Capitol Alert

Yes, it's time again for California lawmakers to take a break from all that lawmaking, roll up their sleeves and see who can make the best California roll (it's made with the state grain, you know). The winner of the competition, put on courtesy of the California Rice Commission, gets a cool samurai sword trophy for their efforts. Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, and Assembly members Toni Atkins, Brian Dahle, Marc Levine and Richard Pan are expected to attend. Starting at noon at the Sheraton Grand.

VIDEO: It's time for the governor to show some leadership on protecting government transparency, Dan Walters says.

TIME FOR A RAISE? Whether lawmakers make enough money ranks fairly low on your average voter's list of concerns, but members of the Citizens Compensation Commission are tasked with thinking about such things -- and there's an indication that, after years of cuts, the commission could vote to boost elected officials' salaries. The other piece of drama likely to emerge at today's meeting, which gets under way at 10 a.m. at Sacramento City Hall, is whether a residency issue should deprive commission member John Stites of his vote.

During Saturday's budget bonanza, a triumphant Senate president pro tem celebrated the smooth passage of a tax measure by telling observers they had just witnessed the Democratic supermajority in action. Aside from being able to pass taxes without having to woo Republicans, the other benefit to having a two-thirds majority is, of course, the unimpeded capacity to put constitutional amendments on the ballot.

This weekend, we got a glimpse of the supermajority's effect on budget votes -- we'll get another hint today, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Elections And Constitutional Amendments. The committee is considering four proposed amendments that would lower the threshold for voter approval of various local taxes from its current 2/3 level to 55 percent. The meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. in room 3191.

VIDEO: Democrats are starting to embrace their newfound power, Dan Walters says.

STATE OF SECRETARY OF STATE RACE: We already have multiple contenders to be California's next secretary of state, but today the field expands a bit more: political money critic and former Common Cause vice president Derek Cressman, who had been mulling a run, will formally declare his candidacy on the south steps at 10 a.m. today.

ANOTHER FRACKING HEARING: Okay, today's hearing on California's gas and oil wells is not exclusively focused on hydraulic fracturing -- lawmakers will also hear about the menacingly named process of "acid stimulation," which energy companies have invoked as a way to possibly get at oil locked in the Monterey Shale. But fracking has attracted plenty of attention this session, and the hearing will touch on fracking-related points of contention like the disclosure of chemicals involved in well stimulation.

Speakers include Mark Nechodom, director of the California Department of Conservation; representatives of environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group; and, in lieu of executives from big firms like Halliburton and Chevron who declined invitations, representatives of the Western States Petroleum Association and the California Independent Petroleum Association. In room 4203.

REPUBLICANS PUSH IMMIGRATION: With both parties digging in as Congress debates immigration reform, two California Republicans are traveling to Washington to urge their federal colleagues to act. Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, will be in D.C. today and tomorrow making their case.

TOUTING TESLA: What are those Tesla Model S sedans doing on the West steps, you ask? The vehicle is there to trumpet California's role in the success of Tesla Motors, which along with Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, is sponsoring the automobile's appearance (the cars were manufactured in Wieckowski's district).

DRIVERLESS DIRECTIVES: Speaking of innovative car technology, the California Department of Motor Vehicles is conducting another public workshop on regulations for autonomous vehicles on California's roads, a process that raises some fascinating legal questions. Starting at 10 a.m. at the DMV headquarters on 2415 1st Avenue.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, who hits a milestone by turning 40 today.

PHOTO: Could this thing be poised for changes? The Sacramento Bee/Jeremy B. White.

Now that the California Legislature's deadline for passing the state budget has come and gone, Capitol Alert takes advantage of Monday morning analysis to parse related bursts emanating from the Twitter-verse.

It was, of course, the first budget votes for Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, the San Diego Democrat sworn in to the lower house May 28.

"You know you're the newest Assembly member when someone speaks & you have to ask your seat mate 'Who is that?' (Answer: Mr. Patterson)," she tweeted, referring to Fresno Republican Jim Patterson. (@LorenaSGonzalez)

Several other Assembly members took advantage of a lull Friday by playing off the NSA leak and the dark-humor meme "NSA called to tell me (fill in the blank)."

The latest state budget adds another controversial chapter to the saga of school finance in California, Dan Walters says.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles: "#TheNSACalledToTellMe that @Talk2Melissa needs to change her twitter handle and that @JeffGorell says @CurtHagman plays too many video games." (He was referring to Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore.)

He kept going. Apparently, 140 characters just weren't enough. (@mikegatto)

Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, shot back: "#nsacalledtotellme my floor speech sucked." (@JeffGorell)

Melendez was not to be outdone: "#nsacalledtotellme that @JeffGorell and @mikegatto are jealous of @JoinTravisAllen hair," invoking fellow Republican Travis Allen of Huntington Beach. (@Talk2Melissa)

Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, weighed in from the upper house: "@JeffGorell #nsacalledtotellme I thought I'd let you know they told me first." (@tedlieu)

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, took a far more serious tone, tweeting often to explain his votes, which usually fell on the "no" side. (@AsmTimDonnelly)

Democrat Susan Eggman of Stockton took note, quoting Donnelly as saying, "I wish I had a semiautomatic no vote on my desk." (@SusanEggman)

Some of the snarkiest comments, sometimes posted with Twitter pics, came from the anonymous @VanityCaucus ("If they let me get close enough I plan on taking Donnelly's tie away") and @SanityCaucus ("I'm officially in love with a republican '@JeffGorell: bi-partisan boredom.' ").

Capitol Alert can't wait for end-of-session legislative bingo.

CELEBRATIONS: Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, celebrates his 56th birthday today.

PHOTO: A view of an iPhone on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. Associated Press/ Evan Vucci

Will California lawmakers have to work this weekend? We'll find out by the end of business today: The deadline for passing a budget beckons, so if legislators don't ratify the latest budget accord today, they will have to do so Saturday before midnight.

The Assembly and the Senate both convene this morning, so stay tuned to see whether they manage to wrap things up in time to head back to their districts for the events they've planned for Saturday (of which there are plenty).

VIDEO: A look at California's changing demographics reminds Dan Walters why the state can claim the most complex society in the Western hemisphere.

More than 16 years after California voters passed Proposition 209 prohibiting the state from factoring race, gender and ethnicity into hiring decisions, a bevy of public officials will be taking stock today at a state-sponsored employment workshop.

Speakers at the daylong event will include Anna Caballero, secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency; Julie Chapman, director of the California Department of Human Resources; Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP; E. Dotson Wilson, the Assembly's chief clerk; Cynthia Bridges, executive director of the State Board of Equalization; and Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, (who, incidentally, is getting married this weekend).

VIDEO: Even as Sacramento heralds a new budget deal, court closures highlight the fact that the fiscal pain isn't over, Dan Walters says.

The Service Employees International Union California, fresh off a major local securing a tentative contract agreement that includes a raise, is marshaling its members this morning to lobby lawmakers.

Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, and Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, are scheduled to address attendees, who will be pressing health-related initiatives such as a Medi-Cal expansion as well as legislation to prohibit large employers from paying employees a wage low enough that they would qualify for Medi-Cal. The rally starts at 10 a.m. on the Capitol's south steps.

VIDEO: Dan Walters looks at why the latest state budget deal is missing the enterprise zone overhaul that Gov. Jerry Brown wants.

The Calderon Watch is officially over, and we're not talking about screening Ian's surf videos: Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, surfaced yesterday for the first time since the FBI raided his offices, referred questions to his lawyer and vowed to get back to the daily tasks of being a lawmaker. Today that includes a 9:30 a.m. hearing of the Governmental Organization committee, on which Calderon sits.

VIDEO: Gov. Jerry Brown for the most part got what he wanted out of yesterday's budget accord, and Dan Walters says that means the governor owns the policy proposals behind it.

GUN GAMUT: The Senate Public Safety Committee is taking up a raft of gun control measures that passed the Assembly today, while the Natural Resources Committee is looking at a hotly disputed measure to ban lead ammunition when hunting wildlife. The Natural Resources committee meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. in room 112, while Public Safety is meeting in room 3191.

WOMEN'S HEALTHCARE: We've already brought you news of the multi-front campaign for a bill that would punish employers who don't pay their employees enough to keep them off of Medi-Cal. Today advocates are framing the legislation in terms of its impact on women's health, with female leaders -- among them Patty Bellasalma, president of the National Organization of Women's California chapter -- joining Women's Caucus Chair Bonnie Lowenthal, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and California Labor Federation President Connie Leyva to push for the bill during a 10:30 a.m. press conference in room 317.

ELEVATING ELECTIONS: Is California's electoral system a source of disappointment for you? The Public Policy Institute of California will entertain some suggestions for alleviating the pain during an "Improving California's Elections" talk today that will include Fair Political Practices Commission chair Ann Ravel, California Chamber of Commerce president Allan Zaremberg, KQED reporter Scott Shafer, and Mark Baldassare and Eric McGhee of PPIC. The event, which runs from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., is in San Francisco, but you can follow it via live webcast.

TRANSPORTATION TRYST: Lawmakers who sit on transit committees will be breakfasting with members of the California Transportation Commission at the Sheraton Grand this morning, after which the commission will convene at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria on I street to weigh funding for new projects.

PHOTO: State Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, right, reacts as a reporter tries to ask him a question at the end of his brief news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday June 10, 2013. The Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli.

No, we aren't bringing you news of state Capitol weddings. California lawmakers are heralding the onset of summer by donning white suits today and rewarding staffers and lobbyists who do likewise. (The federal version involves seersucker.)

To ring in White Suit Day, Sen. Roderick Wright, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Steve Bradford, D-Gardena, are hosting an evening reception at Ella Dining Room and Bar with free beverages for attendees who dress in white (including a "White Linen Cocktail" that Capitol Alert had to look up). Wright's website features photos from last year's event.

VIDEO: The budget debate is pitting two traditional Democratic constituencies against each other, Dan Walters says.

CALDERON WATCH: In non-sartorial news, it has now been more than a week since Sen. Ron Calderon was seen at the Capitol, before an FBI raid on his offices. While speculation continues about the probe, we're wondering when the Montebello Democrat will again show up to work.

AWOL WORKERS: The Senate Public Employment And Retirement Committee is taking up a bill that would make it harder to prematurely fire state workers who disappear from work without a good explanation. The State Worker wrote about the legislation back when it cleared the Assembly, and senators will take a look starting at 2 p.m. in room 2040.

TRANSGENDER ATHLETES: You may remember us writing about a Tom Ammiano bill that would give young transgender students the leeway to choose the bathroom facility and the team that best fits their gender identity. The State Athletic Commission is delving into a similar debate today as it considers whether to license transgender fighters. The meeting convenes at 10 a.m. at the State Building in Los Angeles.

GAVIN'S GOVERNMENT: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has gotten plenty of press -- and some profanity-peppered Stephen Colbert eyebrow arches -- for his new book on civic engagement in the digital era. He'll be discussing the subject today during a noon talk at the CSAC conference center on 11th Street that will also feature Santa Monica Mayor Pam O'Connor, Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen and Channel 10's John Myers.

JOB MOVE: We are told that Elizabeth Ashford, formerly of Gov. Jerry Brown's office, is taking a gig as chief of staff to California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Editor's Note: This post was updated at 7:25 a.m. June 10, 2013 to correct that Kamala Harris is attorney general.

PHOTO CREDIT: Then-Assemblyman Roderick Wright, self-proclaimed head of the "White Suit Caucus," buttons up his jacket in his office on Monday, June 4, 2001. By Lezlie Sterling/The Sacramento Bee.

Gov. Jerry Brown is looking at a schedule that takes him to the south state: President Barack Obama lands at the Palm Springs airport this afternoon, and Brown will be on the tarmac.

Obama starts the second day of his three-day visit to California at San Jose's Fairmont Hotel, talking up the federal health care overhaul.

Air Force One then heads to LAX to get Obama to a luncheon fundraiser. Former News Corp. bigwig Peter Chernin (whose new company's first feature film was "Rise of the Planet of the Apes") and his wife, Megan, are hosting the event, which benefits the Democratic National Committee, at their Santa Monica home.

Obama then heads to Palm Springs for his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping today and Saturday at nearby Sunnylands, the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage. Their agenda "is designed to take a longer view of the security, economic and strategic challenges that unite and divide the nations," according to this Washington Post story.

Brown is scheduled to meet with Xi on Saturday around noon at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa. The two met in California last year when Xi was still vice president (hence the photo above), and the Democratic governor led a trade mission to China in April.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says the biggest piece in California's state budget puzzle belongs to education.

Former President Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is also breathing California air. He's giving the keynote speech this morning at the annual conference in Los Angeles of the California Association of Physician Groups. This evening, Clinton (who endorsed Wendy Greuel) is slated at a "block party" saying goodbye to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and hello to Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti.

CAPITOL STEPS: The America 4 Boston prayer canvas will be displayed on the north steps from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, with event organizers urging people to write a message or paint a picture in support of the Boston Marathon bombing victims. The canvas has already made stops in Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky and Colorado.

STATE BUDGET: The Legislature's constitutional deadline for passing a state budget is June 15. Today is June 7. Just saying.

PHOTO: Xi Jinping, left, then vice president of China, talks with Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown, center, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, right, as they watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 17, 2012, in Los Angeles. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press file

Political junkies, quit thinking for now about this week's FBI raid on the California Capitol and turn your thoughts to national politics: That blur you see passing over the Central Valley could well be Air Force One.

Friday and Saturday, President Barack Obama will be holed up with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Sunnylands, the Annenberg spread in Rancho Mirage, but tonight Obama is due to mine some California gold at Bay Area fundraisers.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will benefit from this evening's reception at the home of Flipboard CEO Michael McCue and his wife, Marci, as well as of a dinner afterward at the home of Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and his wife, Neeru.

If you have to ask how much the events cost, you probably can't afford it. Obama's ATM trips to California have also sparked grumbling about the lack of public events, not to mention online rumblings of at least one protest during this visit.

VIDEO: Back to the FBI raid on Sen. Ron Calderon's Sacramento offices: Dan says it's got Capitol denizens all stirred up.

Yesterday health care, today contract negotiations. A day after masses of people converged on the State Capitol to advocate for more Medi-Cal funding, thousands more are expected to arrive today to show solidarity with SEIU Local 1000's push for a new collective bargaining agreement with California.

The current contract is scheduled to expire on July 1, and SEIU has been actively negotiating since mid-April. Jon Ortiz has been covering the unfolding drama on The State Worker blog, where he noted that Gov. Jerry Brown said he was "aiming low" in trying to secure a deal.

VIDEO: Dan Walters finds more evidence that the desire for secrecy is beating out the drive for transparency in Sacramento.

PLASTIC'S PURPOSES: Here's an odd coincidence: the American Chemistry Council is putting on an event on the north steps today highlighting the success of various plastic recycling programs. That event starts at 10 a.m.; at 1:30 p.m., the Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection is holding a hearing on plastic pollution and coastal ecosystems.

A bill by that committee's chair, Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, dealing with marine plastic pollution is languishing on the suspense file, while a Senate plastic bag ban died on the floor and an Assembly bag ban was held and is now a 2-year bill. The American Chemistry Council opposed the Stone bill, and while it took no position on the bag bans this time it has in the past represented bag makers who, unsurprisingly, were against a prohibition.

SOCIAL SERVICES: Advocates continue to push the governor to take advantage of more robust revenue by undoing social services cuts enacted during the lean years. Organizations under the umbrella of the Health and Human Services Network of California, whose members include organizations like the Western Center on Law and Poverty, Health Access and the California Immigrant Policy Center, are highlighting statistics about California's poverty rate during a noon conference on the east steps. Speeches by advocates and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, will be bracketed by afternoon and morning visits with lawmakers, many of whom have showed a similar appetite for a more generous budget than the one Brown is proposing.

AUDIT AUDACITY: The Joint Legislative Audit Committee is considering several candidates for scrutiny today, including the process by which Child Protective Services removes kids from households, CalPERS investment portfolio managers and the finances of the UCLA & UCSF medical centers. Starting at 10 a.m. in room 444.

POVERTY PROBLEMS: A related hearing will be examining a new report by the Campaign for College Opportunity on low-income families and economic mobility in California. Starting at 2:30 p.m. in room 437.

GUST BROWN GATHERING: A "She Shares" series hosting prominent female speakers will today feature California First Lady Anne Gust Brown. Brown will be speaking from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Sutter Club on 9th street. No word on whether Sutter the Dog will be attending Sutter the Club.

PHOTO CREDIT: Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members rally on Friday, July 16, 2010. By Michael Allen Jones/The Sacramento Bee.

In the dispute over whether Gov. Jerry Brown's budget should do more to repair the state's tattered safety net, the fate of a planned cut in Medi-Cal payments to providers has taken a prominent role. A coalition of health insurance firms (among them Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California), medical professional associations (including the California Hospital Association and the California Medical Association) and the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West is busing thousands of advocates to Sacramento today for a huge Medi-Cal rally.

Lawmakers expected to speak during between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. include Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, and Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville. There are a couple of bills dealing with Medi-Cal payments before the Legislature right now -- the one authored by Alejo made it out of the Assembly while the Senate version was re-referred to committee -- and Brown's proposed budget includes a 10-percent reduction that has been ensnared in a court fight since being approved in 2011 but was just upheld by a federal appeals court.

VIDEO: Dan Walters contemplates the obstacles in the way of the Legislature passing a budget on time.

SAFETY UNDERGROUND: Concerns about excavation safety burst to the surface with the San Bruno pipeline explosion back in 2010, and a subcommittee on gas and electricity infrastructure is taking a look. Starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 3191.

CONSULTANTS CONFER: The American Association of Political Consultants is holding a conference today at the Sheraton Grand, where attendees will hear panels on topics that range from international elections to the intersection of sports and politics (featuring The Bee's Marcus Breton and some prominent operatives talking about the still-of-Sacramento Kings) to a talk on ballot initiatives moderated by strategist Garry South. Democratic Party chair John Burton and California Republican party chair Jim Brulte will spar in a lunchtime talk on the state of California's political parties, moderated by USC professor and former Fair Political Practices Commission chief Dan Schnur.

CONTRACTORS COLLECT: Also in town are participants in the Associated General Contractors of America's lobby day. In a morning session at the California Chamber of Commerce building on K Street, members will discuss topics like workplace safety and transportation funding and will hear from Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, CalTrans director Malcolm Dougherty, Department of Industrial Relations director Christine Baker and Steve Sands of the Contractors State License Board.

STUDENT DEBT: Student loans have been back in the news lately, with the president and Congress squaring off over a coming rate hike, and today a Public Policy Institute of California talk is examining the implications of rising tuition and a cumulative student debt load that is nearing $1 trillion. Speakers include David Alcocer, interim director of student financial support for the University of California, Debbie Cochrane of the Institute for College Access and Success and Hans Johnson and David Lesher of PPIC. From noon to 1:30 p.m. at the CSAC Conference Center.

LATINO PRIORITIES: Members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus are going to be laying out their agenda today during a 3 p.m. media briefing. After that, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, and members of the caucus are heading over to the California Downtown Association conference room on L street for a Dolores Huerta Foundation fundraiser, which trains community organizers. Huerta will be there as well, along with what is expected to be more than a dozen lawmakers.

PHOTO CREDIT: History is repeating itself at the Capitol as advocates rally against Medi-Cal cuts, just as they did during this April 15, 2008 demonstration organized by the California Medical Association. By Brian Baer/The Sacramento Bee.

Now that last week's house-of-origin bill bonanza has drawn to a close, lawmakers turn to the work of finding fiscal common ground.

The conference committee on the budget, chaired by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, is convening throughout the week to reconcile the frameworks advanced by the respective houses as well as the governor.

Today's meeting starts at around 12:30 p.m. in room 4203.

VIDEO: A bill requiring local officials to get training in financial management sounds fine until you look closer and see the hypocrisy, Dan Walters says.

LATINO DEMOGRAPHICS: The California Latino Legislative Caucus is getting a primer today from a UC Davis professor who has studied demographic trends and civic engagement. Mindy Romero, the founding project director of the California Civic Engagement Project, already appeared at the University of California Center, Sacramento, speaker series in late May, and today she'll be briefing interested lawmakers in room 444, starting at 4 p.m.

LENO AND LGBT LESSONS: As part of a conference on LGBT youth hosted by the Sacramento City Unified school district, Leno will be speaking about implementing his Senate Bill 48, which directs California schools to teach students about the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Leno is speaking at 10:30 a.m. at the district's Serna Center, at 5735 47th Ave.

JOB MOVES: Consumer Watchdog is getting a new executive director. Longtime chief Doug Heller is leaving the agency, with the organization's Washington, D.C. director, Carmen Balber, taking over Heller's post.

HACKS, FLACKS MINGLE: The American Association of Political Consultants is in town for a conference, and they're celebrating tonight with a "Hacks and Flacks" event (for the uninitiated, that means reporters and spokespeople) co-hosted by the Sacramento Press Club. Starting at 6 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, listens to speakers at a committee hearing. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee file, 2011

We are now hours away from the deadline to pass bills out of their houses of origin. The Senate finished its business early -- not only did lawmakers there clear the file Thursday, they did so before the start of happy hour. The Assembly still has some work to do. We'll be bringing you updates throughout the day.

The other big piece of legislative business today is a conference committee that will be meeting to reconcile the Assembly and the Senate's respective budgets, although there's a good chance that more drama will come from the difference between the Legislature's approach and Gov. Jerry Brown's vision. In room 4203 at 1 p.m. or upon call of the chair.

VIDEO: The next few weeks of budget wrangling promise to feature some Democrat-on-Democrat battles, Dan Walters says.

GENEROSITY FOR GARCETTI: Just because a campaign is over doesn't mean the fundraising ceases. Lawmakers are hosting an early morning fundraiser for Los Angeles mayor-elect Eric Garcetti at Chicory today. The event is hosted by Sens. Kevin de León and Ricardo Lara. Also expected to attend are fellow Los Angeles area Democrats (and Assembly members) Jimmy Gomez and Isadore Hall, along with former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez.

REPUBLICAN 'RAISER: On the subject of fundraisers, the Sacramento County Republican Party is holding its Lincoln-Reagan dinner at House Kitchen and Bar in Sacramento tonight. California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte will be speaking at the event, for which tickets start at $75 a head and run to a $2,500 for "dinner sponsor" package that confers VIP benefits. The guest list includes Board of Equalization member George Runner, Sen. Ted Gaines of Rocklin, and Assembly members Beth Gaines of Rocklin and Dan Logue of Marysville.

PARSING POLLS: We brought you news already of the Public Policy Institute of California's latest survey of how Californians view the governor's budget and their elected officials. Today PPIC wonks are breaking down the numbers during a noon event at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on 11th Street.

JOB MOVE: There's a staff shuffle afoot in the office of Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare. Fiscal and policy director Deborah Gonzalez is taking over the chief of staff post from Ivan Altamura, who is leaving the public sector for a gig at Pacific Gas and Electric.

PHOTO CREDIT: View of the California Capitol, obscured by trees and buildings, from 8th between N & O streets in Sacramento. John Decker / Sacramento Bee file, 2005

A few days after lambasting us reporter types for ignoring climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown is taking the opportunity to tout a success story. He'll be at the ribbon-cutting today for a San Leandro building that is, according to the governor's office, the first in the nation to satisfy the U.S. Department of Energy's "zero net energy" standards for a retrofitted building.

Back in 2010, a design team started revamping the structure to make it more energy efficient and to install energy-producing features that do things like integrate natural light into the building's mechanical system. Now the building, which houses training programs for electrical workers and contractors, has been recognized by the federal government. The event starts at 4:30 p.m. at the appropriately named Zero Net Energy Center, at 14600 Catalina St. in San Leandro.

VIDEO: Dan Walters delves into the latest installment in the long-running conflict between the state of California and the counties -- this time, over the governor's plan to take money from county coffers.

Gov. Jerry Brown has become enamored with what he likes to call "the principle of subsidiarity" -- in the context of his education plan, it boils down to "let districts do their own thing." Today he'll be visiting an organization with goals that are also locally focused. The California State Association of Counties is in town for its legislative day, which will include a 1 p.m. speech from the governor at the main ballroom of the Sheraton Grand.

Delegates will also be hearing from Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Dale Hoffman-Floerki from the Department of Water Resources, who will be talking about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. California's plan for enacting the federal health care overhaul is expected to be a key topic during afternoon meetings with lawmakers -- the governor's budget plan calls for the state to take over some health care responsibilities from counties and offset the shift by taking back some $300 million in health care funding.

VIDEO: The Legislature's annual rush through hundreds of bills has Dan Walters cringing.

WATER PLAN RISING: Officials will unveil the final chapters in the governor's Delta water overhaul plan during a 1 p.m. meeting in Milpitas today. California Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird and Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin will be there.

BILL CLOCK: Just a friendly reminder that the deadline to pass bills out of their houses of origin (the end of business on Friday) is now one day closer. Assuming that the last time you thought about it was yesterday morning.

FRACKING FILM: Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," has been a prominent topic at the Legislature this year. Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, and Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, both of whom have authored bills to regulate the practice, will be at a screening of the documentary sequel Gasland 2 at the Crest Theater tonight. The event, which will feature a Q&A with director Josh Fox, is sponsored by organizations that include the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Californians Against Fracking. The movie starts at 6 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: The California state Capitol in Sacramento, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008. Michael Allen Jones / Sacramento Bee file photo

Before he can flee Sacramento and settle into his new post on the Los Angeles City Council, Democratic Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield is getting a parting gift from his legislative colleagues: He's the beneficiary of this year's California Roast, hosted by the California Center for Civic Participation. That's a change from last year, when the event was canceled for lack of a target.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, is emceeing the evening's festivities. Aiming jabs and administering burns will be Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway, and Democratic Assembly members Isadore Hall and Holly Mitchell.

Tickets for the annual charity event start at $225 for an individual unreserved seat. Things get started with a 6 p.m. cocktail reception, and the roasting begins a little after 8 at the Red Lion Woodlake Hotel in Sacramento.

VIDEO: Gov. Jerry Brown and his detractors continue to toss the hot potato of blame for California's prisons, Dan Walters observes.

BILL MARATHON BEGINS: Now that we've run through the Suspense File Smackdown, we get the next big test: Friday is the deadline for passing Senate and Assembly bills out of their houses of origin. Sessions convene in both houses today at noon, followed by 9 to 5 sessions (or such is the optimistic wish of lawmakers and the reporters who cover them) on each subsequent day this week.

The Assembly has about 300 bills left to run through. On the Senate side there are approximately 300 bills awaiting judgment.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING: It seems unlikely that senators will break away to watch, but the organization Step Up California and the office of Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, are hosting a screening of a documentary on poverty in America called "The Line." 11 a.m. in room 4203.

PHOTO CREDIT: No, not that kind of roast. Matthew Mead / Associated Press file, 2011

With a potentially per-diem-wrecking three day weekend ahead, a schedule shuffle has left us with an unusually busy Friday. Much of the action is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which will be sifting through more than 300 bills currently on the suspense file to decide which can advance and which are trapped in legislative limbo. (For a look at how the Senate suspense bills fared, click here.)

Other than that, we have some Assembly budget subcommittees and a meeting of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. We'll try to let you know how long lawmakers spend in the building before skedaddling back to their districts.

VIDEO: We're moving closer to crunch time on the budget, but Dan Walters expects lawmakers to finish their work on time.

GAVIN'S GRADUATION GAB: We've had a stretch of graduation ceremonies that have included commencement speeches from Gov. Jerry Brown (Berkeley) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (UC Davis law school). Today it's Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's turn. He'll be addressing students at the College of Marin starting at 6 p.m.

FUEL STANDARDS: California's landmark carbon emissions law requires, among other things, that the state establish a low carbon fuel standard that reduces by 10 percent the amount of carbon emitted by fuels sold in the state. The Air Resources Board is holding a public workshop to discuss some new proposals during a 9:30 a.m. meeting at Cal EPA on I Street.

MONSANTO MARCH: As part of an international day of protest, advocates are rallying Saturday in Sacramento against agro-giant Monsanto, whose seed patent protections were recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The demonstration starts at 11 a.m. on the Capitol's north steps and will include a march down the Capitol Mall. As of this writing, the Facebook group for the event lists about 1,800 people as attending.

PHOTO CREDIT: Does the Assembly Daily File contain a list of legislative triumphs or dashed dreams? We'll find out today. Jeremy B. White / Sacramento Bee.

It would be easy to lose track of the steady metronome of new dates and benchmarks in the rollout of the federal health care law, but today is a big one: during a 9 a.m. meeting at the California Museum, officials from the state's new health insurance marketplace will unveil the plans that private insurance companies will offer to Californians once the insurance exchange, Covered California, goes live this fall.

Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee and Board Chair Diana Dooley will both be there. After the announcement they'll head to the California Secretary of State's office on I street for a Covered California board meeting, where they'll discuss topics that include the organization's budget.

VIDEO: Democrats will need to reconsider their ambitions for enacting a liberal agenda now that they've lost former senator Michael Rubio's seat, Dan Walters says.

BROWN COMBATS CLIMATE CHANGE: A few days after exhorting new graduates to take the lead on fighting climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown will be at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View this morning to join researchers and scientists in issuing a new call to action. The governor will speak around 10 a.m.

OH, THE SUSPENSE: The Senate Appropriations Committee is deciding the fate of a small galaxy of bills currently on the suspense file today -- more than 250 as of our last count. Most of this has already been decided by leadership, so don't look for too much drama. But it still is an important moment for seeing which bills might yet make it into law and which are to be consigned to the legislative landfill.

GARAMENDI ON DELTA: Brown's proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan continues to be a volatile topic, dividing the state into pro and con camps. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, will offer his take at a meeting in Courtland of the Delta Protection Commission tonight. The meeting starts at 6:15 p.m., at the Courtland Auditorium.

THE HISPANIC VOTE: The University of California Center Sacramento is hosting a talk today on trends in Latino voter turnout, which remains unpredictable even as the Latino electorate has grown in size and clout. Mindy Romero, the founding project director of the California Civic Engagement Project, will be speaking. From noon to 1:30 p.m. at 1130 K Street.

GAMBLING: A panel of experts discusses the implications of online gambling today. Dean Francis J. Mootz III of the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law will moderate a panel that includes lobbyist Cathy Christian, attorney Howard Dickstein, attorney David Fried and Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up California.

PHOTO CREDIT: A doctor looks through a scope while operating on a patient in Rancho Cordova on Friday, May 10, 2013. By Randall Benton/The Sacramento Bee.

Some of us like to start our day off with a quiet and leisurely cup of coffee and a copy of the paper (hint, hint), but today Gov. Jerry Brown is easing into things at a breakfast with the California Chamber of Commerce. He'll be speaking at the 88th Sacramento Host Breakfast to an audience that will include Allan Zaremberg, Frederick E. "Fritz" Hitchcock and Larry Booth from CalChamber.

VIDEO: Too many lawyers walk into California. The punch line, Dan Walters says, is a lawsuit from disgruntled grads after the state built a new law school despite an overabundance of attorneys.

DISABILITIES DEMONSTRATION: Thousands of disability advocates are expected to arrive at the State Capitol today for a lobby day organized by the Disability Action Coalition. Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, and Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, will be speaking on the west steps at 11 a.m. In addition to calling for the Legislature to undo cuts to programs like in-home supportive services and Social Security disability payments, organizations under the coalition's umbrella are supporting several different bills that include some health care coverage-related legislation, a bill establishing new building standards and a bill to restore funding to a community college program for disabled students.

CTA CONFLUENCE: Chapter presidents representing branches of the California Teachers Association will be in town today to press lawmakers on topics like the incoming Common Core standards and the school funding overhaul proposed in the governor's budget. They'll be gathering for lunch in a tent near the south steps before proceeding into the building.

A TAXING MEETING: The Board of Equalization is meeting today to tackle an agenda that includes setting the tobacco tax rate and discussing a half-dozen bills dealing with California's contentious fire fee, a topic on which one Board of Equalization member has been pretty outspoken. Starting at 10 a.m. at 450 N Street.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. MILK: There are a few events today honoring the legacy of the slain gay rights champion Harvey Milk, whose birthday is today. Three openly gay California public officials will be receiving special "Harvey Milk Champions of Change" awards from the White House: California Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird, Redondo Beach Mayor Michael Gin and Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Long Beach. The LGBT Caucus is also hosting a reception lauding Milk at the fish pond near the east steps from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, R-San Diego, who is 44 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: California Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Allan Zaremberg will be hearing from the governor today. August 10, 2010 by Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee.

We'll get a sense of what's next for California's perpetually evolving Legislature after the polls close on a few different races today. In addition to choosing a new mayor, the citizens of Los Angeles will decide whether Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, wins his runoff and secures a City Council seat (Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Los Angeles, secured a spot on the council back in March).

If Price prevails and swaps Sacramento for southern California, he would join the ranks of Democrats who have abdicated state Senate seats this year. Also on that list is former senator Michael Rubio, now employed by Chevron, whose former 16th district seat is the focus of a special election today that will feature five different candidates, chief among them anointed Democrat Leticia Perez and Andy Vidak, a Republican. Also up for grabs is the 80th Assembly district seat Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, represented before moving to the upper house. That race is a Democrat-on-Democrat contest between former Chula Vista Councilman Steve Castaneda and secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council Lorena Gonzalez.

VIDEO: Once a national trailblazer in cannabis policy, California is lagging behind other states as it seeks to clarify the hazy legal status of pot, Dan Walters says.

HISPANIC BUSINESS: The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce is convening its legislative conference at the Sheraton Grand today, where Senators Ricardo Lara and Hueso will speak to attendees. The evening reception is at the Park Ultra Lounge, where Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, R-Oceanside, will be offering a few words. The Chambers' legislative priority is a business development bill by Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, along with legislation dealing with enterprise zones.

COMMERCE CLAUSE: Ahead of its big breakfast tomorrow, the California Chamber of Commerce is hosting a legislative update at which President and CEO Allan Zaremberg will talk about the organization's legislative priorities, including the bills it has labeled "job killers" and "job creators." From 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Hyatt Regency.

AFTERSCHOOL ADVOCACY: Your kid might not be thrilled by the idea of spending more time at school, but the California School-Age Consortium is working to bolster after-school programs in California. Representatives of the organization will be meeting with lawmakers today toward that end, and a 10:30 a.m. rally on the west steps is expected to include Senators Mark Leno, Jean Fuller and Hannah-Beth Jackson, along with Assembly Members Richard Gordon and Joan Buchanan.

PHOTO CREDIT: The fate of the 16th district Senate seat formerly held by Michael Rubio, pictured here, will be a little clearer after today. By Felix Adamo / The Bakersfield Californian.

Immigrants from across California are arriving in Sacramento today to advocate for a package of immigration bills as part of an Immigrant Day organized by the California Immigrant Policy Center. Things kick off with a 10 a.m. rally on the north steps, expected to include Assembly Members Paul Fong, V. Manuel Perez, Holly Mitchell, Tom Ammiano and Rob Bonta, and Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski of the California Labor Federation.

They'll be emphasizing several different bills, among them one by Ammiano that would shield immigrants from deportation and another that would establish more protections for domestic workers; a driver's license bill by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville; a bill by Bonta that would allow lawful permanent residents to serve as precinct board members; and a bill by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, that would create an immigrant integration task force.

VIDEO: The gap between the Gov. Jerry Brown's revised May budget and the Legislative Analyst's Office's take foreshadows conflict between the governor and Democratic lawmakers, Dan Walters says.

THE CLIMATE, IT IS A CHANGIN': California's prospects for coping with climate change are the subject of a daylong event hosted by The Nature Conservancy and the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy today. Planned speakers include Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley; Senators Hannah-Beth Jackson, Kevin de León and Ted Lieu; Nancy McFadden from the Brown administration; David Nawi, senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for California and Nevada; and CA Department of Fish and Wildlife director Chuck Bonham. At the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria on I street, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

BROWN IN BERKELEY: Students graduating from Berkeley today will be hearing from a prominent alum: the governor of California, who graduated in 1961 with a degree in classics, is delivering a commencement address to political science students this morning, starting at 9 a.m.

FUNDING FEUD: We've already brought you news of rumblings from advocates and Democratic lawmakers who'd like to see the governor's budget do more to restore social service funding that's been pared back over the last few years. At an 11 a.m. rally on the south steps, Assembly Members Holly Mitchell and Shirley Weber will be stumping for a resolution that calls on the governor to put money back into early care and education programs.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy belated birthday to Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who turned 63 on Sunday.

PHOTO CREDIT: Hundreds of marchers make their way up Capitol Mall during an annual Cesar Chavez march in Sacramento, during which participants rallied for immigration reform. On Saturday, April 6, 2013 by Randall Benton/The Sacramento Bee.

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, right, is releasing his take on Gov. Jerry Brown's revised May budget today.

The LAO questioned Brown's higher education plan and generally approved of his school funding overhaul back in February.

SENIOR LOBBY DAY: The phrase "lobby day" conjures an image of interest groups holding a rally on the steps of the Capitol, some sympathetic legislators in tow, before proceeding inside to meet with lawmakers. The California Alliance for Retired Americans is taking a different approach today, and not just because elected officials have vacated Sacramento for the weekend.

Because the organization's members are spread out throughout the state, they'll be visiting their representatives at various district offices today -- as of Thursday morning, Capitol Alert was told 112 lawmakers could be expecting visits. The seniors are pressing in particular for a bill by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, that has to do with posting traffic warnings to protect the elderly and a bill by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, that would create a program to collect expired prescription drugs.

VIDEO: The debate over prison realignment has come to feel like a circular argument, Dan Walters says.

KAMALA ON GUN VIOLENCE: Attorney General Kamala Harris will be talking about ways to reduce gun violence today, in particular the illegal gun tracking program that has an additional $24 million coming its way. Joining Harris will be Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley and former Assemblyman Mike Feuer.

GREENLINING GABFEST: The Greenlining Institute is hosting a symposium today on California's changing demographics and economic outlook. Speakers will include Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and former Obama administration adviser Van Jones. Starting at 9 a.m. at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

GO FORTH, SAYS PELOSI: Students graduating from law school at UC Davis will be welcomed into the legal world today by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who will be speaking during a 4 p.m. campus ceremony.

COVERED CALIFORNIA We've brought you news of how the federal health care rollout is proceeding with community organizations across the state receiving outreach grants. Today, constituents who want to learn more about obtaining insurance can stop into a hearing co-hosted by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, and Peter Lee, head of the fledgling health insurance marketplace dubbed Covered California. Starting at 1:30 p.m. at the UC San Diego Hospital Auditorium.

PHOTO CREDIT: Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, in 2011. Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee.

Most of the delegations that visit Sacramento to meet with lawmakers have a few bills they're advocating for, or at least a vague agenda, but it's a little hard to press your cause if you lack opposable thumbs and the capacity for abstract reasoning. Yes, a team of "animal ambassadors" from SeaWorld will be dropping in on the State Capitol today to spread some furry cheer.

The current guest list includes two penguins, two lemurs, a kangaroo, a peregrine falcon and a boa. You can come say hello on the north steps from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Assuming they're not feeling too temperamental, the penguins and the lemurs will be venturing into the building, first to meet legislators in the Senate Lounge and then to drop in on the governor's office (hopefully they don't get spooked by the bronze bear).

VIDEO: The revised budget Gov. Jerry Brown released on Tuesday balances the state's finances only if you ignore a few big prevailing costs, Dan Walters says.

CARBON AND CLIMATE COSTS: We're now a few months into California's experiment with creating a carbon market as mandated by AB 32, and today a select committee on 32 implementation and climate change is parsing the results. Witnesses expected to testify include Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird, Mary Nichols of the California Air Resources Board, Alejandro Becerra of Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Dirk Forrister of the International Emissions Trading Association, Mark Fischer of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Linda Rudolph, director of public health for the city of Berkeley.

DELTA STEWARDS VOTE: Our watery week continues with a meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, an advisory agency that could vote on whether to lend its approval to the Delta conservation plan. The meeting runs all day and commences at 9 a.m., at 1250 Halyard Drive.

Meanwhile, the Department of Water Resources is holding the final of five public forums on its integrated regional water management plan. Instead of relying on a procession of speakers, the meetings are intended to be collaborative sessions where people stay for the duration. Today's workshop runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District building.

REGENTS REMAIN: Today is the second day of the University of California Regents' meeting at the Sacramento convention center. This morning features a couple of closed-door sessions on finance and compensation, followed by a public comment period before the meeting wraps up.

DRINKING AGE DEBATE: The University of California Center Sacramento is holding a talk today on public health lessons gleaned from Canada's lower drinking age. Carlos Dobkin of the University of California at Santa Cruz will be delivering "The Mechanisms of Alcohol Control" from noon to 1:30 p.m. at 1130 K Street.

WORKERS WITH BENEFITS: The California State Employees Association is holding a fair on the south steps this morning, where vendors from around California will offer information on various member benefits.

PHOTO CREDIT: Can you imagine these little guys giving a speech on the Senate floor? We can. Image courtesy of Mike Aguilera for SeaWorld.

Yesterday, Gov. Jerry Brown's budget and his proposal to overhaul K-12 funding dominated the conversation in Sacramento. Today, higher education gets its turn, with the University of California Board of Regents convening at the Sacramento Convention Center for a two-day meeting. UC President Mark G. Yudof and Regents Chair Sherry Lansing will deliver opening remarks.

In January, the ascendance of online education was the big story, especially given Brown's rare appearance at a Regents meeting to push for more online instruction. Today's meeting occurs against the backdrop of a potential strike by workers at UC medical centers, which the university hopes to block via the courts.

VIDEO: It's getting closer to budget time in Sacramento, which reminds Dan Walters of one of the most insidious trends in state politics.

STUDENTS DO THE GRADING: While the UC leadership discusses its agenda, UC students will publicly grade their elected representatives. The UC Student Association has scheduled a 12:30 p.m. press conference at the convention center to release a series of report cards gauging legislators' support for higher education.

LATINO LEADERSHIP: The Latino Community Foundation will hold a conference at the Sheraton Grand today, where the group will be welcomed by Aída Álvarez, former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the first Latina woman to hold a cabinet-level position, and Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles. An evening reception at the Mayahuel Tequila Museo, beginning at 4:30 p.m., is expected to feature speeches from Senators Mark Leno, Alex Padilla and Ben Hueso, along with Assembly members Shirley Weber, Mariko Yamada and Tom Ammiano.

SPECIAL DISTRICTS: The California Special Districts Association is in town for a two-day legislative conference. Today, attendees will hear keynote addresses from Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird, followed by roundtables hosted by organizations ranging from the California Public Employees' Retirement System to the California Association of Public Cemeteries.

OBAMACARE OVERTURE: Health care workers and advocates are mobilizing for a "Health Care Access 4 All" event today, where they will urge lawmakers to ensure the federal health care law goes into full effect. Speaking at the rally will be Senate Health Committee chair Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, and Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, doctors both. 11 a.m. on the east lawn.

OFF-RESERVATION GAMBLING: The Senate Committee on Governmental Organization is holding a hearing on a pair of compacts between California and two Native American tribes, the Wiyot and the North Fork Rancheria of Mono. The basic upshot is that the agreements, which the Assembly ratified a couple of weeks ago, would permit the North Fork tribe to build a casino far from its existing land. 1:30 p.m. in room 4203.

TOO FEW DROPS TO DRINK: Why has California been sitting on nearly half a billion dollars earmarked for improving water delivery systems? That's the topic of a Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing today, starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 3191.

SEA LEVELS KEEP ON RISIN': The Assembly Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy will hold a hearing today on, well, exactly what you just read. Expected to testify are Natural Resources Secretary John Laird and Cat Kuhlman of the California Ocean Protection Council. Starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 444.

BUDGET BACKLASH: Gov. Jerry Brown was pretty blunt yesterday about the prospects for boosting social service funding ("Anyone who thinks there's spare change around has not read the budget"), but today advocates from the Women's Foundation of California will rally for Brown to restore funding. They'll be on the north steps from 11:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: University of California President Mark G. Yudof addresses an assembly of high-achieving students. October 1, 2010 by Randy Pench/The Sacramento Bee.

At last, the fiscal moment we've all been waiting for. We'll get a better sense of where things stand on Gov. Jerry Brown's 2013-2014 budget after he releases the updated version during a 10 a.m. conference at the state Capitol.

The governor has been telegraphing restraint in the face of projections of a multi-billion dollar surplus, so it should be interesting to see how signs that California is back on fiscal terra firma manifest themselves in his new budget plan. Look for a heavy emphasis on Brown's much-discussed plan to overhaul education spending, which should also come into clearer focus with today's release.

VIDEO: Rather than do some serious work to clean up the tangled thicket of California's tax code, lawmakers are just trimming the edges, and Dan Walters says they will come to regret it.

BAY BRIDGE BACKLASH: The governor's take notwithstanding, lawmakers are sufficiently concerned about the structural issues and delays plaguing the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to have called a hearing. The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee will be hearing more from state auditor Elaine Howle about a recent report faulting the California Department of Transportation for testing lapses, and several different officials from Caltrans, including director Malcolm Dougherty, will also be testifying. Starting at 1:30 p.m. in room 4203.

SPECIAL ELECTION: It may get largely drowned out by the budget brouhaha, but today also features a special election to find a successor for former state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod's now-vacant seat in the 32nd district. A March primary winnowed the race to today's contest between Ontario mayor Paul Leon, a Republican, and Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona.

SEEKING SERVICES: A new budget release means a new opportunity for advocates to press their case, and today the Health and Human Services Network of California will be rallying across the state for restored social services funding. The Sacramento installment will feature a press conference in room 4202 after the governor has finished speaking.

NURSING NUMBERS: Speaking of health care-related demonstrations, the California Nurses Association is holding a 12:30 p.m. press conference on the south steps to discuss data on the gap between the costs hospitals incur and the fees they charge. CNA representatives will be joined by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, both of whom are authoring bills that the nurses are promoting: Wieckowski's would tighten the conditions hospitals would need to satisfy to claim nonprofit status and the associated tax benefits, while Yee's would have hospitals adopt violence protection plans.

COVERED COMMUNITIES: Covered California, the health insurance marketplace California has been busy setting up per the new federal health care law, is announcing 48 community partners who will help with the monumental task of getting Californians to participate. Board member Robert Ross and Executive Director Peter Lee are making the announcement today in Los Angeles.

WOMEN'S WORKPLACE WOES: Members of the Women's Caucus will be discussing workplace injuries common among women at a breakfast put on by the California Applicants' Attorneys Association. Sen. Hannah Beth-Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will be speaking, and Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, and Assembly members Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, and Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, are expected to attend. Starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Eureka room.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, who is 51 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown explains his initial 2013-2014 budget proposal during a press conference at the California Capitol in Sacramento. Thursday, January 10, 2013. Randall Benton/The Sacramento Bee.

Sen. Kevin de León and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, both Los Angeles Democrats, kick off the week by greeting a bunch of Los Angeles first-graders coming to the Capitol to promote solar power. Clean energy and schools are at the heart of a fight between de León and Gov. Jerry Brown over how to allocate half the roughly $1 billion expected from the tax code changes enacted by November's Proposition 39. Brown wants the money to go to schools and community colleges based on enrollment. De León says preference should be given to economically disadvantaged schools. It's probably just a coincidence that de León will be under the rotunda at 9:30 a.m. with dozens of children from Echo Park singing the Beatles' famous tune, "Here Comes the Sun."

APPROPS: Afterward, de León walks upstairs to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is scheduled to slog through nearly 100 bills today. Among those on the agenda: Senate Bill 700, by Sen. Lois Wolk, D- Davis, which would create a 5-cent tax on paper and plastic bags and direct the money toward local parks; and Senate Bills 491 and 493 by Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, which would expand the kinds of services nurse practitioners and pharmacists may offer - a huge area of conflict with the doctor lobby.

IMMIGRATION HOLDS: The lower house gavels down at noon, with plans to take up several bills including an immigration proposal by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Assembly Bill 4 is the San Francisco Democrat's second attempt to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants who are deported for minor infractions. The bill prohibits local law enforcement agencies from holding people they arrest for federal immigration authorities unless they've been convicted of a serious or violent felony. Last year Brown vetoed a similar measure, Assembly Bill 1081.

MOTHER'S MILK: We're not talking about money this time. Assemblyman Richard Pan and the Breastfeeding Coalition of Greater Sacramento will be honoring three companies today on the Capitol's West steps for being "Mother-Baby Friendly Workplaces." Employees of Golden 1 Credit Union, Aerojet and VSP Vision Care nominated their companies for providing comfortable spaces for them to pump breast milk at work after their babies were born.

PHOTO CREDIT: A press release from Environment California says students from Betty Plasencia Elementary School in Los Angeles will sing a Beatles tune inside the Capitol today. This 1967 photo by UPI Tony Gale / Pictorial Press London shows The Beatles: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison.

Interest in Delta water issues continues to rise as details of Gov. Jerry Brown's ambitious water project pour out. Part of what makes the governor's proposal so complex is that it doesn't just concern water delivery -- while the tunnels that would send water south are a big part of it, the blueprint also calls for restoring and preserving the ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Researchers and water officials will be discussing some of the hurdles to those goals during a half-day Public Policy Institute of California event today. Held at the Sheraton Grand on J Street, the "Prescriptions for a Healthier Delta Ecosystem" event will feature Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Peter Goodwin, lead scientist for the Delta Science Program; Mark Cowin, director of the California Department of Water Resources; Phil Isenberg, chair of the Delta Stewardship Council; Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; Felicia Marcus of the State Water Resources Control Board; and Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

VIDEO: The fog of secrecy enveloping California lawmaking has thickened, and Dan Walters says something needs to be done about it.

Do you have Mother's Day plans yet? (Capitol Alert has already mailed a card). Well, the California Domestic Workers Coalition does: It's hosting a Mother's Day breakfast this morning to honor domestic workers and to unveil a new report on the status of nannies, caregivers and housekeepers in the state. The event is co-sponsored by the Latino Legislative Caucus and the Legislative Women's Caucus.

The coalition has also sponsored Assembly Bill 241, carried by San Francisco Democrat Tom Ammiano, that would enshrine new labor protections for home workers. But organizers say that the breakfast isn't explicitly related to or promoting that bill. Find the event in the Capitol's room 125, following session.

VIDEO: Dan Walters wonders what's stronger: health-conscious California's aversion to smoking or legislative Democrats' desire to avoid raising taxes so soon after Proposition 30.

ANNYEONG, GOV. BROWN: Gov. Jerry Brown is racking up the facetime with Asian leaders. First came his business-boosting China trip. Today he is meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye at a noon luncheon in Los Angeles.

We here at Capitol Alert are happy to keep track of the various commemorative occasions that might otherwise escape your notice. For instance, it's National Charter Schools Week, and the California Charter Schools Association and its representatives will be at the state Capitol today for its 20th annual advocacy day, an event stretching back to the opening of the state's first charter school in 1993.

Assemblywomen Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, and Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, the respective chair and vice chair of the Assembly Education Committee, will be greeting parents and charter leaders during a 9 a.m. confab in a tent near the west steps. Attendees will meet lawmakers and, later on, head to a committee meeting in room 126, where legislators will consider a bill that would hold charter schools to some of the same conflict-of-interest standards as district schools.

VIDEO: School districts are increasingly passing the stable-finance test, but Dan Walters says not to celebrate just yet.

The lobby day carousel continues to spin. Today it's the turn of the Consumer Attorneys of California, who will be in town to urge lawmakers to oppose a handful of bills, advocate for more funding for the court system and push to lift a $250,000 cap on damages in medical malpractice cases established by the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. Representatives will start the day with a breakfast address from Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, and dine on a luncheon address from Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Los Angeles.

VIDEO: Dan Walters is surprised to see a faint glimmer of cooperation at the Capitol, particularly on an issue as volatile as immigration.

PRO TEM PRISON PLAN: With California's standoff with the federal government over prison overpopulation continuing to smolder, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is holding a 10 a.m. press conference in room 211 on his plan to ease the strain on California's correctional system and raise the quality of mental health care.

ONLINE GAMBLING: Capitol Weekly and the University of California Sacramento Center are sponsoring an event that takes a look at the business and politics of online gambling today. Speakers are expected to include Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, who has authored a bill to regulate online gambling; Assembly Governmental Organization Committee chair Isadore Hall, D-Compton; and Leslie Lohse of the California Tribal Business Alliance. At 1215 K Street.

LONG-TERM CARE: As The State Worker's Jon Ortiz has been reporting, people who bought private long-term insurance plans via CalPERS are bracing for painful premium hikes. The the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee is examining the implications today during a hearing that starts at 2 p.m. in room 127.

TOBACCO AWARENESS: Representatives from local health departments and community organizations will be meeting with lawmakers at the State Capitol today as part of an event organized by the American Lung Association's Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing. The day will be bracketed by a morning address from Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, in the morning and Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, in the afternoon.

HIGHER EDUCATION: Have you been thinking about the future of California's public universities and the students they produce? If so, you're in luck: a Public Policy Institute of California event in San Francisco will be taking a look with a conference headlined by University of California President Mark Yudof at the Bechtel Conference Center in San Francisco, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: A statue of Lady Liberty who holds the scales of Justice on the Washoe County Court House in Virginia City, Nevada. Jebb Harris/the Orange County Register.

After legalizing medical pot back in 1996, California has lagged behind decriminalization standard-bearers such as Colorado and Washington state. Americans for Safe Access and its California counterpart are in Sacramento today, arguing for updated legal standards as part of their lobby day.

Bills of interest include Assembly Bill 473, which would establish a marijuana-regulation arm within the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Senate Bill 283, which would keep people convicted of drug offenses from losing their eligibility for CalWORKs and CalFresh.

Separately, marijuana activists will be protesting a crackdown on dispensaries with a series of rallies across California. The demonstrations, organized by the Patient Advocacy Network, include a noon protest outside the Sacramento Federal Building. The cannabis confluence is apparently a coincidence -- Americans for Safe Access and the Patient Advocacy Network did not coordinate their efforts, a spokeswoman tells Capitol Alert.

Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to challenge the federal government over California's prison population is a "win-win" for the governor, Dan Walters says.

PEACE OFFICERS MEMORIAL: The California Peace Officers Memorial Foundation is holding a ceremony today to honor officers who have fallen in the line of duty. The service is this morning, near the California Police Officer Memorial off 10th Street. The memorialized officers are Deputy Robert Lee Paris Jr. of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and Officer Kenyon M. Youngstrom of the California Highway Patrol. Speakers at the ceremony will include Gov. Jerry Brown, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joseph Farrow and Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana.

LATINO SPIRIT AWARDS: The California Latino Legislative Caucus hosts its 12th annual Latino Spirit Awards celebration to honor leaders for the work in public service, film, athletics, literature and art. Honorees this year include former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who previously served in both the state Senate and the Assembly. Click here to see the full list and their bios. They'll receive their awards on the Assembly floor.

MOTORCYCLE MANDATES: Bike enthusiasts from the American Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education are rolling into town today for a "motorcycle and freedom awareness" rally on the east steps at 11 a.m. (apparently we are in the midst of National Motorcycle Awareness Month). Expected attendees include Sens. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar; Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield; Rod Wright, D-Inglewood; and Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres; as well as Assembly members Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks; Brian Jones, R-Santee; Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga; and Marie Waldron, R-Escondido.

EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE: In honor of California-Mexico Advocacy Day, a delegation from our neighbors down south will be meeting with legislators today. In keeping with this year's theme of bolstering California and Mexico working together on higher education, Mexican higher education officials will be meeting with representatives from the University of California system and the Senate's Select Committee on California-Mexico Cooperation is holding a 3:30 p.m. hearing on educational exchanges.

PHOTO CREDIT: An employee collects money from customers after they bought marijuana at HopeNet in San Francisco. Paul Kitagaki Jr./ Sacramento Bee file, 2012

California lawmakers are honoring former state senator Dave Cox today with a ceremony christening the Highway 50 interchange at Hazel Avenue as the Sen. Dave Cox Memorial Interchange.

Husband-and-wife legislator team Sen. Ted Gaines and Assemblywoman Beth Gaines, both Rocklin Republicans, will be joined by Cox family members as well as Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan and others in commemorating the longtime legislator at 10:30 a.m.

Cox was first elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving for six years in the Assembly. He died in 2010 at age 72. The interchange isn't far from where he'd lived.

FISCAL BILL DEADLINE: Today is the last day for policy committees to hear and report fiscal bills to fiscal committees -- so, because there are no committee meetings on the file today, the deadline has for all intents and purposes passed. Here at Capitol Alert, we know a thing or two about keeping up with deadlines.

VIDEO: Dan Walters is perplexed by the fact that California's relatively high gasoline taxes don't translate into less traffic and better roads.

The clock is ticking: Federal judges have given Gov. Jerry Brown until midnight tonight to file a plan for reducing California's prison inmate population.

Brown said when he was in China last month that his administration would prepare to release as many as 10,000 prisoners if the state isn't released from the court order demanding the reduction.

"We're going to try to find the nicest of the nice, but I have to tell you, it's harder to get into prison now," the governor said then, as David Siders reported from Shenzhen.

The clock is also ticking for implementation of the new federal health care law, and many people don't understand what it does. In fact, four in 10 Americans surveyed recently aren't even sure the law still exists.

A University of California Center Sacramento event today tries to cut through the confusion, breaking down what exactly it will mean when the Covered California health insurance exchange is up and running.

Appearing on the discussion panel will be David Chase, director of Small Business Majority's California operations; Ken Jacob, a labor specialist at the UC Berkeley Labor Center; David Panush, director of external affairs for Covered California; and Daniel Weintraub, editor of the California Health Report (and a former member of The Sacramento Bee's editorial board). Noon to 1:30 p.m. at 1130 K St.

VIDEO: A legislative committee made it look easy by unanimously approving a CEQA reform bill by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, but Dan Walters says there is a long slog ahead.

CONSTRUCTION PLANNING: The Assembly Budget Committee is taking up some bills today that would govern new building projects. A bill by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, would required five-year infrastructure plans offered by the governor to incorporate housing construction, and a separate bill from Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would put money toward an Alameda County courthouse construction project.

IMMIGRATION RALLY: Organizing for Action, the nonprofit that has morphed from a cog in President Barack Obama's campaign machine to a tool for pushing Obama's second-term agenda, is organizing a rally outside the office of Sen. Barbara Boxer to encourage the California senator to keep pushing for a comprehensive immigration reform bill. From noon to 2 p.m. at 501 I St.

BOXER HONORED: Speaking of Boxer, she's the keynote speaker tonight at an event put on by the organization Emerge CA, which focuses on getting more Democratic women elected to public office. The event is at San Francisco City Hall.

PHOTO CREDIT: A guard watches from a tower at Pelican Bay State Prison near Crescent City. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press file, 2011

Students First, the Sacramento-based education advocacy group headed by school reform crusader (and wife of Sacramento major Kevin Johnson) Michelle Rhee, has launched a major blitz in advance of a hearing today on Senate Bill 441, a union-opposed teacher evaluation bill that was granted reconsideration after registering a 4-4 committee vote last week, with Democrats and Republicans on both sides.

The push has included an email blast inviting supporters to organize and train ahead of the hearing, a radio spot and a full-page ad in Tuesday's edition of The Sacramento Bee. It looks unlikely that SB 441 will make it to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, but Students First is clearly flexing its muscle on this one. The bill goes before the Senate Education Committee at a 9 a.m. hearing in room 4203.

VIDEO: Gov. Jerry Brown talks about dismantling California's "wall of debt," but Dan Walters says the governor is ignoring a mountain of liabilities looming beyond it.

CEQA OVERHAUL: There's already been plenty of back-and-forth about the prospects of amending the California Environmental Quality Act. Today a series of CEQA bills, including one by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, get a hearing before the Environmental Quality Committee today, starting at 12:30 p.m.

DAIRY DIALECTIC: To the annals of fascinating Capitol interest clashes you can add a dispute between the milk and cheese industries. They're feuding over AB 31, which would alter how California prices its milk, which cheese producers say would damage their bottom line. The bill goes before the Agriculture Committee today at 1:30, in room 126.

TOBACCO TAX: Health advocates are rallying at the Capitol in support of a bill by Senator Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, that would hike the price of cigarettes. Representatives of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association in California will be joining de León at 12:30 p.m. on the west steps.

LABOR PROTECTION: Labor and immigration advocates are joining Assemblyman Roger Hernández, D-West Covina, today for a press conference backing Assembly Bill 263, which would strengthen workplace protections, including for immigrant workers (Steinberg highlighted similar bills yesterday). Art Pulaski of the California Labor Federation, Gabriela Villareal of the California Immigrant Policy Center and Jeannette Zanipatin of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund will be at the 11 a.m. press conference, in room 317.

FOSTERING ADVOCACY: The governor has drawn praise for his plan to streamline school funding by eliminating specific funding streams called "categoricals," but that doesn't mean everyone is happy. Current and former foster youth with the organization California Youth Connection are rallying on the north steps at 8 a.m. this morning to protest the fact that Brown's budget proposal would do away with Foster Youth Services programs as a categorical administered by the County Offices of Education.

On a related note: back in the 20th century, The Bee wrote about a young woman named Ida Lockett who was struggling to overcome an upbringing that shuttled her between different foster homes. Lockett went on to found California Youth Connection, and tonight she will be honored, along with Steinberg, at a celebration of CYC's 25th anniversary.

PHOTO CREDIT: Michelle Rhee during a Sacramento Press Club appearance on May 24, 2010, when Rhee was still chancellor of the Washington DC Public Schools system. By Manny Crisostomo/The Sacramento Bee.

And now, back to real news: the highly anticipated 39th annual Capitol Frog Jump comes to Sacramento today, where ambitious amphibians will compete for the honors of shortest hop, longest hop and media winner (a designation that of course applies to frogs specifically, since the title for the media's overall favorite California animal is pretty well locked up).

Sponsored by Sen. Tom Berryhill, R-Oakdale, the event starts at 11 a.m. on the east lawn and will feature entrants such as Notorious H.O.P., Term Ribbits II and The Frog Formally known as Prince. To read the Mark Twain tale "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" that was the inspiration for the event (Berryhill's district includes Calaveras County), click here.

VIDEO: Proposals that would require bills to be in print three days before a vote test the Democratic supermajority's commitment to an open process, Dan Walters says.

MUSLIM ADVOCACY: Today is also Muslim Day at the State Capitol, organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR informs Capitol Alert that they'll be focusing on three specific priorities: Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's immigration bill AB 4, Ammiano's domestic workers rights bill AB 241, and a CAIR-authored resolution, currently without a carrier, that would underscore the need to protect free speech on college campuses.

DELTA PLAN: Gov. Jerry Brown's complex and contentious plan to overhaul water delivery and environmental preservation in the Delta gets a hearing today before the Senate's Select Committee on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 112.

IMMIGRANT WORKERS: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, is holding a press conference this morning to promote bills that would enshrine new labor protections for immigrants. SB 666 would prohibit suppressing workplace claims by threatening to report the status of immigrants who speak up; SB 516 would tighten regulations of foreign contractors. The presser is at 11.30 a.m. in room 211.

IMMIGRATION STARS ALIGN: There's an impressive roster of current and former elected officials on tap for a talk about immigration reform today at the University of Southern California. Expected to attend are Sen. John McCain, R-AZ and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO, members of the bipartisan "gang of 8" that recently produced an immigration overhaul bill; former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and former president of Mexico Vicente Fox, whose once worked with President George W. Bush on an immigration overhaul. From 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at USC's Town and Gown ballroom.

ANOTHER FRACKING HEARING: Part of the Legislature's stated reason for pursuing new rules on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been that the draft regulations proposed by a Department of Conservation agency aren't strong or clear enough. The last in a statewide series of public hearings on the proposed fracking rules is today, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Monterey, starting at noon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Calaveras County champion frog handler Brent Bloom shows a youngster how to hold a frog at last year's Capitol Frog Jump. On May 2, 2012 by Manny Crisostomo/The Sacramento Bee.

It's Queer Youth Advocacy Day at the State Capitol, which means lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youngsters will be rallying at a 10:45 a.m. press conference on the north steps. They are expected to be joined by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, Richard Gordon, D-Menlo Park, and Susan Eggman, D-Stockton.

The advocates are focusing on two bills in particular: AB 420, a student discipline bill, and AB 1266, which would allow students to participate in sex-segregated activities and use school facilities in accordance with their gender identities.

WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT: Friday brought the latest installment in a recurring dispute over women being under-represented in Sacramento politics panels. An event today by the organization California Women Lead, an organization devoted to getting more women into leadership positions, aims to help reduce those discrepancies in the ranks of public officeholders.

A daylong conference at the Residence Inn Sacramento Downtown will feature a morning panel with Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo and Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, a lunchtime address from State Board of Equalization member Betty Yee and an evening reception expected to be attended by nearly 20 female lawmakers.

DIAL M FOR MORATORIUM: The contentious national debate over hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," has been bubbling to the surface in Sacramento this session. Today, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee is taking on a trio of bills that would nix the practice for the foreseeable future -- a controversial proposition, considering how energy industry advocates worried about a potential moratorium measure embedded in a bill by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills. 1:30 p.m. in room 447.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Also before an Assembly committee today is a raft of bills dealing with how California, per Proposition 39, will channel new revenue from eliminating a corporate tax break towards energy efficiency upgrade projects. The Utilities And Commerce Committee is hearing proposals starting at 3 p.m. in room 437.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, delivers the Pledge of Allegiance during LGBT Pride Month. June 14, 2010 by Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee.

The notion of California being transformed from national poster state for dysfunction to leader was a recurring theme during the California Democratic Party convention, and talk of California getting back on the road to prosperity has become even more popular as we get reports of fiscal stability. A symposium today is taking a more rigorous look at such sunny claims.

The UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies is hosting the day-long event at the University of California Sacramento Center, 1130 K St. Listed speakers include Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, the Department of Finance's H.D. Palmer and a bushel of political scientists. Shameless plug: Bee political editor Amy Chance will also be moderating a morning panel on the budget. Click here for more information.

LINKED LEARNING: The concept of educational pathways tailored to specific careers is back in the spotlight during a conference on a linked learning pilot program created by legislation in 2011. Educators from some of the 63 districts participating in the program will be at the Sheraton Grand today -- Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who earlier this year spearheaded (and evidently really enjoyed) a Senate expedition to check out linked learning in Long Beach, will not be there, but we're told he recorded a video.

STUDENT AID: The California Student Aid Commission is meeting in Rancho Cordova, where its audit committee will be discussing Cal Grants, among other things, starting at noon at 11040 White Rock Road.

THIS LAND IS OUR LAND: The California State Lands Commission is also meeting today. In addition to sorting through lease applications, they will be considering where to stand on some federal legislation and on a few bills before the state Legislature, including single-use bag ban bills by Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, and by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles. Starting at 10 a.m. at 828 I St.

BEACH BONFIRES: Controversy has been swirling around the California tradition of beach bonfires -- William A. Burke stepped down from the California Coastal Commission last week amid questions about his role in a debate over banning the shoreline blazes. Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, is drawing a charred line in the sand this Sunday with a Huntington Beach bonfire rally aimed at ensuring such bonfire rallies remain legal. From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: California Highway 49 sign. Randy Pench / Sacramento Bee file, 2002

Swordfish, salmon, crustaceans and sea urchins are some of the agenda items before the Legislature today. The 40th annual Fisheries Forum is in town, and lawmakers who sit on the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture will hear from scientists, conservationists and fishermen representing locales from San Diego to San Mateo County.

Also appearing before the committee will be John Laird, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency and chair of its Ocean Protection Council; Charlton Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; and Sonke Mastrup, executive director of the California Fish and Game Commission. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's room 447.

Four Senate budget subcommittees are also meeting to consider elements of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan. The one on education, for instance, will be looking at his proposals for the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges systems. Click here for the Senate daily file.

If you're getting the impression that things are more casual at the California Capitol today, it may be because some lawmakers are wearing jeans in honor of Denim Day, a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month intended intended to highlight that outfit choices are never an excuse for sexual assault.

A 10 a.m. rally on the west steps is expected to feature Democratic Sens. Noreen Evans of Santa Rosa, Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, Ellen Corbett of San Leandro, Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara and Kevin de León of Los Angeles, and Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens.

INDIAN CASINOS: The Governmental Organization Committee is holding an informational hearing today on where two Native American tribes should be allowed to build their casinos, an issue that has sparked debate about whether tribes should be able to operate casinos far from their land. The hearing begins after the committee wraps up its business on other bills, which it will dig into at 1:30 p.m. in room 4202.

STUDENTS FIRST: Also on our radar today is a bill by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, that deals with teacher evaluation. We brought you news earlier of how education reform crusader Michelle Rhee's Sacramento-based organization StudentsFirst has had a light legislative fingerprint thus far, but StudentsFirst advises us that it's supporting Calderon's Senate Bill 441. It comes up for a vote in the Senate Education Committee, which meets at 9 a.m. in room 4203.

SUPERINTENDENTS GET AUDIENCE: Speaking of education, Gov. Jerry Brown is meeting this morning with school superintendents from across California to discuss his plan for overhauling how school funding is doled out. The closed-door meeting is happening at the state Capitol.

IMMIGRATION REFORM: Several Catholic bishops and archbishops -- including Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto and Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez -- will be talking (in English and in Spanish) about federal immigration reform and its impact in California at a news conference at Sacramento's Citizen Hotel. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. in the hotel's Library Room at 10th and J streets.

DOMESTIC WORKERS: It's been a big week for rallies related to bills carried by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco. Homeless Californians gathered Monday to support his so-called homeless "bill of rights," and today domestic workers rally at 10:30 a.m. on the east steps in support of his Assembly Bill 241, which would set labor standards for domestic workers.

EDUCATION LAWSUIT: The American Civil Liberties Union of California and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center are announcing a lawsuit against the state for allegedly falling short in instructing English language learners at public schools. The news conference starts at 10:30 a.m. at the ACLU of Southern California's Los Angeles offices.

SWINGERS: How do you get lawmakers to participate in your event? Incorporating golf can't hurt. The California Physical Therapy Association is offering free screenings to elected officials and their staff on the east lawn of the Capitol today, including a chance to gauge their grip strength and swing mechanics.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jeans, the iconic denimwear. Autumn Payne / Sacramento Bee file, 2006

Crime and punishment is in the spotlight today. Against a backdrop of lawmakers seeking to limit the scope of prison realignment and Gov. Jerry Brown insisting California's prisons now pass constitutional muster, the relatives of crime victims are rallying in Sacramento.

The event is organized by the organization Crime Victims United, honoring National Crime Victims Rights Week. They'll be setting up booths and holding a press conference on the west steps of the State Capitol building this morning. Brown, who has challenged federal rulings holding that California's prisons still do not pass constitutional muster, is set to deliver a keynote address around 12:15 p.m.

Several realignment-related bills, governing things like parole and crimes that would carry a state prison sentence, are also going before the Senate Public Safety Committee, which convenes for a hearing at 9 a.m. in room 3191, and the Assembly Public Safety Committee in (room 126, 9 a.m.).

Topping it off will be a public hearing on the repercussions of realignment in Sacramento County featuring Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully, and Sacramento County Supervisors Susan Peters and Roberta MacGlashan. At the Carmichael Clubhouse from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

OBAMACARE INCOMING: The board of Covered California, the fledgling health insurance exchange the state is setting up per the Affordable Care Act, is holding a meeting at the Secretary of State Office Auditorium on 11th street.

VETERANS SERVICES The Little Hoover Commission is conducting a hearing today on the state of veteran's services in California. 9:30 a.m. at the Employment Development Department Auditorium, 722 Capitol Mall.

A few other bills of note on the agenda at today:

TICKET TACTICS: We brought you news earlier of a ticket tussle pitting Ticketmaster against StubHub, with the two ticket titans vying over the rules that govern resale. Assembly Bill 329 goes before the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee today.

DRUGGED DRIVING: You may also recall a bill by Sen. Lou Correa that seeks to establish a zero-tolerance policy for anyone caught driving with a detectable amount of drugs in their system. Senate Bill 289 goes before the Public Safety Committee committee today.

PRESCRIPTION PROMPTS: The California Medical Association has sponsored a bill, carried by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, that would block pharmacists from recommending their patients switch drugs because of financial incentives to make the swap. Assembly Bill 670 bill goes before the Business, Professions and Consumer Protection committee today.

Happy birthday to Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, who is 48 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff Chris Carroll opens a cell at a formerly closed housing unit at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, in Elk Grove, California. Sept. 27, 2011, by Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo.

Happy Earth Day! The annual celebration of all things nature may have lost some of its luster since its debut back in 1970, but it still gets attention in environmentally conscious California.

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and former Gov. Jerry Brown adviser Michael Picker, now with SMUD, are using the occasion to showcase programs reducing energy consumption at the Capitol building and the Legislative Office Building, including heating and cooling upgrades and the installation of 1,500 LED lights. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol's room 317. Skinner will also be installing a new, more energy-efficient LED light in the Assembly chambers.

VIDEO INTERLUDE: Members of the Assembly "Surf Caucus" -- that would be Democrats Das Williams , Ian Calderon, and Al Muratsuchi (pictured above) -- surf, talk about surfing, and encourage Californians to participate in Earth Day festivities, all to soothing music. Paid for by the Assembly.

SCOPE OF PRACTICE: We've been chronicling how, with the Affordable Care Act poised to produce a surge of newly-insured patients, medical professionals are scrambling for a slice of the pie. A trio of scope-of-practice bills that would expand the professional spheres of nurse practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists, respectively -- all sponsored by Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina -- go before the Business, Professions And Economic Development Committee today.

UNDOCUMENTED DRIVERS: Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, has been a vocal supporter of the push in Congress for an immigration overhaul. He has sponsored a bill that revives the debate over giving driver's licenses to undocumented workers. Assembly Bill 60 goes before the Assembly Transportation Committee today at 1 p.m. in room 4202.

WORKING SOCIAL: It's lobby day for the California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. That includes an 11 a.m. rally on the north steps, expected to include Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, and Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, -- both licensed social workers -- as well as Assembly members Richard Gordon, D-Menlo Park, Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, Alejo, Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, and Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, and Sens. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara.

Social work students will fan out across the Capitol to make the case for AB 252, which concerns social worker credentialing, SB 61, which limits the use of solitary confinement with juveniles, and AB 663, which concerns residential care facility administrators.

CELEBRATIONS: Happy birthday to Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, who is 58 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, appears in a video celebrating Earth Day Screenshot from a video produced by the California Assembly.

You might associate automated cars with futuristic movies starring a certain former California governor, but they're closer to becoming a reality. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to regulate the fledgling industry in September, and today the California Department of Motor Vehicles is seeking public input.

The DMV workshop will be the first of its kind, an opportunity for participants to weigh in and offer comments on what forthcoming regulations on driverless cars should contain. Starting at 10 a.m. in the Department of General Services auditorium, located at 707 Third Street in West Sacramento.

VIDEO: Lawmakers should spend a little less time brainstorming Tax Day perks for their constituents and a little more time on state business, Dan Walters says.

Nothing like returning from travel abroad to a reminder of the deadlines that drew closer while you were gone. With Gov. Jerry Brown returning from his business-bolstering voyage to China, the leaders of health committees from both houses will be pushing him today to move on expanding Medi-Cal.

Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, and Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, are holding a press conference this morning urging the governor to move quickly on enlarging California's Medi-Cal rolls (the federal health care law ensures that, for the first few years, the federal government picks up the tab for the expansion). They will be joined by Laphonza Butler, president of SEIU California, and Anthony Wright of Health Access California. 11 a.m. in room 317.

VIDEO: Brown seemed impressed by the speed with which the Chinese government is able to tackle some projects. Dan Walters says that praise is probably misplaced.

LABOR LAWS: Members of the California Society for Human Resource Management will be at the Capitol today promoting a pair of bills, SB 607 and AB 907, that would exempt employers from the requirement to pay overtime after eight hours of work in a day.

SHINE ON: The University of California Center Sacramento is hosting a talk today on the sun's role in climate change -- like most relationships, it's more complicated than you think. From noon to 1:30 at 1130 K Street, featuring Dan Lubin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

EDUCATION VIEWS: The governor's plan to overhaul school funding has been pretty well dissected in the Legislature by now -- today the Public Policy Institute of California takes a look at how the constituents feel with a lunchtime talk examining Californians' perspectives on education. From noon to 1:30 p.m. in the basement of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on 11th and K streets.

EDUCATION SUMMIT: Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, is also delving into education today with a conference at Fullerton College. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Campus Theatre facility.

SAC STATE SENATORS: A couple of high-powered alums are attending a "Hornets Policy and Politics" event for former Sacramento State University students tonight. Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, and Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton will be hosting the get together -- Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, who is not an alum but taught at Sac State, will also be there. Starting at 5:30 p.m. at Cafeteria 15L.

JOB MOVE: Former assemblyman, state senator and California Community Colleges chancellor Jack Scott has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission.

Happy birthday to Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who is 66 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: "They're doing what in Sacramento without me?" April 16, 2013 by Vincent Yu/The Associated Press.

The avalanche of advocacy days continues today with "Stand Up, Speak Out," a push for policies that affect disabled and autistic Californians.

Things kick off with an 11 a.m. press conference on the Capitol's west steps featuring autism and special needs advocates alongside Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana and Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles.

VIDEO: Given how few inmates have been executed in California, Dan Walters wonders whether reinstating the death penalty has really altered the status quo.

GAY THERAPY: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is hearing arguments in a case challenging Senate Bill 1172, a 2012 measure that prohibits counseling aimed at "curing" minors of their homosexual urges.

It's a busy day for interest groups at the California Capitol today, with a few heavy hitters marshaling their allies and meeting with lawmakers. Here's a quick rundown:

LABOR GETS SAUCY: It's the second day of the California Labor Federation's "joint legislative conference." Today's planned events include an 11 a.m. rally on the north steps of the State Capitol, featuring giant vats of gravy symbolizing corporate tax breaks. Addressing the crowd will be Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, Board of Equalization member Betty Yee, Art Pulaski of the California Labor Federation, Yvonne Walker of SEIU Local 1000 and Willie L. Pelote Sr. of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Participants will fan out after to meet lawmakers and hand them jars of gravy.

DOCTORS DIAGNOSE SHORTAGE: The California Medical Association is hosting its "legislative leadership conference" at the Sheraton Grand, which will feature addresses from executive director of Covered California Peter Lee, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, California Republican Party chair Jim Brulte and former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, whose Mercury Public Affairs has been retained by the California Medical Association.

There has already been a fair amount of attention in Sacramento to prescription drug abuse -- earlier this year, grieving parents testified that the California Medical Board hasn't done enough to crack down on unscrupulous doctors who overprescribe. Today the Legislature is taking up bills to deal with the issue.

First comes an 11 a.m. press conference trumpeting Senate Bill 809, by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, which would bolster a Department of Justice program that allows pharmacists and prescribers to better track prescription data and identify patterns of abuse. Attorney General Kamala Harris is sponsoring the bill and will be at the press conference, in room 3191 of the State Capitol, after which the bill will go before the Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development.

The committee will also take up Senate Bill 62, by Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, which would require coroners to file a report with the state Medical Board if they uncover information linking a death to prescription drugs.

VIDEO: What do Gov. Jerry Brown and George Wallace, the segregation-era governor of Alabama, have in common? Dan Walters will tell you.

FOOTBALL INJURIES: DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the National Football League Players Association, and a special team of retired and active professional athletes are in town to lobby against Assembly Bill 1309, a bill that would exempt athletes who play for non-California teams from being covered by California's workers' compensation laws. They will be holding a press conference on the north steps at 1 p.m.

AMMO TAX: Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, is holding a press conference for a bill that would impose a 5-cents-a-bullet tax on ammunition sold in California and use the proceeds to fund school-based mental health programs. Dickinson will be urging passage of Assembly Bill 760 at an 11 a.m. event at the William Land Elementary School library.

FIRE FEE: Republicans are taking another shot at repealing a fire fee on rural residents after a bill by Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, died in committee last week. This time measures by Assemblyman Mike Morrell (Assembly Bill 124) and Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (Assembly Bill 23) are scheduled to go before the Assembly Natural Resources Committee at 2 p.m. during its hearing this afternoon. Also on tap is Assembly Bill 468 by the committee's chairman, Democrat Wesley Chesbro, which would repeal the fire fee and impose a surcharge on commercial and residential insurance policies.

D.C. DELEGATION: Elected officials and business types from the Sacramento region are holding meetings in Washington, D.C. this week for a "Capitol-to-Capitol" program hosted by the Sacramento Metro Chamber.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bereaved families who lost a loved one to prescription drug overuse rallied on the steps of the Sacramento State Capitol after asking for the California Medical Board to be disbanded on March 11, 2013. By Renée C. Byer/The Sacramento Bee.

You might have already gathered this from a certain buzz in the air around the Sacramento Convention Center and the Sheraton Grand Hotel, but delegates are arriving in Sacramento today from across the state for the California Democratic Party's annual convention.

The list of speakers for the weekend confab runs long. It includes Controller John Chiang, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Attorney General Kamala Harris, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

Also on the agenda are Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, Democratic National Committee Vice-Chair Maria Elena Durazo, the California Labor Federation's Art Pulaski, California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

The schedule doesn't portend much drama, but it will include an election to determine the party's next secretary. The man now holding the post, first-term Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles, is not seeking re-election.

Things kick off with a couple of shindigs tonight. The Pro Active Democrats are hosting a party, featuring DJ Quik, in the Sheraton's magnolia ballroom. Rep. Tony Cardenas, state Sen. Alex Padilla, and Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra are expected to attend. There will also be a "live from the blue carpet" party (get it?) honoring Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, at the Assembly Night Club on K Street, with DJ Spinderella of Salt-n-Pepa.

VIDEO: Dan Walters takes a look at the single largest chunk of California's economy -- a sector that he expects to keep growing.

Early childhood education has gained some traction as a strategy for reducing schooling discrepancies -- President Barack Obama called for universal pre-K in his State of the Union speech this year -- and advocates are hosting a conference on the issue this week at the Sheraton Hotel in Sacramento.

Today is the second day of the symposium, co-hosted by the Advancement Project, Proposition 38 backer Molly Munger's group. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson gives opening remarks this morning after former state schools chief Delaine Eastin welcomes the group.

Other listed speakers include Erin Gabel of the California Department of Education, Thomas Schultz of the Council of Chief State School Officers, California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel, Democratic Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles, and Republican Assemblyman Brian Nestande of Palm Desert. Munger moderates an afternoon panel on funding priorities.

VIDEO While Gov. Jerry Brown is making his case in China, his agenda is starting to unravel in Sacramento, Dan Walters says.

Lawmakers from both parties are joining a press conference this morning to back Assembly Bill 900, by Democrat Luis Alejo of Watsonville, which would undo Medi-Cal cuts to hospital-based skilled nursing services.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway of Tulare, Assemblyman Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, and Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, are also expected to attend the event, which starts at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's room 317.

VIDEO: Encouraging data about high school graduation rates also contains some puzzling discrepancies, Dan Walters says.

Online privacy: Attorney General Kamala Harris is speaking at a symposium on consumer privacy and app development, exploring safeguards for personal information collected online and via mobile apps. Her talk starts at 9:15 a.m. at the Runway SF in San Francisco, 1355 Market St.

It's lobby day for the California Federation of Teachers, which means members of the state's second-biggest teachers union (after the California Teachers Association) are in Sacramento to petition lawmakers.

Among the bills that union members will emphasize are a teacher dismissal bill by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, AB 375; as well as CFT-sponsored bills SB 657, a teacher evaluation bill by Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego; AB 1199, a community college funding bill by Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Cupertino; and AB 507, a retirement bill by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens.

VIDEO: California has too many lawyers and not enough nurses -- so why, Dan Walters wonders, did UC Irvine persist in its plan to build a law school?

A few other notable bills that are going to committee today:

A joint legislative hearing this morning looks at California's State Athletic Commission, the embattled regulatory body that State Auditor Elaine Howle recently flagged as a candidate for the ax.

The auditor's report faulted the commission, which is responsible for regulating sports like boxing and mixed martial arts, for mishandling its finances and doing a shoddy job of reporting and documenting inspections.

(For an excellent tale of the inherent risks of the violent sport of mixed martial arts, also called MMA, by The Bee's Melody Gutierrez, click here.)

The commission has traveled a winding road in recent years -- the Legislature briefly allowed it to sunset in 2006 before recreating it as an independent board -- and it again faces potential dissolution.

Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, cited "significant and ongoing" concerns when he announced today's hearing, a joint affair conducted by the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee; the Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee; and the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in the Capitol's room 4203.

VIDEO: A plan to entice the Kings into staying in Sacramento contradicts voters' will, Dan Walters says.

ACLU: Today is the last day of the American Civil Liberties Union of California's lobby day conference in Sacramento. It will feature a noon rally for immigration reform (north steps), which Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, is expected to attend, followed by afternoon meetings with lawmakers.

The focus there will be on three ACLU sponsored bills: Assembly Bill 4, an immigration bill by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco; Assembly Bill 649, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which would give district attorneys more flexibility to charge drug offenses as misdemeanors rather than felonies; Assembly Bill 154, by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, which would allow non-doctor medical professionals to perform abortions; and Assembly Bill 420 from Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, which deals with student discipline.

No smoking: Hundreds of young Californians are converging on the state Capitol today for a rally against tobacco. Assemblyman Das Williams, D- Santa Barbara, is joining them for a 1 p.m. rally on the west steps. The event is sponsored by the California Youth Advocacy Network, which is holding an annual advocacy in Sacramento today with a focus on clean air.

Student loans: Representatives of the youth vote are also going to be present on the south steps for an 11:30 a.m. rally for bills that take on mounting student debt. Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, who will be speaking, has authored a package of legislation which he's collectively referring to as the Student Bill of Rights.

He's back: Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in southern California today, joining scientists and researchers on a panel about tackling climate change. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the University of Southern California's Lewis Hall.

PHOTO CREDIT: A World Extreme Cagefighting fighter works out in Sacramento on June 4, 2009. Manny Crisostomo / Sacramento Bee.

The Libertarian Party of California, which is holding its convention at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento this weekend, is hosting a rally nearby on the Capitol's west steps today from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with longshot gubernatorial candidate Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, scheduled to speak.

While Libertarians outline ways to make inroads among the state's voters, an organization founded by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, will be brainstorming avenues to a California Republican revival. The California Trailblazers' candidate school will be meeting Saturday, also at the Hyatt Regency.

VIDEO: Stockton's woes don't stop at the bankruptcy court's door, Dan Walters says.

Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, is holding the latest in a series of public forums looking for input on how to spend the extra revenue to be generated by the tax changes that voters approved last fall with Proposition 39, some of which will go to green building projects. The event runs from 2 to 5 p.m. at Riverside Adult School in Riverside.

While de León's meeting is going on, other lawmakers will be talking about a less environmentally friendly topic in Richmond. Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, will be discussing the causes of a fire at a Chevron refinery in August 2012.

For all of you political junkies out there, the C-SPAN bus is rolling into Sacramento today as part of a national tour commemorating its 20th anniversary. The bus will be at California State University, Sacramento, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

A happy birthday in advance to Gov. Jerry Brown, who reaches a big milestone with his 75th birthday on Sunday. He has the distinction of being the nation's oldest governor.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, listens during session in the Assembly chambers in Sacramento on Monday, March 11, 2013. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee

Fresh off a pair of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee events in the Bay Area, President Barack Obama will be in Atherton this morning for fundraising events benefiting the Democratic National Committee. He returns to Washington, D.C., this evening.

It's not every day that we get leading luminaries from both major parties in California. While the president is ginning up contributions, the patron saint of tax opposition, Grover Norquist, will be talking up the conservative rationale for criminal justice reform. Norquist, who supported the Proposition 36 campaign to soften California's "three-strikes" law, will be speaking at 12:30 p.m. at Stanford Law School.

VIDEO: After taking a look at how bills have fared in the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Dan Walters says Democrats have their priorities scrambled.

WATER: Gov. Jerry Brown's massive plan to overhaul water delivery from the Delta has been in the spotlight lately, and elected and local officials from Sacramento will be discussing the prospects today. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli, Sacramento Councilmember Darrell Fong and Regional Water Authority Executive Director John Woodling will be talking water politics at the Sacramento Convention Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.

RAIL: The California High-Speed Rail Authority will be discussing plans for the Fresno to Bakerfield leg of the planned high-speed rail system today. The meeting is happening in a few different places (thanks to technology), but the Sacramento iteration is happening at the Sacramento City Council chambers at 10 a.m.

APPOINTMENT: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, announced late on Wednesday that he was appointing former Assemblyman Pedro Nava to the Little Hoover Commission. Nava's tenure on the state panel runs through Jan. 1, 2017.

CARTOONS: Some of you have no doubt noticed that our political cartoons have acquired a new style recently with the arrival of cartoonist Jack Ohman. Today he talks to the Sacramento Press Club starting at 11:30 a.m. The RSVP deadline has already passed, but you can learn more at this link.

PHOTO CREDIT: President Barack Obama boards Air Force One before departing Buckley Air Force Base, in Aurora, Colo., on Wednesday. Brennan Linsley / Associated Press

The California Trucking Association is driving business for several lawmakers today, with industry representatives rolling into the Sheraton Grand Hotel for a legislative training and policy planning session this morning as part of California Trucking Day.

The morning session will include appearances by Assembly members Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto; Rob Bonta, D-Alameda; Chris Holden, D-Pasadena; Brian Dahle, R-Bieber; and Henry T. Perea, D-Fresno; as well as Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens.

VIDEO: Dan Walters talks about how a legislative effort to facilitate firing negligent teachers got its teeth pulled.

President Barack Obama is on a West Coast fundraising swing. Today, he's scheduled to be in San Francisco for a pair of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraisers.

The first is a $5,000-a-person event at the home of Kat Taylor and Tom Steyer, a key backer of the successful campaign for Proposition 39. The second will be hosted by billionaire philanthropist Gordon Getty, with a $32,500 a person price tag.

Charities: An unusual special interest fight is unfolding in Sacramento, with Goodwill Industries and other charities sparring over the right to put out clothing collection bins. Senate Bill 450, a bill sponsored by Goodwill and authored by Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, would give cities and local governments more power to regulate donation bins. Critics say the legislation would tilt the playing field towards Goodwill, a complaint they'll voice at an 8:30 a.m. press conference on the south lawn. SB 450 goes before the Governance and Finance Committee, whose meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. in room 112.

Keeping the Kings: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is in New York today trying to ensure that his hometown basketball team doesn't forsake Sacramento for Seattle. Steinberg will be joining others appearing before a National Basketball Association committee.

Secret-funds fallout: This morning will also witness the Legislature's latest attempt to rectify a situation in which state agencies like the California Department of Parks and Recreation and CalFire kept money in secret accounts. Assemblywoman Beth Gaines' Senate Bill 661 would require state agencies to prepare and make public internal financial reports signed, under threat of perjury, by the heads of each agency. The bill goes before the Accountability and Administrative Review Committee during its 9 a.m. meeting.

PHOTO CREDIT: A truck joins the morning commute on the 210 freeway between Los Angeles and cities to the east on Dec. 1, 2009. By David McNew for Getty Images.

Things are starting to pick up in the Legislature as bills advance to committee hearings. Here are a couple Capitol Alert has its collective eye on today.

Nonprofit hospitals: The California Nurses Association and the California Hospital Association are clashing over Assembly Bill 975, a bill co- authored by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, that would reconsider how much philanthropy nonprofit hospitals need to engage in to retain their tax-exempt status. The Assembly Health Committee is hearing the bill at 1:30 p.m. in room 4202.

Ammo control: The Assembly Committee on Public Safety is taking up one of many gun control bills percolating in the legislative pipeline, this one a proposal by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, that would require ammunition vendors to be authorized dealers and to get identification from buyers. The bill would also prohibit devices that allow guns to fire more than 10 bullets without reloading. Skinner will present Assembly Bill 48 during a hearing starting at 9 a.m. in room 126.

VIDEO: Stockon is a long way from resolving its fiscal issues despite its Monday bankruptcy hearing, and Dan Walters says the solution could hang on public pensions.

The annual Latina Action Day conference is gathering at the Sheraton Grand on J Street today. A day of panel discussions and briefings will feature former Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, Assemblyman Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. An evening reception will honor newly elected Latina Assemblywomen Susan Eggman ,D-Stockton, Cristina Garcia. D-Bell Gardens, and Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton.

Cesar Chavez day was technically on Sunday, but today is the day that most state agencies -- with the exceptions of perpetually functioning institutions like hospitals and the California Highway Patrol -- are off. (For an interesting perspective on Chavez's legacy, talk to Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, whose parents worked with the famous farm worker organizer).

Back to work: That doesn't include the Legislature, though, which is back from spring recess today. The Senate Committee on Business, Professions And Economic Development is hearing a slate of bills in room 3191 once session is over; over in the Assembly we have meetings of the Natural Resources Committee and the Revenue And Taxation Committee.

VIDEO: It's a familiar story of shoddy financing when it comes to a $42 million San Francisco to Oakland ferry, Dan Walters says.

Realignment pushback: Another bill to tighten up post-prison realignment sentencing is in the spotlight today. Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, will be joined by Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully to detail AB 222, a bill that would allow judges to order a prison stint, rather than jail time, for drug offenders caught with large volumes of substances like meth and heroin. 11 a.m. at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, 12500 Bruceville Road.

Fundraising deadline: We'll soon get a snapshot of the vigor of various Congressional campaigns that are already afoot despite the fact we're closer to Election Day 2012 than to Election Day 2014. Yesterday was the last day for accepting contributions for the first quarter of 2013; the filing deadline is on April 15.

PHOTO CREDIT: Empty no more as of today. You know you missed them. The Sacramento Bee/Jeremy B. White

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is convening in Sacramento today to weigh issuing up to $810 million in bonds for projects linking the speedy new trains to existing local and regional rail. Starting at 9 a.m. at the Sacramento City Hall Council Chambers.

The sprawling rail project has run into criticism about financing. Earlier this week, the High-Speed Rail Authority tried to forestall legal battles by suing everyone.

Water plan: Today is the second of a two-day meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, an oversight agency that was birthed by the 2009 Delta Reform Act. The council doesn't wield too much clout when it comes to shaping a massive planned water project for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta -- it mostly has an advisory role -- and at today's meeting officials will be outlining plans for environmental impact reports. The meeting runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza, 300 J St.

VIDEO: A state auditor report finding issues with the new Bay Bridge project vindicates The Bee, which reported on weaknesses in the bridge construction plan despite official pushback, Dan Walters notes.

Human trafficking: Looking ahead to the weekend, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, is going to be hosting an event about human trafficking in California (there are several bills before the Legislature that deal with the issue, including AB 156, AB 694 and AB 795). The event starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Natomas Unified School District's education center, 1901 Arena Blvd.

Celebrations: Happy birthday to Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, who is 44 years old today.

And a preemptive happy birthday to Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who will turn 61 on Sunday.

Also, an anticipatory happy Cesar Chavez Day! The actual holiday falls on Sunday, but the state of California -- and the agencies that will be closed -- observes it next Monday, April 1.

PHOTO CREDIT: California Gov. Jerry Brown signs legislation authorizing initial construction of California's $68 billion high-speed rail line. By Marcio Jose Sanchez for AP Photo on Wednesday, July 18, 2012.

A trickle of details has widened into a river as officials formulate an ambitious new water plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Today the Delta Stewardship Council is meeting to discuss how to balance two interlocking goals: enhanced water delivery and environmental protection. (The Council can hear appeals and make recommendations but cannot alter the plan itself.)

That will include giving staff final instructions for preparing an environmental impact report. The daylong meeting convenes at 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Capital Plaza, 300 J St.

The council isn't the only public agency meeting in Sacramento today. The California Health Facilities Financing Authority is also convening to consider, among other things, issuing up to $450 million in revenue bonds to improve facilities at Sutter Health. That starts at 1:30 p.m. at 915 Capitol Mall, room 587.

VIDEO: Gov. Jerry Brown has emphasized the economic potential of clean technology, but Dan Walters is amused that the CalPERS investment guru doesn't seem to agree.

Representatives from dozens of universities, economic development firms and manufacturing associations are descending on Sacramento today for a summit on revitalizing manufacturing that's being hosted by Gov. Jerry Brown's Office for Business and Economic Development.

Mike Rossi, Brown's senior jobs adviser, will kick off the all-day event in the Governor's Press Room. Brown's office has cast it as a response to President Barack Obama's call to spur more domestic manufacturing.

A few hundred miles south, California lawmakers will be taking on another of Obama's priority issues this term as Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, and state Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, discuss immigration reform at an event hosted by the organization LA Voice. The event starts at 8:30 p.m. at Los Angeles City Hall.

VIDEO: There's a lot of excitement swirling around the U.S. Supreme Court taking on gay marriage, but Dan Walters says the issue will still be far from settled when the justices rule.

The Legislature is still in recess, but the state bureaucracy churns on. You may not have heard of the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, but they're holding a hearing today on a pretty big public safety topic.

At issue are the regulations around fireproofing furniture. At Gov. Jerry Brown's prodding, the California Department of Consumer Affairs has released revised draft standards that would require furniture to withstand a "smoldering" fire source rather than open flame. The upshot is that furniture would no longer need to contain fire-resistant chemicals that advocates single out as a significant health hazard.

The meeting, which marks the end of the public comment period for the new rules, is at the Department of Consumer Affairs building in Sacramento, 1625 North Market Blvd, at 10 a.m. Advocates for the change are holding a presser outside ahead of the meeting.

VIDEO: Dan Walters wonders how it's possible, with so many cities and counties in woeful economic shape, for a former Alameda County official to receive pension benefits worth more than $400,000 a year.

This could be a momentous week for the gay rights movement. Today, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments for Hollingsworth v. Perry, challenging Proposition 8.'s outlawing same-sex marriage in California. You can click here for a handy primer on the implications, but it's possible that the Justices will issue a narrow ruling tailored to California, a nationally relevant endorsement of rights for same-sex couples, or something in between.

Plenty of California elected officials have urged the Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8. They include the mayors of Sacramento, Oakland and Los Angeles and California Attorney General Kamala Harris. The Obama administration is also on board.

There has been a lot of talk this session about reshaping California's educational system to better prepare youngsters for the working world, a topic the Public Policy Institute of California is addressing at a lunchtime hearing today. The talk on educating the future workforce will run from noon to 1:30 at the CSAC Conference Center (1020 11th Street, second floor) and will feature PPIC's Mark Baldassare, Sarah Bohn and Hans Johnson.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento Fire Department line after a two-alarm fire broke out in April 2011. The Sacramento Bee/Randy Pench

What's something California legislators and college students have in common? They get to take a hiatus from their responsibilities each spring. The Legislature will reconvene on Monday, April 1.

Just because legislators aren't conducting business doesn't mean there won't be any activity in the building. The final two rounds of the Poetry Out Loud state finals, in which high school students compete in reading famous poems from the likes of Shelley, Coleridge and Dickinson, get under way at 8 a.m. this morning in the Senate Chambers.

VIDEO: Sacramento politics are fundamentally about interests vying for a slice of the pie, Dan Walters says, and a tussle over charity donations provides a bizarre example.

A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll gauges how Californians view topics like immigration and gun control, finding strong support for the latter. Dan Schnur, director of USC's Unruh Institute of Politics, will be discussing the poll's findings on a conference call this morning.

Away from the vacated California Capitol, the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear a potentially momentous case that originated in the state. Tuesday, the justices will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which centers on whether the voter-passed Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional. A separate case about the constitutional status of the federal Defense of Marriage Act comes the day after.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Senate chambers won't be this empty all week, although they will be devoid of lawmakers. By Jeremy B. White for The Sacramento Bee on March 22, 2013.

As of the end of business Thursday, the Legislature is on spring recess. So kick back and join us for AM Alert: Recess Edition.

Yesterday we brought you news that the legislator formerly known as Assemblyman Ben Hueso is now officially Sen. Ben Hueso. The San Diego Democrat's job move produced a small cascade of new committee assignments in the Legislature.

Hueso is no longer on the Assembly's Housing and Community Development Committee, the Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy Committee or the Local Government Committee.

Freshman Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, will take over Hueso's chairmanship of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. (Rendon has some experience with environmental issues, having formerly served as executive director for the California League of Conservation Voters.)

Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, will replace Rendon as assistant majority floor leader.

There are also some changes flowing from former senator Michael Rubio's resignation in February. Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, took Rubio's spot atop the Committee on Environmental Quality, where he'll have an influential role in CEQA reform; as a result, Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, will take Hill's former spots on the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and on Budget Subcommittee 4 on State Administration and General Government.

VIDEO: The Citizens Compensation Commission is considering public salaries at an inauspicious time for elected officials, Dan Walters notes: new polls suggest Californians don't think too highly of their representatives.

Today is the start of the California Correctional Crisis Conference at UC Hastings College of the Law, exploring prison overcrowding and realignment. Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who has revived a bill that could reduce sentences for low-level drugs offenders, is the keynote speaker. Other attendees include corrections officials, academics and Benjamin Rice, general counsel for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Prisoner advocates plan to rally in front of the California State Building in San Francisco, where the conference is taking place.

Happy birthday to Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, who turns 44 today, and to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, who is 40.

PHOTO CREDIT: A new job for Sen. Ben Hueso, seen here on May 29, 2012, means changes elsewhere in the Legislature. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

It's been just under three years since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and the gradual march toward implementation continues. Covered California, the state's ACA-mandated insurance exchange, is taking stock of California's progress with a meeting today.

Board members will cover such topics as eligibility, enrollment and proposed federal rules during a day-long meeting at the California Department of Health Care Services Building, 1500 Capitol St.

Also this morning, Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, is joining a 10:30 a.m. conference call to discuss a new Health Access report on how California is adjusting to the health-care overhaul.

Meanwhile, a panel of experts will be talking about what it will all mean for California, from the millions of residents who stand to gain insurance to the businesses that will see new requirements for covering employees. The discussion will be moderated by Christopher Flavelle, a health care analyst for Bloomberg Government, and will feature Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation; Dr. Dylan Roby of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; and Allan Zaremberg, president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce. From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Sheraton Grand.

VIDEO: Dan Walters notes that public support for high-speed rail is shrinking as the project's price tag continues to rise.

The Senate gets a fresh face today: Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, gets sworn in this morning at 9 a.m. in the Senate chambers. Hueso is claiming the 40th Senate District seat that U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, abdicated after he won election to Congress in November. Fun party conversation starter: Hueso will be the 1,145th person to serve in the California state Senate.

The smell of livestock wafting down L Street can mean only one thing: It's Agriculture Day at the state Capitol. Festivities get under way at 10:30 a.m., when lawmakers and their staff are invited to explore the booths (and tractors) around the Capitol grounds near the west steps. The public gets to meander through from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

There will also be a lunchtime presentation of something called the World's Largest School Lunch Tray, which is precisely what it sounds like. An oversized recreation of the lunch trays familiar to California schoolchildren will be used to feed hundreds of elementary school students. The massive meal is being put together with some help from the people at the PBS program "Bringing It Home with Laura McIntosh," as she emcees the event.

Ag day also gives lawmakers with agricultural backgrounds a chance to display their bona fides. Freshman Assemblyman and rancher Frank Bigelow, R-O'Neals, easily identifiable around the building thanks to his trademark white rancher's hat, is going to speaking throughout the day, including at a steak and eggs breakfast for the California Cattlemen at the Sutter Club.

VIDEO: California's longstanding pattern of constant population growth could be changing, and Dan Walters says that could bring a wide array of changes.

On a day filled with meetings about the budget, education and other more routine matters, drones are getting a shot at a committee hearing at the Capitol.

The Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace is scheduled at 3 p.m. to hear testimony on the Federal Aviation Administration's search for six test sites for drones - and a bid to make Ventura County one of them.

The presentation, "Manufacturing for Global Aviation: California's strategy to win a federal designation as an unmanned aerial vehicle test site," comes as interest in drones expands from the military to local law enforcement and civilian applications, with related privacy concerns.

Earlier in the day, a budget subcommittee on education finance will consider Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposals regarding adult education and online learning, while a budget subcommittee on state administration will get an overview of the state's failed MyCalPays payroll system upgrade, a quarter-billion-dollar project Controller John Chiang halted last month.

VIDEO: Is the gap between rich and poor widening in California? Dan Walters says the signs are there.

Senate and Assembly Republicans will roll out a package of bills seeking to change California's historic prison realignment.

A few days after officials began releasing draft details on Gov. Jerry Brown's multibillion dollar water plan, Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, is holding a hearing to scrutinize the state's record on delivering clean drinking water. It starts at 10 a.m. in room 437 of the state Capitol.

While there are some signs that the housing market in California may be fitfully emerging from its long downturn, there are still concerns about a lack of affordable housing. A joint hearing of the Assembly Committee on Housing and the Community Development and Committee on Revenue and Taxation is taking a look at how state government is spending money on housing. Starting at 1:30 p.m. in room 126.

Look for the Assembly to vote today to send $2 million ASAP to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office for extra help to work down a six-week backlog of business filings. Then look for Assembly Democrats to stand with statewide business representatives to praise the quick action after the Bee's Jon Ortiz reported the backlog.

Have you got tens of thousands of dollars and an interest in Democratic politics? Then get yourself to La Jolla and follow the thwack of golf balls to the 2013 Pro Tem Cup. Tickets range from $15,000 for a single day of golf to the $65,000 two-day platinum package, which gets you two days of golf for four and dinner with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

Those prices have gone up a bit since last year, when the minimum contribution to the annual California Democratic Party fundraiser was $10,000 for a one-day pass. Jason Kinney, a consultant for Senate Democrats, told Capitol Alert that "aggressive fundraising" is par for the course (sorry, we couldn't resist).

"As long as there are billionaires out there determined to spend money to defeat our candidates and oppose our causes, we're going to keep doing it," Kinney said.

VIDEO: Gov. Jerry Brown has gotten behind CEQA reform, but Dan Walters says two major Democratic allies -- labor unions and environmentalists -- stand in the way.

We mentioned yesterday that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee was considering a bushel of new audit proposals.

Several of them got the green light, including an audit of the Salton Sea Restoration Fund, requested by Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella.

Here are others that were approved:

• State tracking of information on mentally ill people and guns. (The Senate voted recently to allocate millions of dollars more to that cause.) The audit was requested by Assemblymen Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo, and Allan Mansoor, R-Costa Mesa.

VIDEO: Dan Walters explains why he's wary of the job numbers lawmakers trumpet when they're trying to sell voters on big new construction projects.

Gov. Jerry Brown has shown an unusually keen interest in meetings of the University of California regents so far this year, stopping by to push his proposal for expanding online education. He'll be at it again today, dropping in to a meeting at the conference center on the University of California, San Francisco's Mission Bay campus.

Speaking of online education, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will be introducing a proposal today that would allow students to take courses online for credit. Appropriately, Steinberg will be unveiling the plan during an 11:30 a.m. Google+ hangout.

VIDEO: Another example of spending by public pension funds facing huge budget liabilities has Dan Walters scratching his head.

It's that magical time of year: the special Senate election primary day is today, with two races to fill the seats left vacant after former senators Gloria Negrete McLeod and Juan Vargas moved on to Congress. In the 40th district, Vargas' old stomping grounds, Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, is the odds-on favorite; considering the dearth of strong opponents, Hueso looks like a decent bet to win the 50-percent-plus-one margin needed to avoid a runoff.

VIDEO: Secretary of State Debra Bowen has not delivered on her promise of using technology to streamline business operations, Dan Walters says.

We've already had Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State address and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's State of the City speech; today the judiciary branch gets its shot at recapitulation. California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is delivering her State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers today, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. You can also watch on CalChannel (livestream here).

While Brown's budget has generally drawn praise for restoring some fiscal balance and potentially averting a bruising legislative battle, Cantil-Sakauye has emerged as one of the more vociferous critics. She has said Brown must go further in restoring funding the court system has lost through years of budget cuts. It will be interesting to see how much of the chief justice's speech is devoted to budgetary casualties like slimmer judiciary staffing, longer waits and shuttered courthouses.

VIDEO: The demise of a project to computerize California's state payroll system is just the latest in a chain of failed technology projects, Dan Walters says.

Happy Friday, everyone. The approaching weekend means lawmakers are abandoning the state Capitol for their districts, so we start by turning to Sacramento City Hall.

Sacramento Area Congregations Together is leading a vigil there to demand solutions to gun violence in Sacramento, an issue that has gained resonance as the gun-control debate simmers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. The rally starts at 10 a.m.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, will be joining Bay Area elected officials for a 10:30 a.m. press conference at San Francisco's Cow Palace. Leno will be stumping for Senate Bill 475, which would close a loophole allowing people to purchase guns and ammunition at Cow Palace gun shows without typical regulations applying.

The rally comes a day after Leno's Senate Bill 140, which would give the California Justice Department an additional $24 million for a program intended to confiscate guns from people prohibited from owning them, sailed through the Senate on a unanimous vote. Leno's bill is one of many gun-control proposals that Democratic lawmakers have introduced this session.

Back in Sacramento, 22-year-old Stockton City Councilman Michael Tubbs, the youngest city councilman in California, will be speaking at the Black Youth Leadership Project's annual legislative open house. Tubbs is speaking at a noon luncheon at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.

Keeping it local, Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, is holding a "Congress on your Corner" event in Elk Grove on Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Franklin Community Library.

Happy birthday to former state senator and U.S. Rep Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who turns 72 today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, second from left, gestures at a pair of semi-automatic rifles as he discusses proposed gun control legislation at a Capitol news conference in Sacramento on Feb. 7, 2013. Rich Pedroncelli/ Associated Press.

VIDEO: Tuesday's Los Angeles elections had minuscule turnout, but Dan Walters says he wonders why anyone wants to be mayor.

Senators are back from their two-day education retreat and diving into budgetary business. The Budget and Fiscal Review subcommittee on Education is taking a look at Proposition 98 and K-12 funding in this year's proposed budget (room 3191 at 9:30 a.m. or after session); the Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy And Transportation subcommittee is convening in room 2040 at the same time; and the subcommittee on Corrections, Public Safety, and the Judiciary is meeting in room 113, where they'll be taking on topics that include a double-dipping practices reported on by The State Worker earlier this year.

Gov. Jerry Brown will be attending a funeral service for two Santa Cruz police officers, Sergeant Loran "Butch" Baker and Officer Elizabeth Butler, who were slain while investigating an alleged sexual assault last week. The service begins at noon at HP Pavilion in San Jose, and police officials have said they are expecting potentially thousands of people to attend.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says lawmakers should be worrying about the state's deteriorating roads before spending billions on high-speed rail.

Responding to a National Employment Law Project report on workplace abuses of undocumented immigrants, Assemblyman Roger Hernández, D-West Covina, is holding a hearing on the treatment of undocumented workers in California. Joining Hernández will be Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer for the California Labor Federation; Eunice Cho of the National Employment Law Project; Gabriela Villareal of the California Immigrant Policy Center; and Marta Medina of Warehouse Workers United. In room 317 of the State Capitol building, starting at 10:30 A.M.

VIDEO: You might expect a reprieve from elections in an odd-numbered year, but Dan Walters says special Senate contests and elections in Los Angeles are ensuring otherwise.

It's primary day in Los Angeles, an opportunity for voters in several different races to winnow down the options ahead of the May 21 runoffs. In the mayoral race, Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel and L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti are the front-runners and look likely to advance. And the results of some city council races could ripple north to Sacramento, potentially disrupting a Democratic supermajority.

Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Los Angeles, is running in the 3rd district and Sen. Curren Price, D-Los Angeles, is seeking a seat in District 9. The prospect of Price leaving the Senate, combined with the recent surprise departure of former Sen. Michael Rubio, leaves things in flux.

There are several former Sacramento denizens running: former Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes is aiming at a City Council seat in District 7, former Assemblyman and state Sen. Gil Cedillo is running in District 1, and former assemblyman and incumbent L.A. Councilman Paul Koretz looks to fend off a challenge in the 5th district. Former Assemblyman Mike Feuer is running for city attorney, while former Assemblyman Mike Eng is running for a seat on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.

State senators will be at an education policy conference in Long Beach for the next two days. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's office estimates that a majority of senators will be there (including Steinberg). The focus is on "linked learning," or education that prepares students for specific career paths.

Attendees will be dropping in on classrooms and discussing policy topics like the implementation of new Common Core standards and Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed school funding overhaul. Since they'll be talking about school funding formulas, here's some data on funding for the trip: Steinberg's office pegs the cost at $17,800 for members and $9,380 for staff.

The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance will be probing similar topics today during a 9 a.m. hearing on Brown's school funding proposals in room 444.

Rolling along: immigration advocates will continue to travel across the state advocating for reform today. On the agenda are visits to the Visalia district office of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, the Hanford district office of Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, the Brea district office of Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, and the Irvine District office of Rep. John Campbell, R-Irvine.

PHOTO CREDIT: Los Angeles Mayoral candidates Kevin James, left, and Eric Garcetti, right, listen to Wendy Greuel speak during a city of Los Angeles mayoral candidate debate in September. Allen J. Schaben/ Los Angeles Times/ MCT.

VIDEO: Dan Walters talks about the long road back for California Republicans who convened in Sacramento this weekend.

As a bipartisan U.S. Senate group looks at comprehensive immigration reform, advocates in the Golden State are mobilizing.

Sunday marked the start of the California portion of what's being called the Keeping Families Together Bus Tour, a rolling demonstration urging elected officials to open a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles is organizing the tour in the state.

VIDEO: Dan Walters wonders what Gov. Jerry Brown's school plan will wind up looking like.

FIELD POLL: California voters are still pessimistic about the economy, unemployment, and their own economic outlook. Click here for the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert and The Bee. The poll is at this link.

Whither the California Republican Party? Leaders and delegates to this weekend's spring convention in Sacramento will be turning to Karl Rove, among others, for advice. Rove, the headline speaker at Saturday's luncheon, hasn't revealed what he'll talk about, a state party spokesman told Kevin Yamamura in today's Bee.

VIDEO: The price tag on California's high-speed rail project undercuts Gov. Jerry Brown's reputation for thrift, Dan Walters says.

FIELD POLL: California voters have reversed their views on same-sex marriage since 1977, the first year that the Field Poll conducted a survey on the subject. Click here for statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert and The Bee. The poll itself is at this link.

California's landmark greenhouse-gas emissions law, AB 32, and its new cap-and-trade auctions are the focus of an all-day conference sponsored by Capitol Weekly and the University of California Sacramento Center. The state started auctioning off pollution permits last year.

Sen. Fran Pavley, AB 32's author, is delivering the keynote luncheon address. Panel participants include Timothy O'Connor of the Environmental Defense Fund, Dorothy Rothrock of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, former California EPA administrator Linda Adams, Anthony Eggert of the Policy Institute for Energy, the Environment and the Economy at UC Davis and Jan Smutny-Jones of the Independent Energy Producers Association. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the UC Sacramento Center at 12th and K.

Back at the Capitol building, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, is talking to the press this morning about the brief he is filing in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Prop. 8 case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Pérez's filing follows those of Attorney General Kamala Harris and of a group of Republicans, including former gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman, who have urged the high court to strike down the same-sex marriage ban.

VIDEO: Stockton's bankruptcy case is advancing against the backdrop of serious questions about how the city paid its workers, Dan Walters says.

In case you haven't been keeping up with your demographics news, Latinos are poised to become California's single largest demographic group this year. California Latino Legislative Caucus chair Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, is addressing how Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal would affect Californians of color -- who are, in the aggregate, the state's majority. Lara will be joined by members of the Greenlining Institute at from 10-11:30 a.m. in room 447 of the State Capitol.

While that's going on, Assemblywoman Beth Gaines, R-Rocklin, and Assemblyman Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, will be taking aim at a more specific part of Brown's budget. They're introducing a bill to restore cuts to Cal Grants for private and technical schools. Starting at 10:30 a.m. in room 437.

It's shaping up to be a busy week for crime and punishment: Monday the Assembly looked at solitary confinement, and today Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, will discuss a bill that would allow prosecutors to charge certain drug-related offenses as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Leno will be joined by the ACLU of California and the Drug Policy Alliance in a 10 a.m. conference call, which you can access by calling (800) 288-8975 and requesting "SB 649 drug sentencing reform bill."

The road to Affordable Care Act implementation continues today with an extraordinary session discussing a Senate bill to expand access to Medi-Cal. Starting at 1:30 p.m. in the room 4203 of the State Capitol.

The massive expansion of Medicaid is a key element of Obamacare's push for universal coverage. While potentially more than a million additional Californians will become eligible, those who make more than the cutoff could still be eligible for vouchers to defray the cost of buying insurance through Covered California, the state's not-yet-launched insurance exchange.

For all of you hoping to catch a glimpse of your younger, more idealistic self, stop by room 4203 this morning. Teens from the California Association of Student Councils will be presenting their proposals for the state's education system to the Senate Committee on Education.

VIDEO: Budget optimism has led Gov. Jerry Brown to start talking about a "California miracle," but Dan Walters says California must still contend a with mountain of accumulated debt.

It will be many months before Californians weigh in on an $11 billion water bond on the 2014 ballot, but that doesn't mean it's too early for a hearing. A joint effort by the Natural Resources and Water and the Governance and Finance committees, respectively, will examine the broader context of California's debt load in a "Priming the Pump for a Water Bond" hearing, starting at 9:30 a.m. in Room 4203. Committee chairs Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, and Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, be joined by representatives from the Legislative Analyst's Office and the Treasurer's office.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says the decision of Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, to step down may wind up disrupting the best-laid plans of California Democrats.

FIELD POLL: California voters increasingly support the state's greenhouse-gas emissions law, Jon Ortiz reports in today's Bee. Click here to read the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert. You'll find the publicly released poll at this link.

Friday was the deadline for California lawmakers to file bills, so we have a map of the legislative landscape. As of 5 p.m. Friday, here's the count: Assembly: 1,376 bills; Senate: 813 bills.

There are also 10 constitutional amendments proposed in the Assembly and 13 in the Senate, and there could be more -- there's no deadline for those.

Gov. Jerry Brown spent the weekend mingling with fellow governors at the National Governors Association conference, and today the state executives will assemble in the presence of the nation's chief executive: The governors will be spending today at the White House, where they dined last night.

In addition to the White House visit and governors-only meetings throughout the day, Brown and his colleagues also get to hear from Dr. Mehmet Oz, popular host of "The Dr. Oz Show" and recently the subject of a New Yorker profile.

Back in California, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is holding a Public Safety Committee hearing to look at solitary confinement in Pelican Bay State Prison. Corrections officials have been pressed to defend the practice of sequestering inmates in so-called security housing units since conditions there prompted hunger strikes in 2011.

Officials scheduled to speak at the hearing include California Deputy Inspector General Michael Stainer as well as Renee Hanson, Kelly Harrington and Michael Ruff of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 126.

Before the hearing, the Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition is holding a rally at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

PHOTO CREDIT: The California state Capitol in Sacramento, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008. Michael Allen Jones / Sacramento Bee file photo

VIDEO: The governor's proposed school funding formula will pick winners and losers in how it distributes money, and Dan Walters predicts that will fuel a battle in the Legislature.

FIELD POLL: Attitudes about immigrants are changing fast among Californians, but only toward those already in the state, Jim Sanders reports in today's Bee. Click here to read the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert. The poll is at this link.

Gov. Jerry Brown left the state Thursday to make his way east to the National Governors Association's winter meeting this weekend in Washington, D.C. Capitol Alert's David Siders will be checking in with updates from the nation's capital, so stay tuned.

Anyone want to take bets on what happens when Brown crosses paths with Gov. Rick Perry of Texas? Health care and the Affordable Care Act will also be factors as governors weigh whether to set up health insurance exchanges and expand Medicaid -- Republican Gov. Rick Scott of Florida just made news by caving on the latter.

VIDEO: The California Legislature is finally getting serious about investigating the Parks and Recreation Department's hidden funds, but Dan Walters says it's time to take the next step.

FIELD POLL: Gov. Jerry Brown's public approval rating is above 50 percent for the first time since he took office, David Siders reports in today's Bee. Click here to read the statistical tabulations compiled exclusively for Capitol Alert. Find the publicly released poll at this link.

Schools figure prominently today in Sacramento. It's day two of the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators conference at Sacramento's Sheraton Grand, and state schools chief Tom Torlakson will be delivering remarks at 8 a.m.

Also in attendance will be Seth Galanter, the U.S. Education Department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights, discussing student discipline practices.

Nine blocks away, school officials will be taking a look at more than two decades' worth of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a crucial benchmark for measuring school progress, in the five so-called "mega-states" of Florida, Texas, Illinois, New York and, you guessed it, California.

VIDEO: There are a lot of unanswered questions as California prepares to enthusiastically tackle a huge federally mandated health care expansion, Dan Walters says.

More fallout from the parks department's hidden funding scandal is expected today. Yesterday, lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee took a look at a new audit finding the problem existed far longer than was initially known; today the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee get a crack at it in a joint hearing. Starting at 9:30 a.m. in room 4202 of the State Capitol Building.

The renewed scrutiny from the Capitol stems from a state auditor's report, released last week, that traced unreported budget surpluses at the Department of Parks and Recreation stretching back two decades.

Just because there's an extra focus on the parks department doesn't mean other recipients of General Fund dollars are escaping examination.

VIDEO: Dan Walters worries that Democrats will squander an unexpected $5 billion budget surplus on programs that the one-time windfall won't pay for in the future.

The last few days have brought some new revelations about the Department of Parks and Recreation's secret stash of money. When The Bee broke the story last year, it was against the recent backdrop of deficit-driven park closures that the extra funds would have prevented.

VIDEO: Dan Walters weighs in on Assemblyman Isadore Hall's proposal to require condoms for porn stars.

With Monday being the Presidents Day holiday, California lawmakers will put in an appearance this morning at per diem floor sessions to keep that money flowing. Both chambers are meeting at 9 a.m.

Time to get that legislative paperwork together: The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 22, a week from today (leaving aside maneuvers like gut-and-amend bills).

Here's a look at what this session has brought so far:

In the Assembly, the count late Thursday was 355 bills and eight proposed constitutional amendments. The overall total in the Senate was somewhat lower, with lawmakers in the upper house introducing 268 bills and 11 proposed constitutional amendments. Budget Committee bills related to the Budget Act of 2013 accounted for 39 of those bills in both houses.

Both houses have bills related to expanding Medi-Cal coverage in the upcoming special health-care session, which will be focused on implementing the Affordable Care Act in California.

The California Mental Health Services Authority's board of directors is meeting from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza in Sacramento. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has headed to Washington and New York in a national push for better mental health care following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Since we won't be around to say it this weekend, happy birthday to Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, who turns 45 on Sunday.

Happy birthday as well to Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, who turns 58 on Monday; to Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, who will be 65 on Monday; and to U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, who on Monday inches closer to the half-century mark with his 49th birthday. Congrats, guys, for having your special days fall on a long weekend.

PHOTO CREDIT: A copy of Assemblyman Isadore Hall's Assembly Bill 332 is displayed with condoms during a press conference to introduce a statewide law requiring condom use by adult film performers, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Bret Hartman / AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation)

VIDEO: Gov. Jerry Brown could do more to make higher education more accountable and efficient, Dan Walters says.

The National Organization for Women is trying to transform Valentine's Day into an occasion for raising awareness of violence against women, with a day the organization is calling One Billion Rising.

Sacramento's contribution will be a noon to 1 p.m. event on the state Capitol's west steps, featuring a dance and a rally featuring representatives of the California chapter of NOW, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence and the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The broader political context points to the U.S. Capitol, where the federal Violence Against Women Act is awaiting a vote in the House after the Senate recently passed it. Republicans have been wary of reauthorizing the bill because of added protections for immigrants, LGBT women and Native Americans.

In another inventive use of Valentine's Day, Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, will be introducing legislation to require all pornographic actors to wear condoms. (Voters in Los Angeles County passed a similar measure last year.) Hall will be joined by Michael Weinstein, the president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and Darren James, a former adult film actor who contracted HIV. The presser starts at 11 a.m. at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles.

VIDEO: State financing of California's court system hasn't worked out as planned, Dan Walters says.

Gov. Jerry Brown will be attending a memorial service this morning for Michael Crain, a Riverside police officer who was allegedly slain by renegade former cop Christopher Dorner. The service starts at 10:30 a.m. at Grove Community Church in Riverside.

Are elements of the top-two primary constitutional? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is hearing arguments on that question in Pasadena, starting at 9 a.m in Chamness v. Bowen. Michael Chamness challenged the new primary system, which voters OK'd back in 2010, identifying himself as a member of the "Coffee Party." He has argued that the new rules force him to state on the ballot that he has "no party preference."

VIDEO: Dan Walters warns that California is at risk of becoming a two-tiered society.

It's a busy day in the Capitol and environs; President Abraham Lincoln, born 204 years ago today, would no doubt be happy to see democracy still humming along.

Things kick off with a joint hearing on hydraulic fracturing, administered by the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee (chaired by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills) and the Senate Environmental Quality Committee (led by Sen. Michael Rubio, D-East Bakersfield), from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in room 4203 of the State Capitol Building. Fracking has proved to be a contentious topic already this session, and Pavley has a bill to regulate the disputed extraction process.

VIDEO: Another canceled contract reminds Dan Walters of California's chronic issues with government-managed technology projects.

We're hearing rumbles about a Senate talk today. Risk-reduction experts from the U.S. Geological Survey -- including Dr. Lucy Jones, pictured at right -- will be talking about the potential of an early earthquake warning system.

The floor presentation comes as Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, has introduced Senate Bill 135 to create a statewide early warning network.

Lone Star beer or pinot noir? Spurs or surfboards? As Gov. Rick Perry seeks to lure businesses from California to Texas, come back to Capitol Alert at noon today for a live debate about the relative merits of the two states, their job climates and their governors.

Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters and reporter David Siders will discuss and take questions from readers. Capitol Bureau Chief Dan Smith will moderate. They'll be joined by Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says there's a reason Texas Gov. Rick Perry keeps goading California: It helps his re-election prospects in his home state.

Here's another sign that the 2014 election cycle has already begun. Secretary of State Debra Bowen has cleared the signature collection phase of a proposed initiative to require stricter review for the troubled Diablo Canyon and San Onofre nuclear power plants.

This isn't the first time sponsor Ben Davis Jr. has taken aim at California's nuclear power plants, but he has been unable to replicate his success in helping to shut down the Rancho Seco nuclear plant near Sacramento in 1989. Davis couldn't get enough signatures to qualify his current effort for the November 2012 ballot.

Sen. Kevin de León , D-Los Angeles, continues to push for some of the money from Proposition 39 to go towards school modernization grants. The latest effort is a new website promoting de León's bill to create the grant program.

Gov. Rick Perry leaves Texas on Sunday to begin his attempt at poaching California millionaires, his office said Thursday. He plans to visit San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County and Silicon Valley.

According to the Dallas Morning News, public-private partnership TexasOne is paying for the trip. TexasOne also paid for the $24,000 radio ad buy, The Bee's David Siders reported in this post.

Happy birthday in advance to Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, who will turn 44 on Saturday.

PHOTO CREDIT: A view from the San Diego county side of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, March 23, 2012. Ana Venegas/ The Orange County Register/ ZUMA24.com)

VIDEO: Dan Walters says it's easy to overlook the extraordinary diversity of Asian Americans, California's fastest growing ethnic bloc.

The concerted push for new gun control laws gets another shove at a press conference this morning, where Democrats led by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will be heralding the latest set of proposals. The event starts at 10 a.m. in room 1190 of the State Capitol.

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will be there, along with Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus and Emeryville Police Chief Ken James. So will senators Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, Marty Block, D-San Diego, Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, and Leland Yee, D-San Francisco.

Much of the momentum behind new gun laws has come from Democrats, but we would be remiss if we didn't mention some of the proposals Republicans have floated. They have included a bill from Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, that would anonymously arm teachers, and a proposal from Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, that would protect the personal information of gun owners.

VIDEO: Dan Walters details how Rick Perry is reaping the benefits of the latest skirmish between California and Texas.

Today is day two of a strategy retreat for Senate Democrats at the Stanford Mansion. The Dems heard from online education entrepreneur Sal Khan yesterday, and the focus today will be on implementing the Affordable Care Act. Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California -- California's ACA-mandated health insurance exchange -- will be there.

Editor's note: a previous version of this post incorrectly spelled Mr. Khan's name. It is Khan, not Kahn.

VIDEO: Dan warns that massive unfunded liabilities for future retirees undermine Gov. Jerry Brown's case that California is in good fiscal shape.

Senate Democrats will be gathering for a policy retreat at the Stanford Mansion today (the Republicans convened last week at Fox & Goose). Democrats will be mapping strategy for the year ahead, and Capitol Alert has learned that online education guru Sal Khan will be speaking.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says some Republicans are getting in touch with reality by backing immigration reform.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Rosa Parks' birth today, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, and Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, are planning a floor resolution to honor the civil rights icon. They'll be joined by members of the women's, LGBT and Latino caucuses.

On the Senate side, lawmakers will recognize the winners of this year's James Irvine Foundation's leadership awards -- Aida Cardenas of Los Angeles, Karen Christensen of Capitola, José Quiñonez of San Francisco, and Stuart Cohen, Jeff Oxendine and Jill Vialet, all of Oakland.

Sen. Kevin de León, Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Sen. Ed Hernandez and Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway will present the awards during a luncheon before the floor session.

In the Assembly, the Transportation Committee is taking a look at Assembly Bill 8, by Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, D-Fresno, that would provide grants and loans aimed at encouraging alternative fuel technology.

You may remember a story from back in early January about how ousted members of Congress didn't have district offices, leaving constituents with nowhere to direct suggestions, constructive criticism and general verbal abuse. Freshman Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, who unseated Republican incumbent Dan Lungren, was in a similar boat until today -- when Bera's district office in Rancho Cordova is opening its doors.

As part of a speaker series at the California Department of Education, the department is holding a talk on how educators use the California Career Resource Network to help students pursue their career goals.The event runs from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1430 N St. in Sacramento.

In judicial news, San Mateo County recently announced plans to lay off employees and close some courthouses. Officials in the court system have been pleading with Gov. Jerry Brown to restore some of the funding they've lost in years of cutbacks, which have led to reduced services and staffing.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lilyann J. Mitchell, 74, holds a book about her friend, Rosa Parks, who she met in Detroit about 40 years ago. Autumn Payne / Sacramento Bee file, 2005

VIDEO: Dan Walters says that California's shifting demographics are gradually empowering Latinos, something that lawmakers will need to accommodate.

The Public Policy Institute of California is holding a talk on California's fiscal future today, featuring Mark Baldassare and David Lesher of PPIC; Craig Cornett, budget director and chief fiscal adviser for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg; Deborah Gonzalez, policy and fiscal director for Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway; H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Finance; and Juliet Williams of the Associated Press. 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at the CSAC Conference Center, 1020 11th Street.

In honor of National Freedom Day, which commemorates President Abraham Lincoln signing what would become the 13th amendment, a replica of the bus in which Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat for a white passenger will be displayed in front of the state Capitol, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. February 4, this coming Monday, would be Parks' 100th birthday.

If you want to catch a glimpse of the next generation of potential California politicos, Junior State of America's Northern California chapter is holding its winter Congress this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the halls of the State Capitol building will be humming with hundreds of students and teachers debating model legislation and working on a new constitution for their organization.

There's a new report from the California Voter Foundation that takes a look at the state's attempts to modernize its voting equipment.

For all you Taekwondo fans out there, Olympic medalist Terrence Jennings will be putting in appearance at the Sacramento Invitational Taekwondo Championship on Saturday. This will be the latest iteration of champions and/or their hardware coming to Sacramento -- in January, we were graced by the San Francisco Giants' World Series trophy and the Stanley Cup, which arrived with a personalized jersey for Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez.

VIDEO: Dan Walters discusses the latest revelations of a supposedly cash-strapped state agency getting caught with a hidden pot of money.

Lawmakers are holding a press conference pledging their support for a federal immigration overhaul. Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, will be joined by Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres; Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens; Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella; Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo; Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento; and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo. Starting at 10:30 a.m. in room 317 of the State Capitol.

There's obviously a good deal of wrangling to come before the Senate bill assumes its final form, but it bears noting that it calls for a commission of governors, attorneys general and border denizens to help shape a tougher enforcement framework. Gov. Jerry Brown has already said he hopes to play a role in the national immigration push, so it will be interesting to see how he might interact with gubernatorial counterparts like Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona, a Republican and leading antagonist of the Obama administration.

VIDEO: With a federal immigration reform push under way, Dan Walters says the stakes are high in California.

Capitol Alert has learned that Senate Republicans will be descending on the Fox and Goose today for what they're calling a "legislative retreat." The day-long confab will involve strategizing for the 2013-2014 session and some presentations from policy staff.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says California's Affordable Care Act-mandated health exchange is going to impose huge new costs for MediCal.

Guns are on the agenda today. Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who lead the public safety committees in their respective chambers, are leading a special informational hearing on gun violence and California firearms laws.

The hearing accompanies a surge in new gun control legislation introduced since the Newtown, Connecticut shooting. Ammiano's office sent out a press release yesterday touting the fact that Democratic members were introducing nine new measures.

VIDEO: Dan Walters warns that, credit ratings aside, California could still face serious budget problems.

HIGHER ED: Community college leaders from around the state are in Sacramento today, meeting with legislators in the Capitol and attending day two of the Community College League of California's annual legislative conference. They'll hear from a long roster of speakers including Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Sen. Marty Block, Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, Assemblyman Das Williams and California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White.

MEDI-CAL: Today doctors and hospitals who sued the state for cutting the rates at which they get reimbursed for serving people on Medi-Cal will ask for a new review of their case. They want the full 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case, after a three-judge panel ruled in December that the rate cuts were permissible. It's been an ongoing fight between the Brown administration and the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association and other medical interests that oppose the rate cuts Gov. Jerry Brown proposed back in 2011.

DISTINGUISHED GUEST: Assemblyman Donald P. Wagner and members of the Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce are welcoming a South Korean dignitary to the Capitol today. Tae Hee Yim, South Korea's national minister of labor and former chief of staff to the country's president, will be in California for two weeks trying to establish business partnerships between his country and our state. At a 1 p.m. press conference in the Capitol, Wagner will present a resolution to honor Korean War Armistice Day in July.

EARTHQUAKES: Sen. Alex Padilla is announcing a bill to create a statewide early warning system for earthquakes. He'll be joined at a 10 a.m. presser in Pasadena by experts from the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, UC Berkeley and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

FLU SHOTS: Anyone who hasn't gotten a flu shot yet can get one for free today in the Capitol. Anthem Blue Cross is providing them to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. in rooms 126 and 127. Not that we're pointing out any possible PR stunts, but it was just two weeks ago that the health care company was blasted for raising its rates.

VIDEO: Based on Thursday's State of the State speech, Dan Walters says Gov. Jerry Brown is thinking about his legacy.

Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, is introducing legislation today that's designed to prevent employees of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife from killing mountain lions when they wander into areas settled by humans. Hill is announcing the measure at the CuriOdyssey wildlife museum in San Mateo at 10 a.m. Two cubs were shot to death in early December in Half Moon Bay, and its mayor is joining Hill at the presser.

A quick refresher: California has some pretty stringent safeguards against killing mountain lions, with voters approving a ballot measure back in 1990 to prohibit sport hunting of the animals. Bobcats, which are often mistaken for mountain lions, also got some extra protections last session from SB 1221, by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, that prohibits people from using dogs to hunt bobcats and bears.

Down in the south state, Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, is holding a hearing of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Oversight and Bonded Indebtedness today to examine options for using the revenue from newly passed Proposition 39. The hearing will run from 2 to 5 p.m. at San Diego's Perkins Elementary School.

In case you missed our coverage of Brown's State of the State address yesterday, the governor got generally positive responses for promising to carefully steward California's budget stability while giving K-12 schools more flexibility. The reactions to his proposals on high-speed rail and two tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were more mixed.

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones notes in David Siders' story in today's Bee that the speech "managed to quote three philosophers and a children's story -- 'The Little Train That Could' -- and the Bible, too."

VIDEO: Dan Walters laments the fact that a Republican-authored good government bill is unlikely to get any traction in California.

Today's the big day: Gov. Jerry Brown delivers his State of the State speech at 9 a.m. in the Assembly chambers. Buoyed by his Proposition 30 victory and a subsequent budget that restores a long-absent degree of fiscal stability to California, Brown is expected to expand upon his proposal to revamp education funding, among other things.

The Bee will be blogging live on his address, and will also stream it live. Look for both at sacbee.com/live.

If you're looking for more context, our colleagues over at Capital Public Radio have put together this nifty archive of previous state of the state speeches. The collection spans back to 2004 and features audio and text.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is joining other members of Congress and advocates on Capitol Hill in announcing a bill to reinstate an assault weapons ban. at 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. Pacific).

The University of California Center, Sacramento, is hosting an event on how the youth vote plays into California's voting trends. It features Jonathan Fox, a professor and chair of Latin American and Latino studies at UC Santa Cruz, and Mindy Romero, project director of the California Civic Engagement Project. Click here to learn more.

CalChamber is hosting a memorial service for the late Michael Kahl, who served as an aide to California lawmakers. Kahl, who died in November, helped erect what would become the Environmental Protection Agency and became an influential lobbyist upon returning to California. The service runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 1215 K St., 14th floor.

Happy birthday to Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, who turns 55 today.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says golfer Phil Mickelson probably isn't the only affluent person reconsidering his decision to live in California.

State education officials will face more criticism today for what advocates see as a failure to provide adequate instruction to English learners in public schools. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center are holding a press conference at the ACLU of Southern California's Los Angeles office, starting at 10 a.m.

The Public Policy Institute of California is holding a forum on accountability in K-12 education. Participants will include Susanna Cooper, principal consultant in Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's office; Jonathan Raymond, superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District; David Lesher and Paul Warren of the Public Policy Institute of California; and Crystal Brown, president of the organization Educate our State. Starting at noon at the CSAC Conference Center.

A little context: the federal government recently rejected California's application to be exempted from some of the more punitive parts of the No Child Left Behind Act, saying California's proposal (states need to submit a blueprint of reforms to be considered) did not do enough to incorporate student test scores into teacher evaluations. The push to work test scores into teacher accountability measures has been a major part of the national education reform debate.

A reminder that Gov. Jerry Brown will be delivering his State of the State address tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. in the Assembly Chambers.

Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, is holding a community forum in San Jose to get input on spending the money for energy efficiency the recently passed Proposition 39 is likely to generate. From 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Independence High School's multi-purpose room.

Robin Umberg, deputy secretary for veterans homes in the California Department of Veterans Affairs, will be speaking to reporters at the Veterans Home of California in Fresno today, starting at 11 a.m. On Tuesday, the Little Hoover Commission, a watchdog agency, began probing whether the state's Veterans Affairs Agency is doing enough to provide services.

The Greenlining Institute is holding a discussion on covering election reform in California. Speakers will include Eugene Lee, director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center's voting rights project; Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause; Dean Logan, registrar of voters for Los Angeles County; Rosalind Gold of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund; Mindy Romero, director of the UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project; and Michelle Romero of the Greenlining Institute. The event begins at noon in the Sacramento Convention Center Complex, room 201.

VIDEO: Dan Walters is mystified about tech-savvy California's poor record with government-sponsored online projects.

Today California enters the next phase in setting special elections for Senate seats in the 32nd and 40th districts, which Rep. Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, and Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, respectively vacated when they ascended to Congress in November.

It's the last day for Secretary of State Debra Bowen to send county election officials a certified list of candidates. Four registered Democrats have filed their intention to run in the 32nd, among them Assemblywoman Norma Torres and San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller Larry WalkerBen Hueso, D-San Diego, looks like the candidate to beat in the 40th.

Bowen's office will be holding a lottery at 11 a.m. to randomly determine the order in which candidates for the two elections will appear on the ballot.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is staying on in Washington, D.C. post-inauguration to lobby for a national mental health plan. On his schedule today are meetings with Senator Barbara Boxer, D-CA, Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Norwalk, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, the vice president's office, the Department of Health and Human Services and some advocacy organizations.

The Little Hoover Commission will convene a hearing to examine the quality of veterans' programs in California, starting at 9 a.m. in Room 2040 of the State Capitol building.

The California Women's Health Alliance holding a rally on the capitol buildings south steps today to mark the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, starting at 1 p.m.

Finally, a happy belated birthday to Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, who turned 39 on Friday.

Editor's note: this post was corrected to reflect the fact that Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod represents Chino, not Chico.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says news that some CalPERS managers are getting extra pay should come as no surprise.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles is holding a press conference at Los Angeles City Hall to call for comprehensive immigration reform, staring at 10 a.m. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, is scheduled to be there, along with labor groups and immigration advocates.

Immigration seems likely to be on the national agenda, with President Barack Obama reportedly poised to unveil his plan for an overhaul, and Capitol Alert's Jim Sanders has reported that it could get play in California, too. Gov. Jerry Brown said yesterday that he "expected to be involved" in the national debate.

Today, meanwhile, is the last day to file for upcoming special elections in two state Senate districts.

Assemblywoman Norma Torres, San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller Larry Walker and former Downey City Council candidate Gabriel Orozco, all Democrats, have filed statements of intention to run. Up for grabs is the 32nd Senate District seat that Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, vacated.

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, resigned his seat when he was elected to represent California's 51st Congressional District. Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, is the odds-on favorite to win in the 40th Senate District.

The special primaries will be held March 12, with the general elections scheduled for May 14.

If there seems to be a larger number of lawmakers around the Capitol than is usual for a Friday, it could be because of the state holiday on Monday, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed. Legislators lose their per diem payments if they don't meet every three days.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says that, considering how little work lawmakers seem to do in Sacramento, the part-time legislature California used to have may have been more effective.

Gov. Jerry Brown is once again attending the University of California Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco, at the Mission Bay Conference Center.

The regents are scheduled to discuss Brown's budget, which has earned praise from university officials for giving them enough money to stave off another tuition hike.

Already this week, Brown has touted the prospect of using online instruction to lower education costs and bring in more potential students and has gotten the regents' support.

The Judicial Council, the policy-setting arm of California's Administrative Office of the Courts, will also be talking about the proposed budget at its meeting at the Ronald M. George State Office Complex in San Francisco. The meeting runs from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., with Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye giving her report early in the meeting, followed by a staff report on the governor's proposal. Listen via audio stream on the California court system's website. Find the agenda at this link.

A costly California project is on today's agenda -- officials from the California High-Speed Rail Authority will be in Washington, D.C., to discuss the future of high speed rail. Authority Chair Dan Richard and CEO Jeff Morales will be joined by Joe Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak, and U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari.

Back on the West Coast, the board of Covered California, the entity responsible for overseeing the new California health insurance exchange mandated under the Affordable Care Act, is meeting in Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will be speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility to train workers in green technology, a project co-sponsored by the Sheet Metal Workers' Local 104, Sheet Metal Air Conditioning National Association, and Bay Area Industry Training Fund. The ceremony is at 2 p.m. in Fairfield.

The Leadership California Institute is hosting a screening of the PBS documentary "Race 2012," an examination of the presidential election's perceptions of race in America. The screening, to be held at Sacramento's Crest Theatre, will start at 11:30 a.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion with Paul Mitchell, the vice president of Political Data Inc; Debra Dickerson, an editor at U.S. News & World Report; campaign strategist Bill Wong; and journalist Pilar Marrero. Mike Madrid, a political consultant with GrassrootsLab, will moderate.

The University of California Center Sacramento is holding a talk on how foreclosures affected the election, hosted by Martin Johnson, chairman of the political science department at UC Riverside. The talk is from noon to 1:30 p.m., at 1130 K St., Room LL3.

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson is holding an open house at his district office, 915 L St., Suite 110, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Editor's note: the original version of this alert mistakenly said the Greenlining Institute panel discussion was scheduled for Wednesday, Jan 16. It will be held on Wednesday, Jan 23.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says it will be a little while before the Legislature truly gets to work.

The University of California's Board of Regents continues its meeting today, and online education is on the agenda. Several elected officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, have shown an interest in using online instruction to expand access and reduce costs.

Brown plans to attend the regents meeting, which starts at 8:30 a.m. at UC San Francisco's Mission Bay campus. Also attending will be Sebastian Thrun, CEO and co-founder of the company Udacity, whom Brown sought out for guidance on MOOCs, or massive online open courses.

Anant Agarwal, president of edX, and Daphne Koller, co-founder and co-CEO of Coursera, both working on developing MOOCs, will be there as well.

Back in Sacramento, the Senate Rules Committee will be vetting a few more of Brown's appointments today, starting at 1:30 p.m. On the agenda: John R. Wallauch, chief of Bureau of Automotive Repair; Brian R. Leahy, director of pesticide regulation; and Robert Z. Wasserman, a member of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

The Greenlining Institute, meanwhile, is holding a symposium next week on California politics, with a panel discussion on Wednesday, Jan. 23 called "Journalism Forward: Reporting on Election Reform in a Diverse State" from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Speakers will include Eugene Lee of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Rosalind Gold of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund and Michelle Romero of the Greenlining Institute.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says that, for once, Gov. Jerry Brown's budget has gotten a generally favorable reception.

The University of California's Board of Regents convenes for its annual meeting this morning, with a sunnier budget outlook suggesting the university system may avert another tuition hike.

VIDEO: Dan Walters expects "a whole lot of fighting" over Gov. Jerry Brown's attempt to overhaul California's system of school funding.

Both houses of the Legislature have floor sessions today, the Assembly at noon and the Senate at 2 p.m.

The Senate will take up the nomination of Mark Nechodom, the Department of Conservation director who faced stiff questioning last Wednesday over his department's role in regulating "fracking."

Other Brown appointees on the Senate agenda include Kimiko Burton, who was named to the State Personnel Board last February, and Mark Ghilarducci, named California's secretary of emergency management last March.

Burton is the daughter of former Senate President Pro Tem John Burton. The state Democratic Party chairman attended her hearing in the Senate Rules Committee last week.

As for the week ahead, expect more discussion of the new weighted formula for school funding Brown has proposed. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have tentatively backed the idea without getting into details. If you want to read up on the subject, you'll find the "K-12 Education" section of Brown's budget summary at this link.

Happy birthday to Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, who is 56 today.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says the California budget is larger than it appears.

On the heels of Gov. Jerry Brown's latest budget release, Finance Director Ana J. Matosantos will be breaking down the numbers at a luncheon forum sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce.

The Bee's Kevin Yamamura, who will be at said luncheon, reported in this post that Brown's proposal includes an additional $2.7 billion in spending on K-12 and community colleges, an education boost promised in the successful campaign for Proposition 30, as well as slight increases in spending on Medi-Cal and higher education.

State workers also stand to get more money, although the total size of the workforce seems likely to remain the same. Jon Ortiz has details in today's Bee in a story that also looks ahead to future contract talks.

The budget got a generally positive review from both sides of the aisle, with Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento lauding Brown for increasing education funding but keeping overall spending under control.

Meanwhile, freshman member of Congress Ami Bera will be holding his first constituent event, a noon "Congress on your Corner" meet and greet at the Citrus Heights Community Center. Bera won his seat in the newly drawn 7th Congressional District from Republican Rep. Dan Lungren, whom the Democrat unsuccessfully tried to unseat in 2010.

Happy early birthday to Assemblyman Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, who will be 52 53 on Saturday. (Capitol Alert regrets the error.)

VIDEO: Dan Walters draws parallels between Gov. Jerry Brown's criticism of the federal courts and California counties' criticism of the state, both over the prison system.

It's the day we've all been waiting for: Gov. Jerry Brown unleashes his budget at a 10 a.m. press conference in the Capitol building. Check back with The Bee's Capitol Alert for coverage throughout the day.

His proposal will contain a new "Local Control Funding Formula" designed to simultaneously give K-12 districts more control and direct more money to at-risk students, as Kevin Yamamura reports today. The Bee explained last month the background behind the changes and how the new system could lead to significant funding differences between suburban and urban districts.

Health and human services advocates will mark the occasion with a series of rallies urging lawmakers to restore funding that has been steadily trimmed in recent budgets. The demonstrations are happening across the state, and the Health and Human Services Network will hold its Sacramento iteration in Room 126 of the Capitol building.

But the state budget isn't the only thing on the agenda. Republican Jim Nielsen prevailed in Tuesday's special election in the 4th Senate District and will be heading back to the upper house, where he was once Republican leader. His swearing-in is the first order of business this morning at 9 a.m. with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg presiding.

St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Sacramento will be holding a funeral Mass for former Assembly Chief Clerk R. Brian Kidney, who spent nearly three decades working in the Legislature. The service is at 12:30 p.m.

Happy birthday to Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, who is 48 today.

Post updated at 7:30 a.m. with a link to today's story on Brown's budget.

VIDEO: Dan Walters says Democrats are already risking a pledge to responsibly use their supermajority.

A handful of Gov. Jerry Brown's appointments are up for Senate confirmation today. Among them are two nominees with connections to other California politics figures: Kimiko Burton, nominated to the State Personnel Board, is the daughter of California Democratic Party chairman and former Senate President Pro Tem John Burton; Mark Nechodom, who is in line to become director of the Department of Conservation, is married to Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

Budget countdown: Gov. Brown is set to spell out the terms of this year's fiscal battleground tomorrow, on Thursday, Jan. 10.

New jobs: DeAnn Baker will become director of legislative affairs for the California State Association of Counties. Baker had been the organization's senior legislative representative for housing, land use & transportation.

Judy Cias will serve as the State Board of Education's acting commissioner, stepping into a vacancy created by Susan Burr's retirement in December. Cias has been serving as the board's chief counsel.