Catch the chat from noon to 1 p.m. at sacbee.com/live.

Gov. Jerry Brown, meanwhile, continues his appearances during memorial week as Caltrans honors fallen highway workers. Brown's talk during the agency's 22nd annual ceremony is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

Under the dome, the Senate Rules Committee considers gubernatorial appointments, with Pamela Harris, director of the Department of Employment Development required to appear. After that committee adjourns, a Senate subcommittee will take up Sens. Joe Simitian and Noreen Evans' proposal on state parks, which Torey Van Oot outlined yesterday in this post.

On the Assembly side, the Appropriations Committee has its work cut out for it, with about 12 dozen bills on its agenda. Several budget panels also convene, considering proposals on higher education, corrections and other matters. And another hearing will look at how to regulate diploma mills in the state. Click here for the Assembly's full schedule, and click here for the Senate's.

EDUCATION: The State Board of Education is reviewing how California's public schools are assessed, including the Academic Performance Index and the School Accountability Report Cards. Thursday, members will discuss whether to apply for a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law. Today's meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. at 1430 N St. Click here for the agenda.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, turns 46 today.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's video report , says lawmakers are moving to the middle.

Should California State University close one or more campuses? Should CSU consider privatizing a university?

These are just two of the questions that CSU trustees will consider today when they meet in Long Beach. The finance committee session is intended to be informational, and perhaps a bit provocative, as CSU leaders evaluate ways to confront an era of state budget cuts.

CSU officials have already offered more modest suggestions should the system face a $200 million trigger cut that Gov. Jerry Brown proposed if voters reject his tax initiative. Those include eliminating sports and athletics, delaying the purchase of library materials, downsizing administration and minimizing travel.

But trustees want to consider the gamut of long-term changes, said CSU spokeswoman Claudia Keith. Those range from phasing out less popular academic areas to charging higher rates for cost-intensive programs and seeking ways to privatize.

"Some of these are obviously more feasible than others," Keith said.

PARKS: Democratic Sens. Noreen Evans and Joe Simitian hold a conference call at 11 to unveil an idea for saving 50 state parks scheduled to close.

CHP MEMORIAL: Memorial week continues with the annual ceremony honoring fallen CHP officers. Gov. Jerry Brown will attend the 9:30 memorial at the California Highway Patrol Academy in West Sacramento.

LEGISLATURE: Both houses have a fairly heavy schedule of committee hearings today. Check out the Senate file here, and the Assembly line-up here.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Send state Treasurer Bill Lockyer a funny card for his 71st birthday today. He could use a laugh.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's video report , looks at what's going on with California's K-12 schools.

Gov. Jerry Brown joins law enforcement officials from throughout the state at Capitol Mall to remember fallen peace officers, including eight who died in 2011.

This is the 36th year for the annual memorial ceremony. In a statement released before last year's memorial, Brown called it "a somber reminder of the bravery and valor of the men and women behind the badge who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our communities safe."

The governor didn't attend that ceremony -- he was recovering from reconstructive surgery to his nose after the removal of a cancerous growth. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom did, however, as did Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The honor roll now includes Stanislaus Sheriff's Deputy Robert Paris, whose funeral Brown attended April 20 after Paris was killed trying to serve an eviction notice.

The formal ceremony, which starts at 10:30 a.m., includes taps, a 21-gun salute and the retiring of the colors. Click here to read a schedule of the two-day event, which started Sunday morning.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have floor sessions set for noon. The Senate Appropriations Committee continues to work through a long list of fiscal bills, while Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez's AB 1500 -- the single-sales factor measure on corporation taxes that's part of his "middle-class scholarship" proposal -- is at the top of the agenda in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. Click here to peruse all of the Senate committees' agendas, and click here for the Assembly side.

Meanwhile, the California Community Colleges board is looking at enrollment priorities, including course repetition, as Kevin Yamamura reports in today's Bee. State officials say that with budget cuts, they can no longer subsidize artistic or physical activity for students who take a class again and again. The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. in Chancellor Jack Scott's office, 1102 Q St. Click here to read the agenda for the two-day meeting.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says in today's video report that It "looks like the shootout at the OK Corral" between Gov. Jerry Brown and attorney Molly Munger on their rival tax proposals.

Today's the first day of the 15th annual Speaker's Cup, a two-day golf outing in Pebble Beach to raise money for the California Democratic Party.

Tickets start at $25,000 and top out at $65,000. The higher amount will get you in the door for both days, and includes golf for four, hotel accommodation, dinner for eight people, plus a spa treatment per day for each non-golfer or guest of a golfer. Those prices are even steeper than for the Pro Tem Cup held in March.

The Speaker's Cup is being presented by AT&T, which has sponsored the event for more than a decade. Last year, it spent more than $225,000, and the swag included a new iPad delivered with a thank-you note signed by Democratic Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and AT&T's chief of government relations, according to this Los Angeles Times report.

Meanwhile, the University of California, in the wake of the UC Davis pepper-spraying and other campus protests, is releasing a report on police protocols and policies. UC General Counsel Charles Robinson and UC Berkeley Law School Dean Christopher Edley will present their report's findings and recommendations at an 11 a.m. presser at the UC Office of the President in Oakland. The report itself will be posted online at 9 a.m. at this link.

Back in Sacramento, the Legislature isn't in session, but UC Merced students will be occupying the Senate floor. Political science professor Nathan W. Monroe is teaching a course in which students recreate the legislative scene, complete with lawmakers, journalists and lobbyists. Their mock session starts around noon.

Younger students are the focus of the Public Policy Institute of California's luncheon briefing, on preschool and school readiness. The PPIC's Jill Cannon will talk about early education and skill development, particularly among youngsters who don't speak English at home. The event runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the CSAC Center, at 1020 11th St. in Sacramento. You can find more information and RSVP to the event at this link.

POT PROTEST: Advocates of repealing laws prohibiting adults' use of marijuana, are protesting at 12:30 p.m. on the Capitol's south steps, then marching to the federal courthouse on I Street. They'll be back on the south steps Saturday at 11 a.m. for this year's Global Cannabis March, featuring drum circles, speeches and bands.

SURPLUS AUCTION: The Department of General Services is auctioning off surplus stuff taken from state offices or confiscated by the California Highway Patrol and the federal Transportation Security Administration. This means desks and computers, cellphones and cameras, plus plenty of saws, box cutters and Swiss army knives. There's even a CD box set of Beatles music. The auction preview runs today from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 to 9:45 a.m. The auction itself starts Saturday at 10 a.m. Everything happens at the state warehouse at 1700 National Drive. Click here for a list of items.

ELECTION 2012: Republican Elizabeth Emken, who's running against U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is talking about her views on water policy at 12:30 p.m. to agriculture officials participating in an annual event at Duarte Nursery in Hughson, near Modesto

NEW GIG: After working for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former first lady Maria Shriver and now Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Francisco Castillo is leaving Newsom's press shop and the California state Capitol to take a job as deputy national press secretary at StudentsFirst. Castillo's last day is today.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says in today's report that the budget season is upon us.

Gov. Jerry Brown joins former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today at a big-ticket Bay Area Council event in San Jose.

The 2012 Outlook Conference will look at trends affecting business, the economy and politics. Rice is speaking at 1 p.m., while Brown is scheduled to start at 3:35 p.m. sharp. Clinton's talk is set for 5 p.m. Other speakers include the CEOs of LinkedIn, DuPont, PG&E Corp., and Kaiser Permanente.

The conference runs this afternoon at the California Theatre, 345 S. First St. Click here to read the agenda. You'll find more information about the event at this link.

Back in Sacramento, education experts and others consider the state of California school finance.

Five years ago, Stanford University issued a report, "Getting Down to Facts," on the subject. The huge project, funded by private foundations, coordinated research from 32 institutions. Today, a group called the Policy Analysis for California Education, or PACE, holds a forum called "Getting Down to Facts: Five Years Later," to examine the subject anew.

Listed speakers include Susanna Loeb of Stanford, one of the original project coordinators, as well as former state schools chief Jack O'Connell. Other speakers include Dan Schnur of the University of Southern California, who will present the findings of a recent USC online poll on education.

The USC/PACE survey found, for instance, that 67 percent of respondents agreed that the state should increase spending on education, but only 48 percent believed that spending should be increased if it meant their own taxes would go up. The poll was conducted from April 26 to May 1 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for questions asked of all 956 California adults who participated. Click here to read the entire poll.

The event itself starts at 1 p.m. at the Department of General Services, 1500 Capitol Ave. Click here to find a link for the agenda.

Under the dome, the Senate and the Assembly both have floor sessions scheduled for 9 a.m., after which Senate budget panels consider Brown's proposals on higher education, the Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax Board and other matters. Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

PRESSER: California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro, Senate Republican leader Bob Huff and Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway highlight the start of a statewide tour to campaign against the governor's ballot tax measure and talk up GOP proposals on state spending. The event starts at noon on the Capitol's west steps.

ELECTION 2012: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul appears at UC Davis at 7 p.m. this evening. Click here to see a flier about the event.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says in today's video report that California's population slowdown will mean more older residents and less need for things like cars.

California's first dog, Sutter Brown, has a barking gig in Los Angeles today.

Sutter is joining Gov. Jerry Brown, actor Pierce Brosnan and dog whisperer Cesar Millan to promote the state's Pet Lover's License Plate, which would help fund spay and neuter programs. The presser starts at 2:30 p.m. at Petco, 1873 Westwood Blvd.

How is Sutter getting to L.A.? "FedEx," joked Brown spokesman Gil Duran via Twitter.

Yeah, right. The Humane Society's Jennifer Fearing tweeted: "Gas up the @HumaneSociety Prius! Road trip with @SutterBrown! I'm bringing sandwiches, per his request."

The governor, who recently signed Assembly Bill 610 to extend the period of time for pre-ordering the plate, will take part later this afternoon in a Milken Institute 2012 Global Conference discussion on attracting and keeping out-of-state investment.

But enough about Sutter. Let's talk frogs.

Today is the 38th annual Capitol frog jumping contest, with Sen. Ted Gaines organizing the event yet again as Calaveras County's representative. The Rocklin Republican has named his contestant -- drum roll, please -- "Capitol Gaines."

Last year's winner bore the moniker Unicorn and jumped for a team headed by then-Senate GOP leader Bob Dutton. Its name was a reference to Democratic Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield's assessment of GOP budget proposals.

The contest is a precursor to this month's Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, which lays claim to being one of California's longest running events. It starts at noon on the Capitol's east lawn. There are three ways to win: longest jump, shortest jump and, believe it or not, media jump.

LIVE CHAT: Want to know more about California's new top-two, open primary? The Bee's Torey Van Oot is taking questions about how the changes will affect the June 5 primary election. Join it live from noon to 1 p.m. at sacbee.com/live.

LEGISLATURE: Committees meet in both houses, with several subcommittees considering budget proposals and the Assembly Appropriations Committee's agenda loaded with bills. The Senate Rules Committee, meanwhile, considers gubernatorial appointments, with Rosa Moran, the Division of Workers' Compensation's administrator director, and Christine Baker, the director of Industrial Relations, required to appear. Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

DAN WALTERS DAILY:California's computer problems are the focus of today's video.

A group of California chefs, unhappy that a law banning force-feeding of ducks and geese to enlarge their livers takes effect on July 1, is working the Capitol this week.

The group, the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards (CHEFS) instead wants a new law regulating foie gras production.

On Monday, the chefs circulated a proposed charter at the Capitol, calling for regular audits by certified animal welfare experts, cage-free birds, trained caretakers, hand feeding, reasonable limits on fattening, and feeding methods that do not impair breathing or harm the animal in any way. Now they are in search of an author.

"I am a stickler for quality," said Victor Scargle, executive chef of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville in a statement. "I want California's standards for foie gras to be something we all can be proud of."

The author of the law, signed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, is not impressed.

"SB 1520 already allows foie gras to be sold, unless it is the result of force feeding of geese and ducks," former Senate President Pro Tem John Burton said in a Monday letter to lawmakers. "I believe that force feeding is a very inhumane practice....If these chefs have any doubt about that, they could sit at a table and have someone cram whatever food they like, including foie gras, down their throats and see how they like it."

VOTER GUIDE:Wondering who all those candidates are on your sample ballot? The Sacramento Bee's Voter Guide can help you sort through the possibilities. Just type in your address and zip code to find your races.

CHILD SAFETY:Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, pursuing a resolution to declare May "California Child Safety Awareness Month," will hold a press conference today with the father of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped from her home at 14 in 2002 and found alive nine months later.

Ma wants parents to use child identification kits to store fingerprints and DNA swabs as a precaution in case their child goes missing. The event is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. in room 1190 at the Capitol.

VIDEO: Dan Walters asks in today's video report: Will the real Jerry Brown stand up?

Can California sell more wine to China?

U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren is in Amador County moderating a forum on the possibilities of marketing wine to that large Asian market and elsewhere. Participants will hear from representatives of federal agencies, exporters, transportation specialists and industry officials at the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Old Schoolhouse, 21601 Shenandoah School Road, in Plymouth.

The Gold River Republican co-chairs the Congressional Wine Caucus along with Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of St. Helena. Lungren counts about 100 wineries in his district, according to the caucus web site. But don't expect him at any tastings. As Torey Van Oot has reported, he doesn't drink.

Meanwhile, it's Women's Empowerment Day at the state Capitol, conducted by California Women Lead. Listed speakers at the all-day conference, aimed at helping women hone their leadership style and networking skills, include Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi and Gov. Jerry Brown's appointments secretary, Mona Pasquil. Conway will also co-host a reception with Democratic Assemblywoman Fiona Ma starting at 5 p.m. at the Park Ultra Lounge. Click here for more information.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have set floor sessions for noon, after which the Senate Appropriations Committee and other panels will work through their list of bills. Also under the dome, a Senate select committee looks at access to care for autism spectrum disorders, while the Assembly Transportation Committee considers the California High-Speed Rail Authority's latest business plan. Click here for the Senate's schedule, and click here for the Assembly's.

MARCH: Members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and others are marching starting at 9:45 a.m. from the California Bankers Association headquarters, 1303 J St., to the Capitol to meet with legislators about the banking and mortgage industries' campaign contributions and the money they spend on lobbying.

LGBT: Students gather at 11 a.m. on the Capitol's north steps to mark the seventh annual Queer Youth Advocacy Day to highlight issues affecting LGBT students.

HIGHER EDUCATION: University of California President Mark Yudof, Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross, Craig McNamara of the State Board of Food and Agriculture and others highlight the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act of 1862, back when Abraham Lincoln was president. The federal legislation set up a nationwide system of land grant universities -- including UC. The event starts at 11 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

CUTS: Members of the Professional Beauty Federation of California head to the Capitol's south steps from 3 to 7 p.m. for its annual event offering free haircuts, massages and manicures to Capitol denizens.

VIDEO: Dan Walters talks about why California labor unions want new rules on municipal bankruptcy.

Gov. Jerry Brown has left the state with a hot ticket for Saturday night.

Brown is in Washington, D.C., meeting with officials on issues ranging from health care policy to funding for the California National Guard, but his social calendar also includes the 98th annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association.

It'll be Hollywood meets politics at the Washington Hilton. This year's headliner is late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel, whose job is to roast President Barack Obama.

The governor and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, will be seated at the table hosted by Newsweek and The Daily Beast, according to the White House Correspondents Insider.

Who else is at that table? Playing for Team Hollywood are actresses Reese Witherspoon and Viola Davis as well as J.R. Martinez of "Dancing With the Stars."

As for Team Government, other guests include CIA Director David Petraeus, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Susan Collins of Maine, Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Carolyn Maloney of New York, as well as Melanne Verveer, who's ambassador-at-large for global women's issues.

Rounding out the list is Washington attorney Bob Barnett, who's been behind a lot of political book deals, according to this Washington Post story.

Other tables are claiming celebrity guests Kim Kardashian, Charlize Theron and George Clooney. Actress Diane Keaton will be sitting with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's daughter Katherine. The list goes on and on.

But hey, it's not about the stars. It's about the journalism. C-SPAN will be covering the event live starting Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time. (Translation: 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time.) Click here to learn more about the dinner and see photos from last year's event.

That's Saturday. Brown will be busy Sunday morning as well, when he faces host Bob Schieffer of the CBS public affairs show "Face the Nation." Here's the online promo: "Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., faces massive budget shortfalls in his state. What's his plan for fixing it? How have politics changed since his first stint as governor over 30 years ago?"

Good questions. "Face the Nation" runs Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and airs in Sacramento on KOVR-TV (Channel 13) at 8:30 a.m., according to this CBS News website, which lists other local markets as well. You can also watch the broadcast online at this link.

EDUCATION: Sonja Petek of the Public Policy Institute of California will be talking about its survey of Californians' views on spending cuts in schools, taxes and education reforms. The poll showed that California voters are inclined to support Gov. Jerry Brown's sales and income tax increase, but by a less than overwhelming margin, as Dan Walters reported in this post earlier this week. The lunchtime briefing runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at CSAC Conference Center, 1020 11th St. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

VIDEO: Dan Walters explains why the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll suggests problems ahead for Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot tax measure.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have sessions scheduled for 9 a.m., followed by several committee hearings. Expect a lot of bill slinging to beat Friday's deadline for fiscal measures to move out of policy committees.

Senate budget subcommittees, meanwhile, take up proposals ranging from the Department of Education and charter schools to the Department of Health Care Services and Medi-Cal. The Senate panel on state administration, for instance, looks at several agencies, including the Fair Political Practices Commission and the California Technology Agency, as well as the constitutional offices of the State Controller, the Secretary of State and the Department of Insurance. All of the hearings start at 9:30 a.m. or after session has adjourned.

For details, check out the Senate's daily file at this link. The Assembly's daily file is here. One Assembly panel with a lot of bill slinging to do is the Public Employees Committee, which lists several Republican bills that the public employee pension conference committee is considering.

HIGHER ED: The California Student Aid Commission holds a public hearing on whether CalGrants should be used to pay for online programs, also called distance learning, and how best to oversee such programs. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. at CalPERS, 400 P St. Click here to read the agenda.

VOTE EFFORT: Clergy leaders from PICO California are launching a campaign to urge what a news release calls "new and infrequent faith voters" to the polls. The presser starts at 10:30 a.m. in the conference room of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on 11th Street, after which the clergy will meet with legislators.

TOWN HALL: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Assembly members Roger Dickinson, Alyson Huber and Richard Pan head to Sacramento State to talk with students about the "Middle Class Scholarship" legislative proposal found in Assembly Bills 1500 and 1501. The meeting runs from noon to 1 p.m. in the University Union Summit Room on the third floor.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's video report, says that if California grows more slowly than originally thought, that could change everything.

Sacramento hears from one of the Republican presidential candidates this afternoon: Californian Fred Karger. The long-shot hopeful, who's had a "Fred Who?" thing going, is officially launching his California primary campaign on the Capitol's south steps at 2 p.m.

The only openly gay candidate in the GOP presidential primary, Karger edged out Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann in New Hampshire and racked up 1,700 votes in Puerto Rico. His California campaign has launched a video ad called "Sexy Frisbee," which features scantily clad men and women throwing plastic discs around on a beach.

Spoiler alert: A couple of guys kiss at the end. The campaign says it will start airing a 30-second version Thursday in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

Under the dome, an Assembly panel hears from the state parks director, Ruth Coleman, about park closures while representatives of the Legislative Analyst's Office offer recommendations on how to avoid closing them.

The hearing will also feature testimony from Natural Resources Secretary John Laird on reorganization within the agency, as well as an update from Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols on the cap-and-trade program. The meeting runs from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 447. Click here to read the agenda.

On the Senate side, the Rules Committee considers gubernatorial appointments, with Fred Klass, director of the Department of General Services, Ken Pimlott, director of CalFire, and Tonya Hoover, state fire marshal, required to appear. That hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113.

Those are by no means the only committee hearings. The list is long. Other Assembly budget subcommittees, for instance, will consider proposals for agencies ranging from the California Highway Patrol to the board of the California Community Colleges as well as the Department of Public Health. Check out the Senate's daily file here, and the Assembly's here.

LIVE CHAT: Got a question about this year's primary and general elections? Tom Del Beccaro, chairman of the California Republican Party, and Shawnda Westly, executive director of the California Democratic Party, are joining The Bee's live chat today. Watch the chat and ask questions from noon to 1 p.m. at www.sacbee.com/live. Torey Van Oot will moderate.

DENIM DAY: The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault marks its annual Denim Day California, an annual event sparked by an Italian Supreme Court decision to overturn a rape conviction based on the woman's tight jeans. The event starts at 10 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps. The cause has bipartisan appeal. Listed participants include Republican Sen. Doug LaMalfa and Democratic Sen. Leland Yee, as well as Democratic Assembly members Bonnie Lowenthal, Roger Dickinson, V. Manuel Pérez, Bob Wieckowski and Das Williams, and Republican Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian.

LOBBY DAY: The American Heart Association meets at 10 a.m. under the tent on the north lawn to talk up Assembly Bill 1731 on infant screenings for heart defects, as well as Proposition 29's tobacco tax campaign. Listed speakers include Democratic Assemblymen Marty Block and Bill Monning.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, turns 54 today.

VIDEO: Dan Walters Daily takes on the "historic" primary coming California's way.

The Commission on the Status of Women is expected to get a new lease on life today as commission chair - and Academy Award-winning actress - Geena Davis joins Assembly Speaker John Pérez for a 10:30 a.m. press conference.

Pérez plans to announce that the Assembly will contribute a portion of its budget savings to the commission, which Gov. Jerry Brown slated for elimination in his January budget proposal.

State Sen. Noreen Evans, a commission member who was critical of the governor's proposal, will also attend the event, set for room 317 in the Capitol.

Brown has a busy day of his own scheduled, beginning in San Jose with a 9 a.m. panel at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's 9th Annual CEO Business Climate Summit. He'll join Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to talk about the state's business climate and economic development.

Then he'll head to Sacramento for a rally co-sponsored by Crime Victims United of California and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The event, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on the west steps of the Capitol, is planned in connection with National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

Tomato workers unhappy with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board will continue their vigil today across from the Capitol's west steps, saying they've waited too long for payment from a dispute that began when employees of San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc. voted for UFW representation in 1989.

The case has been in litigation for years, and the board is now considering final action. The workers say they play to stay until that happens.

Have ideas or concerns about taxes? The first of two "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" public hearings will be held today at the state Board of Equalization district office in Culver City.

Watch it live here, beginning at 1:30 p.m. A second hearing will be held in Sacramento on June 26.

LAWSUITS: California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and the Civil Justice Association of California will hold a public forum today in Sacramento. The session begins at 3 p.m. in room 127 at the Capitol.

NEED DATA? Check out our online database work on topics of interest to political junkies and state workers:

See who's lobbying state government - search by interest group or organization.

Examine 2010 election results by precinct.

See what state workers majored in during college.

Search for state worker salaries.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, gives his take on what's behind California's latest unemployment figures.

U.S. Rep. Howard Berman is in Sacramento to raise money for his closely watched -- and expensive -- campaign against fellow Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman in Southern California.

Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez are among the listed hosts for the $1,000-a-plate reception at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. Click here to read the invitation.

Meanwhile, expect another busy week under the dome. Friday is the last day for policy committees to pass fiscal bills introduced in their house.

One talker, or should we say barker, that's up for discussion today is Senate Bill 969 by Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, to regulate pet groomers. Click on the links to see the Senate committee and the Assembly committee lineups. Both houses have floor sessions at noon.

Outside the Capitol, members of the California State Student Association are gathering on the north steps at 10 a.m. before the California State University students meet with legislators all day.

PHOTOS: The Department of Fish and Game's director, Chuck Bonham, is announcing the grand-prize winner of a wildlife photo contest sponsored by the department and California Watchable Wildlife. That event starts at 1 p.m. on the Capitol's south steps. The 12 top images will be displayed this week outside the govenor's office. Click here to read more.

VIGIL: Members of Impact Teen Drivers are conducting a vigil honoring teens and others who've died because of reckless or distracted driving. That event starts at 6 p.m. on the west steps.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, turns 47 today.

David Siders and Torey Van Oot contributed to this report.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, explains how the term-limits measure on the June ballot would affect California legislators now in office.

Gov. Jerry Brown is Modesto-bound to attend the funeral service for Robert Paris, the Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy who was shot and killed April 12 as he tried to serve an eviction notice.

Locksmith Glendon Engert was shot to death along with Paris. A badly burned body was found the next day in the charred ruins of the building where Paris had tried to serve the notice. Police later identified the well-armed body as that of Jim Ferrario, who they said died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to this Associated Press report.

The funeral service for Paris starts at noon at Big Valley Grace Community Church in Modesto.

Back at the Capitol, the California Highway Patrol is teaming up this morning with the Senate and Assembly sergeants-at-arms for an emergency drill that may require evacuation of the building.

Speaking of emergencies and preparedness, a Senate select committee will hear from State Auditor Elaine Howle, State Architect Chet Widom and others on seismic safety standards and construction oversight at California's public schools. The hearing, which follows up on a 2011 state audit report, starts at 10 a.m. at Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley.

Down in the south state, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Assemblywoman Holly J. Mitchell are meeting with UCLA students to talk up Pérez's "middle-class scholarship" measures, Assembly Bills 1500 and 1501. The event runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon in Fowler Museum's Lenart Auditorium at UCLA.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Two legislators celebrate their birthdays on Sunday. Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, turns 57, and Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, turns 41.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, looks at whether the California Legislature is likely to OK bond money to start construction on the state's high-speed rail project.

It's the day before "420," and a coalition rallying at the Capitol is urging Californians not to go to pot.

Members of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, which has proclaimed today to be "National No Pot Day," will be distributing its parents' pledge to educate their kids about marijuana. The event starts at 10 a.m. on the Capitol's north steps.

The number "420," of course, is a nickname for pot and also refers to April 20, the Fourth of July of weed. "This most unusual of holidays pays tribute to the legend of a group of 1970s high school students in San Rafael, who gathered at 4:20 p.m. every day to smoke marijuana," The Bee's Peter Hecht reported two years ago.

Over on the west steps, also at 10 a.m., the Keep California Beautiful campaign is launching its sixth annual beautification day. The event, which coincides with this week's Earth Day celebration, includes an e-waste collection from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Jesse Unruh State Office Building, 915 Capitol Mall. Learn more at this link.

Meanwhile, the Senate and the Assembly both have sessions this morning at 9 a.m., followed by five budget-related hearings in the upper house, related to issues ranging from realignment of child welfare service and adoptions to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and from trial court funding to Caltrans. All of the hearings start at 9:30 p.m. or after session adjourns. Click here to read the Senate committee schedule.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: The California High-Speed Rail Authority is discussing environmental reports for its planned route from Bay Area to the Central Valley. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. at Sacramento City Hall. Click here for the agenda.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE: The University of Southern California and the Fair Political Practices Commission are hosting a symposium on campaign finance and disclosure in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial decision in the Citizens United case. Listed speakers include former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and legal and government experts, plus Bee columnist Dan Morain and FPPC Chairwoman Ann Ravel. The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and will be streamed live at both the FPPC website and the California Channel website. For more information, click here.

BUDGET TALK: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is making his fourth appearance as Senate leader before the Sacramento Press Club, this time discussing the state budget and other issues. Click here to learn more. (The RSVP deadline has already passed.)

LTGOV: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking a noontime tour of NASA's new Sustainability Base, which a news release describes as "a highly intelligent and intuitive facility designed to anticipate and react to changes in sunlight, temperature, wind and occupancy." The building, which is at Moffett Field, is being considered for the highest LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

AWARD: Veteran California pollster Mervin Field -- founder of the Field Poll and Field Research Corp. -- has another honor to put on his resume. The Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley has presented him with an award named for long-time IGS supporters Darius and Sarah Anderson that honors Field for decades of work. As former Bee reporter Jon Matthews wrote back in 1996, Field and his organizations have measured voter sentiment "from Truman vs. Dewey in 1948 to Clinton vs. Dole in 1996, from Proposition 13 to Proposition 209" and beyond.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, says California's business interests have been doing pretty well in killing measures they label "job killers."

California's high-speed rail project, which the Legislative Analyst recommended Tuesday should not receive construction funding, gets a double-barreled look today from committees in both houses.

An Assembly budget subcommittee considers the High-Speed Rail Authority's revised business plan at a hearing from 9 a.m. to noon in the Capitol's Room 447. Then a Senate budget subcommittee takes up the subject at 2:30 p.m. in Room 112, or after the Senate Rules Committee adjourns.

Speaking of the Rules Committee, Gov. Jerry Brown adviser Steven Glazer is required to show up as members consider his appointment to the California State University board. His confirmation hearing was put on hold last week as Brown trolled for Republican support.

Also required to appear: former legislator Hector De La Torre, who Brown has named to the California Air Resources Board, and Mark Cowin, the director of Water Resources. The Rules Committee hearing starts at 1 p.m. in Room 113.

Education committees are also meeting in both chambers, with the upper house's panel considering dueling bills on school employee discipline. In fact, the lists of committees and bills are long as the Legislature faces its next deadline: April 27 is the last day for policy committees to move along fiscal measures introduced in that house. Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

Outside the building, Lockheed Martin officials are setting up an F-35 cockpit demonstrator to highlight the fighter aircraft's national security role as well as its economic impact on the state. Assembly members Betsy Butler, D-Los Angeles, and Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, will also be talking up their legislative resolution urging Congress to support the F-35 program. Both of them count aerospace manufacturers in their districts and serve on the Assembly's Select Committee on Aerospace, with Butler as chair. The presser starts at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

PASSOVER SEDER: The 47th annual Sen. Herschel Rosenthal Passover Seder, a Capitol tradition, takes place tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. at Sacramento's Albert Einstein Residence Center. Listed participants include Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, Assembly members Marty Block, Bob Blumenfield, Mike Feuer, Linda Halderman, Bonnie Lowenthal and Jeff Miller, and Sens. Mark Leno, Alan Lowenthal and Lois Wolk.

ANSEL ADAMS: Gary F. Kurutz, recently retired as director of the California State Library's special collections, will be discussing California icon Ansel Adams at a California State Library Foundation talk tonight, starting at 6 p.m. at the library, 900 N St.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, turns 65 today.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: In his video, Dan follows up on Gov. Jerry Brown's "man up" message for the Legislature.

It's tax-filing day, albeit two days later than usual, and labor is taking the opportunity to press its case against Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal and by extension U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren, who supports it.

The California Labor Federation, joined by local seniors, will showcase one of the "patriotic millionaires" at an 11 a.m. press conference at the Sacramento Federal Building, 501 I Street.

Their goal is to criticize Lungren's support for changes to Medicare while the wealthy are paying a smaller proportion of their income than the middle class.

The effort comes a day after a liberal effort to make millionaires pay more went down to defeat in the U.S. Senate.

Among press conference participants will be Anthony Wright of Health Access, Bill Camp of the Sacramento Central Labor Council and David Watson, a member of Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength and a self-described music entrepreneur.

LEGISLATORS' VOTING RECORDS: How often has a California legislator broken party ranks, abstained or switched sides? The Sacramento Bee has a database of the voting records of every member of the state Senate and Assembly. Enter a lawmaker's last and first names to see how he or she voted, or enter a bill number to see how every legislator voted on it. Check it out at this link.

DEATH PENALTY: Marc Klaas, father of murdered 12-year old Polly Klaas, will testify today for SB 1514, a bill intended to end automatic appeal of death sentences, at the Senate Public Safety Committee.

His daughter's killer, Richard Allen Davis, was sentenced to death in 1996 and remains on death row at San Quentin. The hearing is set for 9 a.m. in room 4203 at the Capitol.

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen's bill to make inappropriate conduct between teachers and students - even adult ones - a felony is up for its first hearing in Assembly Public Safety. The session begins at 9 a.m. in room 126 at the Capitol.

Buddy Roemer, bidding for the Americans Elect presidential nomination, will be in California today for three events. He begins at the University of the Pacific, then moves to UC Davis, where he'll speak at 2 p.m. in Arc Pavillion meeting room #1. He'll spend the evening at UC Berkeley.

He told Capitol Alert he knows he's coming down with a cold.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, lays out how wealthy civil rights lawyer Molly Munger could play havoc with Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot tax campaign.

The Legislature has floor sessions today, with the Senate meeting at 2 p.m. and the Assembly at 10 a.m. The lower house is also holding a special event at 11 a.m. -- a Holocaust memorial. The ceremony, hosted by Democratic Assembly members Betsy Butler of Los Angeles and Michael Allen of Santa Rosa, is part of Holocaust Remembrance Week.

After the upper house adjourns, the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee takes up Senate Bill 1234, which would establish a pension plan for private-sector employees. Find that hearing in the Capitol's Room 3191.

Another Senate hearing will look at the decline in public access to the state's justice system, given recent budget cutbacks. Before the hearing, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye joins Democratic Sens. Noreen Evans of Santa Rosa and Loni Hancock of Berkeley, California State Bar President Jon Streeter and attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson to talk about the implications.

Their presser starts at 1:30 p.m. on the Capitol's south steps. The hearing itself starts at 3 p.m. in Room 4203 or after the Senate adjourns.

Another presser touts legislation that proponents say will "tackle piracy, business fraud and the state's expanding underground economy," according to a news release.

Senate Bill 1185, by Democratic Sen. Curren Price of Los Angeles, would create a multiagency task force involving the Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Department, as well as the Departments of Insurance, Justice, Health, Motor Vehicles, Consumer Affairs, and Industrial Relations.

Price will join the BOE's Randy Silva and Mira Guertin, of the California Chamber of Commerce at an "undisclosed warehouse in West Sacramento containing millions of confiscated products," the news release says.

Meanwhile, dueling rallies abound, with the National Association of Social Workers meeting at 11 a.m. on the Capitol's south steps. Listed speakers include Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, and Democratic Sens. Mark Leno of San Francisco and Christine Kehoe of San Diego.

Then at noon on the west steps, it's the Tea Party United with the Citizens Reclaiming Constitutional Liberty PAC. Listed speakers at that rally include Republican Sen. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale, former Republican legislator Chuck DeVore, and Tom Del Beccaro, president of the California Republican Party.

The ACLU also meets at noon, but its members will be over near the fish pond.

If you're seeing red this afternoon, the members of the California Federation of Republican Women are meeting up for their annual Red Jacket Day photo. That's at 3:15 p.m. on the south steps.

ELECTION 2012: Peace and Freedom Party presidential candidates Stewart Alexander, Stephen Durham and Peta Lindsay will be in Sacramento at 6:30 p.m. at Integrate, 1529 28th St. (Lindsay won't be listed on California' primary ballot as she's too young to serve as president.) The party's Marsha Feinland, who's running for U.S. Senate, and C.T. Weber, who's running for the 9th Assembly District, will join them.

TALK: Former presidential advisers Paul Begala, who worked for Bill Clinton, and Ari Fleischer, who was George W. Bush's press secretary, share the stage tonight in Sacramento, appearing at the Scottish Rite Temple from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at an event organized by Temple Or Rishon in Orangevale. For more information, click here.

In today's video report, Dan Walters details the $9.1 billion in tax revenue -- billion with a B -- that California is hoping to take in this month. Will that money come in?

Gov. Jerry Brown takes to the airwaves this morning, appearing on KGO Newstalk 810's "The Ronn Owens Program," starting at 9 a.m. Click here to listen live. You'll find information about Owens and his program at this link.

Members of the California Federation of Teachers will also be in the Bay Area, meeting in San Jose today through Sunday at its 70th annual convention. The agenda includes campaign strategy for the union's compromise ballot tax measure with the governor.

Back in Sacramento, the Legislative Analyst's Office is releasing a report examining budget reductions to the state's judicial branch as well as Brown's proposals for more cuts. That report will be available online at the LAO's website starting at 3 p.m.

Down in the south state, the legislative conference committee on public employee pensions looks at pension reform, the County Employees' Retirement Law of 1937, and statewide policies on pension benefits for elected officials. (Legislators first elected after November 1990 don't get pension benefits.)

Legislative Republicans have called for the committee to vote on Brown's pension reform proposals, which Republicans have put word for word into two measures, as Jon Ortiz reported earlier this week over at sister blog The State Worker.

That hearing runs from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Chaffey College Community Center, 5890 College Park Avenue, Room 101, in Chino. It will be streamed live online at this link.

An Assembly select committee, meanwhile, heads to Fresno City Council Chambers for a hearing from 1 to 4 p.m. on health and success for boys and men of color.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman David Valadao, R-Hanford, turns 35 on Saturday.

MEMORIAL: The Sacramento Bee is inviting fans of the late cartoonist Rex Babin to join family, friends and colleagues for a celebration of his life. The free public event is 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Constitutional Wall Courtyard between the California Museum and the secretary of state's office at 1020 O St. The event includes a silent auction of several of his cartoons, as well as a multimedia display. Proceeds will go to a scholarship fund set up for Rex and Kathleen Babin's 10-year-old son, Sebastian. Click here for more information.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, looks at the possibility that more California cities will file for bankruptcy.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have set floor sessions for 9 a.m., after which committees take up subjects ranging from wine grapes to Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposals for K-12 education.

A Senate budget subcommittee looks at Brown's plan for child care, preschool, transitional kindergarten and child nutrition programs under the state Department of Education. That hearing starts at 9:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 3191 or upon adjournment.

Another Senate budget subcommittee meets at the same time in Room 4203 to review several agencies affected by Brown's proposal to reorganize mental health programs. Meanwhile, the grape takes center stage as no fewer than three select committees hear from growers, winery owners and a UC Davis enologist about sustainable wine growing. That hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 126.

Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

Down in the south state, Rep. Howard Berman is bringing out the law enforcement guns, including endorsements from the Police Protective League and Republican Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles district attorney who narrowly lost the attorney general race in 2010 to Democrat Kamala Harris.

Berman, of course, is slugging it out with fellow Democrat Brad Sherman in the San Fernando Valley-based 30th Congressional District race. The presser starts at 10:30 a.m. at Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Members of the California High-Speed Rail Authority are meeting at 10 a.m. in San Francisco to review the project's revised $68 billion business plan unveiled by the Brown administration last month relies heavily on federal dollars. Click here to read the agenda.

POLICY & POLITICS: Sacramento State Alumni is kicking off its Hornets Policy & Politics Chapter with a reception at 5:30 p.m. at the Cafeteria 15 and L on 15th Street. Listed guests include Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, as well as Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna, Sacramento City Council members Kevin McCarty and Steve Cohn, Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti and Elk Grove City Councilmember Gary Davis. To RSVP, click here.

NEW GIGS, NEW NAME: Now that Frank Schubert has left to work on conservative issues, Schubert Flint Public Affairs has a new name and two new partners. Its president, Jeff Flint, is now calling the firm he co-founded FSB Core Strategies, and long-time senior employees Kristy Babb and Cherri Spriggs-Hernandez are joining Flint as partners.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, tells California Assemblyman Jeff Gorell what he missed during his year in Afghanistan.

There's no shortage of committee hearings under the dome, with Gov. Jerry Brown adviser Steve Glazer one of the gubernatorial appointees required to appear this afternoon before the Senate Rules Committee.

Brown has appointed Glazer trustee of California State University. Back in February, legislative Republicans blocked Brown's pick for the CSU board's chairman from coming up for a vote on the Senate floor. Today's hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 113.

Measures of note also come up before the education committees in both houses, with the Senate committee hearing bills on an open-source digital library, bracero education, ads on school buses and other matters. The Assembly committee, meanwhile, considers a bill on teacher misconduct backed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

NEW GIG: Longtime Sacramento Democratic consultant Roger Salazar is joining Mercury as the public strategy firm's managing director. Salazar, co-founder of Acosta|Salazar LLC, will keep working on initiative campaigns and team up with former Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez on "the firm's emerging Hispanic and Spanish language public affairs specialty practice," a news release says. Salazar will split his efforts among the firm's Washington, D.C., office as well as its California offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento, which are managed by partners Núñez and Adam Mendelsohn, a political adviser to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

LET'S CHAT: The Bee's live chat today highlights a proposition on the June 5 ballot that would impose a $1-a-pack tax on cigarettes to finance cancer research and anti-tobacco efforts. Proposition 29 would raise an estimated $855 million the first year, with revenues declining in subsequent years.

Joining us are Jim Knox, vice president of legislative advocacy for the California division of the American Cancer Society, and Tom Hudson, executive director of the California Taxpayer Protection Committee, which opposes the initiative.

The Bee's Kevin Yamamura will moderate. Watch the chat and ask questions from noon to 1 p.m. at www.sacbee.com/live.

INVITE: Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan is invited to breakfast this morning with the Teamsters, who want to talk with the Republican about a November ballot measure to ban unions and corporations from contributing directly to political candidates. As Jon Ortiz over at sister blog The State Worker reported last week, the meeting is scheduled at a restaurant Riordan owns.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Bee columnist Dan Walters dives into the debate over taxing oil and gas extraction in today's video clip.

Sacramento takes center stage in the U.S. Senate showdown today.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and one of her chief rivals, Republican Elizabeth Emken, both have events scheduled within blocks of each other - and the Capitol - today.

Feinstein will swing by the Citizen Hotel at noon to talk about "the economy, housing, international affairs and California's water infrastructure" at an event organized by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and the Next Economy Partnership, according to her office. She'll follow that event with a tour of the Natomas levees alongside Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento.

Emken, who beat out 13 other GOP challengers on the June ballot for the California Republican Party endorsement, has scheduled a press conference of her own ahead of Feinstein's remarks. She plans to address the federal deficit, unemployment numbers and "why new leadership is needed during this critical election year." The longtime advocate for children with autism will head to the Arden Hills Resort Club and Spa later today for a 6:30 p.m. reception with the Republicans of River City.

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS: Policy committees in both houses continue to churn through measures up for consideration ahead of upcoming deadlines for bills to move to fiscal committees and the floor. Click on the links to the see full Senate and Assembly committee schedules.

HONORING TROOPS: A trio of legislators will stage a press conference on a resolution aimed at honoring veterans who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure would ask state agencies to plan a privately-funded memorial for troops who served in the two wars and encourage communities throughout the state to organize parades or other events to welcome back members of the military. Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, the Camarillo Republican who returned to Sacramento yesterday after a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, will headline the 11:30 a.m. presser at the California Veterans' Memorial in Capitol Park.

LEGISLATIVE PAY LAWSUIT: Today's court date in the lawsuit Democratic legislative leaders filed over Controller John Chaing's decision to withhold lawmakers pay after the budget they approved was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown has been rescheduled for April 18. To brush up on the lawsuit, which raises the question of who decides what constitutes a balanced budget under Proposition 25, click this link.

Dan Walters, in today's video report, explains why California could have been a contender in the Republican presidential primary battle between Mitt Romney and everyone named "I'm Not Mitt Romney."

Spring recess over, California legislators are back in Sacramento, with the Assembly meeting at noon and the Senate at 2 p.m. Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley, is expected to adjourn the Assembly floor session in memory of the seven people killed in Oakland last week at Oikos University.

Committee hearings are also cranking back up. Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed state budget will get more scrutiny, with both houses taking up some part of the plan.

On the Senate side, the budget education subcommittee looks at his proposal for the California Community Colleges system, starting at noon in the Capitol's Room 112. Also in the upper house, the Public Employment and Retirement Committee take up several bills of interest to state employees, as Jon Ortiz reported in sister blog The State Worker. That hearing starts in Room 2040 after session adjourns.

On the Assembly side, a budget subcommittee considers proposals for the Department of State Hospitals and the Department of Mental Health, starting at 4 p.m. in Room 127.

Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Juan Vargas of San Diego is joining business leaders, community leaders and others on the Capitol's north steps at 10:30 a.m. to talk up his Senate Bill 990, which he and supporters say will better protect consumers who buy used vehicles by requiring a vehicle history report on any damages.

The measure counts the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the California Black Chamber of Commerce, the Orange County Taxpayers Association and former Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, as well as Experian and CARFAX among its many supporters.

The presser will feature two vehicles -- a wrecked car and a rebuilt car -- and will compare their vehicle history reports.

In today's video report, Dan Walters explains how he's a trend setter as a California voter.

Meanwhile, let the voting begin. The June 5 primary is still two months away, but today's the day that county elections officials will begin mailing ballots to California voters serving in the armed forces or living abroad.

Another red letter day? May 21 is the last day to register to vote in the primary. Meanwhile, the last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is May 29.

Find information about the full primary election calendar, lists of candidates, ballot measures, voter registration data and election rules at the Secretary of State's website.

Fun fact: A grand total of 3,165 voters had registered with the new Americans Elect party as of Jan. 3. The Washington, D.C.-based group spent more than $2 million to collect the California voter signatures to make it the first new political entity to qualify in the Golden State since 1995.

The nonprofit is planning an online convention to select a multiparty presidential ticket, as Torey Van Oot reported back in December when the group qualified for the primary.

Meanwhile, 3,617,466 Californians were registered with no party preference. Check out the numbers at this link.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Gov. Jerry Brown celebrates his 74th birthday on Saturday.

In today's video report, Dan Walters looks at interesting California politicians who aren't named Jerry Brown.

The Fair Political Practices Commission is considering whether to reject part of a decision proposed by an administrative law judge in a case that dates to Assemblyman Chris Norby's days as an Orange County supervisor.

Back in 2007, Norby checked into a Fullerton motel and paid in advance for a week. He claimed he was studying the homeless and motel families, and his campaign committee reimbursed him.

"I was doing a homeless study," the Fullerton Republican told the Los Angeles Times after the FPPC accused him of using $340 in campaign funds to benefit himself. "We have a lot of homeless people in motels. I think I learned a lot from it. I will stand by it."

An administrative hearing found that he checked into the motel "the same day his marriage ended," the FPPC's meeting agenda says.

The proposed decision would exonerate Norby for personal use of campaign funds. FPPC staff members are recommending that the commission reject that proposal "and decide the case on the record," the agenda says. Click here to read the agenda for the meeting, which starts at 10 a.m. The Norby item is No. 12 on the list.

NEW GIG: The California Broadcasters Association's board of directors has a new chairman: John Paley of Lotus Communications. Paley joined Lotus Communications' KWKW (1330 AM) radio station in Los Angeles in 1971 and has held several executive positions in the Los Angeles radio market.

NEW "COMMUTE": The Bee's ever intrepid Torey Van Oot is attending the California National Guard's open house today at Mather Field to showcase its new civil support helicopters. The Guard will be showing off its UH-72 Lakota helicopters at the Army Aviation Support Facility. After the flight line ceremony, she's hoping to snag what the news release calls "a brief orientation flight onboard a Lakota, if weather permits."

Windfall? Or just an advertising slogan? In today's video report, Dan Walters talks about the money that the Lottery provides for California's schools.

The Bee kicks off a series of weekly live chats today that we'll be running every Wednesday between now and the June 5 primary.

First up, we look at the race in the new 6th Assembly District, where Folsom lawyer Andy Pugno is challenging a fellow Republican, Assemblywoman Beth Gaines.

Pugno has declined to participate, but Gaines will join Democratic rival Regy Bronner to answer readers' questions during the chat, which Torey Van Oot will moderate. Find it at this link from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Members of the Occupy movement and forest activists are gathering at Sacramento's Cesar Chavez Park at 9th and I streets at 11 a.m. before marching a few blocks away to the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection at 1416 9th Street to demand an end to clear-cutting.

Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, will get an official welcome home from Afghanistan tonight at an event from 5 to 7 p.m. at California Lutheran University's Gilbert Sports and Athletic Center Arena in Thousand Oaks. For more information, click here.

In his video report today, Dan Walters answers the question, "What's it like having Jerry Brown back at the Capitol?"

Alice Waters of Berkeley Chez Panisse fame will join a Sacramento discussion today on bringing farm produce to school lunch tables.

Waters, founder of the Edible Schoolyard Project, will join a meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, which is looking for ways to overcome hurdles for the effort.

Other participants: David Binkle of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Rodney Taylor of the Riverside Unified School District, Barbara Grimm, of Grimmway Academy/The Edible Schoolyard at Buena Vista School, John Young of the Yolo County Department of Agriculture, Sean Leer of Gold Star Foods, and Delaine Eastin, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The daylong meeting begins at 10 p.m. at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 1220 N Street, in the main auditorium.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is in Chico tonight for a town hall at the California State University campus there. The event is the first of a three-day swing through California for Paul, who will also stop at UCLA and UC Berkeley.

You can get an early seating voucher for the 7 p.m. event here.

Want to catch up on legislative action for the year while lawmakers are away on spring break? Use our data base to see how often a legislator broke party ranks, abstained or switched sides. You can search by name or bill number. Updated daily.

As campaign season gears up, Capitol Alert wants your political mail. When that attack piece hits your mailbox, take a photo with your smartphone or scan it, and e-mail to tvanoot@sacbee.com.

While the California Legislature takes the week off, the Dan Walters Daily video report today answers a question the Bee columnist has often been asked:

Has he ever wanted to run for office?

Come back to Capitol Alert during the day. Even with legislators gone from Sacramento, we'll have the news as it happens today and throughout the week.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, turns 60 today, and Assemblyman Mike Davis, D-Los Angeles, turns 55. Many more to both.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's latest video report describes California politicians playing the ballot name game.

Yesterday, the Capitol got wrapped up in hoodies and a Republican budget proposal that cuts state worker pay.

Today, it's Cesar Chavez Day observed, and the sound you hear is the sound of the silence. Legislators have left Sacramento for spring recess. They'll be gone all next week, too, returning April 9 after Easter and the first days of Passover.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, is holding a luncheon fundraiser today at Spataro restaurant at 1415 L St. across from the Capitol from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tickets run from $500 to $5,000 if you want to get in the door.

State schools chief Tom Torlakson is speaking at a ribbon-cutter for South San Francisco Unified School District's solar projects. That event starts at 1:30 p.m. at Westborough Middle School in South San Francisco.

After that, the calendar turns to the weekend. Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 500, are laying a wreath at Capitol Park's Vietnam Memorial on Saturday at noon. Listed speakers include Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento. The occasion is Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

Also Saturday, Democratic Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada of Davis is holding a forum on veterans benefits with the Yolo County Veterans Coalition. That event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Veterans' Memorial Theatre, 203 E. 14th St. in Davis.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, turns 60 on Saturday.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's video report lays out California's recent history on workers compensation as well as a likely scenario for an upcoming war in the Legislature.

Today's sartorial choice under the dome may well be a hoodie.

Both the Assembly and the Senate have floor sessions set for 9 a.m., and members of the Black, Latino and Asian Pacific Islander caucuses are holding a news conference afterward to urge justice for Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teen who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer last month. They'll be donning hoodies in solidarity with Martin's family members, who have called him a victim of racial profiling.

Word is that Sen. Roderick Wright, a Southern California Democrat, plans on adjourning the upper house in memory of the teen and has encouraged members to wear hoodies as the chamber is adjourned. The presser starts at 10 a.m. in the Governor's Press Room, Room 1190.

With Cesar Chavez Day being celebrated Friday, the Legislature starts its spring recess after the Assembly and the Senate adjourn. Both houses will reconvene April 9.

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is visiting Northern California, with a stop in Fairfield this afternoon for a public rally at the Jelly Belly Candy Co. followed by a reception there. The campaign is soliciting contributions of $5,000 per host couple, $2,500 for a patron and $1,000 for a sponsor, according to an announcement for the event. You can see a flier for the rally at this link.

Santorum has a second fundraiser on his calendar tonight as well at the Alamo home of Ubokia CEO Mark Pine and his wife, Becky, where the tickets aren't quite so steep. You can find that flier here. (H/t to the Bay Area News Group's Josh Richman, who reported this last week.)

Two ballot titles come up for hearings today in Sacramento Superior Court: Democratic congressional candidate Jose Hernandez's use of the word "astronaut" and GOP Assemblywoman Beth Gaines' use of the term "small business owner." Today's the day that the Secretary of State's Office issues a certified list of candidates, so the judges won't be dawdling over their decisions.

TREE PLANTING: State and Consumer Services Agency Secretary Anna Caballero is joining Japan's Consul General Hiroshi Inomata at 10 a.m. to recognize the centennial anniversary of that nation's donation of cherry blossom trees to the United States. Japan has donated three trees that will be planted in Capitol Park by the Vietnam Memorial.

NATIONAL GUARD: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Major General David S. Baldwin, who is adjutant general for the California National Guard, are announcing the Assembly's $500,000 contribution to help establish a pilot program, "Work for Warriors," intended to reduce unemployment and underemployment among the state's Guard members. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 317.

TOWN HALL: Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, is hosting a town hall from 7 to 9 p.m. at the California High School Theater in San Ramon on the controversial health care overhaul. Listed speakers include Herb Schultz, a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Diana Dooley, secretary of California's Health and Human Services Agency; and Brent Barnhart, director of the state Department of Managed Health Care.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, celebrates his 43rd birthday today.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's latest video report dissects the California Judicial Council's decision to yank the rug out from under the courts' controversial computer management system.

Gov. Jerry Brown's calendar today includes a California National Guard ceremony at which Col. Sylvia R. Crockett will be promoted to general.

It's a milestone for the Golden State: She's the first Latina to attain that rank in the California National Guard, according to the governor's office.

Crockett, who's now assistant division commander for the 40th Infantry Division as well as director of strategic communications for the California Military Department, started her career with the California National Guard in 1982. The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. in the the governor's Capitol office.

Brown is also scheduled to speak with police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and others at the 20th annual legislative day of the Alliance of California Law Enforcement. That talk starts at 1 p.m. at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Meanwhile, there's no shortage of committee meetings under the dome, with a joint Senate-Assembly hearing considering the impact of a 2004 law on workers compensation disability benefits for permanently injured workers. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is among the listed speakers at the hearing, which starts at 9:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 2040.

The Senate Education Committee is looking at new requirements for schools with high suspension rates, among other measures, starting at 9 a.m. in Room 4203. The Senate Rules Committee considers governor's appointees with Claudia Cappio, executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency, and Ronald Chapman, Kathleen Billingsley and Daniel Kim of the Department of Public Health required to appear. That hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113.

The terms "mentally retarded" and "mental retardation" would be dropped from state documents and laws under Senate Bill 1381, which comes up before the Senate Health Committee, whose meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4203. The Assembly Public Employees Committee, meanwhile, looks at the "Public Employees Bill of Rights" -- as Jon Ortiz reports on sister blog The State Worker.

For more information on those hearings and a host of others, click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

Elsewhere in Sacramento, public pensions come up for debate at the Sacramento Press Club's luncheon, where Marcia Fritz, president of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, and Dave Low, chairman of Californians for Retirement Security, go head to head on the issue.

Teachers' pensions are the focus tonight at a free seminar hosted by the Press Club at The Bee's main office. Listed speakers include Fritz, as well as Ed Derman of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, Jason Sisney of the Legislative Analyst's Office and Jennifer Baker of the California Teachers Association. That event starts at 6:30 p.m. on the third floor, 2100 Q St., Sacramento. RSVP to seminars@sacpressclub.org.

ELECTION 2010: The group California Common Sense is releasing a report this morning that details donations to California races in 2010. Expect big numbers.

LEGISLATORS' VOTING RECORDS: How often has a California legislator broken party ranks, abstained or switched sides? The Sacramento Bee has a database of the voting records of every member of the state Senate and Assembly. Enter a lawmaker's last and first names to see how he or she voted, or enter a bill number to see how every legislator voted on it. Check it out at this link.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's video report says the state Legislature isn't the place to watch for progress on pension reform.

Republican Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen of Modesto will introduce her own pension legislation today with a bill aimed at cracking down on student-teacher relationships.

Assembly Bill 1861 would eliminate pension and retiree benefits for teachers who have an inappropriate relationship with a student at the same school - even if the student is an adult.

Olsen will be joined by Tammie Powers, the mother of an 18-year-old Modesto student who moved in with a teacher, at 10:30 a.m. in room 444 at the state Capitol.

CELLPHONE FINES: Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian will take another stab at raising penalties for using cell phones while driving today when Senate Transportation and Housing takes up Senate Bill 1310. The measure also extends the ban to bicyclists.

The bill is much like one that drew a gubernatorial veto last year, but raises base fines by just $10.

The idea is that the fee increase will pay for education on the perils of talking or texting while moving down the road. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in room 4203 at the Capitol.

DONOR IDS: Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley will present AB 1648 to the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting. The bill would require the top three financial backers of political ads to be identified on the messages. The hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. in room 444 at the state Capitol.

Attending a Mitt Romney fundraiser today?

The Republican frontrunner will start the day at the home of Stockton developer Alex G. Spanos, then move south to Irvine for a luncheon event with conservative policy advocateDavid Horowitz in Irvine. Irvine Company chairman Donald Bren is among those attending that one.

Then it's on to dinner with the likes of former Los Angeles Mayor Dick Riordan former state Republican Party chair Shawn Steel at the Hyatt Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles.

That's a long day of smiling for the cameras.

CAKE & CANDLES & CAMPAIGN CHECKS: Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, turns 38 today, and plans to celebrate by collecting some election cash.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's video report says green jobs won't be California's economic salvation.

While the U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act today, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will stop by a San Diego medical device firm and dine with contributors during a brief swing through the Golden State.

Romney is slated to appear this morning at the San Diego headquarters of NuVasive, which describes itself as a developer of "minimally disruptive surgical products and procedures for the spine."

He also will have two fundraisers today with some big-name hosts. Former Gov. Pete Wilson will be on hand at the San Diego luncheon, while former gubernatorial candidate and HP executive Meg Whitman will host a dinner in Redwood City.

Romney will have three fundraisers across the state Tuesday, including one at the Stockton home of developer Alex G. Spanos.

But Romney isn't the only one visiting California this week. Presidential rival Rick Santorum will hold a rally and fundraiser Thursday at the Jelly Belly Candy Company. His California page on Facebook has a copy of the invite, the rare instance in which you'll find "Jelly Belly" written in fancy script. Though it also features the iconic jelly bean character waving an American flag.

As the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments, the Public Policy Institute of California will hold a lunch forum in Sacramento to discuss the state's implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Participants include California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Diana Dooley and her predecessor, Kim Belshé, who also sits on the state's health exchange board.

At the state Capitol, both houses will hold floor sessions.

A Senate budget subcommittee will hold a 10 a.m. hearing in Room 4203 to examine the Department of Developmental Services, State Independent Living Council and Commission on State Mandates.

An Assembly budget subcommittee will hold a 4 p.m. hearing in Room 127 to examine the Department of Public Health budget, including Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed changes and cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

In one more budget-related matter, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee will consider Assembly Bill 1506 by GOP Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries to repeal a new fire fee on rural homeowners. Democrats authorized the fee last year as part of their budget solution.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: In his video report, Dan notes that the new poet laureate loves libraries, but the man who appointed him -- Gov. Jerry Brown -- has not always been their friend.

With the weekend around the corner, a bipartisan team of state assemblymen is planning to do some bumping and grinding in the Coachella Valley.

It's not necessarily what you think.

Assemblymen Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, and V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, plan to meet up Saturday morning at the "Bump and Grind" trail in Palm Desert to announce a new bill designed to resolve what has become quite a controversy in those parts.

According to the Desert Sun, the Department of Fish and Game closed the popular trail last summer to shield the local bighorn sheep from hikers.

It was not a popular decision, and local hikers have been protesting ever since, demanding more evidence from the state that their presence threatens the sheep.

The lawmakers' bill theoretically could ramp up the heat on Gov. Jerry Brown to get Fish and Game to change their ways.

As for the trail's name, Capitol Alert had a hard time pinning down the exact origin of "bump and grind." One local said it's what the bighorn sheep do up there. Another said it's because the trail is bumpy and the top part is quite a grind.

FORE!: Got 60K lying around? Want to spend some quality time with Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg around the golf course? Today marks the beginning of the Pro Tem Cup at La Jolla's Torrey Pines Golf Course. As Torey Van Oot reports, the fundraiser for the California Democratic Party is designed to help Steinberg win a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

RALLY: The north steps of the state Capitol today is scheduled to be one of some 140 sites nationwide for a protest against the Obama Administration's mandate that employer-based health insurers provide free contraceptives. Sponsored by a group called "Catholics for Religious Liberty," the rally is scheduled to begin at noon. Other California rally locations are Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura, Murrieta, San Francisco and Redding.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: In his video report, Dan points out the irony of Gov. Jerry Brown vetoing that signature gathering bill last year.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is having quite a week in the Capitol. On Monday, she spoke to lawmakers to ask for money and defend her administration of the courts.

Today, the Sacramento native will participate in the inaugural event for She Shares, a series of conversations with what organizers call "female trailblazers, who, through their leadership have created a lasting impact on women in California and beyond."

Moderated by Karen Breslau of the Dewey Square Group, the luncheon with Cantil-Sakauye will include six students representing schools the chief justice attended: McClatchy High School, Sacramento City College and UC Davis Law School.

Find more info on the She Shares Facebook page.

After Illinois, are you ready to calculate how the electoral college vote will go in November's presidential election? Predict the vote with The Bee's interactive map.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's video report discusses state Attorney General Kamala Harris' role in putting measures on the ballot.

Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and farm animals. What could go wrong?

If you come across a cow or chicken on the Capitol grounds today, you can take a moment to note the one-year anniversary of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 42, which called on Californians to "eat local" and "buy California grown" food.

Specifically, it asks Californians to prepare meals made exclusively with Golden State ingredients one day a week. If you want to make a personal pledge, sign up here.

Brown, also the former mayor of San Francisco, will join state Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross for a press conference commemorating the resolution and the adoption of similar efforts by California cities and counties. It begins at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

Organizers also promise tractors and rodeo queens.

MILANOVICH REMEMBERED: Gov. Jerry Brown will travel to Palm Springs today to speak at a memorial service for Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Chairman Richard Milanovich.

Brown called Milanovich, who wrangled with governors from Wilson to Schwarzenegger over the growth of Indian gambling in California, a "friend" in a statement marking his March 11 death. The service will be held at 10 a.m. at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

HIGHER ED PAY: A day after CSU trustees approved salary increases for new campus presidents at CSU Fullerton and CSU East Bay, Sen. Leland Yee is working to crack down on pay raises for university administrators.

The Senate Committee on Education will hear his bill, SB 967, which seeks to stop pay raises in bad budget years or within two years of a student fee increase. The hearing starts at 9 a.m. in room 4203 at the Capitol.

HEALTH CARE: Democrats this week are celebrating the second anniversary of the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act, known on the GOP primary trail as Obamacare.

Touting the measure's provisions before the U.S. Supreme Court holds a hearing on its constitutionality next week, the Obama campaign will hold a 1 p.m. press conference in which young people praise the president's efforts to give them access to health care coverage.

Among Democrats scheduled to attend are Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, Sen. Alex Padilla, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and Assemblyman Isadore Hall.

That event will be held at Obama's Sacramento office, 6760 Folsom Blvd.

Sen. Ted Lieu is celebrating in Los Angeles, where he'll warn newcomers to the health insurance market about the possibility they'll be preyed upon by unscrupulous sellers. He's carrying legislation aimed at tightening consumer protections.

Representatives of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Immigrant Policy Center and Consumers Union will join him at 10:30 a.m. at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center on Wilshire Boulevard.

DAN WALTERS DAILY: Dan's video report today laments HBO's cancellation of 'Luck,' a move that leaves its legislative plot hanging.

On a day with plenty of committee hearings on tap, the most lucrative for state budget purposes is probably one scheduled for Assembly Budget Committee #4 on State Administration.

The committee will look at ways to close the state's "tax gap" - the difference between how much taxpayers owe and how much they really pay.

The number has been estimated at more than $10 billion a year.

Lawmakers will consider adding positions to step up enforcement at 1:30 p.m. in room 447 at the Capitol.

They will also look at adding 28 jobs to collect sales and use taxes under AB 155, the deal the Legislature made with Amazon.com last year.

You'll remember that California agreed to delay collecting those online taxes until September, while Amazon sought to convince Congress to take a national approach. Capitol Alert hasn't heard that congressional action is coming anytime soon.

Find the committee agenda here.

TERMLIMITS: Voters in June will decide whether to change California's term limits law to cut the number of years legislators can serve from 14 years to 12, while allowing 12 years' service in one house.

Supporters say the change will prevent job-hopping by lawmakers now limited to three terms in the state Assembly and two in the state Senate. Opponents say it will mean those elected stay in office longer than they do now.

Elections committees for the Assembly and Senate will conduct a joint hearing on the measure at 1:30 p.m. today in room 3191 at the Capitol.

Among those testifying: Trudy Schafer of the California League of Women Voters, Phillip Ung of California Common Cause, and Jon Fleischman of Californians for Term Limits.

CITIZENS UNITED: The Assembly Judiciary Committee considers a resolution that calls for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling let corporations and labor unions spend unlimited amounts in election efforts independent of candidates' campaigns.

Supporters predict the resolution will sail out of the Democratic-controlled Capitol. The hearing is at 10 a.m. in room 4202.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is delivering her first State of the Judiciary address this afternoon before a joint session of the California Legislature.

Watch today's Dan Walters Daily to learn why her talk promises to attract more attention than those of her predecessors. Think rebel judges and the computer case management system whose expansion an Assembly panel voted to block last week.

Cantil-Sakauye will address lawmakers in Assembly chambers starting at 4 p.m. The California Channel will broadcast the event and also stream it live on its website. If you'd rather watch it on TV, click here to search a list of cable stations that carry the channel.

Both houses are convening today as well, with the Assembly meeting at noon and the Senate at 2 p.m. Committee hearings will work around the sessions and Cantil-Sakauye's address, with the Business, Environmental Quality and Appropriations committees meeting on the Senate side, and the Transportation and Utilities committees meeting on the Assembly side.

One measure of note, Senate Bill 984, would streamline preparation of CEQA records. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee will hear Sen. Joe Simitian's urgency measure and other bills in the Capitol's Room 112 starting at 1:30 p.m.

Click here to read the Senate's complete daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

Speaking of the Legislature, even political junkies can have a hard time figuring out where the lines are on the newly drawn legislative and congressional districts in California. Search for addresses and ZIP codes on The Bee's interactive maps at this link.

VIDEO: Today's Dan Walters Daily takes on legislative Democrats' friction over California's state budget. Watch it at this link.

So, California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro walks into a room with two Democrats, former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and former Senate leader Don Perata.

No, it's not the setup for a joke. The three are among the speakers at the Leadership California Institute conference today in Sacramento highlighting election issues this year, including the mood of California voters, the possible effects of the new top-two primary system and the legislative races to watch between now and November.

Núñez is giving the luncheon keynote address, while Del Beccaro and Perata are among the panelists analyzing the ballot measures up this year. Click here to see the lineup. You'll find an event flyer at this link. It's not cheap -- it costs $500 a ticket -- but at least attendees get a resource guide book from Sacramento-based Redistricting Partners.

First, it was December, then January. Then February turned into March. And now the preliminary hearing in the federal fraud case against former Democratic treasurer Kinde Durkee -- rescheduled for today -- has been put off once again. The new date and time is March 30 at 2 p.m. Capitol Alert will not be holding its breath.

SERVICES: A funeral Mass will be said for lobbyist Rod Blonien at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1017 11th St., in Sacramento, followed by a reception at 1130 K St., Suite 101. Blonien died earlier this week at 65, as Dan Walters reported in this post.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Capitol denizens have two birthdays to celebrate on Sunday, when Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Ceres, turns 54, and Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, turns 47. Congrats to both.

To post or not to post? California's watchdog agency is discussing whether to let judges keep their annual financial disclosure statements off the Internet.

The Fair Political Practices Commission already posts statements of economic interest for legislators, the governor and other constitutional officers. But the California Judges Association wants the judges' Form 700s to remain offline public records, as The Bee's Torey Van Oot reported last week.

Staff members, meanwhile, have "agreed to allow judges to submit a second version of their respective statements omitting sensitive information as a supplement to their original statements," the commission's general counsel and commission counsel told FPPC head Ann Ravel in a memo last month.

The FPPC will consider the matter at its meeting, which starts at 10 a.m. at 428 J St., Suite 800, in Sacramento. Click here for the agenda, and scroll down to Discussion Item 44 to find links to a staff memo and other documents.

Online gambling, meanwhile, gets all-day attention at a conference at the Crest Theatre conducted by Capitol Weekly and the University of California. Four panels will look in turn at financial impacts, sovereignty, technology and the politics. Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, gives the lunch keynote address. Listed sponsors include the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the California Tribal Business Alliance.

Today's Dan Walters Daily explores Gov. Jerry Brown "paddling on the left" to compromise with the California Federation of Teachers on a tax ballot measure.

Under the dome, both the Assembly and the Senate convene at 9 a.m., with four budget panels meeting in the upper house at 9:30 a.m. or after the session adjourns.

The education subcommittee looks at Brown's proposals on the University of California and California State University systems, as well as Hastings College of the Law. You'll find that hearing in the Capitol's Room 3191. The health and human services panel, in Room 4203, considers CalFresh, In-Home Supportive Services, CalWORKs and related programs and departments. Another subcommittee has the California Department of Veterans Affairs, the Military Department and the state Emergency Management Agency on its agenda in Room 112. And in Room 113, the Office of the Inspector General and female offenders under the purview of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation both get a look.

For more information about other hearings, click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

PRESSER: Legislative Republicans unveil Assembly Bill 1506 to repeal a new rural fire fee, whose legality they question and which they call a tax. Listed participants include Assembly members Kevin Jeffries, Paul Cook, Jim Nielsen and Kristin Olsen as well as Sen. Doug LaMalfa and Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The events starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 127.

ELECTION 2012: Democrat Ami Bera, who's challenging GOP Rep. Dan Lungren, will join Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento and others at Obama for America's watch party from 4 to 7 p.m. in its Sacramento headquarters at 6760 Folsom Blvd. for the premiere of Davis Guggenheim's documentary "The Road We've Traveled," a retrospective of the 2008 election and President Barack Obama's time in office. Lungren, meanwhile, is holding another in a series of town halls tonight at Rancho Cordova City Hall, 2729 Prospect Park Drive, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

CALLING ALL CANDIDATES: The Sacramento Bee is again publishing its Voter Guide for online and print. The online version will allow readers to enter their home address and see a "ballot" of candidates and initiatives just for their location. If you're running for office in the June primary in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado or Yolo counties, you're invited to create a profile on our Voter Guide. If you haven't received an invitation from us through email, please contact Pete Basofin at pbasofin@sacbee.com.

The battle has been going on for months, as those who work in California's trial courts fight back against budget cuts and criticize - often anonymously - the leadership of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

Many of the court employees just happened to be represented by the Service Employees International Union, so they have some clout on their side.

Which may explain why there's a press conference today before Joint Budget Subcommittees On State Administration And Public Safety hold a hearing on the court computer system.

Dan Walters sums up the court fight in his new daily video report.

The SEIU wants the plug pulled on the system, which is intended to connect courts in all 58 counties, but by all accounts is over budget and getting more so.

Workers will make themselves available to the media before the 1:30 p.m. hearing in Room 437 at the Capitol.

Gov. Jerry Brown normally flies on Southwest Airlines' Boeing 737 planes in California, but he's heading to Long Beach today to check out the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. He will tour the plane, give a speech and meet with Boeing engineers.

Attention Candidates: The Sacramento Bee is again publishing a Voter Guide for online and print. The online version will allow readers to enter their home address and see a "ballot" of candidates and initiatives just for their location.

If you're running for office in the June Primary in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado or Yolo Counties, you're invited to create a profile on our Voter Guide. If you haven't already received an invitation from us through email, please contact Pete Basofin at pbasofin@sacbee.com.

Today Capitol Alert launches "Daily Dan Walters," a new video report on policy and politics in California.

Come back each weekday for a quick update from Bee columnist Dan Walters on topics occupying the Capitol crowd.

What will U.S. Postal Service closures mean for California elections?

Two committees with an interest in that subject - the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments and the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting - will hold a joint hearing today to explore the question.

Given the increase in vote-by-mail behavior, the committees want to know whether materials will reach voters in time - and whether those who wait until the last minute to return them could risk missing a chance to vote.

Those speaking will include U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill LaVine.

They will not, however, include a representative of the U.S. Postal Service - a committee spokeswoman said it declined an invitation to participate. Testimony begins at 2 p.m. in Room 2040 at the Capitol.

Garamendi and Bowen already have both warned that voters could be disenfranchised if 15 processing centers are closed after a ban on the closures expires May 15. That would be less than three weeks before the June primary election.

They want a six-month extension of the moratorium, postponing the closures until after the November general election.

LUNGREN TOWN HALLS: U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren is also on the West Coast, hosting town halls in Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova and Angels Camp this week.

Tonight's event is at 7 at the Citrus Heights Community Center, 6300 Fountain Square Drive. He'll be at Rancho Cordova City Hall on Thursday evening and at the Frogeteria Room at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Senate panels led by Sen. Joe Simitian and Sen. Alan Lowenthal will travel to Mountain View tonight for an informational hearing on high-speed rail.

Simitian says the session, 7 p.m. at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, will offer South Bay and Peninsula residents a "sneak peak" at changes in the high-speed rail business plan scheduled for release later this month.

Dan Richard, chair of the High-Speed Rail Authority Board, and Will Kempton, chair of the High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, are among the speakers.

If you're going, bring caffeine. While public participants will be limited to two minutes each, the press release says "Simitian will continue the hearing for as long as necessary to hear from anyone who wishes to speak."

The June 2012 ballot lineup will soon be set.

Today is the filing deadline for candidates considering bids for most California offices, including the Legislature, Congress and the U.S. Senate.

One question remaining for voters in the Sacramento area is whether 2010 Assembly hopeful Andy Pugno will challenge GOP Assemblywoman Beth Gaines in the newly drawn 6th Assembly District. The Proposition 8 author, who has not returned calls from The Bee on his plans, filed a statement of intention earlier this week and sent a fundraising email to supporters seeking cash to fuel a possible bid.

Possible candidates for incumbent-free seats have a few more days to decide. The deadline for officially entering races where an incumbent does not file by today will be extended to next Wednesday, March 14.

Figuring out which seats are home to an incumbent isn't as simple as it sounds, as Jim Miller noted in the Press-Enterprise this week. The state's new political maps left a handful of members of Congress living outside the districts they plan to seek and sent more current legislators, who must live in the district they run to represent, packing their bags to relocate to an open or more favorable seat. It's up to county election officials to make the call on who is or is not an incumbent, causing confusion in some of the races featuring more mobile candidates.

Now that the filing period is coming to an end, the California Republican Party board of directors will meet Sunday to make endorsements ahead of the June primary. Central committees in counties across the state have been meeting to consider making endorsement recommendations in races for Congress and the state Legislature. Those recommendations, or lack of recommendation in some cases, will come up for board approval this weekend. The board will also consider whether to back one of at least four Republican candidates in the race for U.S. Senate. Securing that stamp of approval requires a two-thirds vote.

For those who missed the political theater, the state Democratic Party finalized its endorsements at its spring convention.

BLAST OFF: The Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace touches down in Redondo Beach today, where chair Betsy Butler, D-Los Angeles, is hosting an informational hearing on education and the aerospace industry. The hearing is scheduled to launch at 2 p.m. at the city's Northrop Grumman.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDARS: It's a quiet day under the dome, with no sessions or committees scheduled at the Capitol. The Assembly returns to the chamber at noon Monday, and the Senate will convene at 2 p.m.

It's Thursday, so both houses are holding floor sessions, after which four Senate hearings highlight Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposals and related matters.

Education takes center stage in Room 3191, where legislators take up Brown's plan for K-12 schools during this fiscal year and next, with Proposition 98 and trigger cuts on the agenda. State schools chief Tom Torlakson is among those expected to testify. In Room 4203, the departments of Managed Health Care, Public Health, and Health Care Services are among the agencies getting scrutinized.

Over in Room 112, lawmakers are discussing state and local finance as well as business development, including debt service on general obligation bonds and interest payments on general fund loans. And in Room 113, the agenda includes CalPERS, CalSTRS, and the Employment Development Department as well as the departments of Industrial Relations and Human Resources. All four hearings start at 9:30 a.m. or after session adjourns

An Assembly select committee, meanwhile, is taking a field trip to Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, where Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, and others will urge state health officials to help low-income children opt out of the city's program for dental care, which this story chronicled last month. Pan, a pediatrician, is holding the 11:30 a.m. presser at The Effort Oak Park Community Clinic, where he sees Medi-Cal and uninsured patients. The select committee, which he heads, will then look at the state's dental care safety net starting at noon.

The June primary is months away, but the two measures on that ballot have the support of about two-thirds of likely voters, according to the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll. Proposition 28 would cut the amount of time that state legislators could serve from 14 years to 12 years and would allow all 12 years to be served in one house. Proposition 29 would increase cigarette taxes by $1 a pack, raising an estimated $735 million a year that supporters say would be used for cancer research and anti-smoking programs.

The institute's Dean Bonner will give a briefing today on the survey, whose topics also include the Republican presidential primary, plus economic and social issues. The luncheon runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1017 11th St., Sacramento. Click here for more information or to RSVP. You'll find the survey itself at this link.

Speaking of Proposition 29, its rival camps go head to head in Sacramento Superior Court this morning over the ballot initiative on tobacco taxes. Teresa Casazza, president of the California Taxpayers Association, is helping lead the No on Prop 29 campaign, and she has sued over the ballot language that the state Attorney General's Office drafted for the measure.

Casazza's beef is that the truncated ballot label doesn't mention the nine-member committee that would be created to allocate the new revenues. Proponents have dismissed the filing as a "silly lawsuit" aimed at confusing voters, saying in a statement that the tobacco companies funding the opposition campaign are "trying to use our courts to manipulate the process." The court issued a tentative ruling Wednesday against the No on 29 campaign, and the judge will hear arguments at 10:30 a.m. in -- appropriately enough -- Department 29.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR: Click here for the Senate's daily file, and click here for the Assembly's.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, turns 71 today.

The Bee's ever-intrepid Torey Van Oot contributed the item about the Proposition 29 lawsuit to this alert.

It's water, water everywhere as the Association of California Water Agencies meets at the Sacramento Convention Center for its annual legislative symposium.

On the agenda: water infrastructure and the water bond still on the November ballot.

Panelists scheduled to discuss the water bond include Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield; Sen. Michael Rubio, D-East Bakersfield; Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore; and Assemblyman Henry Perea, D-Fresno. The association's executive director, Tim Quinn, will moderate.

Afterward, legislators and key aides are invited to lunch, where Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will deliver the keynote address. Click here to read the symposium agenda, which also includes pension reform.

Back at the Capitol, half a dozen committees consider budget-related matters, including long-term care and Medi-Cal managed care, higher education and financial aid programs, Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission, CalPERS and CalSTRS, the California Highway Patrol -- just to name a few. Other hearings will look at schools' food service contracts, land use and community development.

On the Senate side, the Rules Committee considers governor's appointees, starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with these folks required to appear: Will Lightbourne, director of the Department of Social Services; Patricia Leary, the department's chief deputy director; and Mark Ferron, member of the Public Utilities Commission. Click here for the Assembly's daily agenda, and click here for the Senate's.

Congratulations to Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, who gets the honor of hanging a framed samarai sword on his wall for a year now that he's won the 2012 Capitol Roller Award.

The Ceres Republican beat out Natural Resources Secretary John Laird, Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento, and James Gore of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the California Rice Commission's 11th annual sushi rolling contest, held Tuesday at Sacramento's Sheraton Grand. The competitors got coaching from executive chef Billy Ngo of Kru, a contemporary Japanese restaurant in Sacramento.

FISH & GAME: The state's Fish and Game Commission (think Dan Richards) meets at Riverside's Mission Inn Hotel and Spa starting at 8:30 a.m. The long agenda, which you'll find at this link, includes a public forum. Expect the words "mountain lion" to be uttered.

NEW GIG: Matt David has signed on as senior adviser with Republican Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher's campaign for San Diego mayor. David was campaign manager for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's presidential bid and also worked, once upon a time, for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, turns 52 today.

Today's Super Tuesday contests won't settle the GOP presidential nomination, yet it's too soon to assume California's June 5 primary will play a role in the outcome.

But depending on how delegates distribute after today's 10 primaries or caucuses, Steve Frank, a senior California adviser to Newt Gingrich, says his candidate will make a major play for delegates in the state.

"If the delegates are as split as they appear to be, California will matter," Frank said. He said the former speaker told him in a meeting two and a half weeks ago that he'll stay in the race through Texas, where Gov. Rick Perry has endorsed him, and California.

"He made it clear to us that he's staying in through Texas and California because he's convinced those are going to be game-changers," Frank said.

Conservative blogger Jon Fleischman isn't as certain that anyone besides Romney has a chance. Once a Perry supporter, he's still in "the angry stage" that he can't find a candidate he loves.

"At some point, you shift from angry to resigned. And once you are resigned, you vote for Romney," he said.

If you're interested in playing ahead, use our "predict the vote" feature to project how electoral votes will land in the general election. You can see maps depicting how the states lined up four years ago and in 2004 as a starting point for your predictions.

The Rice Commission promotes its product today with its 11th annual Legislative Sushi Battle, a competition for what it calls the coveted Samurai Sword. The program begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento, with sushi-making set to begin in earnest at about 1:15 p.m.

This year's contenders include California Resources Secretary John Laird and Sacramento Assemblyman Richard Pan. Attendees will dine on kalua pork and Spam musubi.

The group also plans to present its Circle of Life Award to the Natural Resources Conservation Service for its efforts on the state Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative Pilot Program in California.

PEPPER SPRAY - Cruz Reynoso's probe of the Nov. 18 incident at UC Davis in which campus police used pepper spray on protesting students was scheduled for release today - but now has been postponed. A task force headed by the former state Supreme Court justice was asked to make recommendations on handling protests to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. But the report has been delayed pending legal action by the union for campus officers, who want to prevent it from being made public.

DATING SAFETY - Violence in teen dating is the subject of a 10 a.m. press conference on the west steps of the state Capitol, where advocates will push for a bill by Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens. Lara's AB 1880 aims to put dating abuse policies into school safety plans at middle schools and high schools.

AG COUNCIL - Board of Equalization member George Runner will be at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa today to address the annual meeting of the Agricultural Council of California. His topic: "Will California Ever Be Business-Friendly Again?" If the answer is no, let's hope all involved at least get a good massage.

Sacramento officials and police are gearing up for crowds today in downtown Sacramento, with participants of one rally expected to lobby California legislators and organizers of another urging participants to "Occupy the Capitol!"

Thousands of college and university students and others are expected to march at 10 a.m. from Southside Park to rally at 11 a.m. on the west steps to demand that lawmakers increase funding for higher education.

Listed speakers at the morning rally include several elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, as well as the presidents of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges, the California State Student Association and the University of California Student Association.

Joining the march and that rally are ReFund California, which is backing the so-called "millionaires tax" ballot measure pushed by the California Federation of Teachers, and UAW Local 2865, which represents UC student workers. They're headed to Sacramento "to occupy the Capitol," an event flyer says.

The ReFund California coalition is also planning a "General Assembly and Nonviolent Direct Action Training to Occupy the Capitol!" at 3:30 p.m., followed by its own rally at 5:30 p.m. on the north steps, the flyer says, adding, "How long we stay will be up to you."

We'll post coverage of the events at SacBee.com as they happen. Students, teachers and Occupy activists held protests last Thursday across the state in advance of today's rally, as the Associated Press reported last week.

Inside the Capitol, meanwhile, the Assembly is set to convene at noon, and the Senate at 12:30 p.m. Two Assembly committees are also meeting today.

STATE PARKS: So much was happening late last week that we're only now catching up to the Legislative Analyst's Office's report, "Strategies to Maintain California's Park System," which recommends transferring ownership of some parks to local governments, allowing private companies to run some parks, increasing user fees and charging entrance fees rather than parking fees. Read the full report at this link.

Gov. Jerry Brown is headed to Southern California for a ribbon-cutting today at a huge plastic-bottle recycling plant in Riverside.

CarbonLITE Industries' 220,000-square-foot plant will "specialize in processing used plastic bottles into bottle-grade PET resin flakes and pellets," its website says.

Back in 2010, when the company announced that it would spend $40 million on the plant, it touted the operation as "aimed at reducing the carbon footprint from PET bottle production and keeping bales of that recycled material from being exported from the West Coast to China."

Brown is scheduled to talk at the plant's official opening starting at 9:30 a.m. at 875 Michigan Court. Others expected to be on hand include Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge, company officials, representatives of PepsiCo and Nestle Waters, plus Jared Blumenfeld of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the Southwest Riverside News Network.

Meanwhile, Brown's predecessor is announcing the expansion of after-school programs in Ohio.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is joining Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Buckeye State's first lady at an elementary school in Columbus this afternoon to talk up a program called the After-School All-Stars.

Schwarzenegger is in Columbus for the 24th annual Arnold Sports Festival. Other highlights of his Ohio visit include showing up at the dedication of a statue in his honor.

"An 800-pound bronze sculpture of bodybuilder, actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, planned for the front of Veterans Memorial, is something more than art: It's an appropriate thank you to a sports legend and astute businessman who continues to give back to a city that helped him to achieve the American Dream," the Columbus Dispatch gushed in an editorial on Sunday.

Back in California, Sen. Bob Dutton joins small business owners in Redlands to tout his Senate Bill 1186, which he says would curb lawsuit abuse of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The presser starts at Redlands Lock and Key, 430 E. Redlands Blvd., at 10 a.m. Listed speakers include its owner, Juan Baros, as well as Redlands Chamber of Commerce president Paul Barich, San Bernardino property owner Zack Havav and Maryann Marino of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR: Two Assembly select committees meet, neither of them in Sacramento. Click here to read the details.

MOCK HEARINGS: The Assembly and the Senate aren't in session, but their digs will be put to use. The Black Youth Leadership Project is running its 13th annual legislative open house for high school students today. The event starts at 9 a.m. at the Secretary of State's Office auditorium, followed by mock legislative hearings and debates at 10 a.m. on the floors of both houses.

ELECTION 2012: Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, is officially filing papers this morning in Sacramento to run for re-election in the 3rd Congressional District, then making stops in Yuba City, Woodland, Vacaville and Upper Lake.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, turns 69 on Saturday, and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, turns 46 on Sunday.

California's safety net gets scrutinized for the second day in a row as the Senate Budget Committee considers Gov. Jerry Brown's proposals for cutting and redesigning the state's CalWORKs and child care programs.

Listed speakers include Brian Uhler and Rachel Ehlers of the Legislative Analyst's Office, state schools chief Tom Torlakson, representatives of the departments of Finance and Social Services, program recipients and others. See how the Assembly committee handled Brown's welfare proposals on Wednesday in Kevin Yamamura's report.

Both the Assembly and the Senate meet at 9 a.m. The Senate Budget Committee is set to start its hearing in the Capitol's Room 4203 at 9:30 a.m. or after the session adjourns in the upper house. Read the committee agenda at this link. The LAO report on Brown's proposals on CalWORKs and child care can be accessed here.

Outside the Capitol, Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla teams up with Google officials to tout his Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for so-called "autonomous vehicles" in California. He's even expected to show up in Google's self-driving car. The curious can watch a video taken last year from the back of the thing and posted on Youtube. The presser starts at 10 a.m. on the west steps.

Death penalty opponents, meanwhile, announce filing signatures aimed at qualifying a ballot measure to repeal the death penalty and establish life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Listed speakers include El Dorado County Supervisor Ron Briggs, whose father, former Sen. John Briggs, sponsored the 1978 ballot measure reinstating California's death penalty. The Bee's Carlos Alcalá talked to the younger Briggs earlier this week. The event starts at 10 a.m. in the Secretary of State Office's courtyard, 1500 11th St.

Democrats, Republicans and nonpartisans don't agree on much, but they agree on this: Congress is doing a lousy job. In fact, only 12 percent of voters in each of those groups approve of the way things are going in Washington, according to the latest Field Poll.

For more numbers, click here to read the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert. You can find the publicly released poll itself at this link.

CHAMBER: Sacramento Metro Chamber members will hear from Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor at a luncheon during their annual legislative summit at the Sutter Club, 1220 9th St., Sacramento.

MUSIC: The Glendora High School Orchestra will be performing at noon on the Capitol's west steps.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Democratic Assemblywoman Alyson Huber turns 40 today.

California's proposed state budget cuts are back in the spotlight, sparking their own drama outside the Capitol building.

Health and human services advocates are rallying on the south steps at noon against Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed cuts to the CalWORKs program, which an Assembly budget subcommittee will consider starting in Room 4202 at 1:30 p.m. Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, the Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the subcommittee, is expected to address the rally along with the Rev. Michael Kiernan of the Sacramento diocese and others.

Two other Assembly budget subcommittee also meet today. One will look at cap-and-trade revenues starting at 9 a.m. in Room 447. The other considers the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation starting at 4 p.m. in Room 127.

Not that lawmakers are likely to put any numbers together soon. The Legislative Analyst's Office recommended earlier this week that the Legislature put off writing the budget until Brown releases his own revised proposal in May.

On the Senate side, the Education Committee will hear from members of a student advisory board of the Oakland-based California Association of Student Councils, who are expected to turn thumbs-up on education reforms and thumbs-down on teacher tenure. That hearing starts at 9:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 4203.

The Senate Rules Committee considers gubernatorial appointments starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with Public Employment Relations Board members Eugene Huguenin and Anita Martinez required to appear, as are Ellen Widess of Occupational Safety and Health and Joan Markoff of the Personnel Administration Department.

Where do California voters stand now on same-sex marriage? According to the latest Field Poll, they support it by 59 percent to 34 percent -- the largest margin of support since the poll started asking 35 years ago.

Dan Smith and Torey Van Oot have details in today's Bee. If you want even more numbers, click here to see the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert. You'll find the publicly released poll at this link.

REPORT CARD: The American Society of Civil Engineers releases its California infrastructure report card at 9:30 a.m. on the west steps. Listed speakers include Republican Sen. Anthony Cannella.

MORTGAGES: Attorney General Kamala Harris is joining Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and others to unveil what they're calling the Homeowner Bill of Rights, a package of bills that would reform the mortgage process in the state. The presser starts at 11 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 1190.

VETERANS: The AMVETS Service Foundation honors Democrats Sen. Lou Correa and Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada for their work supporting veterans. The event, which begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Capitol's basement cafeteria, is part of the organization's legislative day.

IMMUNIZATIONS: Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, unveils his Assembly Bill 2109, intended to ensure that parents are given accurate information about immunizations. The event runs from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Room 444.

CHARTER SCHOOLS: Members of the California Charter School Association rally for their cause on the north steps starting at 3:45 p.m.

The federal Justice Department's recent crackdown on medicinal marijuana dispensaries is expected to be the topic of heated debate at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon today.

Benjamin Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, is scheduled to address the issue today at a luncheon sponsored by the Sacramento Press Club.

Medicinal marijuana growers and dispensaries have been hit with raids, property seizures and criminal charges since the Justice Department signaled a push to pursue enforcement of federal drug laws even in states where medicinal marijuana is legal.

Wagner and California's other U.S. Attorneys have argued that California's voter-approved law legalizing the use, cultivation and possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes has been "hijacked by profiteers." Supporters of the state's 16-year-old medical marijuana law say the move is putting dispensaries out of business and undermining the voter-approved Proposition 215.

The Press Club's Kathy Beasley said the group is expecting "high turnout" for today's lunch, with at least 90 tickets sold as of Monday afternoon. Unlike most monthly lunches, about 40 of the reservations are from non-members.

"This time there's quite a lot of outside interest in this," she said.

Tickets for the 12 p.m. lunch at The Broiler Steakhouse on 12th and K streets are $25 for members and $30 for non-members. Check sacbee.com for coverage of the discussion from Peter Hecht of The Bee's Weed Wars blog.

Check out The Bee's new, improved state worker pay database at this link.

Think you know how the electoral college vote will go in November's presidential election? Predict the vote at The Bee's new interactive map.

Under the dome, lawmakers are convening committee hearings on several other burning issues.

The joint conference committee on pensions meets at 9:30 a.m. to look at the impact of proposals to raise the retirement age for state employees.

The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee will hear an update on plans for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from Delta Stewardship Council Chair Phil Isenberg, Natural Resources Agency's Jery Meral, Delta Protection Commission Executive Director Mike Machado and Delta Conservancy Executive Officer Campbell Ignram.

Over in the Assembly, both the Higher Education and Veterans' Affairs committees and the Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration are meeting on issues related to veterans.

HEALTH CARE: Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, is one of several speakers expected to attend a Capitol briefing on the importance of working with communities of color in implementing the federal health care overhaul. The briefing, which is sponsored by the Greenlining Institute, starts at 2 p.m. in Room 447 of the state Capitol.

BURTON GOES TO ROSEVILLE: California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton will address the Democrats of Sun City at the group's 10 a.m. meeting at Roseville's Sierra Pines Recreation Center. Check back on Capitol Alert for coverage of the quotable party leader's talk.

With the Republicans back from their convention, the Assembly meets at noon and the Senate at 2 p.m., when Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will take to the floor to introduce a former Democratic presidential candidate: Michael Dukakis.

The former Massachusetts governor, who lost to George H.W. Bush in 1988, is giving a talk today at the Mondavi Center as part of the UC Davis Chancellor's Colloquium. His topic: "Public Service: A Great Career." His speech starts at 4 p.m.

Also in the upper house, Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, will present a resolution to Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of the nine African American students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., back in 1957.

Outside the Capitol, there's no shortage of happenings, and they're all over the political map.

Members of the Western Association of Education Opportunity are rallying at 9 a.m. on the Capitol's north steps to urge that the state improve access to higher education for low-income and minority students.

Then on the west steps starting at noon, the NorCal Tea Party celebrates its third birthday by calling for a part-time Legislature as well as the repeal of the Dream Act.

Over on the south steps, also at noon, members of the South Africa Project -- whose website features an interview with former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke of Louisiana -- will begin a three-hour vigil to highlight what they call "black on white racist crimes" in South Africa.

Long-time political observers will recall that Duke has run for president as both a Democrat and a Republican, though not at the same time. He was also famous for wearing a Nazi uniform while attending Louisiana State University. Here is a New York Times article from 1991, back when he was running for Louisiana governor.

Gov. Jerry Brown, meanwhile, is still in Washington, D.C. The National Governors Association is holding its closing session today before meeting with President Barack Obama. Brown will then meet with the California congressional delegation.

FIELD POLL: The Bee's Kevin Yamamura reported Saturday that California voters still view Gov. Jerry Brown favorably and the Legislature miserably. Even so, they're not too keen on demoting legislators to part-time. Click here to read the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert. You'll find the publicly released poll at this link.

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg joins State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson, California Energy Commission Chairman Robert Weisenmiller, and students and faculty at Elk Grove's Laguna Creek High School to announce grant funding for clean tech and renewable energy academies at 21 California schools. That event starts at 11 a.m.

NEW WEBSITES: Check out The Bee's new, improved state worker pay database at this link. Think you know how the electoral college vote will go in November's presidential election? Predict the vote at The Bee's new interactive map.

Gov. Jerry Brown didn't attend last year's National Governors Association meeting, but it looks like he's making up for it, packing a lot of face time into his five-day visit to Washington, D.C., much of it closed to the press.

Thursday, Brown met with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Today's agenda includes a morning meeting with President Barack Obama, other Democratic governors and senior federal officials. Then there's lunch with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui, an afternoon meeting with State Department officials, and a Democratic Governors Association dinner -- closed to reporters -- at the Newseum's Great Hall of News.

Saturday, it's the association's opening session. Early Sunday morning, it's the Western Governors Association meeting. Then he's appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he's scheduled to share the lineup with Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. (You can watch it live Sunday starting at 6 a.m. Pacific Time on Sacramento's KCRA-TV Channel 3. If you're elsewhere, click here to find airtimes in your area.)

After that, there's a meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius plus the governors' White House dinner. Monday, the association holds its closing session before meeting with Obama. Brown will meet later with the California congressional delegation.

The governor, who hit the East Coast ATM on Thursday night for his tax ballot measure, will surely be interested in the latest Field Poll gauging support for his proposal and its rivals. His measure polled in the middle, with California voters giving the California Federation of Teachers' initiative the most backing. Molly Munger's proposal came in third.

Kevin Yamamura has more in today's Bee. If you want even more numbers, click here for the statistical tabulations compiled especially for Capitol Alert. You'll find the publicly released poll at this link.

The California Republican Party, meanwhile, kicks off its three-day convention in Burlingame today, with town halls and workshops scheduled Saturday. Check out our earlier post about the lineup, and find the agenda at this link. Don't forget to come back to Capitol Alert for coverage over the weekend, including GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's speech at the Saturday luncheon, as well as that of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who'll be addressing the Saturday dinner crowd.

So, what's the state of the state Republican Party? Who are the up-and comers? "This is the barest the cupboard's ever been," GOP strategist Rob Stutzman told The Bee's David Siders. Read more in today's Bee.

In other news, today's the day that proponents of a Republican-backed ballot measure to overturn the new Senate maps will find out whether the proposal has qualified for November. And today's also the last day for California legislators to introduce bills. AroundTheCapitol.com has been keeping track of the every-growing list. Check it out at this link. It'll save a few trees.

LTGOV: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom talks to members of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce about the state of the state. The event starts at noon.

As both houses meet at 9 a.m., Sen. Ellen Corbett is introducing California craft brewers on the Senate floor -- just in time for Sacramento Beer Week.

The brewers include two from Sacramento -- Jan-Erik D. Paino of Ruhstaller and Steve Swinford of Rubicon. Tom McCormick, executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association, will also be on hand. Corbett is also putting up a resolution that proclaims February to be California Craft Brewery Month.

Lawmakers might be wishing for a beer as the Senate Budget Committee considers Gov. Jerry Brown's proposals on Medi-Cal and In-Home Supportive Services, including long-term care and managed care. The hearing, which is expected to be lengthy, starts in the Capitol's Room 4203 at 9:30 a.m. or after the session adjourns. For the Legislative Analyst's Office's view on integrating care for seniors and those with disabilities, click here to read the report issued last Friday.

Brown, as we've reported here, is heading to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Barack Obama and governors at the National Governors Association's winter meeting.

Brown is also hitting the East Coast ATM. Democratic lobbyists Heather and Tony Podesta (who The Hill notes is the brother of former White House chief of staff John Podesta) are hosting a reception tonight for Brown and his tax increase ballot measure at their home, according to this invitation.

Speaking of Obama, things are looking up in the Golden State for the president. According to the latest Field Poll, 53 percent of California's voters think he's doing a good job, up five percentage points from last fall. Obama also leads Republican presidential hopefuls by wide margins among the state's voters, with 20 percentage points separating him and Mitt Romney, who does the best among the GOP candidates.

Dan Smith has more in today's Bee. If you want detailed numbers, click here for the statistical tabulations compiled especially for Capitol Alert. You'll find the publicly released poll at this link.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR: Click here for the Senate's schedule, and click here for the Assembly's.

ANIMAL SHELTERS: The governor won't be there, but animal activists say they plan to deliver 45,000 signatures to his office at 10 a.m. urging him not to repeal former state senator and big name student activist Tom Hayden's law requiring animal shelters to keep dogs and cats longer before euthanizing them.

RETIREMENT: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, join David Pacheco of AARP California, Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen owner Andrew Blaskovich and others in front of the state treasurer's office at 10 a.m. to unveil a retirement savings plan for private-sector employees who don't have access to one in the workplace.

CONGRESS: Sen. Barbara Boxer is back in home territory, holding a presser at noon in San Francisco at the Ferry Building to talk about the extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, the fight over contraception coverage, and the transportation bill to be debated next week on the Senate floor.

With tonight's Republican presidential debate just hours away, the Field Poll has the most recent details of how California's GOP voters view the four hopefuls still in the race.

The bottom line: Rick Santorum isn't No. 1, as Real Clear Politics reports he is in some other polls, but he has pulled within six percentage points of Mitt Romney.

In California, Santorum is polling more strongly than Romney among strongly conservative voters, as well as among born-again Christians and those who identify with the tea party. David Siders has more in today's Bee. If you want even more numbers, click here to read the statistical tabulations prepared exclusively for Capitol Alert. You can read the publicly released poll at this link.

As for the debate, Santorum and Romney join Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. CNN's John King moderates starting at 5 p.m. Pacific Time from Arizona. CNN is soliciting questions at CNN.com and the CNN Politics Facebook page. For the Twitterati, it's encouraging use of the hashtag #CNNDebate.

Back in Sacramento, the Legislature isn't holding floor sessions, but there's no shortage of committee hearings and news conferences in the Capitol.

State Controller John Chiang, Sen. Kevin de León and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, all Democrats, join building industry representatives to talk up legislation to make commercial energy retrofits more affordable. That news conference starts at 10 a.m. in Room 1190.

Labor leaders are getting behind a proposal to regulate the wages, hours and working conditions of domestic workers. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and California Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski are scheduled to join Democratic Assemblymen Tom Ammiano and V. Manuel Pérez and others at an 11 a.m. presser in Room 317 to highlight the legislators' Assembly Bill 889.

Republican legislators, meanwhile, are unveiling pension reform legislation at 11:30 a.m. in Room 126. Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway and other Republican lawmakers are expected to appear.

As for committee work, a joint Senate hearing will look at how to finance affordable housing and local economic development from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Room 4203. Listed speakers include Claudia Cappio of the California Housing Finance Agency, Marianne O'Malley of the Legislative Analyst's Office, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, Jennifer Matz of the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Mike McKeever of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and others.

The Senate Rules Committee will consider gubernatorial appointments starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with these appointees required to appear: Jennifer Shaffer, member of the Board of Parole Hearings; Robert Barton, inspector general, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and Martin Hoshino, Corrections undersecretary.

For more information on the Senate's schedule, click here. You'll find the Assembly's schedule at this link.

SCHOOLS CHIEF: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is in Pacific Grove to address members of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association at their annual leadership conference, starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Asilomar Conference Center.

ASH WEDNESDAY: Sacramento Catholic Bishop Jaime Soto leads Ash Wednesday services starting at 8 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps. This afternoon, legislators and others will take part in an Ash Wednesday "poverty simulation" in the basement of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramento at 11th and K streets. Lawmakers expected to attend include Republican Assemblyman Katcho Achadijian, Democratic Sen. Carol Liu and Assembly members Julia Brownley, Roger Dickinson, Bonnie Lowenthal, Nancy Skinner and Mariko Yamada. That event starts at 1:30 p.m.

California Republican Party members can look forward to hearing not only from GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich at their convention next weekend, but also from one of his former rivals.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will speak at Saturday's dinner along with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. KSFO (560 AM) radio host Brian Sussman will emcee the event.

Pawlenty, who quit the presidential race last August after a disappointing finish in the Iowa straw poll, is now co-chairman of Mitt Romney's presidential bid.

Gingrich will be headlining Saturday's luncheon at the convention, held Friday through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport hotel in Burlingame.

Also on the convention's speaker list are California Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Darrell Issa, who share the main attraction at Friday's dinner with Republican National Committee Co-Chairwoman Sharon Day. The Sunday prayer breakfast will feature the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder and chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, which has offices in both Washington, D.C., and Anaheim.

Day, meanwhile, will give an update on California's new top-two primary system at a luncheon Friday for members of the executive committee.

Convention sessions include the "Ground Game" workshop on this year's elections, which was already full up late last week, as well as a workshop on social media plus three town halls aimed at Asian, Latino and young voters. Read an agenda at this link.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR: The Legislature has a short week, with sessions scheduled today at noon in the Assembly and at 2 p.m. in the Senate. An Assembly Budget subcommittee looks at state procurement and contracting out, starting at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 447. And a joint legislative hearing will consider Gov. Jerry Brown's proposals to eliminate the departments of Mental Health, and Alcohol and Drug Programs and reorganize other behavioral health programs. That hearing will start around 3:30 p.m. in Room 4202.

SCHOOLS CHIEF: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is touring Lincoln High School's Engineering Construction Academy in Stockton at 1 p.m. to highlight career technical education.

PENSIONS: The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and California Common Sense are releasing a report today on California's local pension systems, including Sacramento County's. Stay tuned for details.

Gov. Jerry Brown is still in Southern California hanging out with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, while legislators are gearing up in Sacramento for the long weekend by attending per diem sessions.

Brown continues his diplomatic role with China's likely next leader, speaking this morning at the China/U.S. economic trade forum being held at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live, then meeting privately with Xi at noon.

The governor will also deliver welcoming remarks at a luncheon honoring Xi that Vice President Joe Biden and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are also expected to attend. This afternoon, Brown hosts a round-table for other governors and Chinese officials. Xi leaves LAX tonight, and Brown and Villaraigosa will see him off.

"China has trillions of dollars in reserves, and they're going to be investing that increasingly throughout the world," Brown told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "I would like to see some of that money come into California for productive investment."

Xi's visit to Los Angeles has not been protest-free, with pro-Tibet supporters and others demonstrating outside China Mart's offices Thursday.

While Brown meets with Xi, Assemblyman Jerry Hill will be meeting with the guy who burglarized his garage back in 2001. The San Mateo Democrat, then a county supervisor, heard banging and found Mark Harvin, then 18, high on meth and alcohol, according to Hill's office.

Hill, a black belt in karate, "held on to him until police could come and take him away. ... In fact, he even sat the guy down and held him in place until the police arrived a few minutes later," the San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time.

Harvin now works at San Mateo's Project Ninety, a substance abuse program he says saved his life. Harvin recently wrote Hill to request a meeting as part of his rehabilitation. They'll sit down today at 10 a.m. for the first time since they met in Hill's garage.

As for the Legislature's per diem sessions, those are the floor sessions scheduled to make sure legislators' per diem checks keep flowing over long weekends, since the rules are such that they don't get paid unless there's at least one session every three days. Both the Senate and the Assembly convene at 9 a.m. The next sessions are set for Tuesday after the Presidents Day holiday.

Next Friday is another red-letter day: It's the last day for legislators to introduce bills this year. Expect many trees to die.

LINCOLN DAY: Board of Equalization member George Runner will be speaking next Monday at the Sutter County Republican Central Committee's annual Lincoln Dinner starting at 6 p.m. He's titled his topic, "Will California ever be business-friendly again?" Listed guests include GOP Rep. Wally Herger; Sen. Doug LaMalfa, who's running for Herger's seat with Herger's endorsement; and Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, who has said he'll run for LaMalfa's Senate seat if LaMalfa winds up in Congress. The dinner starts at 6 p.m. at Ruthy's Bar & Oven Starlight Room, 229 Clark Ave., in Yuba City.

CAKE AND CANDLES: It's a big weekend for birthdays. Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, turns 42 today. On Saturday, Assemblymen Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, will celebrate, with Wieckowski turning 57 and Huffman turning 48. Then on Sunday, it's Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal's day. The Long Beach Democrat can put 72 candles on her cake.

Gov. Jerry Brown will be in Los Angeles this afternoon to welcome Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping as he touches down on the tarmac.

Also joining Brown: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The governor will attend several official events today and Friday tied to Xi's visit, including a tour this afternoon of the China Shipping Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.

Xi is scheduled to arrive at LAX at 1:30 p.m., about two hours after Air Force One is set to leave the airport for San Francisco. President Barack Obama, who met with Xi earlier this week at the White House, is continuing his West Coast fundraising trip with a visit to the Bay Area.

Obama's calendar includes a dinner at the Pacific Heights home of novelist Robert Mailer Anderson (think "Boonville"), followed by a reception at the Masonic Center where Grammy winner Chris Cornell (think Soundgarden) will perform.

Back in Sacramento, the Senate Budget Committee looks at Brown's budget proposal for K-12 education, with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson expected to testify. The hearing, which starts at 9 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 4203, will be televised on the Senate's website via this link.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, will be at Microsoft Corp. in Mountain View, where he and members of the TechAmerica Foundation will release recommendations at 9 a.m. on cloud computing for state and local governments. Listed speakers at the half-day event include the head of the California Technology Agency, Carlos Ramos, as well as San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. The event will be streamed live at this link.

MODEL LEGISLATURE: Some 2,500 teens are in town, starting today, for the California YMCA Youth & Government program's 64th annual model legislature and court. Try not to scare them off.

NEW GIGS: Brown announced three appointments on Thursday, all Democrats:

• Brian Kelly, 43, of Sacramento, has been appointed undersecretary at the Business Transportation and Housing Agency. He has been executive staff director for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg since 2008, and he's worked for Senate leaders going back to Bill Lockyer in 1995. This position also does not require Senate confirmation. He'll be paid $172,992 a year.

• Jim Evans, 42, of Sacramento, was appointed deputy secretary for communications and strategic planning at the Business Transportation and Housing Agency. He has been a consultant for Sen. Mark DeSaulnier since 2009 and is a long-time Capitol denizen. (Full disclosure: He also worked for The Bee from 2003 to 2004.) This position does not require Senate confirmation. He'll be paid $129,900 a year.

• Robert Zachary Wasserman, 64, of Oakland, has been appointed chair of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Wasserman has been a partner at Wendel Rosen Black and Dean LLP since 1996. This position requires Senate confirmation, and he'll be paid a grand total of $0 a year.

PHOTO CAPTION: China's Vice President Xi Jinping/Associated Press

President Barack Obama is coming to the West Coast for a little fundraising love.

Air Force One is set to touch down at LAX at 4 p.m. Obama will then attend a dinner at the Beverly Hills home of soap opera writer and producer Bradley Bell, famous for "The Bold and the Beautiful," according to this Annenberg TV News report. A Foo Fighters concert is also on the menu.

The president will also make stops in San Francisco and Seattle on Thursday and Friday.

Back in Sacramento, expect drama in the Senate Rules Committee. Members are considering governor's appointees, and one of those required to appear is Adjutant General David S. Baldwin, who now heads the California National Guard.

Brigadier General Charlotte L. Miller, who got ousted as Baldwin took charge last year, announced earlier this week that she would testify against his nomination, calling him "unfit for command."

The Bee's Charles Piller, whose investigations into double-dip pay at the state's National Guard led to Baldwin's predecessor being booted into retirement, wrote about Baldwin in this story last summer after Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him.

The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 112. Come back to The Bee this afternoon for more on the story. Also required to appear: Cal-EPA Secretary Matt Rodriquez, a Brown appointee from last summer who will probably be happy not to draw the same attention.

Meanwhile, it's time once again for "Family Feud, Capitol Style." The California YMCA's Youth & Government program is holding its ninth annual fundraising competition at the Crest Theater in Sacramento, starting at 5 p.m. The event emcee is former Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte, and Sen. Alan Lowenthal is listed as judge.

Listed for the Republican "family": Senate GOP leader Bob Huff, Sens. Bill Emmerson and Mimi Walters, Assembly GOP leader Connie Conway and Assemblyman Brian Nestande.

Listed for the Democratic "family": Assembly members Bonnie Lowenthal, Ricardo Lara, Rich Gordon and Isadore Hall, as well as Resources Secretary John Laird.

ELECTION 2012: Democratic congressional candidate Ami Bera is joining volunteers staffing a phone bank asking voters to call the office of his rival, GOP Rep. Dan Lungren, to request that Lungren's House Administration Committee set a hearing for a bill that would require Congress to pass its budget on time or risk not getting paid. A Senate committee is holding a hearing on March 7, according to The Hill. The Bera campaign cranks it up at 6:30 p.m. at 6254 Orsi Circle in Carmichael.

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is spending Valentine's Day in the Central Valley.

Sure, the former House Speaker is looking to woo California Republicans, whose votes he's hoping will still make a difference by the time the state's June primary rolls around.

But the real object of desire for this trip is cash to fuel his campaign fund.

The GOP presidential candidate is holding an evening reception at the Fresno home of Wendy Turner, daughter of former Secretary of State Bill Jones, and her husband Ryan as part of a fundraising swing through California.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/us/politics/gingrich-money-hunt-faces-obstacles.html
Gingrich is no cheap date. Spending the evening with the candidate will set couples back $1,000. Tickets to the VIP reception costs $2,500 a pair. Turner told the New York Times that "a little Champagne, a photo op" are included in the more expensive package.

Back in Sacramento, Sen. Alex Padilla is also looking to capitalize on today's celebration of true love. The Los Angeles Democrat is raising cash for a 2014 secretary of state bid with a Valentine's Day-themed luncheon at Chicory Coffee & Tea. For $1,000, donors can "Be Mine." Contributors who write a $6,500 check get the status of "Sealed with a Kiss."

HEARING: The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and the Assembly Higher Education Committee hold an oversight hearing on the cost of private postsecondary education. The point of the 1:30 p.m. hearing is to "ensure California's current regulatory structure encourages high-quality educational programs, protects students from fraud and abuse, and provides accountability of financial aid expenditures," according to the agenda.

NEW JOB: California Cable & Telecommunications Association Director of Governmental Affairs Bernie Orozco is now serving as the group's vice president of state governmental affairs, according to a release from CCTA yesterday.

Legislative Democrats are back in Sacramento today after the California Democratic Party confab in San Diego.

The Assembly meets at 1 p.m., and the Senate at 2 p.m. Expect the next floor sessions this week on Friday. Next Monday is Presidents Day, and that schedule ensures per diem checks keep coming.

It also ensures that legislators get a break before the California Republican Party convention, which runs Feb. 24-26 at the Hyatt San Francisco Airport hotel. Capitol Alert, of course, will be there. If you missed our coverage of the Dems over the weekend, catch up at this link.

In non-convention news, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will present a Senate resolution this afternoon to Team Will cyclists, who raise funds for childhood cancer research. The group is named for a Sacramento toddler, Will Keifer, who died of a rare cancer. The event starts at 12:45 p.m. on the Capitol's west steps, after which the team will ride to UC Davis Children's Hospital to give valentines to the patients there. Read more about Team Will at the nonprofit's website.

The Legislative Black Caucus, meanwhile, is hosting a reception this evening with Olympic athlete John Carlos, who raised a black power salute from the medal podium in 1968 along with a fellow U.S. medalist. Carlos will be signing his book, "The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World," from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the California Museum, 10th and O streets. Click here to see a flyer about the event. Read more about the book itself at this link.

Let the endorsements begin: The California Democratic Party votes this weekend on its official candidate picks for the June 5 primary.

The party's convention runs today through Sunday, with party Chairman John Burton and former White House aide Van Jones kicking things off tonight in San Diego. Come back to Capitol Alert during the weekend for full coverage.

Political junkies will be paying close watch to Saturday afternoon's endorsing caucuses for districts in which no candidate got enough votes at the pre-endorsement conference to get recommended outright. That would include the 31st Congressional District, where incumbents Howard Berman and Brad Sherman are slugging it out.

The rules are such that if two incumbents are running in the same district, a candidate will need a 60 percent vote in caucus to land an endorsement recommendation. Berman and Sherman are the only two incumbents running in the same district who will be considered by an endorsing caucus.

But wait, there's more. Incumbents who aren't facing another incumbent have a lower threshold to meet: 50 percent of the votes, plus one. That would include Assemblymen Richard Pan of Sacramento, who's running in the 9th Assembly District, and V. Manuel Pérez of Coachella, who's running in the 56th, neither of whom face caucus challengers.

Non-incumbents, meanwhile, need 60 percent to get a recommendation. That makes it a different story for the 50th Assembly District race, which is pitting incumbent Betsy Butler, who moved into the district, against challengers Torie Osborn and Richard Bloom.

You'll find the list of candidates eligible to participate in the endorsing caucuses here. Party officials have posted a memo explaining caucus details at this link.

This link will open up the official pre-endorsement list, which includes six legislative districts for which no endorsement recommendation was made. One of the orphans is the 8th Assembly District, an East Sacramento swing seat where Democrats Ken Cooley, Chris Parker and Larry Miles now face Republican contenders Barbara Ortega and Peter Tateishi.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is speaking at Saturday's luncheon, as we've reported before, and Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota is talking to the Saturday dinner crowd. Gov. Jerry Brown and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are among those speaking Saturday morning. Find more information at the party's website.

PET GROOMING: Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, is holding a presser at 11 a.m. at Nate's Point Dog Park in Balboa Park with pet groomers and pet owners to draw attention to his Senate Bill 969 (also called Lucy's Law, named for a dog) to regulate the pet grooming industry and to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors decision to oppose it.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, turns 52 on Saturday.

Gov. Jerry Brown will be making an appearance tonight as electric-car maker Tesla Motors unveils a new vehicle in Los Angeles County -- its Model X.

California's clean-car makers are among the state's economic bright spots. And as The Bee's Rick Daysog reported last month, the California Air Resources Board has voted unanimously to tighten emissions standards by mandating that one in every seven cars sold in the state in the year 2025 be an ultra-low- or zero-emission vehicle.

Brown is expected to speak around 8 p.m. at the premiere, held at Tesla's Los Angeles Design Studio in Hawthorne.

The Model X is a luxury SUV crossover, according to an article posted Wednesday by Investor's Business Daily, which says Tesla has been teaming up with Toyota and Daimler, with Toyota using a Tesla power train in an electric RAV4, and Daimler putting Tesla-designed battery systems in some of its vehicles.

"As essentially a tech startup ... Tesla is a rarity in the car world. How well it does over the long haul is tied to interest from larger automakers, electric-car adoption and the price of oil," the article says.

Back in Sacramento, Capitol denizens can instead contemplate the joys of beef noodle soup. Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento and Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco are hosting a cooking demonstration of the Taiwanese signature dish featuring the winner of the 2011 international competition in Taipei.

Chef Hou Chun-Sheng will give his take at Spataro restaurant on L Street across from the Capitol, starting at 2 p.m. Spataro's Randy Paragary will also be on hand, as well as members of the Sacramento chapter of the California Restaurant Association.

Hou has become a big deal in Taiwan, and his champion recipe incorporates a rich beef broth, tomato paste, fermented bean curd sauce, hot chile peppers, and a bag of herbs and spices including star anise, cinnamon sticks, dried orange peel, and some stuff Capitol Alert hasn't heard of.

The Senate and the Assembly have both set floor sessions at 9 a.m. Beef noodle soup is not on the agenda. Click here for more details on the Senate side, and click here for the Assembly.

The Peace and Freedom Party, meanwhile, is unhappy that Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office left two of its four candidates off the list of generally recognized candidates for the June 5 presidential primary. The California party chair, C.T. Weber, has called a presser at 10 a.m. at Bowen's office, 11th and O streets.

There could be good reason for the move, though. A Bowen spokeswoman told The Bee's Torey Van Oot on Wednesday that websites giving information about one of the omitted candidates, Peta Lindsay, indicated that she isn't old enough under the U.S. Constitution to be president. (For the record, a president must be at least 35 at the time of inauguration.)

CAMPAIGN WATCH: Senate Republican leader Bob Huff is hosting a fundraiser tonight at Power Balance Pavilion for his 29th Senate District re-election bid. Single tickets to watch from a private suite as the the Sacramento Kings play Oklahoma City Thunder run $2,000 each. If you're strapped for cash and still want to go, StubHub had more than 400 tickets available for the game as of Wednesday evening. Starting price: $15.

Actor and director Rob Reiner is in town: He'll be honored today at the joint conference of First 5 California and the Water Cooler branch of civil rights lawyer Molly Munger's Advancement Project.

Reiner backed the ballot measure that set up First 5 and was its first commission chairman. Other listed speakers include former California first lady Maria Shriver's brother, Mark Shriver, who is senior vice president of U.S. programs at the nonprofit Save the Children.

Munger, fresh off her talk earlier this week before the California State PTA about her tax ballot proposal, will be featured Thursday at the two-day conference. She'll be moderating a panel titled "Getting Real About Revenue: Can 2012 Be the Year?"

She won't be getting any help from Democratic Sen. Ted Lieu of Torrance. He was burning up the Twitterverse on Tuesday, imploring advocates of tax ballot measures to consolidate support behind Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to avoid having all of them go down in flames.

Lieu quoted a tweet at one point from Republican consultant Matt Rexroad, who'd written, "Molly Munger may be the best thing to happen to those of us that want to defeat tax increases."

"Thx for validating the truth," Lieu tweeted back.

Lieu even got a shout-out from former California Republican Party chairman Ron Nehring, who tweeted, ".@TedLieu and I don't agree on much, except this: more tax hikes on ballot, more likely all fail. #Bipartisanship."

The First 5 conference is being held at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento at 14th and J streets. Click here to read more, and find the agenda at this link. Learn more about the Advancement Project, where Munger is president and co-director, here.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, meanwhile, is making an appearance in Sacramento at 1:30 p.m. today at the Siemens rail car manufacturing plant out on French Road. LaHood will be talking up President Barack Obama's commitment to rail as well as the creation of quality manufacturing jobs.

And Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to appear with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to announce a "green taxi milestone" in that city, according to a news release. The 10 a.m. presser will be, appropriately enough, at the Yellow Cab Co-Op, 1200 Mississippi St.

Editor's Note: This post has been updated to remove reference to a fundraiser at Chops for Assemblyman Steven Bradford, D-Gardena. That event is Wednesday evening, not tonight. Updated at 9:38 a.m. Feb. 7, 2012.

By 10 a.m. today, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to release its opinion on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the measure California voters approved in 2008 banning same-sex marriage.

Torey Van Oot reports that we can expect an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The same panel ruled last week that videotapes of the trial would not be made public, noting that Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker had promised gay marriage opponents they would not be broadcast.

Find documents pertinent to the case here.

Lawmakers will largely be out of the Capitol much of the week, convening for "policy summits" with their caucuses. Jim Sanders reports:

Legislative policy committee meetings have been called off (Tuesday) and Wednesday so Democrats and Republicans can hold separate policy conferences before reconvening for floor sessions Thursday morning.

None of the policy summits - lawmakers bristle if you call them retreats - will be far. Senate Democrats will meet in Sacramento's Stanford Mansion, Assembly Democrats at UC Davis, Assembly Republicans at Raley Field, and Senate GOP members at Old Sacramento's Firehouse restaurant. All will last two days except that of Senate Republicans, who will finish by tonight.

Lawmakers say the sessions benefit constituents by honing caucus battle plans for the year, touching on issues ranging from the state budget to pensions, job creation, taxes, key legislation and 2012 ballot initiatives.

Costs are projected to be minimal, at most several thousand dollars, because none of the groups is leaving the area or staying in hotels.

DISABILITY RIGHTS: Political strategist Darry Sragow will keynote a legislative breakfast this morning sponsored by the State Independent LIving Council. The event, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Eureka Room in the Capitol basement, will include presentation of the Ed Roberts Disability Rights Pioneer Award to Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada and Sen. Leland Yee.

CASH COLLECTION: No fewer than five fundraisers are set for the Capitol area today, as Election Year activity begins in full force. Board of Equalization member state Sen. Tom Harman has a $1,500-a-head event to raise money for a future Board of Equalization bid set for Spataro at noon.

The rest start at 5:30 p.m., so you'll have to sprint between the "old governor's mansion" at 1400 N Street #9 (Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, D-Fresno),Tequila Museo Mayahuel (Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway), and the offices of Nossaman LLP at 915 L Street (Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara).

Editor's note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified state Sen. Tom Harman as a member of the Board of Equalization.

Chalk up another salvo in the ballot initiative wars: Civil rights lawyer Molly Munger is addressing members of the California State PTA today at their annual legislative conference.

The two-day confab, held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Sacramento, is focused on helping qualify Munger's tax plan for the November ballot -- and getting it passed.

Munger is the keynote speaker at today's luncheon, starting at noon. Her talk follows remarks from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and from Sue Burr, the State Board of Education's executive director.

Her proposal would raise $10 billion a year for California schools by hiking income taxes on all but the poorest state residents. Gov. Jerry Brown has been unsuccessful at getting Munger and her allies to back off from the tax plan, which rivals his own.

The keynote speaker at tonight's dinner is John Mockler, who gets credited for Proposition 98. Tuesday's sessions move to the Capitol and include overviews of Brown's budget proposal, transitional kindergarten and other issues. Find a conference agenda at this link.

Under the dome, the Assembly has set its floor session for noon, and the Senate is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. It's still a few weeks before the deadline for bills to be introduced -- the last day is Feb. 24, the Friday after Presidents Day. That Friday also happens to be the deadline for verifying signatures on the Republicans' ballot initiative challenging the state Senate maps. And in a three-fer deal, it's also the first day of the California Republican Party's spring convention.

In other news, it's Ronald Reagan Day. The former president and California governor, if he were still alive, would be 101 today.

MENTAL HEALTH: The Racial and Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition is conducting a legislative briefing co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and the Legislative Black Caucus, starting at 9:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 447.

ROSA PARKS: Members of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists celebrate the 12th annual Rosa Parks Day as they advocate for a statue of the civil rights icon to be added at the U.S. Capitol building. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

STATE OF THE U: Sacramento State holds a State of the University forum starting at 4:30 p.m. in University Union Ballroom 3, 6000 J St., to discuss the effects of budget cuts on students, faculty and parents. Those listed to attend include Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento.

It's Friday, and no floor sessions are scheduled -- which means California lawmakers seem to be anywhere and everywhere but Sacramento.

Take, for instance, the Senate Select Committee On Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, headed by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. It's convening at 11 a.m. at Monterey Park City Hall.

Two joint legislative committees on utilities and emergency management -- chaired by Democratic Assemblymembers Steven Bradford of Gardena and Bonnie Lowenthal of Long Beach -- meet in Alhambra in Los Angeles County this afternoon to investigate last December's windstorm power outage in Southern California.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, will be on hand this morning as a preschool is renamed in his honor, while Democratic Sen. Roderick Wright of Inglewood and Assemblyman Isadore Hall of Compton host a workshop warning of senior scams in Hall's hometown.

This weekend, Assemblyman Das Williams walks Santa Barbara precincts with fellow Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson, a former assemblywoman who's running in the new 19th Senate District. And Saturday, Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, hosts a foreclosure prevention seminar in Antioch, while Sen. Curren Price, D-Inglewood, holds a cash-for-college workshop in Los Angeles.

Looking ahead: The California Democratic Party convention in San Diego is just a week away. The lineup includes a kickoff next Friday evening with party Chairman John Burton and former White House adviser Van Jones.

Convention-goers can also expect to hear from Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, plus legislative leaders Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez as well as State Controller John Chiang, Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, plus Board of Equalization members Betty Yee and Jerome Horton, according to party officials.

But wait, there's more. The Saturday list also includes House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Reps. Bob Filner of San Diego and Barbara Lee of Oakland, as well as U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein will address the convention during the Saturday luncheon, and U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota will be the dinner speaker, as Torey Van Oot reported in this post. Find a convention agenda at this link.

MUSEUM DAY: Sacramento's annual Museum Day is Saturday, with free admission to state parks and museums, including the California Museum on O Street, the Crocker Art Museum, the California State Capitol Museum, the California State Indian Museum, the California State Military Museum, the California State Railroad Museum, the Governor's Mansion, the Leland Stanford Mansion and Sutter's Fort, to name a few. Click here for more information.

The Assembly has set its floor session for 9 a.m., with the Senate meeting at 10 a.m., but lawmakers under the dome may have more than legislation on their minds.

Three Democrats, for instance, are battling it out for the privilege of representing the new 50th Assembly District, a safe Democratic seat based in west Los Angeles -- incumbent Betsy Butler, local activist Torie Osborn and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. As The Bee's Torey Van Oot reported Wednesday in this post about this year's hot primaries, the greenbacks are already flowing in the district, which Butler moved into after the lines were redrawn.

The endorsements in that race are also piling up. Those in Butler's corner include Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, the Democratic Legislative Women's Caucus, the Legislative LGBT Caucus, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the Legislative LGBT Caucus, a host of state senators and Assembly members, plus Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In Osborn's corner, count former Sen. Sheila Kuehl, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, several Los Angeles City Council members, former state Sen. Tom Hayden, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Teachers and a whole lot of local officials.

Money is flowing to congressional candidates as well, and Michael Doyle reports on spending in California, including the 7th Congressional District. That's where Republican Rep. Dan Lungren is being outpaced in fundraising by second-time Democratic challenger Ami Bera in a new district where Democrats now hold a one-point voter registration advantage over Republicans.

Now that California's redevelopment agencies are no more, Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed four boards responsible for dissolving agencies in Los Angeles, Merced, Stanislaus and Ventura where local governments decided not to take on the job. Brown named 12 people in all to serve on the new local authorities, which will handle such matters as paying existing bond debt, disposing of assets and managing properties until contracted work is done. Read more at this link.

SEEING RED: If you notice Capitol denizens wearing red today on the eve of National Wear Red Day, chalk it up to their support for the fight against heart disease, the nation's leading killer of women. Find health screenings from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 125.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Proponents of high-speed rail, including construction workers and college students, hold a news conference in support of the project starting at 9:45 a.m. outside Sacramento City Hall, 915 I St., where the High-Speed Rail Authority Board is meeting at 10 a.m. The Bee's David Siders reported in this story earlier this week that Gov. Jerry Brown said Sunday that project will cost far less than nearly $100 billion and that fees paid by carbon producers would be a source of funding

BALLOT MEASURE: Proponents of an anti-human trafficking ballot initiative hold a presser to highlight their signature-gathering campaign. Those listed to attend include Ron Cottingham of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, former Facebook official Chris Kelly, Daphne Phung of California Against Slavery and others. The event starts at 11 a.m. at Wind Youth Center, 701 Dixieanne Ave. in Sacramento.

There's another battle brewing in this year's California ballot wars: The Yes on Proposition 29 campaign is cranking up.

Prop. 29 -- called the California Cancer Research Act -- would hike tobacco taxes by $1 per pack of cigarettes to fund research and smoking prevention efforts. It's one of two measures on the June primary statewide ballot.

Expected to be on hand at proponents' presser today are Jim Knox of the American Cancer Society's state's division, Kimberly Weich Reusché of the American Lung Association in California, and American Lung Association volunteer Steve Larson, who has stage 4 lung cancer. The event runs from noon to 2 p.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

Gov. Jerry Brown takes to the airwaves this evening, appearing on Current TV's "The War Room with Jennifer Granholm" starting at about 6:05 p.m. Pacific Time.

The California Newspaper Publishers Association, meanwhile, is in town for its 15 annual Governmental Affairs Day, and no fewer than five elected officials are scheduled to address its members.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez is up first this morning, followed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, then Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway and Senate Republican leader Bob Huff. State Controller John Chiang is to address the group after lunch. (The state's cash flow may well be on the agenda.) The event starts at 10 a.m. at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento.

Under the dome, a joint legislative hearing held with the Legislative Women's Caucus and the state Commission on the Status of Women looks at a new report, "Falling Behind," on the effects of the recession and the state's budget on women and their families. Listed presenters include Judy Patrick of the Women's Foundation of California, Jean Ross of the California Budget Project, and Sandy Gleysteen, who heads the commission. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4202.

Another joint hearing will consider recommendations from the California Community Colleges' task force on student success from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Room 4202. Later, an oversight hearing will look at the affordability of college textbooks starting at 2 p.m. in Room 444.

The Senate Rules Committee will take up the governor's appointments, starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with California Technology Agency Secretary Carlos Ramos and California State University trustee Herbert Carter required to appear. Carter is likely to face questions about executive compensation, given the reaction after CSU trustees hiked a campus president's pay package amid tuition increases.

BALLOT INITIATIVES: Democratic Sen. Loni Hancock of Berkeley and Assemblyman Paul Fong of Cupertino join with Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation and representatives of the Greenlining Institute to discuss the results of a recent poll on ballot initiative reform as well as responses from a statewide "listening tour." The briefing runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 2040.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, celebrates his 59th birthday today.

Editor's note: Due to an error in the press release, an earlier version of this post misspelled the name of Kimberly Weich Reusché.

It's a Triple-D kind of day under the dome.

That's right, three separate deadlines are looming as California politicos prepare to enter month two of 2012 (Sorry for the false alarm, Guy Fieri fans).

1.) RIP Redevelopment Local Redevelopment Agencies will take their last breaths today. The 2010 law axing the agencies, crafted as part of last year's budget package, takes effect Feb. 1. While some lawmakers have voiced support for reviving the agencies' main functions in new forms, a workable solution has not emerged since the state Supreme Court struck down the Legislature's first attempt at creating a successor to RDAs. A push to delay the dissolution date until April 15 has failed to gain traction in the Legislature. Officials from the Department of Finance and the State Controller's Office will be addressing lingering questions on the termination during an 11 a.m. webinar. Questions can be submitted via email to redevelopment@dof.ca.gov.

2.) Last Call for 2011 bills: Bills introduced in 2011 must clear their house-of-origin today in order to stay alive for the remainder of the two-year session. The Senate plans to gavel in at 10 a.m. to tackle the handful of two-year bills remaining on the file. One measure expected to come up for a vote is Senate Bill 654, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's legislation to allow local governments to keep and use redevelopment money earmarked for affordable housing projects. The Assembly, meanwhile, will get back to work at 9 a.m. Assemblyman Mike Davis, D-Los Angeles, is expected to take another shot at winning passage of a bill that would make changes to the state's "Three Strikes" law. Assembly Bill 327 fell five votes short during Monday's floor session.

3.) Campaign cash: Candidates for state and federal office face a midnight deadline for filing campaign finance reports. The reports will cover cash raised and spent through Dec. 31, 2011. Wondering which committee balances to check for state legislative races? Parts one, two and three of Capitol Alert's "Races to Watch" series might refresh your memory of the must-watch match-ups. Also due today are state lobbying reports for the fourth quarter of 2011.

RX FOR NURSING BOARD? The Assembly Budget Committee's agenda for today includes a recently crafted bill to reinstate the Board of Registered Nursing through 2016. The board was technically dissolved at the end of 2011 after Gov. vetoed legislation to extend its sunset date. The Budget Committee is expected to take up this bill and review Brown's budget proposal when it meets after the full session adjourns.

PLANNING AHEAD: The Greenlining Institute will present results of its survey on California's ballot initiative system at a luncheon on Wednesday. RSVP to brucem@greenlining.org or micheller@greenlining.org or call (408) 550-3121. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Capitol, Room 2040.

Tuesday is the deadline for the California Legislature to pass bills introduced last year out of their house of origin. The Assembly meets at noon, the Senate at 2 p.m.

In the lower house, measures to watch include Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon's Assembly Bill 1208 on the Judicial Council, which The Bee's Dan Walters called a "rebel-sponsored bill" sparked by California judges' civil war over money and power. A majority vote wins approval.

Should the three largest funders be clearly identified on political ads? Assembly Bill 1148, by Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, which would require just that, is expected to come up for a vote in the Assembly on Tuesday. It requires a two-thirds vote to pass.

On the Senate side, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's Senate Bill 654 -- which also requires a two-thirds vote -- would let local governments keep redevelopment money budgeted for low- and moderate-income housing. It would also affect repayment of loans from local governments.

Other measures to follow include Senate Constitutional Amendment 4, introduced by Democratic Sen. Mark DeSaulnier. The proposal, another needing a two-thirds vote, would require ballot initiatives to identify a funding source to pay for any additional costs. The California State Association of Counties supports the proposal, while the California Taxpayers Association and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association oppose it, according to a Senate Committee analysis. Votes in the Senate Elections and Appropriations committees split along party lines. Opponents have argued that the measure could require tax cuts to be considered costs to the treasury that would require a funding source.

FOSTER YOUTH: The California Youth Connection, a group of current and former foster youth, rally on the Capitol's west steps at noon to urge support for more services for foster youth on California's public university and college campuses.

The California Supreme Court, as promised, has fast-tracked a decision on what state Senate maps will be used in this year's elections if voters get to vote on the districts that the citizens commission drew last year.

The high court is also considering the issues of what standard to apply in determining whether a referendum is "likely to qualify" and whether it has the authority to step in "even if it cannot yet be determined whether such a referendum is 'likely to qualify' for placement on the ballot."

The court is expected to post its decision at 10 a.m. Come back to Capitol Alert later this morning for details as well as reactions to the ruling.

The Bee's Jim Sanders reported in this post earlier this month about the hearing on the case that the justices focused on technical issues, including whether they could rule only if the referendum is "likely to qualify" for the November ballot.

The odd-numbered Senate seats come up for election this year, with candidates starting to file on Feb. 13.

NEW GIG: Fiona Hutton & Associates has hired Jennifer Wonnacott, most recently of Assemblywoman Betsy Butler's district office, as a senior account executive in Los Angeles.

POLL: Sonja Petek of the Public Policy Institute of California will talk about the January statewide survey of what Californians think of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal and other matters. The luncheon runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the CSAC Conference Center, 1020 11th St., in Sacramento. Click here to read more about the event. Find the survey itself at this link.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, celebrates his 51st birthday on Sunday.

True to his quip after the State of the State address, Gov. Jerry Brown is spending more time in Southern California.

Brown took part Wednesday in a private roundtable in Santa Monica with members of the California District Attorneys Association. He'll attend another private event today -- a luncheon celebrating the 50th anniversary of San Juan Capistrano's incorporation.

Tonight, he's scheduled to speak at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce's inaugural dinner held in the Diamond Ballroom of the JW Marriott at L.A. Live.

Back in Sacramento, both the Senate and the Assembly have scheduled floor sessions at 9 a.m. Next Tuesday is the last day for each house to pass bill introduced last year.

The Assembly Elections Committee will hear an urgency measure, Assembly Bill 1413 by Assemblyman Paul Fong, that tweaks the "top-two" primary system regarding write-in candidates and other issues. The hearing starts in the Capitol's Room 3162 after the session adjourns.

Reducing wait times at the California-Mexico border is the topic of discussion for an Assembly select committee, which meets at 2 p.m. in Room 444.

And a Senate subcommittee looks at challenges facing the olive oil industry. Presenters include Dan Flynn, the executive director at the UC Davis Olive Center, and Tom Mueller, author of "Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil," which Amazon.com picked as one of the best books of the month in December. Look for that hearing starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 3191.

FUN FACT: As of Wednesday afternoon, there were now 60 -- yes, 60 -- ballot measures cleared for signature gathering in California, plus 17 more pending at the attorney general's office. The Bee's Torey Van Oot has details in this story about several you're likely to see at the grocery store. Click here for more information at the secretary of state's website.

It looks like Californians' optimism has its limits when it comes to state government.

Last January, 58 percent of Golden State residents thought that Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature would be able to work together to accomplish a lot in a year, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Now that number is at 44 percent, with 47 percent saying it's not gonna happen, according to PPIC's latest poll.

Meanwhile, Brown's approval rating has gone up among state residents, from 41 percent to 46 percent. The bad news is that trend is reversed among likely voters, slipping from 47 percent to 44 percent. Still, the governor is doing better than legislators -- 17 percent of likely voters approve of how the solons are doing.

As for the Republican presidential candidates, Mitt Romney leads among likely GOP voters in California, with 37 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich, 18 percent. Mind you, the survey was conducted before the South Carolina primary. Last month, Gingrich led Romney, 33 percent to 25 percent, among the likely voters PPIC surveyed in California.

The Bee's Dan Smith has details about voters' views of the state budget in this post. Find the full survey at this link.

Under the dome, a joint Senate-Assembly committee on public employee pensions looks at design options for hybrid pension plans, starting at 1 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 4202.

The Senate Rules Committee considers gubernatorial appointees, starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with Howard Schwartz, the deputy director of the Department of Personnel Administration, required to appear.

CALLING ALL QUESTIONS: Got something you'd like to ask California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro? Go to our Facebook page at facebook.com/capitolalert, and fire away. He's coming to the Capitol Bureau this morning for an interview at 9:30 a.m.

CSU PAY: California State University trustees are considering executive pay and compensation at their meeting today in Long Beach, and its chairman plans to propose a cap in response to pending legislation, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Democratic Sen. Elaine Alquist's Senate Bill 952 proposes codifying a 10 percent cap into law. Democratic Sen. Ted. Lieu -- whose Senate Bill 959 would limit campus presidents' salaries -- will be among those testifying. Other CSU-related measures include Democratic Sen. Leland Yee's Senate Bill 967, which would bar CSU trustees from hiking executives' pay in bad budget years or within two years of a tuition increase.

REALIGNMENT: Speaking of PPIC, its luncheon program today focuses on the fiscal relationship between state and local governments, with State President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway among the scheduled speakers. The deadline has passed, but you can read the agenda here.

WOMEN IN MEDIA: California's second lady, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is a special guest tonight as the Crest Theater screens her documentary, "Miss Representation," about media portrayal of women. The screening starts at 6 p.m. after a 5 p.m. reception. The Legislative Women's Caucus and the California Commission on the Status of Women are sponsoring the event at 1013 K St., Sacramento.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has been updated to add mention of other CSU-related measures pending before the Legislature.

President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address today.

Sacramento's speech-watching party for Obama supporters will be held at 5 p.m. at Head Hunters restaurant, 1930 K Street. Find a watch party near you here.

In case you feel accessories are required, the Obama campaign is offering "I bark for Barack" car magnets featuring first pet Bo.

We checked with the state Republican Party for a watch-party list, but none was available. Capitol Alert suspects GOP voters are spending their time at debate-watching parties these days.

The California University System Board of Trustees meets today and tomorrow. Among items on the agenda: collective bargaining, campus planning and presidential compensation. Guess which one is likely to get the most attention?

Find live-streaming of the public sessions here beginning at 11 a.m. today.

DOMESTIC WORKERS: Advocates of a Domestic Worker Bill of rights will travel to the Capitol today for a 10 a.m. march and 11:30 a.m. children's festival. They promise clowns, balloons, arts and crafts and games, along with visits to legislative offices. Their goal is revival and passage of Assembly Bill 889, by Tom Ammiano.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Happy birthday to Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, who turns 54 today.

California lawmakers are working against two deadlines as they convene today.

The Assembly meets at noon, the Senate at 2 p.m. Each house will be plowing through bills ahead of the Jan. 31 deadline to pass any measures introduced last year.

A week from Wednesday - Feb. 1 - is the day the state's redevelopment agencies go poof unless the Legislature resuscitates them ... and Gov. Jerry Brown signs off on the move, which looks unlikely.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's Senate Bill 654 would, among other things, let the local government of a dissolving redevelopment agency retain the money in the agency's low- and moderate-income housing fund.

Then there's Sen. Alex Padilla's Senate Bill 659, which would postpone the dissolution date to April 15.

Brown said last Thursday during his tax campaign swing through Southern California that he would oppose legislation extending the agencies' termination date, quipping, "I don't think we can delay this funeral."

Meanwhile, it's Ed Roberts Day.

Readers may remember that Roberts was inducted late last year into the California Hall of Fame, whose website describes him as "a civil rights leader for people with disabilities" and "the father of the independent living movement."

Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, who carried the bill proclaiming Jan. 23 each year to be Ed Roberts Day, will join the late activist's mother, Zona Roberts, and dozens of disabled high school students from the Bay Area at a celebration of his life this morning on the UC Berkeley campus.

POLITICAL RADIO: The recently launched Cristina Channel on Sirius XM satellite radio is targeting Latino voters with a bipartisan and bilingual political program called "Power Play," co-hosted by Republican Bettina Inclán and Democrat Alicia Menendez. The program will air every Tuesday and Thursday. Click here for more information.

The primary election isn't until June, but the California Democratic Party is already voting on endorsements.

State Democrats are holding their pre-primary endorsement conferences this weekend in anticipation of the state party convention next month.

Just to drive home the point, Party Chairman John Burton lays out Democrats' goals this year in a letter to candidates and those eligible to vote on endorsements: re-elect Sen. Dianne Feinstein, regain the majority in the House, beef up Democratic majorities in the state Senate and the Assembly, and "compete in newly crafted districts across the state."

Some of those districts have two or more Democrats competing against each other, for instance, the 30th Congressional District, where incumbents Howard Berman and Brad Sherman are slugging it out. Who will they choose? Or will the choice be "no endorsement"?

Candidates who are registered Democrats, file as Democrats and pay the party a filing fee will be considered. An Assembly candidate pays $250, while a congressional candidate pays $350 and a Senate candidate, $500. Candidates recommended for endorsement will need final approval at the state party convention, which will be held in San Diego on Feb. 11-12.

It'll be a big month for conventions. The California Republican Party will hold its own state party convention two weeks later, Feb. 24-26 at the Hyatt San Francisco Airport.

NEW JOB: Republican strategist Rob Stutzman's firm Stutzman Public Affairs has a new vice president -- Amy Thoma. The former Assembly aide, who worked on Carly Fiorina's Senate campaign, has been an account director at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and director at Wilson-Miller Communications. She'll serve as deputy campaign manager of Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher's San Diego mayoral campaign.

LGBT CAUCUS: Assemblyman Richard Gordon, D-Menlo Park, has been elected the chair of California's seven-member LGBT Legislative Caucus. The freshman Democrat replaces Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, who is termed out this year.

SELF-DRIVING CARS: There aren't any autonomous cars on California's roads -- yet -- but Santa Clara University's law school is already looking at their legal implications at an all-day symposium today. For instance, who would be liable for an accident? Check out the agenda via this link.

Gov. Jerry Brown continues his two-day campaign through Southern California today, talking up his ballot proposal on taxes.

First, he'll be meeting privately with members of the Orange County Business Council at 9:30 a.m. in Irvine. Then he's set to speak at the City Club of San Diego at noon.

Brown's advisers said Wednesday that he would start collecting signatures for his tax initiative immediately, as David Siders reports in today's Bee.

Back at the Capitol, both the Senate and the Assembly have scheduled sessions for 9 a.m.

Friday is the deadline for any committee to report to the floor any bill introduced last year in their respective houses.

On the Senate side, the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee will conduct an overview of Brown's proposed budget. That hearing will start in the Capitol's Room 4203 after the Senate Appropriations Committee adjourns.

The Appropriations Committee will meet, appropriately enough, after the Senate session itself adjourns. Some 30 bills remain on the suspense file, including Sen. Mark Leno's Senate Bill 810 on single-payer health care coverage, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's Senate Bill 654 on redevelopment.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, will meet in Room 4202 after the lower house's session adjourns. You'll find its agenda at this link.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, turns 38 today.

It's all ears for Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State address this morning -- and no golf whispers in Assembly chambers.

The annual address, which begins at 10 a.m., requires a fair amount of media choreography.

Live trucks can start lining up at 6 a.m. for a security sweep from California Highway Patrol officers before they're allowed on Capitol grounds. If they get there after 7 a.m., they'll be out of luck.

Then reporters hauling radio and television gear will set it up. Everybody needs to be in place by 9:25 a.m. They also need to be sporting business attire, or they could find themselves ejected from chambers.

Another no-no: ringing cellphones.

Come back later -- The Bee will be broadcasting the governor's address live at sacbee.com/live. You'll also find it at CalChannel. Live audio also will be available on Capital Public Radio station KXJZ-FM 90.9 in Sacramento.

After his State of the State address, Brown will be heading to Southern California to talk up his ballot measure on taxes to California voters, as David Siders and Torey Van Oot report in today's Bee.

First, he'll be talking at Los Angeles City Hall, starting at 2 p.m. That event will be webcast live at the governor's website. Later, at 4 p.m., he'll meet privately with teachers at Bret Harte Elementary School in Burbank. Thursday, Brown will make his pitch in Irvine and San Diego.

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR: The Senate Rules Committee considers gubernatorial appointments, with Public Utilities Commission members Michael Florio and Catherine Sandoval required to appear. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 113.

Would "Medicare for all" in California cut medical costs and insurance premiums and also improve access to health care?

The Senate Appropriations Committee is taking up a bill today that would set up a state agency to run a single-payer health care system.

Senate Bill 810, by Democratic Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco, is running into opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce, as Jon Ortiz reports in today's Bee. The hearing is set to begin at noon in the Capitol's Room 4203.

Also on the committee's agenda is Sen. Ted Lieu's "gut-and-amend" Senate Bill 661 to make it a crime, except on private property, to set up a picket at a funeral.

It's the Torrance Democrat's second try at the issue in recent months. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Lieu's similar measure in September, saying in his veto message that he was "very tempted to sign it" but that it went against the recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision that the First Amendment protects such protests and that they "can be circumscribed in only extremely limited ways."

The new version would set up a 500-foot protest-free zone, half the length proposed in the vetoed measure. The new version is also missing the original bill's reference to targeting the dead person or the mourners because of marital status, sexual orientation or other factors.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, will announce his campaign for Congress at an aviation museum in Camarillo at 10 a.m.

It's also T minus one day to the governor's State of the State address, which he's set to give at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

"You're going to hear so much that I wouldn't miss it if I were you," Brown said last week.

ELECTION NIGHT: Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, will be in Torrance tonight watching the returns in his runoff with Los Angeles police officer Joe Buscaino, a political newcomer, for the Los Angeles City Council seat vacated by Janice Hahn.

Gov. Jerry Brown is heading to Elk Grove today to talk up green jobs for California.

Brown and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar are announcing a federal-state agreement billed as advancing the state's goals on renewable energy as well as creating clean-energy jobs in the Golden State.

The presser starts at 11 a.m. at solar farms now run by Recurrent Energy, which is selling them to Google Inc., as The Bee's Rick Daysog mentioned in this story earlier this week. Recurrent Energy's CEO, Arno Harris, is also expected to be on hand.

Salazar was in Los Angeles on Thursday and is scheduled to visit Fort Ord in Monterey County this afternoon. It's all part of his swing this week through California and Arizona touting the economic benefits of clean energy, tourism and conservation.

The governor, meanwhile, will be in Los Angeles this weekend for an appearance at a 11th annual multifaith prayer breakfast put on by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Executive Clergy Council. Brown's talk Saturday is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Power of Love Church on West Manchester Avenue.

As for the Legislature, it's a per diem day in the Senate and the Assembly. Both houses have scheduled sessions, which aren't expected to be lengthy, in advance of Monday's legislative holiday marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Committee hearings start up again on Tuesday, with the Senate Appropriations Committee set to take up Sen. Mark Leno's Senate Bill 810 on single-payer health coverage starting at noon. For the record, the measure lists 29 co-authors -- all Democrats.

WATCH LIST: Governing magazine has named Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, one of the nation's 12 state lawmakers to watch this year. Lieu is "that rare Democratic political figure who combines it all," Democratic strategist Garry South told the Washington, D.C.-based monthly. He was the only Californian to make the list. Read the full article at this link.

MEMORIAL: A public memorial service will be held Saturday in Montebello to celebrate the life of Marcella Calderon, former Assemblyman Tom Calderon's wife, who died earlier this month. The memorial begins at 1 p.m. at the Applied Technology Center at 1200 W. Mines Ave.

STATE BUDGET: Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor says Gov. Jerry Brown's budget would help bring the state's spending in line but relies on volatile income, as The Bee's Kevin Yamamura reported earlier this week. The Assembly Republican Caucus has also launched a website giving its take on the governor's proposal. You'll find it at this link.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach, celebrates his 68th birthday on Sunday.

The state budget will be front and center today as Gov. Jerry Brown's finance director, Ana Matosantos, talks to members of the California Chamber of Commerce at its luncheon forum.

Over the holidays, Brown adviser Steve Glazer was tapped to advise CalChamber's political action committee on matters involving Democratic candidates in this year's elections, as The Bee's David Siders reported in this post. Republican strategist Rob Stutzman is the chamber's GOP adviser.

Speaking of elections, the California Redistricting Commission holds a teleconference this afternoon for a report on the state Supreme Court hearing earlier this week, which The Bee's Jim Sanders wrote about here, plus a status update on the ballot proposal to block its state Senate maps. You'll find the commission's agenda for today's meeting at this link.

The high court has said it will decide by the end of the month which maps the state should use in this year's elections. The secretary of state's office announced this week that a random check of petition signatures didn't hit the target needed to avoid a full check to see whether the proposal qualifies for the November ballot. Election officials now have until Feb. 24 to complete that full check.

Anybody who wants to run for state Senate, meanwhile, needs to formally file candidacy papers between Feb. 13 and March 9, according to the state's primary election calendar.

Click here for more information about the ballot measure, posted at the secretary of state's website.

BROADBAND COUNCIL: Members of the California Broadband Council meet with the Federal Communications Commission's chief counsel and members of the state's Public Utilities Commission about expanding broadband access to all areas of the state. The council, set up by a bill authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, is charged with eliminating the state's so-called "digital divide." The roundtable starts at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 112 and will be streamed live on CalChannel at this link.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, turns 52 today.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in town tonight as part of the Sacramento Speakers Series.

Rice, of course, is now a Stanford University professor and a member of Think Long Committee for California, which -- among other things -- has proposed a ballot initiative to raise tax revenue.

To get a taste of what Rice might explore at her talk, click here to read her recent conversation with The Bee's David Siders. She told him, for instance, that the California Republican Party needs "better policies on immigration" in order to regain some of its voter registration losses in the state.

Her talk starts at 8 p.m. at the Community Center Theater, 1301 L St. Attendance will set you back. It requires buying prorated subscriptions for the remaining speakers in the series, priced at $155, $200, $260 and $280. Click here for more information.

Back at the Capitol, committees in both the Senate and the Assembly are considering bills that face a deadline Friday for moving fiscal measures to fiscal committees.

The Senate Governance and Finance Committee, for instance, is looking at Sen. Alex Padilla's Senate Bill 331, which would bar new tobacco retailers from locating within 600 feet of a public or private elementary or secondary school.

Click here to find the Senate committees' schedules, and click here for the agendas on the Assembly side.

PHOTO EXHIBIT: The nonprofit U.S. Pain Foundation is exhibiting photos today and Thursday at the Capitol in support of Assembly Bill 369, by Democratic Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael, which would bar health insurers from requiring a patient to try more than two pain medications before allowing him or her access to other doctor-prescribed medication. Look for the photos on the first floor near the elevators.

TRAFFICKING: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, joins Facebook's former chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, and others to highlight a ballot proposal that would increase criminal penalties for human trafficking and require anyone convicted of trafficking to register as a sex offender. The news conference, which coincides with National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, starts at 10 a.m. at Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, 2150 Post St.

If Republican political consultant Dave Gilliard has his way today, the California Supreme Court will conclude he's on the verge of qualifying a referendum on the new state Senate district lines for the ballot in November.

The court, meeting in San Francisco, is scheduled to consider at a 9 a.m. hearing whether to weigh in on which Senate districts will be used in this year's primary and general elections if the referendum qualifies.

Gilliard is representing Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting, the group pushing to kill the Senate maps drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. His argument: Because the measure is likely to qualify, the court should step in today to begin the process of drawing another version of the lines in times for Senate candidates to have some certainty when they take out their nomination papers on February 13.

Were the court to appoint a special master today to put new lines in place, he said, there's plenty of time to create constitutionally acceptable districts by then.

"Literally you could draw the Senate lines in a week with the right software," he said.

Democrats have a different best-case scenario: Democratic consultant Jason Kinney said his side thinks the court, which previously has declined to intervene or name a special master, will decide the referendum is not likely to qualify and opt not to get involved.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, it appeared that the referendum had secured enough signatures to proceed to a full count but not enough to qualify outright via random sample.

"Given the pitifully low validity rate, we have every hope and expectation that the court will find that this misguided measure does not meet the "likely to qualify" test and therefore the people's vote will be respected and the commission's lines will stay squarely in place," Kinney said.

NO MORE WRITE-INS? An attempt to change ballots in light of the state's new top-two primary system gets another hearing in the upper house today. Assembly Bill 1413, by Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Cupertino, would eliminate the space for write-in votes, which cannot be counted under the new election rules.

The bill, which could thwart one potential legal challenge to the new system, was introduced in the final days of the 2011 legislative session, but put on hold amid controversy over a provision on residency requirements. That language has been taken out of the latest version of the bill. The amended version is on the agenda for a 1:30 p.m. hearing of the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.

NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTE: Here's a reason for California Republicans to watch the outcome of tonight's New Hampshire primary. Californian Fred Karger hasn't been on the debate stage, but he is on the Granite State ballot.

Following the presidential contest? Bookmark our delegate tracker to keep up to speed throughout the primary season on the Republican race. Find more analysis, fact-checking and adwatches here.

CAKE & CANDLES: Happy Birthday to Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, who was born on this date in 1964.

Well, what an exciting week that was. Assemblyman Tim Donnelly's loaded gun. Gov. Jerry Brown's surprise budget. Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi's no contest plea. What's next for California lawmakers?

Both the Senate and the Assembly have scheduled sessions today, the upper house at 2 p.m. and the lower house at noon. Policy committees in both houses face a deadline of Friday for moving fiscal bills along to the fiscal committees. Check out the Senate's schedule here, and the Assembly's schedule here.

Another red-letter day: Jan. 31, which is the deadline for both the Senate and the Assembly to pass any measures introduced last year.

As for the rest of the week, Tuesday was when Brown had originally announced he'd unveil his budget. Now that that's out of the way, political junkies can watch the oral arguments before the California Supreme Court on the state Senate maps instead. CalChannel will be live webcasting the proceedings starting at 9 a.m. Tune in at this link.

Meanwhile, will the referendum challenging the Senate maps need to go to a full signature count? As of Friday, 13 counties still needed to report their numbers to the secretary of state. They have until Tuesday to do so.

LUNCHEON: U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, will be talking with Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, about issues ranging from the budget to water policy at a luncheon at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento starting at noon. For more information about the event, click here.

HEALTH CARE: Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, talks up his Senate Bill 810, which calls for single-payer health care coverage, as he talks with health care students during their annual lobbying day, starting at noon on the Capitol's north steps.

Today's one of the days Assemblyman Tim Donnelly has been dreaming of -- it's the signature deadline for his referendum to overturn the California Dream Act.

That's the ballot proposal to block the new law allowing some undocumented immigrants to qualify for state-funded college aid. Proponents must submit 504,760 valid voter signatures to county election officials by today in order to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Alert readers will recall that Donnelly told reporters Wednesday, after he was cited for having a loaded gun in his carry-on bag at the Ontario airport, that he "tends to always be armed" because of death threats he said he has received since launching the referendum.

(The Twin Peaks Republican also told John Oliver of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in an episode that ran last month about California's direct democracy and the Amazon tax, "Oh, I can tie anything to illegal immigration.")

In legal news, the shoplifting case of Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi is on the docket this morning in San Francisco Superior Court. The Castro Valley Democrat is not expected to make an appearance.

Sunday, meanwhile, marks the one-year anniversary of the shootings in Tucson that killed six and wounded 13 others, including Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The Brady Campaign is planning vigils nationwide to mark the date, including events in Compton, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other California cities.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, both Sacramento Democrats, are expected to take part in a bell ceremony and candlelight vigil from 5 to 6 p.m. Sunday at St. John's Lutheran Church, 1701 L St.., down the street from the Capitol in Sacramento.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assemblyman Tim Donnelly waits for the opening of the legislative session in Sacramento, on Jan. 4, 2012. Paul Kitagaki Jr./ Sacramento Bee

When the passing of the Senate Republican leader's baton from one Bob (Dutton) to another Bob (Huff) gets upstaged by a gun at an airport, California lawmakers might be hoping for a day without drama.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have floor sessions set for 9 a.m. Committees in both in the upper house and the lower house are meeting as well. Maybe it will keep their minds off the fact that Gov. Jerry Brown is planning to release his budget next Tuesday promptly at 9 a.m.

Which means there's no better time to focus on Southern California and what promises to be a coffer-depleting campaign for the new 30th Congressional District. Democratic incumbents Howard Berman and Brad Sherman will be slugging it out tonight in a town hall debate from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Westfield Shopping Towne Promenade in Woodland Hills.

Both congressmen, who got drawn into the same district, have been racking up the big-name endorsements in advance of the June primary.

In Berman's camp is the Democratic governor, who's quoted thusly on Berman's campaign website: "I'm with Howard because ... he is real, he knows what the hell he is going, and he can work with the other side." (The ellipsis is theirs.)

Those in Sherman's camp include former President Bill Clinton, who praises him for having "a keen understanding of both the challenges facing our country today and innovative ideas on what to do about them."

Berman's got the nod from State Treasurer Bill Lockyer. State Controller John Chiang has Sherman's back. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, interestingly enough, is listed on both websites, here and here (just keep scrolling down).

It's not just a two-man show, however. Two Republican candidates will also participate: Woodland Hills author Susan Shelley, who's written a novel called "The 37th Amendment," and
Mark Reed, an actor, rancher and small business man who challenged Sherman back in 2010.

Reed's website lists endorsers including former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as well as names familiar around the Capitol: Sens. Sharon Runner and Tony Strickland, Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway, Assemblymen Mike Morrell and Cameron Smyth, and former Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

Fasten your seat belt. The California Legislature is back in Sacramento, with the Assembly meeting at noon, and the Senate at 2 p.m.

Business in the upper house includes choosing a Republican leader, as Senate GOP leader Bob Dutton announced that he'd step down early this month.

Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, told The Bee's Kevin Yamamura just before Christmas that he expected to replace Dutton. Senate Republicans weren't planning to caucus today before the Senate floor session starts, but stay tuned.

Several Assembly committees meet today -- you can check out their agendas at this link -- but the bigger action will come when Gov. Jerry Brown releases his budget. His deadline is next week -- Tuesday, to be exact. The Bee's Jim Sanders gives a taste of what lawmakers are facing this session in this story.

Also next Tuesday, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on which state Senate maps should be used in this year's elections, as Jim Sanders details in this post.

Tuesday also happens to be the deadline for random sample checks of the signatures gathered for the referendum that would overturn the state Senate district maps that the Citizens Redistricting Commission drew last year. Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were among those yet to report to the secretary of state as of Tuesday night. Political junkies can check out the numbers at this website. (Editor's note: Both Los Angeles and Riverside reported their figures Wednesday.)

Fun fact: Just one of Mono County's 6,000 or so registered voters signed the petition.

POTUS 2012: Following the presidential contest? Bookmark our delegate tracker at www.sacbee.com/delegates to keep up to speed throughout the primary season on the Republican race. Find the latest analysis, fact-checking and adwatches at www.sacbee.com/president.

CAMPAIGN WATCH: Terry Schanz, who's currently Assemblyman Isadore Hall's legislative director, has thrown his hat in the ring for the Sacramento City Council's 4th District seat. Schanz and his partner, Guy Strahl, live in Land Park. The Bee's Ryan Lillis has more details in this City Beat blog post.

MONEY WATCH: The California Latino Legislative Caucus is holding its "Welcome Back" fundraiser from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Tequila Museo Mayahuel at 12th and K streets in Sacramento. Cost: $1,000.

CAKE AND CANDLES: That birthday train doesn't stop for much, does it -- not even New Year's Day. Legislators celebrating their natal appearances include Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, who turned 58 on New Year's Eve, and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, who blew out 36 candles that day as well. Monday was another double day: Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, turned 47, and Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, turned 65. Today, it's Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani's turn: The Livingston Democrat turns 48. But Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has her beat: He celebrates the big 5-0 today. Congrats to all.

With the menorah lit and the tree aglow, the AM Alert will take a break until lawmakers return in the New Year.

We'll keep you posted on Capitol news as it breaks.

Photo credits: The Sacramento Bee/Paul Kitagaki, Jr., left, and The Sacramento Bee/Bryan Patrick. View a video from the Menorah Lighting at the Capitol.

Will Americans Elect qualify for next June's presidential primary in California?

The Washington, D.C.-based organization is pushing for a national online convention next June to pick a bipartisan ticket to run in November. The group began submitting voter signatures to California election officials last summer in hopes of getting qualified for the June primary as a recognized political body.

Raw count? More than 1.6 million.

The group didn't qualify last month under a random sample of signatures to determine how many were valid, so county election officials had to go back to do a full check.

Those officials have until today to report the results to Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Her office will have until Friday to compile that information in order to determine whether the group makes the cut.

When the Bee's Torey Van Oot profiled the group in this story back in July, the group's chief operating officer, Elliot Ackerman, said it had no specific candidate or candidate mold in mind. She writes:

Instead of adhering to a political platform or ideology, candidates seeking the nomination would have to answer a list of questions that site users generate. The nominee chosen at the convention - open to registered voters of all parties who sign up online - would have to pick a running mate from another party as the ticket's vice presidential candidate.

Click here to see a spreadsheet of the numbers reported by each county. Read Bee columnist Dan Morain's take on the group's effort at this link.

HOLIDAY MUSIC: Today's musical offerings at the Capitol rotunda bring Yolo County's performers into Sacramento, with the Davis Chorale at noon and the Davis Children's Chorus at 12:30 p.m. Click here to read the rest of the schedule through Friday.

STATE WORKER: Don't miss out on the latest in state worker news -- sign up for State Worker News Alerts. Go to The State Worker blog, and sign up via the blue box on the screen.

Fresh off his conference in San Francisco on climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown heads to Southern California to talk clean power and jobs.

Brown, who referred to global warming naysayers Thursday as "political lemmings," will have a few words to say this morning at the dedication of a new solar manufacturing plant in San Diego.

The company, Soitec, makes concentrator photovoltaic modules for large power plants, and the global firm's new North American solar headquarters and plant in San Diego will supply 450 jobs and have a capacity of 200 megawatts, according to a news release from the governor's office.

Brown is scheduled to give his remarks at 10 a.m. Click here to read more about the company. This news release from Soitec explains more about the joint venture in San Diego that will produce lens plates for the solar modules.

Meanwhile, the state's Ocean Protection Council takes Brown's climate change conference one step further at its own meeting today, discussing the latest science on how vulnerable California's coastal population, property, infrastructure and ecosystems are during storms and other extreme weather.

Click here to read the agenda for the meeting, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cal-EPA, 1001 I St. in Sacramento.

HOLIDAY MUSIC: Today's offering at the Capitol rotunda starts at 11 a.m. with the trombone jazz group No Bones about It, followed by the Vocal Art Ensemble at noon. Click here to read the full schedule through next Friday.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Birthdays are taking no holiday this month. Sen. Curren Price, D-Inglewood, turns 61 today, and Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, turns 45 on Saturday.

California isn't a stranger to what meteorologists call extreme weather events.

Many years produce a fire season. Sometimes a "pineapple express" storm unleashes an atmospheric river, which The Bee's Matt Weiser likens to "California's version of a hurricane". If Sacramento's levees broke, the Capitol building would get rather soggy.

Enter Gov. Jerry Brown's conference today on "extreme climate risks and California's future."

The invitation-only, all-day event at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences will consider questions such as, "What do climate-driven extreme weather events mean for California?" and "What actions will protect California and help our state prosper?"

Brown will give opening remarks, after which he'll participate in a panel called "The Global Climate Challenge" along with Rajendra Pachauri, who heads the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.

This afternoon, Global Green President Matt Petersen talks to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger about his perspective on the state's leadership in the nation on climate change issues.

Click here to read the full agenda, which also lists other speakers and panels. The conference will be streamed live at the governor's website, www.gov.ca.gov. Viewers may also submit questions to conference speakers through that site.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: The House Transportation Committee looks at California's high-speed rail project starting at 10 a.m. To read more about what's at stake, Michael Doyle previewed the hearing in this Capitol Alert post. The hearing will be webcast live at this link.

WATER: The state Senate Energy Committee, chaired by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles, holds a hearing beginning at 11 a.m. to assess the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power's progress toward reaching its energy efficiency and renewable energy goals. Click here for more information.

OCCUPY: Occupy Sacramento activists are rallying on the Capitol's west steps at noon to commemorate the ratification of the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, 1791, highlighting the First Amendment. The rally, which will also protest federal defense funding, follows a march from Cesar Chavez Park.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, turns 70 today.

Lawmakers will take on UC officials' response to recent campus unrest at a 10 a.m. joint legislative hearing today at the Capitol.

Among those scheduled to speak: University of California President Mark Yudof, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi and Michael Risher, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. The hearing was called by Sen. Alan Lowenthal and Assemblyman Marty Block.

At issue: November incidents in which UC Davis police officers pepper-sprayed protesting students and UC Berkeley police rammed and swiped at students with batons.

"Was there a meeting to discuss how to appropriately disburse protestors in the event it was necessary, and who participated in that planning?" asked Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg in a statement advancing the hearing.

"Was the use of force discussed? Were any explicit instructions given? The answers to these questions are crucial to determine responsibility and accountability."

2012 PENSION NEWS - Our companion blog, The State Worker, is gearing up for a year of pension-related news. Jon Ortiz is offering e-mail alerts on the topic and other subjects of interest to state employees. You can sign up here.

PLANNING AHEAD: Mike Doyle reports that California's high-speed rail debate comes to Capitol Hill on Thursday, as a key House committee conducts its first hearing devoted solely to the state's project.

The Republican-led House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is setting the tone for what participants can expect, calling the hearing "California's High-Speed Rail Plan: Skyrocketing Costs and Project Concerns."

Minds may be already made up, but the witnesses do reflect the competing sides in this debate. Following a presentation by House members, a panel of seven witnesses will make their case. They include Roelof Van Ark, chief executive officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, as well as skeptics like Madera County farmer Kole Upton. A committee briefing paper provides background.

The hearing starts at 7 a.m. California time and will be webcast.

State Finance Director Ana Matosantos is expected to say today just how much in cuts will be triggered by California' failure to meet its optimistic budget projections.

Her announcement on the state's revenue forecast, in a briefing for credentialed news media, will be held at noon in Room 126 at the Capitol.

Any cuts will go into effect on January 1.

Gov. Jerry Brown does have some good news today from a new PPIC poll, which says 60 percent of likely voters like his plan to raise taxes to support schools and other state programs.

Brown has already opened a campaign committee and begun fundraising for the measure, which he hopes to qualify for the November 2012 ballot.

In case you're wondering, here's how the institute worded the question:

"Governor Brown has proposed a plan to help close the state's budget deficit over the next five years. The plan, which would be put before voters in November, would raise $7 billion annually through a temporary four-year half cent sales tax increase and a temporary five year income tax increase on those earning more than $250,000. Do you favor or oppose this proposal?"

Likely voters also favored aspects of Brown's public pension proposal, including increasing employee contributions.

In other pension news, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research is releasing a series of reports this week on public pensions. Written by Stanford professor Joe Nation with help from California Common Sense researcher Evan Storms, today's report covers CalPERS, CalSTRS and the University of California Retirement Plan. Find it here.

On Wednesday, they'll report on the financial health of 63 local, or independent public pension systems. San Jose's two public pension systems will be the focus of Thursday's report.

California Common Sense will post interactive data visualizations illustrating the findings on its website.

Free college textbooks? Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg today will propose legislation that would set up an online library of textbooks used in common lower-division courses. He'll hold a press conference at 11 a.m. in Room 4203 at the Capitol. Watch live here.

CHILD CARE - Child care advocates will release the 2011 California Child Care Portfolio at a 10:30 a.m. press conference in Room 317. Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, chair of the Assembly's budget subcommittee on health and human services, will be among those present for the eighth annual release of the report, which looks statewide and county-by-county at child care supply, demand and costs.

2012 PENSION NEWS - Our companion blog, The State Worker, is gearing up for a year of pension-related news. Jon Ortiz is offering e-mail alerts on the topic and other subjects of interest to state employees. You can sign up here.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST - This week, Capitol Alert is featuring video clips from Gov. Jerry Brown's earlier days. Today's segment features former Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown discussing his son's "attitude toward human beings."

PLANNING AHEAD - Jerry Brown on Thursday will hold "The Governor's Conference on Extreme Climate Risks and California's Future" in San Francisco. The event, to be held at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, will include Nobel Prize winner Rajendra Pachauri. We're also hearing that another former governor might stop by.

California legislators are keeping themselves busy -- just not under the dome.

Sacramento area lawmakers, for instance, are keeping their names out there with events ranging from a news conference to a community coffee.

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, is teaming up with former Sacramento Monarchs basketball star Ruthie Bolton and child abuse prevention advocates to announce legislation ripped from the recent headlines out of Penn State.

Dickinson's proposal would require organizations employing athletic coaches, administrators and directors to train them how to identify child abuse and neglect, and would require those personnel to report instances of child sexual abuse and neglect. The news conference starts at 10 a.m. at Sacramento City College's North Gym.

Republican Assemblywoman Beth Gaines of Roseville is holding a community coffee in Lincoln starting at 9 a.m. at Kim's Country Kitchen, 537 G. St.

GOP Assemblyman Dan Logue of Penn Valley and Sen. Ted Gaines of Roseville, meanwhile, head to Yreka in Siskiyou County to talk business and jobs with small business owners and others at the Community Theater, 812 N. Oregon St., starting at 10 a.m.

Back in Sacramento, Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Ceres, is hosting a Monday night football fundraiser at The River House, 1421 Garden Highway, for his 2012 bid for the 5th Senate District seat.

And if you see show cars along L Street, Ford Motor Co. is running a private event starting at 11 a.m. at Spataro, 1415 L St., to showcase fuel-efficient and electric vehicles. Word has it that if lawmakers attend, they'll have to report it as a gift.

HOLIDAY MUSIC: The music lineup in the Capitol rotunda continues today with the Roseville Sun City Singers from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' group Corps-A-Liers and the Emerson Junior High School Choir.

The California Legislature is in recess, but there's a hearing today -- in Los Angeles.

Two Assembly committees -- Human Services as well as Aging and Long-Term Care -- will consider the fiscal forecast for older women at a hearing at the Ronald Reagan State Building co-chaired by two Northern California Democrats, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada of Davis and Assemblyman Jim Beall of San Jose.

Listed speakers include Jenny Chung Mejia of the Insight Center on Community Economic Development, Donna Addkison of the group Wider Opportunities for Women, Jean Ross of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and gerontologist Caroline Cicero of Pepperdine University. Issues include the gender wage gap, gender discrimination, and the effects of women's longer life-spans on their fiscal health. Listen live from 1 to 3 p.m. at this link.

Back in Sacramento, political junkies can get their fix this weekend at the annual political collectibles show.

Campaign buttons? Check. Campaign posters? Got them. There's even a display comparing the 1912 campaign to the 2012 campaign. You can also get a free appraisal of the stuff you've been hoarding since the Reagan years.

The show runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Sierra 2 Center, 2791 24th St., and is hosted by the American Political Items Collectors. Learn more at this link.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Two legislators celebrate their birthdays on Saturday. Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, turns 40, and Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, turns 45.

Proposition 8 is back in the news as three federal appellate judges in San Francisco hear arguments in not one, but two cases related to the gay-marriage ban.

The first case involves the appeal of a ruling to allow the release of videotapes made during the original trial. That hearing starts at 2:30 p.m.

In the second case, Proposition 8 backers had wanted a lower court to overturn Judge Vaughn Walker's decision declaring the measure unconstitutional, and their argument was this: Walker should have been disqualified from hearing the case because he was in a same-sex relationship. Their motion was denied. They're appealing that decision. The hearing starts at 3:30 p.m.

None of the appellate judges is based in Northern California. They are Judges Stephen Reinhardt of Los Angeles and N. Randy Smith of Pocatello, Idaho, and Senior Circuit Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of Phoenix, all of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Keep in mind that they aren't hearing arguments in the appeal of Walker's decision itself. That's the case in which the 9th Circuit asked the California Supreme Court to rule on whether a ballot measure's proponents had standing to defend it in court if state officials declined to do so. The state Supreme Court said yes. The 9th Circuit, however, has yet to rule on the issue of standing or Proposition 8's constitutionality.

Today's hearings will be videotaped for later broadcast by C-SPAN and the NBC-7 television station in San Diego. Click here to read the 9th Circuit's media advisory. You'll find links to more documents about the appeals embedded on the second page.

Back in Sacramento, Gov. Jerry Brown and first lady Anne Gust Brown are hosting this year's California Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight for 10 new honorees.

Among them are astronaut Buzz Aldrin, The Beach Boys surfer-rockers, scientist and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn, community activist and Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle, Gap founders and philanthropists Doris and Donald Fisher, basketball star Magic Johnson, disability rights advocate Ed Roberts, music legend Carlos Santana, novelist Amy Tan and California Supreme Court Justice Roger Traynor, a highly respected jurist who died in 1983.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and the Oprah Winfrey Network's Lisa Ling emcee the event at Memorial Auditorium. Red carpet arrivals begin at 6 p.m., and the ceremony starts at 7 p.m. The Comcast Hometown Network will broadcast both in the Sacramento area on Channel 104. You can also watch them live at the governor's website. Learn more about this year's honorees here.

TOXICS: The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, chaired by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, looks at informal draft regulations for so-called green chemistry consumer products. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 4202.

FPPC: The Fair Political Practices Commission considers revised gift regulations in such categories as "acts of neighborliness," "bona-fide dating," "acts of human compassion" and "best friends forever." The meeting starts at 10 a.m. at 428 J St., Suite 800. Click here to read the agenda.

Take 10,000 LED lights, add one 40-foot-tall white fir, and it's time for the 80th annual Capitol Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

Gov. Jerry Brown and California first lady Anne Gust Brown will be joined by 6-year-old Mikayla Jones of Visalia, who'll help the governor during the official lighting of the tree, which is decorated with 900 hand-crafted ornaments made by adults and children with developmental disabilities.

The ceremony won't lack for music. Scheduled performers include choirs, bell ringers and the California Army National Guard's 59th Army Band, whose website bills it as one of the oldest bands in the U.S. Army. The Sacramento-based unit is also known as "The Governor's Own."

The public event starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Capitol's west steps and will be webcast live on the governor's website at www.gov.ca.gov. Those who attend are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items to benefit the California Emergency Foodlink.

Meanwhile, a majority of Golden State voters support Brown's plan to dial back public employee pensions, and a plurality believe state and local government retirements are too generous.

The Bee's Jon Ortiz has details about the latest Field Poll on public pensions in today's Bee. Click here for the publicly released poll, and find the statistical tabulations prepared exclusively for Capitol Alert at this link.

INCOME INEQUALITY: An Assembly committee, chaired by Democratic Assemblyman Roger Dickinson of Sacramento, hears from economic and public policy experts on state policies that could alleviate income and wealth disparity. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 437 and will be televised live on the California Channel.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: A Senate select committee, headed by Democratic Sen. Kevin de León of Los Angeles, meets at the Century Park Towers in Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to look at how to expand commercial energy-efficient retrofits.

MEDI-CAL: A joint legislative committee on health, co-chaired by Democratic Sen. Ed Hernandez of West Covina and Assemblyman Bill Monning of Carmel, examines the future of seniors and people with disabilities in the state's Medi-Cal program. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 4202 and will be televised live on CalChannel.

ECONOMY: Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, hosts a panel discussion on the state budget, small business, manufacturing, taxes, energy and other topics. Speakers include former Finance Director Mike Genest and Jack Stewart of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association. Look for it from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 4203.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, celebrates his 60th birthday today.

Grab your wand and a Gryffindor robe. Gov. Jerry Brown will be at Universal Studios Hollywood this morning for what his office calls "a special announcement that will bring hundreds of millions of dollars into California's economy, help create jobs and support our tourism industry."

He'll be on hand as NBCUniversal announces that Southern California will be home to a new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Maybe Brown can learn some wizardry to help pass his tax plan.

When it comes to another project Brown touts as a job-creator, California voters are having buyers' remorse.

David Siders reports that "nearly two-thirds of voters, or 64 percent, want the Legislature to call for a re-vote," according to the latest Field Poll.

Find the new poll results here and the tabulations, exclusive to Capitol Alert, here.

How is California growing? The state Department of Finance will release its annual population report this morning, with data to show how all 58 counties' population changed between July 2010 and July 2011.

PLANNING AHEAD: On Wednesday night Brown, First Lady Anne Gust and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to light the Capitol Christmas tree. Festivities begin on the west steps at 4:30 p.m. Bring non-perishable food items for the California Emergency Foodlink. You can also watch it via webcast.

Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will not be with Brown at the tree lighting. The Governor's Office incorrectly listed Newsom as an attendee. Updated 1 p.m., Jan. 6, 2011.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority rolls into the Capitol today as a joint Senate hearing considers its draft business plan.

Board members will provide an overview, and representatives of the Legislative Analyst's Office and the State Treasurer's Office will examine issues such as the plan's public debt financing strategy.

The public hearing, co-chaired by Democratic Sens. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord and Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach, starts at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 112.

High-speed rail is far from the only issue legislators will consider. A Senate select committee meets at 1 p.m. in Room 3191 to look at the state's underground economy's impact on small businesses and on the state itself.

Then there's the question of what will happen to prison inmate fire crews under realignment, which is the focus of the Rural Fire Protection Working Group's meeting from 9:30 am to noon in Room 444. Expected to attend: Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, the group's chairman, as well as Sens. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, and Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale; Assembly members Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, Beth Gaines, R-Roseville; and Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata.

Meanwhile, an Assembly committee looks at the role that California's housing market may play in an economic recovery. Members will hear from representatives of UCLA Anderson School of Management, the California Building Industry Association and state agencies. The hearing, chaired by Democratic Assemblywoman Norma J. Torres of Pomona, runs from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 126.

Farther afield, the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, chaired by Democratic Assemblyman Henry T. Perea of Fresno, meets at San Jose State University from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to look at tax policy and job creation in the high-tech sector.

Meanwhile, California voters continue to give Gov. Jerry Brown relatively high marks, but their views of the Legislature remain dismal.

David Siders has more details about the latest Field Poll in today's Bee. Want even more? Click here to read the statistical tabulations prepared exclusively for Capitol Alert, and click here to read the publicly released poll.

DAY OF INCLUSION: Democratic Assemblyman Mike Eng of Monterey Park joins the Organization of Chinese Americans' Greater Sacramento Chapter and others to commemorate the contributions and sacrifices of immigrants to the United States. This year, the honorees are the Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance and community leader Steve Yee. The celebration will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol's basement rotunda. For more information, click here.

Capitol denizens are more likely today to see California schoolkids enjoying a field trip or musicians playing a rotunda gig than a lawmaker walking the halls.

In fact, the entire all-girls Hamlin School of San Francisco -- from kindergarten through eighth grade -- is making a "pilgrimage to Sacramento" -- so says its website -- in part for a rally on the Capitol's west steps at 10:30 a.m. to mark this year's 100th anniversary of California women's right to vote.

The fifth-graders will even be making a stop at The Bee to learn about dead-tree news operations as well as "the differences in diverse media."

If you're looking for a committee hearing to follow, though, you'll have to wait until Monday. Legislators are out and about -- just not under the dome.

Democratic Assemblyman Bill Monning, for instance, is touring the after-school program at Watsonville's Cesar Chavez Middle School. Democratic Assemblyman Roger Dickinson is visiting the after-school program at Elk Grove's Irene B. West Elementary School. And Democratic Sen. Fran Pavley is one of the speakers at a Local Clean and Green Conference in Berkeley sponsored by the UC Berkeley and UCLA law schools.

Meanwhile, the latest Field Poll won't be stopping any presses or firing up the Twitterverse: Californians aren't happy with Congress.

But three out of every four Democrats, Republicans and nonpartisans surveyed actually agree on this: They think the super committee's failure to agree on how to reduce the country's budget deficit is "very serious." They just don't agree on who's to blame.

Michael Doyle has details in today's Bee. Learn more details from the publicly released poll as well as the statistical tabulations done exclusively for Capitol Alert.

SCHOOLS: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson talks in Anaheim at noon to participants of the 90th annual California Educational Research Association conference about his take on the direction of the state's educational system.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Republican Assemblymen Chris Norby of Fullerton and Donald P. Wagner of Irvine both celebrate their birthdays on Sunday. Norby turns 62, and Wagner turns 51.

Gov. Jerry Brown's pension reform plan gets a second look today from a two-house legislative committee on public pensions.

Brown wants to ask voters to increase the retirement age for future state and local government workers and require all employees to contribute at least half of their annual pension costs. And that's just for starters.

Panel members will hear from a long list of speakers, including representatives of the state's Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst's Office, CalPERS, CalSTRS, the University of California, the League of California Cities and other employers, plus several labor unions.

The hearing, co-chaired by Democratic Assemblyman Warren Furutani of Gardena and Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod of Chino, runs from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 4203. Watch it via live webcast at Calchannel.com.

Click here to read the agenda. You'll find Brown's 12-point plan at this link.

The latest Field Poll has some good news for President Barack Obama. Even though California voters aren't champing at the bit to reelect him, "once you put him up against a real live Republican, he doesn't look so bad," Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo told The Bee's Torey Van Oot.

Find her story in today's Bee. For even more details, click here to read the publicly released poll, and click here for the statistical tabulations done exclusively for Capitol Alert.

Meanwhile, it's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights day at the Franchise Tax Board -- today's its annual hearing of ideas about how to change state income tax laws.

The board will be taking suggestions at its regular meeting, which starts at 1:30 p.m. at 9646 Butterfield Way in Sacramento. Presenters need to submit a written statement beforehand. The Bee's Claudia Buck has more details here.

It's also time for holiday music -- the California State Capitol Museum has lined up performances in the rotunda starting today and running through Dec. 23. First up: the Salvation Army Brass Quintet from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by the Golden State Accordion Club from noon to 1 p.m. Click here to check out the whole lineup.

Gov. Jerry Brown is heading to Vallejo this morning to attend the memorial service for a Vallejo police officer shot while chasing at least one bank robbery suspect.

Officer Jim Capoot, a 19-year veteran of the Vallejo Police Department, died Nov. 17. Learn more about his death at the Paco Villa Corrections blog. The Vacaville Reporter has more information here about the service itself.

The memorial is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at Corbus Field, next to Vallejo High School.

California's Republican voters, meanwhile, have elevated former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to the No. 2 spot among GOP presidential hopefuls, just behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, according to the latest Field Poll.

Last month, businessman Herman Cain came in second in a Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll. The month before that, a Field Poll put Texas Gov. Rick Perry in second place.

The shifting voters are looking for a more conservative alternative to Romney, Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo told The Bee's Dan Smith, who reports the latest findings in today's Bee. You can also check out the publicly released poll as well as the statistical tabulations prepared exclusively for Capitol Alert.

Across the continent, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom talks up California's competitiveness on jobs and innovation in Washington, D.C., where he's meeting with the Brazilian ambassador, former Sen. Chris Dodd (now CEO of Motion Picture Association of America) and U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson.

If you missed David Siders' profile of Newsom over the Thanksgiving holiday, you can read it here. Here's a taste: "It's difficult, the relationship between the governor and lieutenant governor," Newsom says.

CLEANUP: The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, chaired by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, conducts an oversight hearing on underground storage tank cleanup. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. at Santa Clara County's Government Center in San Jose.

CAMPUS CONVERSATION: Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, joins Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson at Sacramento State to talk about higher education. Look for them in Modoc Hall, Willow Suite Room 3, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

PHYSICAL FITNESS: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson releases this year's statewide Physical Fitness Test results, with Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, San Diego Padres official A.J. Hinch and others joining him at the 1 p.m. news conference in El Cajon. The test results for schools, school districts, counties, and the state will also be available online at 1 p.m. at the Department of Education website.

MIDDLE CLASS: What can California do about its shrinking middle class? A Senate select committee meets in the Bay Area to take suggestions from researchers and representatives of labor unions and small business groups. Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, chairs the public hearing, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at at the State Office Building in Oakland.

A plurality of California voters says it makes no difference for the woeful economy whether Democrats or Republicans pick up congressional seats next year.

That's just one of the findings from a recent Field Poll, which focused today on voter sentiments related to the Occupy protest movement.

The survey found that 40 percent of voters said it doesn't matter which party wins more congressional seats, compared to 31 percent who said the economy stands a better chance with Democrats and 26 percent who say it could use more Republicans.

"Voters have a very cynical view, and they don't think Congress will impact all that much," said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. "In our last poll on Congress, only 9 percent approved of the job it was doing."

As for the Occupy movement, a majority agrees with the reason behind the protests, as we reported today. But voters are split when asked if they actually identify with the protesters.

DiCamillo said those who identify with the movement are much more likely to blame banks and financial institutions for the nation's economic problems. Those who don't identify are more likely to blame the federal government.

For more data on the poll, check out The Bee's exclusive statistical tabulations and the publicly released poll.

At the Capitol today, the Assembly Transportation Committee is scheduled to examine the High Speed Rail Authority's new business plan in a 10 a.m. hearing in Room 4202.

Elsewhere, the Assembly Select Committee on High Quality Early Childhood Education will hold a 10 a.m. hearing at the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center School in Cudahy (Los Angeles County).

University of California regents are meeting this morning ... at four different campuses.

The board was to meet earlier this month but canceled that gathering after warnings of violent protests, as The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall reported in this post.

The board -- connected by teleconference from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Davis and Merced -- will discuss, among other things, UC's request to the state for $2.8 billion next year. Click here for more information about the meeting.

An Assembly budget subcommittee, meanwhile, heads to the south state for a look at restoration of the Salton Sea.

The oversight hearing, chaired by Democratic Assemblyman Rich Gordon of Menlo Park, will take testimony from representatives of the Legislative Analyst's Office, several state agencies, the Salton Sea Authority, as well as Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit and others.

The meeting runs from 1 to 3 p.m. at the North Shore Community Center in the Riverside County community of Mecca. It will be webcast live at this website of Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, in whose district the meeting is being held. Click here to find a link to the agenda, and click here to read the Legislative Analyst's Office report dated January 2008 on restoration of the Salton Sea.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Belated birthday wishes go to Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, who turned 51 on Thanksgiving. Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Alameda, turns 63 today.

Candidates and voters who belong to the Green, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom political parties are holding a news conference today to announce a new lawsuit challenging Proposition 14.

They don't like last year's initiative that created a new election system in which the top two vote-getters advance to a general election - regardless of party affiliation. The minor parties argue that the new system puts them at a disadvantage.

They'll announce details of their suit today at 11 a.m. in front of the Secretary of State's office at 1500 11th St.

BAY BRIDGE SAFETY: Under the Capitol dome today, the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee holds a hearing on bridge foundation inspection practices. It's a response to The Bee's reports by Charles Piller that raised questions about the testing and design of foundation piles that support the new Bay Bridge tower and freeway structures statewide.

"These are serious allegations, and the Committee will be asking Caltrans about its inspection policies and safeguards," committee chairman Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, said in a statement. "We need to know that inspections are reliable and that our bridges are safe."

Caltrans officials are expected to testify during the 1:30 p.m. hearing in room 112.

GOBBLE GOBBLE: Assemblyman Roger Dickinson and Senate pro Tem Darrell Steinberg are delivering 900 turkeys to Sacramento non-profits today at 2 p.m. at the Firehouse Community Center in Sacramento. The groups will distribute the birds to local families in need this Thanksgiving, all part of a charitable program called "Operation Gobble." Dickinson is also giving about 7,000 cans of food generated from his "Can you collect more cans than a 5th grader?" competition.

EDUCATION FUNDING: Supporters of a ballot initiative that calls for taxing oil extraction in California to dedicate funding for public education are kicking off their campaign this afternoon at Cal State Long Beach. You can learn more about their proposal at www.rescueeducationcalifornia.org.

The Think Long Committee for California is rolling out a sweeping proposal for fixing the Golden State, and it includes overhauling the tax system.

• Read the full Think Long report here. (draft obtained by the Bee)

It's no small change. Californians would pay sales tax on all services except health care and education starting in July 2013, as The Bee's Torey Van Oot and Kevin Yamamura explained in Sunday's Bee.

The big name, bipartisan coalition also hopes to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would set up an independent state commission tasked with long-term planning. Think Long officially unveils its 22-page proposal this morning.

In other news, California Finance Director Ana Matosantos is scheduled for arraignment this afternoon in Sacramento Superior Court. Matosantos, who isn't expected to appear, was arrested near the Capitol late last month on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, meanwhile, challenged his colleagues and other Capitol denizens last month to a duel of sorts: Could they collect more canned food for charity than a bunch of fifth-graders?

Fifth-graders can't drive, but it turns out they can run a can drive.

The Sacramento Democrat announced last week that Capitol folks managed to collect 1,951 cans, to be exact. But students from Bannon Creek Elementary School, Leonardo da Vinci School and Theodore Judah Elementary School did far better, collecting 5,031.

Let's see ... 1,951 plus 5,031 equals 6,982. All of them go to Operation Gobble, a local program that delivers turkeys to families in need.

A longtime state agency, felled by the budget ax, closes its doors today.

The California Postsecondary Education Commission got zeroed out in June by Gov. Jerry Brown, whose veto message called the agency "ineffective" and requested the state's three higher education systems to explore other ways of coordinating and developing higher education policy.

The commission's executive director, Karen Humphrey, issued a parting news release: "It is regrettable that the state, in trying to balance the budget, has discarded a low-cost agency whose value to policymakers was to help wisely spend the far vaster amounts of state dollars allocated to the public colleges and universities and student aid."

The commission's database has been transferred to the California Community Colleges' chancellor's office. The commission's website, www.cpec.ca.gov, is still online for now. Reports and other materials have been farmed out to the State Archives and the California State Library, and the state Department of Education will now administer a federally funded grants program.

Meanwhile, the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board -- which Brown has mentioned as a candidate for the chopping block -- has a new member: Davis Democrat Kathleen T. Howard.

Howard was appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, which is chaired by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. She replaces former Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, who is running for Congress in the San Diego area.

Howard was most recently supervisor at the Center for Families, Children and the Courts. The new job pays $128,109 a year. Her term starts Dec. 1 and ends Jan. 1, 2015. The Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board considers appeals of denials of unemployment insurance benefits.

Speaking of higher education, The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall reported Thursday in this post that Californians aren't happy about recent budget cuts but aren't inclined to put up the money to reverse the trend.

That assessment comes from a new Public Policy Institute of California survey that looks at Golden State residents' views on public colleges and universities. Survey project manager Sonja Petek talks about the survey and its findings at a luncheon from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the CSAC Center in downtown Sacramento. Click here to learn more about the event and to RSVP. Lunch is provided, and there is no charge to attend.

LTGOV: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom talks to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce at noon about jobs and the economy, then addresses teachers, students and others at San Diego's High Tech High this afternoon.

HEARING: Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, chairs a select committee hearing on the labor outlook for the state's ports, starting at 9 a.m. at the Port of Long Beach Administration Building.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, turns 63 on Sunday.

Under California state law, can Proposition 8 backers defend it in court?

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering ProtectMarriage's challenge of a federal judge's ruling that the same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. State officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, have declined to go to bat for the ballot measure.

In fact, Brown, who's now named as a defendant, asked the California Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional back when he was attorney general, and Harris has since asked the 9th Circuit to dismiss its order barring same-sex marriages as the appeal makes its way through the courts.

Since no state official has jumped to Proposition 8's defense, the federal appeals court wants the California Supreme Court to opine on who has legal standing under state law to do so. Here's the question before the state Supreme Court, in all its legal glory:

Whether under Article II, Section 8 of the California Constitution, or otherwise under California law, the official proponents of an initiative measure possess either a particularized interest in the initiative's validity or the authority to assert the State's interest in the initiative's validity, which would enable them to defend the constitutionality of the initiative upon its adoption or appeal a judgment invalidating the initiative, when the public officials charged with that duty refuse to do so.

The state Supreme Court will post its ruling in Perry v. Brown on its website at 10 a.m. The state court can't tell the federal court what to do, of course, but the federal court may consider the state court's opinion when deciding who can defend it before the federal bench.

Capitol Weekly and the University of California, meanwhile, are co-sponsoring a conference in Sacramento on the state's prisons. Topics include the problems and politics of prisons, possible reforms, and the shift in some public safety responsibilities from the state to the local level.

Listed speakers and panelists include Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate; Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones; Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Safety; and Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Registration (cost is $199) starts at 8 a.m. at the Crest Theatre on K Street. The conference itself runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Today's also the day that California State University faculty have declared a one-day strike at two of the system's campuses: East Bay and Dominguez Hills. CSU trustees approved another 9 percent tuition increase Wednesday amid protests in Long Beach, as The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall reported in this post.

HEARINGS: An Assembly hearing at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's room 127 looks at state and federal funding of delinquency prevention and youth development programs. Information technology procurement is the subject of a joint legislative hearing starting at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 437. And an Assembly committee heads to eBay headquarters in San Jose for a hearing from 2 to 5 p.m. on the impact of the state's activities on California's high-tech economy.

CHALLENGE: Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, announces the winner of the canned food competition between legislators and fifth-graders from Sacramento area schools. Look for kids from Bannon Creek Elementary School, Leonardo da Vinci School and Theodore Judah Elementary School on the Capitol's west steps at 3:30 p.m. The donations are going to Operation Gobble.

Today's another red letter day in state budget news, with the Legislative Analyst's Office releasing its revenue forecast for the current fiscal year.

Previous numbers from the state Finance Department and from Controller John Chiang haven't been good, with Finance saying Monday that the state is almost $1.3 billion behind estimates and Chiang pegging the gap last week at $1.5 billion for the first four months of 2011-2012.

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor holds a news conference at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the forecast, which the LAO says will be posted on its website by 11:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, University of California student regents and student leaders from UC Berkeley and UC Davis have scheduled a presser in Sacramento calling on state lawmakers to invest in public higher education and demanding new state revenue sources. That news conference, which follows protests Tuesday at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 444.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, will be in the south state at the California State University trustees meeting, where they're expected to vote sometime this morning on a proposal to raise tuition 9 percent. It's no secret which way Newsom will vote. He turned thumbs down on to the tuition hike that CSU trustees approved in July, and he put out a statement late Tuesday saying he would ask his colleagues to join him in rejecting the latest increase.

The CSU meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. in Long Beach. Live audio will be available online during the open sessions at this link. You can read the agenda here.

HEARINGS: A select committee looks at opportunities for clean energy manufacturing in the state starting at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 127. Farther afield, a joint Senate and Assembly committee looks at intelligent transportation systems at a hearing from 1 to 4 p.m. in Long Beach City Council Chambers.

RECESS: Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, joins Controller John Chiang at a small business seminar in Anaheim. Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, kicks off a fundraiser at a Ventura charter school. Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, talks to the Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women in Los Gatos. Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, helps cut a ribbon at a new CVS Pharmacy in the capital city. Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, hosts a turkey giveaway in El Monte. And Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, is in Orinda addressing a Lamorinda Republican Women luncheon.

At California State University, Fullerton, students are planning a 1 p.m. flash mob.

At CSU Los Angeles, they'll perform a piece of guerrilla theater titled "Chancellor Reed and the Board of Trustees Exposed."

UC Berkeley will serve as the site for a daylong protest organized by a group known as Occupy Cal.

Unhappiness over tuition hikes is prompting plenty of action on California's college campuses today. More protests are planned for Wednesday, and the UC Board of Regents has taken the rare step of cancelling its meeting this week, citing the possibility of violence and vandalism.

Find Laurel Rosenhall's story here.

MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, holds its Los Angeles Awards Gala today, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Westin Bonaventure.

They'll pay tribute to singer Linda Ronstadt, community activist Roland Palencia and Antonia Hernandez, president & CEO of the California Community Foundation.

Among those scheduled to make presentations: actresses Eva Longoria and Carla Jimenez and singers Pepe Aguilar and Nydia Rojas. Individual tickets are $275.

INSIGHT: Catch The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall this morning at 10 a.m. on Capital Public Radio's "Insight" with Jeffrey Callison, 90.9 on your FM dial. The two will discuss higher education, from tuition hikes and protests to future budget plans.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: The new bullet train business plan gets an airing today in Palo Alto. Led by Assemblyman Rich Gordon, chair of the budget subcommittee that handles transportation, the 1:30 p.m. public hearing is available online here. Select Channel 29.

Rail authority CEO Roloef Van Ark and board members Jim Hartnett and Michael Rossi are scheduled to appear.

PLANNING AHEAD: This year's Christmas tree lighting on the Capitol steps is set for 4:45 p.m. on December 7. The tree, a white fir from El Dorado County, will be lit with 10,000 LED lights.

Tim Hodson, former director of Sacramento State's Center for California Studies, will be honored at a memorial service today at Sacramento's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

The service begins at 1:30 p.m. at 11th and K streets. A reception will follow at the University of California Center Sacramento, 1130 K St.

Hodson was an expert on California politics, starting his Capitol career as a staff member for the state Senate. He died Oct. 25 of cancer at age 61, shortly after penning a poetic lament about the state of the state.

Click here to read The Bee's obituary. Learn more about his legacy at this university website.

Later this afternoon, eight Sacramento area cities compete in a charity tournament benefiting local foster youth program JumpStart 21, with Assemblyman Roger Dickinson -- who played varsity basketball for UC Berkeley back in the day -- dribbling for hometown Sacramento.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson isn't listed on the team rosters, but Sacramento City Council members Rob Fong and Jay Schenirer are ready to go.

"I'm just hoping that when all is said and done, none of us will be heading to the emergency room," Fong told the Sacramento Press last week.

Another attraction: a tournament version of the Royal Court Dancers. Bee columnist Marcos Breton is emceeing the event. Catch it from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation, 9040 High Tech Court in Elk Grove.

9-1-1 SERVICE: Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, chairs a select committee hearing on the next generation of 9-1-1 emergency service, starting at 10 am. in the Capitol's room 437.

WOMEN'S SUMMIT: Democratic Assemblywomen Joan Buchanan of Alamo, Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and Susan Bonilla of Concord host a women's summit to discuss the effects of state budget cuts on women and children and to mark the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in California. The event starts at 1 p.m. at Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.

FACEBOOK: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be talking with Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg on Facebook Live from 2 to 3 p.m. Pacific Time about education, jobs and the state budget. Learn more at this link.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Hodson, courtesy of California State University, Sacramento

Today is Veterans Day, and there's no shortage of events in Sacramento and across the nation commemorating the holiday.

Originally called Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I, it's celebrated on Nov. 11, no matter what day of the week, as this U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website explains. The national ceremony starts at precisely 11 a.m. Eastern Time at Arlington National Cemetery as wreaths are laid at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Here in Sacramento, legendary test pilot and Retired Air Force Gen. Chuck Yeager is the parade's grand marshal, as The Bee's Bill Lindelof reported earlier this week.

The parade starts at 10 a.m. at Third and N streets, goes north on Third to Capitol Mall, then east on Capitol Mall to Ninth Street. Participants will honor veterans afterward with a program from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Immediately following, the California Mexican American Veterans Memorial organization holds its 22nd annual Veterans Day ceremony at the site of "El Soldado", located across 10th Street from the Capitol's west steps at the Jesse Unruh State Office Building. The state's Department of Veterans Affairs Undersecretary Lawrence Gonzales is the keynote speaker at the event, which runs from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, is pushing to allow state benefits for gay and lesbian veterans who were dishonorably discharged from the military because of their sexual orientation, The Bee's Jim Sanders reported Thursday on Capitol Alert.

STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will talk up his Team California for Healthy Kids initiative during the 59th annual conference of the California School Nutrition Association. Torlakson will deliver his remarks at 3 p.m. at the Sacramento Convention Center.

BROKEN STATE: KQED is airing "Broken California," which looks at what's gone wrong with Golden State government and what might fix it. The program includes an interview with billionaire Nicholas Berggruen and features a discussion among Susan Kennedy, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief of state; Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California; and former Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. The program starts at 7:30 p.m. on KQED (Channel 9).

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, turns 63 today.

The California Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this morning in one of the state's budget nail-biters, California Redevelopment Association v. Matosantos.

Cities and redevelopment agencies have sued to stop the state from axing 400 or so agencies while letting them reopen if they contribute funds to schools. Here's the case summary, courtesy of the court:

Original proceeding. The court issued an order to show cause directing the parties to show cause why the relief prayed for in the petition for writ of mandate should not be granted. This case involves the validity of recent legislation ... dissolving and reenacting with changes the statutory framework for redevelopment agencies.

The state Supreme Court put the case on a fast track, placing most of the new provisions on hold and promising to issue a ruling by mid-January. The California Channel will air the hearing on its local cable channels as well as its website, www.calchannel.com. It runs from 9 to 10 a.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown, meanwhile, is talking green at noon as electric vehicle firm CODA officially opens its global headquarters in Los Angeles.

CODA makes all-electric cars named, appropriately enough, CODA, which you can view online at the company's website or its Westfield Century City store in Los Angeles. The base price, including destination charge, runs $45,795, according to the online calculator. Range is estimated at 150 miles.

Also in the south state, Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez chairs an Assembly hearing on trade and foreign investment along the California-Mexico border. Listed speakers include the mayors of Calexico and Mexicali, as well as representatives of the Industrial Development Commission of Mexicali, the Center for International Trade and Development, the Imperial County Farm Bureau and other agencies.

The hearing runs from 9 a.m. to noon in Calexico's city hall. Assemblymen Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, and Roger Hernández, D-West Covina, are also expected to attend. Click here to read the preliminary agenda.

FPPC: The Fair Political Practices Commission meets at 10 a.m. to consider, among other things, the legal issues surrounding the Kinde Durkee case but won't be making any decisions, chairwoman Ann Ravel said Wednesday via Twitter. Find the agenda at this link.

Four Republican state senators, including Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton, are holding a presser under the dome to highlight what they see as the urgency of reforming California's public pension systems.

Joining Dutton are Sens. Tom Berryhill, Tom Harman and Mimi Walters. Their news conference starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 305.

Gov. Jerry Brown's own reform plan got a mixed review from the Legislative Analyst's Office on Tuesday, as The Bee's Jon Ortiz reported. The LAO questioned whether Brown's proposal to split pension costs equally between employers and current employees could be legally mandated.

Down in the south state, Mike Rossi, Brown's senior adviser on jobs and business development, will participate in a White House Business Council roundtable discussion about small business owners. The panel runs from 9 a.m. to noon at CSU-Los Angeles in the ballroom at 5151 State University Drive.

Other listed speakers include David Hinson, director of the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency; Andre Gudger, director of the Office of Small Business Programs at the U.S. Department of Defense; Peter Gravett, secretary of the state's California Department of Veteran Affairs; Joel Ayala, director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development; and Jerome Horton, Board of Equalization chairman.

SCHOOL FACILITIES: Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, and Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, co-chair a joint hearing on financing options for K-12 school facilities. Speakers include representatives from the Office of Public School Construction, the State Allocation Board, Division of the State Architect, as well as the Legislative Analyst's Office and Los Angeles Unified School District. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 3191.

AGING: Sen. Elaine Alquist, D- Santa Clara, conducts a subcommittee hearing on aging and long-term care starting at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 113.

THIS IS A TEST: No, really. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is conducting the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. Expect regularly scheduled television, radio, cable and satellite shows to be interrupted for 30 seconds.

It's not the big 2012 showdown, but today nonetheless is Election Day. In Ohio, voters are deciding whether to repeal a law limiting collective bargaining rights. In Mississippi and Kentucky they are electing (or re-electing) governors.

In San Francisco, voters will decide whether to make interim Mayor Ed Lee their first elected Chinese-American mayor. They'll use ranked-choice voting - an instant runoff system - to choose among 16 candidates. Democratic Sen. Leland Yee, the subject of some unflattering robocalls, plans to spend the day courting votes from his Leland Yee for Mayor trolley.

Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, is running for City Council in Los Angeles, seeking the seat vacated by Janice Hahn's election to Congress. Could be a runoff in January if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN: Education experts will gather at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento today for a sold-out summit to discuss the new kindergarten approach coming California's way.

Organizers say the transitional kindergarten year, added under legislation signed in 2010 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger changing the kindergarten entry age, will be the first new grade in California schools since 1891, when kindergarten was added.

Among the participants: Schools chief Tom Torlakson, Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian and the designer of Proposition 98, John Mockler.

Preschool California has more information here.

PRO-TAX PROTESTS: Refund California, a union-backed group seeking tax increases on businesses and the wealthy, is organizing protests that begin on college campuses today, including Fresno State and Sacramento State, and move to UC Davis and UC Berkeley on Wednesday. The group wants to put the money toward jobs and higher education.

Members of the California Community Colleges board take on a controversial subject today: how to best get students to focus on the goal of moving out of the classroom and into the workforce.

"Don't just be a professional student," Chancellor Jack Scott said last week, as The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall reports in this Capitol Alert post.

Board members will discuss the Student Success Task Force's draft report, which recommends that the students' main goal should be, well, completing their goals and the system needs to help them do just that.

One of the recommendations? The community colleges should set up a statewide assessment system so that students can take classes at different colleges after taking one placement test.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the state Capitol's Room 4203. The draft report is listed on the meeting agenda after lunch. Click here to read more about the task force.

Meanwhile, two local members of Congress are in California. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, will attend two groundbreaking ceremonies at Cosumnes River College, for its Winn Center for Architecture and Construction and for its new parking structure.

And Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, will be joining a panel discussion at the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research about why such research matters. The event runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the International House, 10 College Park, off Russell Boulevard.

LEGISLATIVE RECESS: Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, presents an oversized check this afternoon to GreenHouse, a nonprofit after school program in Sacramento. The $2,500 donation comes from the nonpartisan Capitol Network.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Belated birthday wishes to Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who turned 37 on Saturday, and to Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, who turned 41 on Sunday.

Controller John Chiang is joining state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier in Contra Costa County to lead a seminar on small businesses and regional business opportunities.

Chiang did tell The Bee Capitol Bureau earlier this week that he's interested in running for state treasurer. Job creation is part of the mix.

"I worry about cash, and I think about the general economy and how to impact California," he said Wednesday in this video. "In the treasurer's office, I can focus on access to capital -- how do I make job creation happen, how do I make business creation happen in the state of California."

Chiang and DeSaulnier, D-Concord, will conduct the seminar from 1 to 4 p.m. at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill. Representatives of state, local and federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration, will talk about tax compliance, small business financing and other incentive programs. Click here to read the flyer.

Chiang is also leading a seminar for nonprofits this morning in San Jose along with Democratic Assembly members Nora Campos of San Jose, and Paul Fong of Cupertino, and Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro. Click here to see the flyer for that event.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, meanwhile, is discussing California's public education system during the Association of California School Administrators' leadership summit. Torlakson will also talk up his "Blueprint for Great Schools" initiative during his address, which starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Sacramento Convention Center, Exhibit Hall E, at 1400 J St. Click here to learn more about the event.

CEQA: UC Davis Law School is sponsoring an assessment of the California Environmental Quality Act at its 40th anniversary. Listed speakers include Democratic Sen. Lois Wolk of Davis, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's aide Kip Lipper, and Ken Alex, director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Click here to read the agenda.

RECESS: Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, is helping clean up litter and graffiti in Isla Vista, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, is hosting a seminar in Los Angeles intended to help seniors avoid car repair and other scams, and Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, is co-hosting a workshop in Ontario on how to apply for state boards and commissions.

MEMORIAL: Friends of Robb Deignan, the former Senate staffer who died Oct. 15 following a bike wreck, will celebrate his life Saturday starting at 1 p.m. at William Pond Park in Carmichael along the American River Parkway. Click here to learn more at the Facebook memorial page honoring Deignan.

Members of the state's High-Speed Rail Authority are holding their monthly board meeting this morning to talk about the new business plan that The Bee's David Siders detailed in this story earlier this week.

If approved, the rail project would start construction in the Central Valley from Bakersfield to near Chowchilla sometime next fall. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. in Sacramento City Council chambers at 915 I St. Click here to read the agenda.

Back at the Capitol, an Assembly budget subcommittee will consider whether the safety net program CalWORKs is helping families move out of poverty. The meeting, chaired by Democratic Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles, runs from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 126.

A new proposal to rein in public pensions will surface today as California Pension Reform heads to the state Attorney General's Office to turn in language for a 2012 initiative.

Joining forces on the plan are longtime pension critic Dan Pellissier, former Schwarzenegger finance director Mike Genest and Roger Niello, who filed and then declined to pursue a pension initiative earlier this year.

Backers say the initiative "will stop the accumulating debt caused by unfunded pension and retiree benefit liabilities, make pension boards more transparent and accountable, and end abuses."

Aiming for the November ballot, the group will roll out its agenda for reporters in a 10:30 a.m. conference call.

Here's guessing that one of the first questions will be "Can you raise the money?"

The State Worker will have the details.

REALIGNMENT: A Contra Costa County forum today will explore corrections changes facing local government. The two-hour forum begins at 1 p.m. at Antioch City Hall. Among those attending: Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord.

SERVICE CORPS: California Secretary of Service and Volunteering Karen Baker will join Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson today to announce plans to launch City Year in Sacramento schools next year. The announcement is set for 1 p.m. at Oak Ridge Elementary School.