Capitol Alert

The Democratic supermajority in the state Senate thinned a bit Tuesday when Republican farmer Andy Vidak captured more than 50 percent of a special election vote to win in a heavily Democratic San Joaquin Valley district.

Vidak had nearly 52 percent of the votes in the low-turnout election early today, with some provisional and mail ballots yet to be counted. His opponent, Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County supervisor, conceded shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning.

The election was called when Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio unexpectedly resigned early this year to become an executive in Chevron Corp. It was conducted in the 16th Senate District, which no longer exists, because Rubio was elected from that district in 2010. Vidak will have to seek re-election in the new 14th Senate District, which was created by an independent redistricting commission.

Both districts have lopsided registration majorities, but the 16th SD is heavily weighted toward Fresno County while the new 14th SD is more oriented toward Kern County. Both also include counties in between those two.

"Special elections are unique voter-turnout environments and this is clearly not the last we've heard of the immensely talented Supervisor Perez," Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said in a statement. "I'm proud of how our Democratic Senate supermajority and our accomplished campaign team responded to this unexpected vacancy and rallied in support of Leticia's candidacy."

Vidak's victory shaves the Democrats' margin in the Senate, which had been 29-11, by one seat, but another Democratic senator, Curren Price, is due to resign to take a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. Thus chances have dimmed for the Democratic supermajority to pass a constitutional amendment or a tax increase, both of which would require two-thirds legislative votes.

Also Tuesday, Democrat Lorena Gonzalez, a community organizer, easily won a special election in the 80th Assembly District in San Diego County, defeating another Democrat, and will succeed Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, who left the Assembly after winning a special election for the state Senate. Gonzalez' victory does not affect the Democratic supermajority in the Assembly but it, too, is experiencing vacancies due to other looming resignations.

Newton Russell, who represented a swath of the San Fernando Valley in the state Legislature for more than three decades, died Saturday at his Southern California home. He was 85 and succumbed, his family said, to lung cancer.

Russell, a Republican, was dubbed the "conscience of the Senate" for his frequent admonitions to colleagues about following procedural rules and understanding the details and potential consequences of legislation. He was particularly critical of expanding "peace officer" status to additional blocs of state and local employees that would qualify them for higher pension benefits.

Russell, an insurance agent by profession, was first elected to the Assembly in 1964 from a Glendale-centered district, and a decade later won a special state Senate election. He retired in 1996. The area he represented was dependably Republican during his career but after his retirement became dominated by Democratic voters and legislators.

Russell's brother, John, who preceded him in death, was best known as the star of a popular television series, "The Lawman," in the 1960s. Both brothers served in World War II, John in the Marine Corps and Newt in the Navy.

Newt Russell is survived by his widow, Diane The couple had three children and eight grandchildren. The family is planning private services. A public memorial gathering is planned, but the details have not been set.

The daughter-in-law of former Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata died over the weekend.

Catherine Perata, who was married to the son of the Oakland Democrat, drowned in a pool at the family's Napa home Saturday morning. She was 38.

The Associated Press reports:

Napa Police Capt. Jeff Troendly says 38-year-old Catherine Perata was found unresponsive Saturday morning by her husband in their backyard pool. ...

Troendly says while foul play is not suspected, investigators are waiting for a toxicology report before concluding the death investigation.

Don Perata served more than a decade in the Legislature, including four years as pro tem, before leaving office due to term limits in 2008. He lost a 2010 bid to become mayor of Oakland.

Read more from the Associated Press at SacBee.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: Don Perata, shown in 2008. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

California's top Senate Democrat called Tuesday for more investment in mental health services in the state, saying his proposal could improve lives, prevent future tragedies and reduce the burden mentally ill patients put on the state's prisons and hospitals.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is proposing significantly increasing mental health services in the state by adding 2,000 beds and at least 200 "triage personnel" to help individuals with mental health issues. His plan, which he hopes to enact through the state budget process, would also add 25 "Mobile Crisis Support Teams" to provide a range of resources to help people manage their mental illness without turning to emergency rooms or jails.

Steinberg said "invariably heart-breaking and often tragic" stories of what happens when mental illness goes untreated motivated him to craft the proposal. He highlighted the December mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, a federal appeals court's ruling on health care in California prisons and stories chronicled by The Bee of Nevada busing mentally ill patients to California and other states as recent examples of the need for care

"How many more sad stories must we hear? With Newtown, Nevada and the 9th Circuit it is time for action," he said at a press conference in the state Capitol.

The unveiling of the plan comes days after Gov. Jerry Brown submitted a court-ordered plan to reduce the state's prison population. Steinberg said while his mental health services plan might not satisfy the three-judge panel's call for further inmate reductions, it will lower the prison population and recidivism rate for mentally ill inmates over time.

"Ultimately, if we are going to reduce overcrowding over the long term, we have to provide more effective, cost effective ways to keep people who leave the prisons and the jails from returning," he said, citing the success one three-year project for mentally ill parolees has had in cutting down the rate of repeat incarceration.

Steinberg said he has not yet calculated the full price tag for the plan, which would include grants of up to $500,000 for eligible projects. He said he envisions paying for the added services through grant funding offered by the California Endowment, a nonprofit that promotes health care coverage, money from the Proposition 63 tax on millionaires for mental health services, general fund revenues and by enrolling eligible individuals for health care benefits under the new state-run marketplace. He argued that any additional investment would provide big returns for the state over time.

"We are paying already, and we are paying big time," he said. "Our current system is a budget buster, also it's inhumane."

PHOTO CREDIT: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg describes his proposal on increasing investment in mental health services as Democratic Sen. Jim Beall, chair of the Senate's mental health caucus, looks on. Sacramento Bee/Torey Van Oot.

California's political watchdog agency has determined that a former state senator who engaged in real estate transactions with a friend and campaign donor did not violate the state's political ethics laws.

The Fair Political Practices Commission had been reviewing both a short sale and a loan related to properties owned by former Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio, who resigned in February to take a job directing California governmental affairs for Chevron Corp.

Shortly after Rubio stepped down, it was revealed that a company managed by San Joaquin Refining Co. President Majid Mojibi purchased a Bakersfield home Rubio put up for a short sale after he had to move to remain eligible to represent the Central Valley's 16th Senate District. That company, DCM Asset Management, also provided Rubio with a loan to purchase a $681,000 home in El Dorado Hills last year when he was unable to receive a traditional mortgage. Rubio later sold the five-bedroom house back to Mojibi, whom he describes as a close personal friend, and began renting it.

The El Dorado Hills transactions, first reported by The Bee, was later disclosed in Rubio's annual Statement of Economic Interests form. That form also showed that Rubio was involved in another real estate deal with ties to the Mojibi family.

Those exchanges raised questions about whether the loan and the sale violated the Political Reform Act, which limits elected officials to $440 in gifts from a single source per year. A central issue for the ethics agency officials was whether the terms of the loan Rubio received would have been available to the general public.

Democracy! One of its greatest aspirations is treating elected representatives and the everyday people who elected them equally -- a leveling that, once a year in Sacramento, includes California lawmakers trying to grasp slimy frogs and then dancing around and stomping to encourage said frogs to hop.

Tuesday was the 39th annual Capitol Frog Jump day, a hallowed occasion that honors Mark Twain's well-known story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Sen. Tom Berryhill, R-Oakdale, whose district encompasses Calaveras County, emceed the festivities.

"These frogs have a lot on the line here -- if they lose they could end up in the frying pan," Berryhill announced. A staffer told him, "We don't bite the leg that feeds us."

The results of today's festivities: A 10-foot-5-inch hop secured the longest jump title for "Notorious H.O.P." on behalf of Morgan Morales with the office of Assemblyman Eric Linder, R-Corona. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the amphibian coached by Theresa Pena of the office of Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica-- "Herkimer" managed only 1 foot, 4 inches. The Media Jump award went to defending champ Joe Michaels of Newstalk 1530 KFBK's "Christopher Ribbit II.

For the record, Capitol Alert's favorite frog names were a tie between M.C. Hopper and Betty Croaker. But enough talk, here's some videos of lawmakers and frogs.

Frog wrangler D.W. Elley was very helpful -- here he is giving Assemblyman Steve Fox, D-Lancaster, some positive reinforcement. (Elley's technique summed up: "Set him on the pad, and scare him and make him hop.")

Fox's frog, by the way, was named El Zorro. "Zorro means fox in Spanish," the assemblyman explained to Capitol Alert.

Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, is a freshman but has been around the Capitol for a while, so he seemed pretty confident in his technique.

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, was less enthused...

...although ultimately she got into it. Her frog, Larry B., though, remained indifferent.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sadly, Assemblyman Ken Cooley -- seen here with Tenaya -- did not find his prince. April 30, 2013 by Jeremy B. White/The Sacramento Bee.

The California state Senate moved today to change what has been called "historical anomalies in the law" that led a rape conviction to be overturned in Southern California.

Senate Bill 59, by Democratic Sen. Noreen Evans, was introduced in response to the Los Angeles-based 2nd District Court of Appeal's decision to throw out the conviction of a man who was accused of raping a woman while she was asleep in bed. The court's ruling was based on defendant Julio Morales' claim that the victim was awake and could have been under the impression that he was her boyfriend. Current law, the court said, provides protections for victims raped by someone impersonating their spouse, but not other sexual partners.

"Justice should not be conditioned on a person's marital status or sexual orientation," Evans said in introducing the bill on the floor.

Republican Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian is carrying a second bill on the same issue. The San Luis Obispo Republican authored similar legislation in 2011 that failed to clear the Senate Public Safety Committee.

Evans' version passed the Senate on a bipartisan 37-0 vote. Senate GOP leader Bob Huff spoke in support of the measure. He raised questions about a Public Safety Committee policy to hold bills that could cause the prison population to rise.

The bill, which requires a two-thirds vote so it can take effect immediately, now heads to the Assembly for consideration.

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Legislators vow to shut legal loophole in Los Angeles rape case

PHOTO CREDIT: Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, in a 2009 file photo. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

The California Legislature's ongoing public battle with the state agency that regulates oil and gas pipelines continued to escalate this week, with one senator asking CPUC President Michael Peevey to "justify your continued appointment" in front of a Senate subcommittee next week.

The request came one day after another budget subcommittee held a public hearing on a report detailing a perception among employees that the California Public Utilities Commission does not prioritize safety and is too cozy with the utility companies it regulates.

The letter, sent Thursday by Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill, also notes other reports raising concerns about the agency's commitment to safety conducted in the wake of the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion.

"For all of the shortcomings under your leadership at the CPUC over the last ten years as documented by independent reports, it's critical that you testify before the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee hearing next week to justify your continued appointment as president of the California Public Utilities Commission," Hill, who represents San Bruno and is a vocal critic of CPUC leadership, wrote in the letter.

A CPUC spokesperson has not responded to The Bee's inquiry about whether Peevey plans to attend the April 25 hearing.

Peevey, who is married to Democratic state Sen. Carol Liu of La Cañada Flintridge, was first appointed to the commission by then-Gov. Gray Davis in 2002. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to another six-year term in 2008.

Gov. Jerry Brown's office released the following statement via email in response to a request for comment from The Bee: "Commissioner Peevey's term is up on January 1, 2015. If something changes before then, we'll let you know."

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Peevey of the California Public Utilities Commission waits to speak to Senate Rules Committee members as they consider his confirmation in December 2009 as his wife, state Sen. Carol Liu, sits behind him. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee file, 2009

04-18-13 - Letter to Peevey

California Boy Scout troops that ban openly gay members could lose their nonprofit tax status under legislation that advanced in the state Senate today.

Senate Bill 323, by Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara, would repeal the state tax-exempt status of any youth organization that discriminates based on gender identity, sexual orientation or religious affiliation.

Lara said the bill is intended to "make sure all our youth get to participate in our youth programs."

The legislation comes amid increased public pressure for the Boy Scouts of America to change its blanket ban on openly gay troops. A former president said the organization has been reviewing that policy in an ongoing effort to stay relevant with families, but opposes the legislation because of the potential financial impact on troops across the state.

"You're talking about taxing revenue that is very important, especially to the local scouts," Rick Cronk, a former president of the Boy Scouts of America, told the committee.

Critics also raised concerns about the constitutionality of the legislation, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the private organization's right to make membership decisions, and safety issues they said could arise when straight and gay scouts and leaders go on camping trips or other outings.

Still, supporters said the change, which would not impact churches that charter scout troops, would send an important message about equality.

"(Senate Bill 323 will) let the scouts and other groups know that at least in the state of California, we will not support any organization that thinks it can get away with discrimination" said Ryan Andersen, who has become an advocate for lifting the policy int the wake of his gay son's experience with the Boy Scouts.

The bill cleared the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on a party-line vote of 5-2. It will now be scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

PHOTO: Members of the Boy Scouts of America march in a parade at the Sacramento Music Festival in Old Sacramento in May 2012. Lezlie Sterling / Sacramento Bee file.

A routine staff meeting at the Capitol turned controversial last week when a California Public Utilities Commission official was allegedly caught trying to secretly record the conversation.

A briefing on an upcoming Senate budget subcommittee hearing was underway Friday when a smart phone belonging to PUC Energy Division Director Edward Randolph interrupted with an announcement that the recording space on his device was full, several sources told The Bee. The discovery surprised -- and angered -- many of the more than a dozen attendees of the off-the-record, private meeting, which was quickly called to an end.

Randolph initially denied that he was trying to covertly record the meeting, but later apologized to some attendees. The meeting included members of the Senate subcommittee staff, the office of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the Department of Finance and the PUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an office that has clashed with PUC leadership.

Now, officials are reviewing whether Randolph's actions broke California law, which requires consent of all parties involved to tape private conversations. Steinberg spokesman Rhys Williams said the senator's office is aware of the issue and is looking into "whether any rules or laws have been broken and any appropriate recourse based on that."

A Republican-authored bill to eliminate a fire prevention fee levied on some California residents failed to make it out of committee Tuesday morning.

Senate Bill 17, by Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, fell on a 4-3 vote in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

Supporters wearing bright red T-shirts bearing the phrase "Burned by the Fire Tax" packed the hearing room and lined up to register their support, joining fire officials and advocates for taxpayers and homeowners. No one appeared to voice opposition.

The state Office of Legislative Council has questioned how the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown spends revenue from the fee, which is assessed on property in rural areas. Lawmakers approved the fee in 2011 on a majority vote, rather than the two-thirds vote required for new taxes. Revenue from a fee must be spent to benefit those who pay it.

Opponents of the fee have argued that it has been used for other purposes. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has sued the state on those grounds, arguing that the fee is in fact an unconstitutional tax.

But some committee members said the fee was warranted to guard against blazes spreading from rural areas where they are more likely to start.

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who voted against the bill, endorsed awaiting the results of the lawsuit before moving to a legislative fix.

"The issue of tax vs. fee, I'm sure the courts will straighten this out," Jackson said.

PHOTO CREDIT: Opponents of California's fire fee wait to testify at an April 9, 2013, hearing before a Senate committee. Jeremy B. White / Sacramento Bee

A proposal to let medical professionals other than doctors perform an early abortion procedure advanced Tuesday in the California Legislature.

Assembly Bill 154, by Democratic Assemblywoman Toni Atkins of San Diego, authorizes nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants who undergo training to conduct aspiration abortions, a procedure that uses a suction method to remove a fetus early in a pregnancy.

The bill cleared the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on a 8-4 party-line vote.

The measure would expand a state pilot program that's been in effect since 2007, and supporters say it would ensure women have early and safe access to abortion providers in their communities. They cite a University of California, San Francisco Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health study that found low rates of mostly minor complications related to the first trimester abortions performed by pilot participants.

"The goal is to ensure that there are providers, qualified and trained, throughout every county in the state," Atkins said.

Critics at the hearing raised concerns about safety, training and expanding access to abortion in general, especially among teenage women.

"I don't think we should treat it as taking a pill or anything like that," said Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills. "This is a very complex situation."

An earlier attempt to allow non-doctors to perform the procedure fell short last year. The California Nurses Association opposed that proposal, raising concerns that a full study of the pilot program had not been completed. The bill also ran into opposition in a key Senate committee, whose members included two Democrats who opposed abortion rights.

PHOTO CREDIT: An intake worker waits for paperwork from a teenage client at a family planning and abortion clinic in San Francisco. Julie Plasencia / Associated Press file, 2005

A bill to more tightly regulate the drilling process called hydraulic fracturing passed the California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on a 6-2 vote Tuesday.

Fracking, as the extraction technique is commonly called, has become a flash point for environmental advocates as the process has become more commonplace in recent years.

California is in the incipient stages of regulating fracking -- shooting a mix of chemicals, sand and water deep underground.

Skeptics argue that fracking could endanger public health by contaminating water public water supplies. Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, the author of Senate Bill 4, called the bill a needed mechanism for holding the energy industry accountable.

"We need to at the minimum ensure that someone, some public agency, is monitoring the public health and safety of Californians," Pavley said.

The legislation would require the energy industry to disclose more information about the amount of water and types of chemicals it uses. It would also set up a permitting process, create a framework for tracking waste water and dictate that communities are notified 30 days in advance of a new well being constructed.

Ongoing shuffling to fill vacancies on state Senate committees has put Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, at the helm of the upper house's powerful Banking and Finance Committee.

Correa, a moderate Democrat who also chairs the Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, takes the gavel from Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who was recently appointed as chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

Sen. Ben Hueso, D- San Diego, who won a seat in the upper house in a recent special election, will take Correa's spot as chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

The committee dominoes began in January, when Sens. Juan Vargas and Gloria Negrete McLeod left the Legislature to take congressional seats they won in November. More changes were sparked when Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio, who chaired Environmental Quality, resigned to take a job leading governmental affairs for Chevron Corp.

The full list of announced changes, which were approved by the Senate Rules Committee, is posted after the jump.

Friends and colleagues of long-time Capitol reporter Virgil Meibert will gather in Sacramento State University's alumni center April 12 for a memorial service.

Meibert represented the Oakland Tribune in the Capitol for nearly 20 years and held the same post for the Contra Costa Times for three years before retiring from newspapers in 1995. He died in his sleep March 18 at his Sacramento home after a lengthy battle with a variety of illnesses. He was 78.

Senate Democrats' pick to replace former state Sen. Michael Rubio in a Central Valley district is on the move -- literally.

Bakersfield Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County Supervisor, learned this week that she will have to find a new home by Friday in order to run in the May special election for the seat Rubio gave up to take a job with Chevron Corp. earlier this year.

Perez apparently faces the same residency issue Rubio, her former boss, experienced when he first ran for the state Senate in 2010: her home is in a part of Bakersfield that election officials mistakenly included in the 16th Senate District for years

Rubio moved during his campaign and later had to short sell his original home. That sale, along with his later purchase of an El Dorado Hills house, involved an oil executive who gave to his campaign. Both transactions are the subject of a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission, which has yet to decide whether to open a formal investigation.

The chairman of the state panel that sets pay for California legislators and statewide officials said today he expects the salaries to remain the same next year, even if the state's finances are strong enough to justify raises.

The California Citizens Compensation Commission met for about an hour today in Sacramento, but decided to delay a decision until after the panel gets an updated report on the state's fiscal health from the Department of Finance. By law, the commission cannot raise officials' pay unless the state shows a surplus in May.

Commission Chairman Thomas Dalzell said he sees it as "very unlikely" that members decide to increase -- or reduce -- pay levels when they meet again on June 13. Giving raises in the first year of a projected surplus, he said, would "probably be unseemly."

"The economy's fairly volatile and things could flip around and I think there are priorities greater than the legislator and constitutional officer salaries," he said after the meeting. "What we do is largely symbolic because it has no significant effect on the budget, but I think it's important symbolically to not rush ahead and to restore the cuts on the first year out."

Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, was sworn in Thursday morning, restoring a two-thirds supermajority Senate Democrats had temporarily lost.

At his swearing in, Hueso spoke about his father's experience of emigrating from Mexico, obtaining an education at San Diego State University and eventually sending several children to college. Flanked by his wife and four sons, he talked about sustaining those types of opportunities.

"I want to dedicate my service here to ensure that, together," lawmakers can "offer [Californians] in the future opportunities they do not have today," Hueso said.

The homage to Hueso's Mexican heritage continued when he left the Senate chambers, where a traditional mariachi band greeted him.

Hueso formerly served in the Assembly. He won the 40th Senate district seat that U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, surrendered after his election to Congress in November.

PHOTO CREDIT: Newly sworn in Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, speaks at a reception on March 21, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Jeremy B. White

Nicholas Petris, who served in the California Legislature for 37 years, representing Oakland and other East Bay communities, died Wednesday morning. He was 90.

Petris died at Piedmont Gardens, an Oakland retirement and nursing facility, after a years-long struggle with dementia.

Democrat Petris was regarded as a leading liberal voice during his long career in the Assembly and the Senate before being compelled to retire in 1996 by term limits. He was a major advocate of tax reform, farmworker rights, mental health services (the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act) and environmental protection. He penned laws banning smoking on airplanes, trains and buses, and required redevelopment agencies to build housing for low- and moderate-income families.

Petris, who was of Greek ancestry, often peppered his floor speeches with references to ancient Greek scholars.

Services are scheduled for the Greek Orthodox Church in Oakland, 4700 Lincoln Ave., at 11 a.m. Tuesday. A viewing will take place Monday night at 7 p.m. at the church.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sen. Nicholas Petris, D-Oakland, is honored on his last day in the Legislature in 1996. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

The field is taking shape to replace Shafter Democrat Michael Rubio in the state Senate, and President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has endorsed Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez for the job.

As The Fresno Bee's John Ellis explains in this post, the race is now likely a three-way affair between Perez, fellow Democrat Fran Florez and Hanford Republican Andy Vidak.

"Leticia Perez is well known and respected for being a fiscal conservative and a proven advocate for equal rights, good paying jobs, public education, and safe neighborhoods," Steinberg said in a prepared release. "I am very happy she will be adding her voice to the State Senate to strongly advocate for the people of the Central Valley."

PHOTO CREDIT: Darrell Steinberg speaks on the Senate floor in 2012. Associated Press/Rich Pedroncelli

New unsealed court documents detail the explicit threats a Santa Clara man upset about efforts to tighten gun laws made against Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.

Everett Fred Basham was arrested last month after law enforcement officials identified him as the alleged author of a death threat received by Yee and searched his Santa Clara home. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including some related to the possession of explosive materials and a gun found at his residence.

In an email sent to Yee's office in January, Basham wrote that he had "39 confirmed kills in afganistan (sic)...Don't make me get to 40."

The Mercury News story, posted in full at this link, has more on the threat:

The message proceeds with a nine-point list in which the author claims, among other things, to be a trained Marine sniper with "over 200 rounds of ammunition" and a high-powered rifle that "can hit a spinal cord at 1.5 miles making a head become red mist."

The numbered points grow increasingly specific: "I know where your office and where the state capital (sic) building is in Sacramento. I have hiding spots around both with clean view," followed by "I can wait hidden for you to walk past my mil dot scope," the latter part referring to a specific type of rifle targeting scope.

Yee's office has declined to provide further comment on the unsealed documents. His office referred to an earlier statement in which the senator said "these threats and any others will not deter me and my colleagues from addressing the critical issues surrounding gun violence."

"This case is very troubling and only further demonstrates the need to address this epidemic," the statement reads.

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

California Democrats have recaptured a supermajority in the state Senate as Democrat Ben Hueso sailed to victory in a special election for a vacant San Diego-area Senate seat Tuesday night.

Hueso, a state assemblyman from San Diego, had 52.3 percent of the vote in unofficial results in the race to replace former Sen. Juan Vargas in the 40th Senate District. Vargas resigned to assume a House seat he won in the November election. Because Hueso tallied above 50 percent, he won the seat outright, avoiding a later runoff election. He is scheduled to be sworn in on March 21.

The Senate briefly lost its supermajority status last month, when Sen. Michael Rubio, D-East Bakersfield, resigned unexpectedly to take a job with Chevron Corp.

The Assembly will hold on to its supermajority status when Hueso departs for the upper house, but not for long. At least one other Assembly Democrat, Bob Blumenfield, is expected to resign this summer to take a Los Angeles City Council seat he won in a recent primary. Successors to both Blumenfield and Hueso will be selected in later special elections.

The results of runoff elections for other Los Angeles seats being sought by current legislators and another vacant Senate district up for a vote Tuesday could also shift the balance of power in both houses.

Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, tallied 43.6 percent of the vote Tuesday night in a contest for the Inland Empire's 32nd Senate District, which was left open when former state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, joined Congress in January.

Torres will face Republican Paul Leon, who had 26.4 percent of the vote, in a May 14 runoff.

The supermajority status could allow legislative Democrats to pass new taxes, place measures on the ballot and override a gubernatorial veto without any GOP votes. Most of the seats that are expected to open up as a result of the upcoming election dominoes are considered safe Democratic districts, leaving leaders with little cause for concern about the temporary shifts in their majority power.

PHOTO CREDIT: In this May 29, 2012 file photo, Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, talks with Assemblywoman Kristen Olsen, R-Modesto, during the Assembly session in Sacramento, Calif. Hueso won Tuesday's special election for the 40 District Senate seat vacated by Juan Vargas, who was elected to the House of Representatives last November. (AP Photo/ Rich Pedroncelli, file)

While serving as a state senator, Michael Rubio also was a business partner with a Kern County oil executive who contributed to his campaign and loaned him money to buy a home in El Dorado Hills, newly released state records show.

Rubio, a Shafter Democrat who resigned weeks ago to work for Chevron, was a partner with Majid Mojibi in a Bakersfield-based real estate investment firm, M&R Investment Group, the records show.

The partnership participated in two real estate deals in 2012 - one involving ownership and operation of a Bakersfield office building, the other involving agricultural land.

Rubio said he received no income from the venture. The partnership apparently received loans of six-figure sums from Mojibi, however. On the FPPC disclosure form Rubio listed an "over $100,000 loan" for each of the two real estate ventures.

Assemblyman Henry Perea has decided not to run for the Central Valley Senate seat that fellow Democrat Michael Rubio resigned last week.

The Fresno Democrat said in a statement that while the opportunity to run in the 16th Senate District is "appealing," he wants to serve out his most recent term in the Assembly and honor a commitment he made to his wife and family to "create a balance between my home life and work."

"We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our second child in July, and I want to uphold my commitment to my family and the 31st Assembly District," he said.

Rubio, a freshman Democrat from Shafter, resigned his 16th Senate District seat last week to take a job heading California governmental affairs for Chevron Corp.

Gov. Jerry Brown has not yet set a special election date, but there is no shortage of candidates interested in seeking the seat.

PHOTO CREDIT: Two-year-old Ava Perea looks at the gallery as she is carried by her father, Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, D-Fresno, after he is sworn in during the first day of session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Dec. 3, 2012. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee file, 2012.

WASHINGTON - Gov. Jerry Brown said today that state Sen. Michael Rubio's resignation from the state Legislature took him by surprise, and he suggested it could complicate his effort to overhaul the state's signature environmental law.

"He's a good man," Brown said as he arrived here for a conference of the National Governors Association. "I was kind of counting on him for this year."

Asked if Rubio's resignation would hurt his effort to make changes to the California Environmental Quality Act, the Democratic governor said, "Well, he was certainly the foremost champion" of enacting changes.

Rubio announced today that he is leaving the Legislature to take a job at Chevron Corp. Brown had expected the Shafter Democrat to help him enact legislation limiting the reach of CEQA.

Brown said of Rubio's announcement, "That was a surprise."

PHOTO CREDIT: Gov. Jerry Brown and first lady Anne Gust Brown arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. David Siders / Sacramento Bee

State Sen. Michael Rubio announced today that he is resigning from the state Legislature and taking a job directing California governmental affairs for Chevron Corporation.

The Shafter Democrat cited a desire to spend more time with his family in a statement released today, saying he "realized that my current professional path has left little opportunity to be home for those who are most important to me, which is why I am making a change."

"My wife and I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters, from whom we have learned a great deal," he said. "Our youngest child, who has special needs, has given me great perspective as to life's priorities and our eldest has reminded me that the most critical decisions are made at home and not under the Capitol dome."

Rubio, who was elected to the state Senate in 2010, dropped plans to run for Congress in 2012 after his daughter was diagnosed with Down syndrome. One of the upper house's most moderate members, Rubio was leading a push to overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act. He was named chair of the Environmental Quality Committee last year and has worked closely with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg on drafting legislation for the upcoming session.

Rubio said in the statement that his resignation is effective today. His decision means Senate Democrats will temporarily lose their supermajority, as two other Democratic seats are currently vacant. A special election will be held to fill his seat for the remainder of his term.

PHOTO CREDIT: State Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Bakersfield, left, a member of the Senate Transportation and Housing committee, explains to Sen. Doug La Malfa, R-Willows why he would vote against La Malfa's proposal to put a $68 billion high-speed rail plan back before California voters, during a hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Tuesday, April 17, 2012. After more than an hour of testimony La Malfa was granted his request to postpone the committee's vote on the bill. He did not say when he would seek a vote.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, has gotten menacing notes before, but this time was different.

The message that appeared in Yee's inbox about four weeks ago was much more explicit, Yee said at a press conference Thursday afternoon in his Senate office.

The email warned Yee to stop pursuing gun control legislation; if Yee persisted, the author -- who described himself as a trained sniper -- warned he would assassinate the senator in or around the state Capitol building.

"The threat was unlike any of the other ones I've received in the past," Yee said. "In the past I've received racial slurs, rants about my ethnicity and culture, about China. But instead this was a rather detailed, deliberate and exact set of strategies as to how he would carry out that threat."

Particularly worrisome were the signs of a concrete plan, Yee said. He said his training as a psychologist has taught him that detailed plans are usually a red flag indicating that someone is closer to action.

Yee said he immediately notified his chief of staff, who turned the case over to the Senate sergeants. They passed it on to the California Highway Patrol, and on Tuesday authorities arrested a suspect in Santa Clara County whose apartment contained explosive materials and a firearm. Authorities detonated some bombs they found onsite, Yee said.

The senator has been harassed before, notably when he received a disturbing fax after denouncing radio host Rush Limbaugh. Despite the most recent threat, Yee said he has not requested additional security and would not change his agenda.

"Let me make it very, very clear - I'm going to make it crystal clear - that despite this particular threat and any other threats I am not going to be deterred from addressing the issue of gun violence in this community and this state," Yee said.

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

Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee is looking to bolster the youth vote with legislation to establish more polling places on California's college and university campuses.

Senate Bill 240 would require at least one polling place on each University of California and California State University campus and seek to expand the number of polling stations on community college campuses across the state.

While some campuses, including UC Davis, do serve as voting sites, the final decision of where to locate the voting stations is up to the county registrars. Yee said the bill is aimed at making it easier for the hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in the state's UC and CSU systems to vote.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is back on the East Coast this week as part of his ongoing push to expand funding for mental health services nationwide.

Steinberg announced plans to campaign for a $10 billion investment in preventing and treating mental health issues across the country in the wake of the December shooting at a Newtown, Conn. elementary school. He took his call for creating a national mental health initiative modeled after California's Proposition 63 to Washington, D.C., last month, when he spent several days meeting with members of Congress and Obama administration officials.

Now, the Sacramento Democrat has flown to New York City for two days of media interviews and meetings with finance and political leaders, including former Gov. George Pataki.

California minors are already banned from using their smart phones behind the wheel, even with a hands-free device. But new legislation introduced in the state Senate last week would expand those rules to include the use of new smart car technology while driving.

Senate Bill 194, by Stockton Democrat Cathleen Galgiani, would expand the state's ban on talking on the phone and texting while driving for motorists under 18, prohibiting those drivers from using any "electronic wireless communications device," even if it's hands free. The aim of that change is to make sure drivers with provisional licenses don't use touch-screen or voice-command technologies that have been introduced in new car models. Mercedes-Benz USA, for example, made headlines last month by announcing a new feature that provides Facebook access through a car.

The battle lines are being drawn in the upcoming legislative fight over California's environmental review laws.

More than a dozen environmental, labor and social justice groups announced Wednesday that they are joining forces to oppose an expected push to overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act.

Members pledged to fight "radical reforms that would limit public input into land use planning, threaten public health, and weaken environmental protections."

The group, CEQA Works, includes the California League of Conservation Voters, Planning and Conservation League, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club California, the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, State Building and Construction Trades Council, United Food & Commercial Workers and the League of Women Voters of California.

Flanked by police chiefs, big-city mayors and gun control advocates, a group of California Democratic legislators announced a series of proposals Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said would "once again make California's gun laws the very toughest in the nation."

Thursday's announcement was the latest gun control push from state lawmakers in the wake of December's mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. The massacre, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has sparked calls for action across the country. Lawmakers in New York recently enacted measures making its laws the nation's strictest, a title previously held by California.

"We need to lead the way," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "New York has stepped up and stepped forward. California needs to answer the call."

State Sen. Kevin de León is heading to New Orleans to watch the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens face off in the Super Bowl -- on the California Democratic Party's dime.

The Los Angeles Democrat is getting a free ticket to Sunday's game as part of a fundraiser to boost his party's bank account. The pass isn't subject to the $420 limit on gifts to lawmakers because the rules provide an exemption for admission to political and nonprofit fundraisers. Face value Super Bowl tickets start at $850.

Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats' political efforts, said de León, who serves as chair of the Democratic Caucus and the powerful Appropriations Committee, was asked to represent the caucus at the event when Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg could not attend.

Kinney declined to provide additional information about attendees or the itinerary, but said the state Democratic Party paid for all overhead costs and will report those expenditures as well as the contributions received as part of the fundraiser in its campaign filings.

"Personally, I think it demonstrates impressive generosity of spirit that Los Angeles's own Kevin de León is willing to show up and pretend to root for a San Francisco team for three whole hours," Kinney said in a prepared statement.

PHOTO CREDIT: San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis (52), practice squad member Kenny Wiggins (69), and tackle Anthony Davis (76) warm up during practice on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, in New Orleans. The 49ers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/ Mark Humphrey)

By Torey Van Oot and Jim Sanders

State legislators billed taxpayers more than $450,000 for on-the-job driving in the last legislative year, but officials won't say where the lawmakers went.

The Legislature began reimbursing members for work-related travel in their personal cars, including trips from their home to the Capitol, in Dec. 2011, after a program providing state-leased cars to members was cut by the Citizens Compensation Commission. The change saved taxpayers nearly $240,000 in its first year, a Bee analysis found.

The mileage reimbursements varied significantly by member, however. Some legislators declined to seek reimbursement, while others received large sums for driving thousands of miles for legislative or other official business. While some of the members logging the most miles represent vast, rural districts within driving distance of the Capitol, others from geographically compact districts in Southern California also racked up thousands of dollars in reimbursement costs.

A routine resolution urging Congress to reauthorize federal legislation aimed at curbing domestic violence was temporarily shelved in an unusually public fashion today, as the Senate's top Democrat stepped in to appease concerned female legislators.

Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, was interrupted by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg shortly after he began introducing his Senate Resolution 8, which calls on Congress to re-introduce and renew the Violence Against Women Act, on this Senate floor this morning. After a brief discussion on the floor, Yee announced that he would hold off on bringing the resolution up for a vote.

Steinberg told reporters after session that the confusion was caused by an "innocent miscommunication."

Former GOP Sen. Tony Strickland is going from practicing politics to preaching it as a fellow at the University of Southern California's Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.

The Ventura County Star's Timm Herdt has the details on the Moorpark Republican's new gig:

Strickland, a Republican, will become one of about six former legislators to participate in the program since its start three years ago. The unpaid fellowship involves participation in panel discussions on political and public policy issues and interaction with students in small group discussions.

In addition, plans are being made for Strickland to partner with Dan Schnur, the institute's director, in teaching a class in the fall called "The Future of California." That position would be paid.

Strickland, who lost a 2012 bid for an open House seat to former Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, might not stay on the campaign sidelines for long. The two-time former state controller candidate told Herdt he is "seriously considering" challenging Brownley again in 2014.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Mark Nechodom's appointment to head the Department of Conservation on Monday, with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pronouncing himself satisfied with Nechodom's commitment to managing hydraulic fracturing.

"...Assessing the qualifications as well as the direction of the director of this department, I am satisfied. I think he'll make a fine director," Steinberg said.

Nechodom had faced stiff questioning over his department's role in crafting regulations governing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, an energy extraction process that involves blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into the ground.

Critics worry that fracking could endanger public health by compromising drinking water supplies, and Steinberg last week sought an assurance from Nechodom that the need to safeguard public safety would trump energy companies' desire to keep secret the identity of the chemicals they use.

Republican Jim Nielsen is heading back to the Legislature.

The Gerber Republican easily won election to the vacant 4th Senate District seat in a special contest held Tuesday. He led Democrat Mickey Harrington by double-digits, 66.5 percent to 33.5 percent, in early returns. The Associated Press called the contest for Nielsen about 10 p.m.

Nielsen, who spent the last four years representing the 2nd Assembly District, served as Senate GOP leader during an earlier stint in the state Legislature in the 1980s. He succeeds former Sen. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, who stepped down ahead of his election to Congress. LaMalfa had hoped that his September resignation would allow his replacement to be elected in a primary consolidated with the November general election, avoiding the cost of a separate runoff vote. But Nielsen fell just below the more than 50 percent threshold needed to win outright in the special primary election.

Nielsen will be eligible for two full four-year terms in the Senate after filling out LaMalfa's remaining two years representing the safe Republican Northern California district, which covers all or part of a dozen counties.

Click here to see the updated election results.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, speaks at a 2010 forum in Sacramento. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

Two open seats in the state Senate could be filled as soon as mid-March.

Gov. Jerry Brown announced today that special primary elections for the Inland Empire's 32nd Senate District and the San Diego-area 40th Senate District will be held March 12. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held May 14.

The vacancies were created when former Sens. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, and Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, stepped down to take seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both won election to the Congress in November.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has released the full Senate committee roster for the 2013-2014 legislative session.

The assignments, posted after the jump, are expected to be ratified by a vote of the Senate Rules Committee later today. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez announced the Assembly committee lineups last week.

Both houses convene today for the first legislative sessions of 2013.

Democratic Reps.-elect Gloria Negrete McLeod and Juan Vargas are stepping down from the California Senate today ahead of the start of the 113th Congress.

The two will be sworn in as members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. A spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg confirmed that both members have submitted their letters of resignation, which take effect later today.

Negrete McLeod, of Chino, ousted Democratic Rep. Joe Baca in the Inland Empire's 35th Congressional District, while Vargas won election in San Diego's open 51st Congressional District.

Special primary elections to fill the vacant Senate seats will be held in the coming months, on a date set by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Candidates for Negrete McLeod's 32nd Senate District seat include Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, and San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller Larry Walker.

Democratic Assemblyman Ben Hueso of San Diego, meanwhile, has announced his candidacy to succeed Vargas in the 40th Senate District.

PHOTO CREDITS: Left, then Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-San Diego. John Decker / Sacramento Bee file, 2003. Right, Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, speaks at the Senate session in Sacramento, on June 14, 2012. AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg today announced the leadership lineup for the new session, officially elevating Sen. Kevin de León to head the powerful Appropriations Committee.

The only true freshman in the upper house, Riverside's Richard Roth, was given the chairmanship of the Legislative Ethics Committee and the budget subcommittee on State Administration and General Government.

See the full list, as provided by the Senate, after the jump.

Newly elected Sacramento County Assemblyman Ken Cooley has joined six other capital-area legislators in rejecting the $142 per day in living expenses that lawmakers are entitled to while the Legislature is in session.

The decision will cost Cooley and each of the other local legislators between $25,000 and $30,000 for the upcoming year, based on the number of days that per diem was paid in 2012, records show.

Three other Sacramento-area assembly members who rejected per diem in 2012 have submitted letters to the Assembly asking to do the same for 2013: Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento; Beth Gaines, R-Rocklin; and Mariko Yamada, D-Davis.

Late Friday, the Assembly added another name to the list of those turning thumbs down to per diem for the coming legislative session: Freshman Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman of Stockton.

Newly re-elected Assemblyman Richard Pan opted to begin accepting per diem last January after obtaining a second residence, in the Pocket area, to run for a newly drawn Assembly seat that had no incumbent. He has not rescinded last year's request to accept the $142 per day compensation, records show.

Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, is already readying a run for the Southern California Senate seat set to be vacated by state Sen. and Democratic Rep.-elect Juan Vargas in the coming weeks.

Hueso confirmed his decision to U-T San Diego reporter Michael Gardner Monday -- the same day he was sworn in for a second term in the state Assembly. Vargas, who has yet to announce when he will give up his Senate seat, has already endorsed his candidacy.

Hueso, who just took the oath of office Monday for his second term, said he wants to move up to the Senate because it offers a "bigger base of support" to accomplish key goals. One of those is improving trade between Mexico and the U.S. and easing border crossing gridlock.

"Mexico is our largest trading partner -- larger than China," Hueso said in an interview. "They are big friends of ours."

Once Vargas resigns, Gov. Jerry Brown will call a special election to fill the seat. The primary contest will be held about sixteen weeks from that date. Sen. Gloria Negrete-McLeod, D-Chino, will also step down from the Senate to take a seat in Congress.

Because both senators were last elected to their seats in 2010, the contests will be held using the state's pre-redistricting political maps.

Democrats started the 2013-2014 legislative session today with a supermajority in both houses, but the respective leaders took different approaches to marking the occasion.

In the Senate, members were serenaded by a children's choir singing "What a Wonderful World." Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg cheered when a letter certifying the unofficial election results was read.

The Sacramento Democrat addressed the supermajority power, which could allow Democrats to raise taxes or put measures on the ballot without GOP votes, throughout his address on the floor. He called the results of the election "a validation that the Legislature faced incredible challenges with strength, with decisiveness and we never flinched from the hardest of hard decisions," chronicling the deep cuts that helped the state climb back toward the black from a $42 billion budget deficit.

Some of the California Legislature's newest members are adding more than an elected title to their resume as the 2013-2014 session begins.

New leadership assignments announced by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez today put five Democratic freshman members of the Assembly in a caucus post, with more than a dozen more controlling a committee gavel as they begin what could be 12 years in the lower house. Returning Democratic Assemblyman Roger Hernández, who has been in the news over allegations of driving under the influence and other bad behavior, will not serve as Democratic whip, a position previously announced.

The Senate has not released its full committee chair lineup for the new session, but Democrats announced that they have retained Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, as majority leader. Newly elected Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, was added to the Rules Committee roster, along with Democratic Sen. Kevin de León and Republican Sens. Bill Emmerson and Jean Fuller. Senate Republicans announced that Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, will serve as caucus chair.

Pérez , Assembly GOP leader Connie Conway, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, and Senate GOP leader Bob Huff will all remain in their leadership posts.

The full list of Assembly leadership assignments is posted after the jump, with new members designated with an asterisk.

A pair of Democratic state senators announced today plans to introduce legislation aimed at requiring more disclosure of campaign contributions made by nonprofits.

Senate Bills 2 and 3, by Sens. Ted Lieu and Leland Yee, are being crafted in response to an $11 million contribution an Arizona-based nonprofit made to influence two November ballot measure campaigns in the state. The Fair Political Practices Commission's efforts to force the group to reveal the source of the funds, which were used to support Proposition 32 and oppose Proposition 30, led to transactions involving two additional nonprofits that do not have to disclose their donors. Current law requires disclosure only when the donation is given to the nonprofit for the purpose of becoming a campaign contribution.

"Laundering money through nonprofits in an attempt to avoid transparency is fundamentally undemocratic," Yee said in a statement. "Our democracy should not be bought and sold in shady backroom deals."

Reacting to her come-from-behind victory for a state Senate seat, Cathleen Galgiani said voters responded to a campaign in which she focused on legislative issues, not mudslinging.

The Stockton Democrat, who had trailed in ballot counting since Election Day, overtook Republican Bill Berryhill on Wednesday night to win the 5th District Senate seat in San Joaquin, Stockton and a tiny portion of Sacramento counties. Both currently are Assembly members.

Galgiani's campaign touted her support of California's proposed high-speed rail system and her efforts to create and develop UC Merced. She also cast herself as a protector of the San Joaquin Delta, water rights for farmers, and mental health care for youth, including those in the gay and lesbian community.

"I believe I made a case to the voters about what I have done as their Assembly member," Galgiani told The Bee. "I kept my message positive and I talked about my record and what I wanted to do if elected, and voters in my district responded."

After trailing since Election Day, Democrat Cathleen Galgiani overtook Bill Berryhill by more than 2,100 votes Wednesday night, assuring her of victory in their hotly contested 5th Senate District race.

Thomas Lawson, Galgiani's campaign manager, said the trend is clear and that her victory will make Thanksgiving Day even sweeter.

Berryhill's campaign consultant, Duane Dichiara, stopped short of conceding defeat but admitted, "It's a tough row to hoe" now.

Galgiani inched ahead of her Republican opponent on the strength of her showing in San Joaquin County. She started Wednesday about 1,500 votes behind and now leads by 2,111 votes.

Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties currently are counting provisional ballots, which are ballots that are in question for some reason, such as a vote cast when the voter is not on the list at the polling place. A ballot will not be counted unless the question surrounding it is resolved.

About 1,600 provisional ballots remain uncounted in San Joaquin County and an estimated 2,100 in Stanislaus and Sacramento counties combined that stem from 5th District voters.

Nov. 6 wasn't a great day for California ferret lovers.

Two candidates supportive of legalizing ownership of the animals, including one who told the leader of the movement his wife wanted a ferret as a pet, lost in the general election balloting, leaving the informal lobby behind the cause to once again start its annual "Hunt for a Ferret Legislative Sponsor."

Despite having "no known supporters" in the new Legislature, LegalizeFerrets.org Founder Pat Wright found a reason for hope in the election results.

"There was one person elected who had some ferret knowledge," he wrote to supporters in a newsletter this week. "Brian Maienschein was elected in the 77th Assembly district and met Alice Kaiser and her ferrets."

Wright called on his fellow ferret lovers, who have been working for years to persuade legislators and the Fish and Game Commission to allow ownership of the animals, to create a committee tasked with calling and visiting the newly elected San Diego Republican to seek his support.

Those efforts, however, could be in vain. Maienschein's campaign manager says the assemblyman elect has no recollection of interacting with the pets belonging to Kaiser, who Wright said had to move to Arizona after former Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger vetoed legislation related to the animals in 2004.

"Brian has not ever met a ferret and he will not be sponsoring legislation to legalize ferret ownership," campaign manager Lance Witmondt said.

Still, Wright wants to rally supporters to storm the Capitol in January and meet with staff in every office until someone agrees to carry their bill.

"We have 120 targets," he wrote. "Who's interested - please contact me!"

PHOTO CREDIT: A ferret plays in a plastic toy in early January 2011 at the home of an owner who did not want to be identified. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

Assemblyman Richard Pan opened a campaign committee to raise money for a possible Senate campaign just one day after winning re-election to the lower house from a newly drawn district he had moved into to run, records show.

The Sacramento Democrat signed documents to launch the "Dr. Richard Pan for Senate 2014" committee on Nov. 7, while absentee and provisional ballots were still being counted in Pan's easy victory over Republican Tony Amador. The filing was reported by the secretary of state's office Tuesday.

Democratic Sen. Ted Lieu is dropping a push to ask voters to triple the state's vehicle license fee rates.

The Torrance Democrat told the editorial board of the Los Angeles Daily News last week that he planned to introduce legislation to put a measure on the 2014 ballot asking voters to raise the state's vehicle license fee. He said increasing the rate from .65 percent to 2 percent -- the level it was before former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed the fee in 2004 -- could generate up to $4 billion a year for roads, public transit and other projects.

Lieu called his proposal at the time "a test to see what the two-thirds (majority) Legislature means," a reference to the supermajority vote required for lawmakers to place measures in front of the people.

But today he scrapped the plan, saying in a statement that "over the last few weeks California's political landscape has changed."

"I have listened carefully to those who have contacted my office or me. Additionally, more stakeholders weighed in on this important issue," Lieu said in a statement. "As a result, I will not be introducing the proposal. Instead, I will work with transportation stakeholders and the public next year on alternative ways to mitigate the transportation infrastructure problem."

PHOTO CREDIT: State Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, during a hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, May 8, 2012. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli.

Republican Bill Berryhill continues to lead, but Cathleen Galgiani has cut into his margin considerably in their nail-biting battle for a Senate seat.

Berryhill, who once led by about 4,800 votes, ended Friday with a 1,465-vote advantage as counting of provisional and mail ballots continued in the 5th Senate District of San Joaquin, Stanislaus and a tiny portion of Sacramento counties.

The fight for the 5th Senate District was one of the most contentious statewide, with both parties targeting it for capture.

If she wins, Galgiani would represent the Democrats' 29th vote in the 40-member house, two more than necessary for a two-thirds supermajority. That extra cushion could be crucial to the party, at least in the early months of 2013, because two incumbent Democratic senators won seats to Congress in the Nov. 6 election. Once they resign from the state Senate, their strongly left-leaning districts would not pick a replacement for months.

In the Senate race pitting Berryhill against Galgiani, a majority of the ballots left untallied are from San Joaquin, the only county in which Galgiani has garnered more votes - by about 4,000 -- than Berryhill, a current Assembly colleague and fellow Stockton resident.

More than a dozen California legislators are lodged in Hawaii's fancy Fairmont Kea Lani hotel this week -- hobnobbing and talking public policy with dozens of corporate, union and other officials that do business at the Capitol.

The annual invitation-only conference is sponsored by the California Independent Voter Project, a nonprofit public policy group that is funded through various business, labor and other groups.

Legislators' travel to Maui and their hotel tabs will be picked up by the nonprofit unless they opt to pay their own way.

Dan Howle, event organizer, declined to identify members of the California Legislature participating in the annual conference. He said they consist both of Republicans and Democrats. Several of the lawmakers are paying their own way.

It's not just Democrats making a final push in the state's four competitive Senate seats.

Senate GOP leader Bob Huff hit the trail last week to boost candidates he needs to win to prevent Democrats from winning a veto-proof supermajority in the upper house.

The Diamond Bar Republican visited all four targeted races starting on Thursday, touring the 5th, 39th and 31st Senate Districts before landing at Republican Todd Zink's headquarters in the 27th Senate District today.

Huff said he's feeling good going into tomorrow's election, despite The California Republican Party's money challenges and California's new district lines, which the GOP sought unsuccessfully to have blocked by the court.

"We're actually feeling cautiously optimistic," he said.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is spending the final days of the campaign touring a handful of swing districts that could give his party a super majority in the upper house.

Democrats need to win two of four competitive Senate districts Tuesday to capture a two-thirds majority for the first time in more than 40 years. A super majority could allow Democrats in the upper house to approve tax increases and override vetoes without GOP votes. Assembly Democrats are not expected to hit two-thirds this year.

Steinberg was in Modesto Sunday for a campaign rally for Democratic Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, who is competing against GOP Assemblyman Bill Berryhill in the Stockton-based 5th Senate District.

Steinberg, who campaigned with Sen. Fran Pavley in the 27th Senate District last weekend, has stops planned in two other swing seats today.

Spokesman Rhys Williams said the Sacramento Democrat will do an event with Assemblyman Marty Block in San Diego's 39th Senate District and campaign with Richard Roth in Riverside's 31st Senate District today. He'll also join Gov. Jerry Brown in Los Angeles to promote Proposition 30.

Senate GOP leader Bob Huff has also been campaigning in the competitive seats since last week. Read more about his schedule here.

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Editor's note: This post was updated at 1 p.m. with information about Senator Huff's schedule.

Two state senators - one Democrat and one Republican - demanded Thursday that the California State University system's trustees tell them who authorized spending for a "legislative report card" that rated lawmakers on how well they supported the system's political goals.

Sens. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, both received low marks in the CSU compilation of votes and other actions affecting the system's political agenda this year.

The report card was apparently a parting gesture by Chancellor Charles Reed, who has announced his retirement. No legislator earned an "A" grade in the report.

"The scorecard is to inform the public on lawmakers' support of the CSU and public higher education," CSU said in a statement when it released the report on Oct. 17. "Just as California has charged the university with educating and graduating well-prepared students, the university holds state elected officials accountable for supporting that mission."

Independent groups have spent more than $20 million on state legislative contests ahead of Tuesday's election.

The heaviest spending has occurred in two Sacramento-area seats so far. Independent expenditure committees reported spending nearly $2.7 million through Oct. 30 on the 5th Senate District battle between Republican Assemblyman Bill Berryhill and Democratic Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani. The Stockton-based seat is one of three swing districts that could determine whether Senate Democrats win a two-thirds majority in the upper house.

The 8th Assembly District is home to the second most expensive race, with outside groups dropping more than $2.5 million. Democrat Ken Cooley and Republican Peter Tateishi are fighting for that suburban Sacramento seat.

Spending by independent expenditure committees is certain to increase in the last week of the campaign, as the groups make their final appeals to voters. The committees can raise and spend unlimited amounts on state elections, provided they do not coordinate with candidate campaigns.

With Election Day just over a week away, many California legislators and candidates are highlighting their interest in working across the aisle.

But voting records suggest those promises won't translate to frequent splits from the party line once they get to Sacramento.

An analysis of voting records by The Bee's Phillip Reese found that even the most independent legislators voted against the majority of members of their party less than 10 percent of the time.

See the full analysis, as well as a ranking of the most and least independent legislators when it comes to party loyalty, at this link.

With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, barbarians are entering the fray in the heated 5th Senate District race.

A new committee going by the name of "Barbarians at the Gate" is sending mail pieces opposing Democrat Cathleen Galgiani in her bid for the San Joaquin County swing seat.

The committee, first noted by daily political email newsletter The Nooner, has reported spending almost $12,000 so far.

Chris Orrock, who is working as a political consultant for the committee, said the name is "just a reference to what's happening in California politics."

"It can be taken any way. It can be that there's barbarians at the gate of California trying to take over, or it could be that there's other people behind the gate trying to defend it," he said.

Orrock, who is president of the Elk Grove Republicans, said the barbarian PAC isn't connected with that organization.

As for who is backing the PAC, Orrock described its contributors as "business sources in the Central Valley." He said forthcoming reports will list donors supporting the initial mail piece, which targets Galgiani's support for high-speed rail.

Orrock's committee isn't the only group spending in the battle between Galgiani and Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Stockton. Independent expenditure committees have dropped nearly $2 million to influence the outcome of the race, which could determine whether Senate Democrats win a two-thirds majority in the upper house.

RELATED POSTS:

Stealth group of corporations funds pro-GOP campaign in Senate races

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How often do California state legislators break from their party line when voting on bills?

Hardly ever.

An analysis by The Bee's Phillip Reese shows that Democrats voted the same way as most of their fellow party members 99 percent of the time in the 2011-2012 legislative session. Republicans voted with GOP colleagues 94 percent of the time.

Click here to see the full analysis.

State Sen. Rod Wright has agreed to pay a state fine for failing to disclose a $13,045 expenditure by a Wisconsin-based nonprofit group to fly him overseas as part of an academic program that awarded him a master's degree last year.

The Inglewood Democrat has agreed to pay $200 in connection with a 2009 trip to Rwanda bankrolled by the Legislative Leadership Institute, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.

The FPPC is expected to vote Thursday on whether to accept the settlement. Gary Winuk, chief enforcement officer, declined comment pending a final vote.

Wright said it still is not clear to him that the $13,045 expenditure is required to be reported because the group is not from California and the trip was part of an educational fellowship not tied to politics.

In case you missed it:

A middle-class scholarship tax deal died for the year.

Gov. Jerry Brown said Democrats will try again.

A lumber tax made it through.

A bill targeting predatory disability-law lawyers cleared the Legislature.

Lawmakers approved CEQA exemptions for a major L.A. project.

An extension for Hollywood tax breaks hit the governor.

Former state legislator Ed Vincent died Friday.

Former state legislator Ed Vincent died Friday, according to a statement released by Sen. Rod Wright. He was 78.

Vincent represented portions of Los Angeles County in the Legislature for more than a decade, serving in the Assembly from 1996 to 2000 and the state Senate from 2000 to 2008. The Inglewood Democrat also played football for the University of Iowa and the Los Angeles Rams, served in the U.S. Army and worked for the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

Wright, who worked on Vincent's 1983 mayoral campaign in Inglewood and later succeeded him in the 25th Senate District, said in a statement that he considered Vincent a close friend and mentor.

"Ed Vincent was a great friend, and someone I respected so much as a legislator," Wright said in a statement. "I will miss him and I send my heartfelt condolences to his wife, Marilyn, and his children, grandchildren and extended family."

Wright's statement did not cite a cause of death.

Republican state Sen. Doug LaMalfa announced today that he would resign from the California Senate after the Legislature adjourns its 2012 session tonight so that a special election to fill his seat could be consolidated with the Nov. 6 general election.

LaMalfa, whose district sprawls over a wide region of northeastern California, is running for Congress to succeed retiring Republican Wally Herger. He is considered a shoo-in in the heavily Republican congressional district.

Two Republican assemblymen, Jim Nielsen and Dan Logue, are declared rivals for LaMalfa's Senate seat with LaMalfa backing Nielsen in what is expected to be a sharp-elbows contest.

LaMalfa said in a statement that he has met with Gov. Jerry Brown "and he told me he will move quickly to consolidate the elections."

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect the correct date for the general election.

As the Republican National Convention kicks off in Tampa, most GOP legislators can be found on the floor of their respective legislative chambers here in Sacramento instead of the floor of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where former Gov. Mitt Romney will accept the Republican presidential nomination later this week.

Just two Republican legislators are confirmed attendees of this week's convention in Tampa. Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Solana Beach, is serving as a delegate representing the 50th Congressional District. Sen. Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, is heading to Tampa with her husband, Board of Equalization member George Runner, another Romney delegate, but a spokeswoman said she is ready to fly back to California if needed.

Senate GOP leader Bob Huff, whose wife is a delegate, spent the weekend with the California delegation at in St Pete Beach, but was scheduled to return home in time for Monday's floor session.

A spokeswoman for Assembly GOP leader Connie Conway said she was unaware of any Assembly Republicans planning to attend the convention.

The low attendance rate among state legislators is likely due to the legislative calendar. Both houses are set to work through hundreds of bills ahead of the end-of-session deadline on Friday.

By Charles Piller
cpiller@sacbee.com

The California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee will hold a hearing today to address concerns raised in an ongoing Bee investigation about the adequacy of state bridge testing.

The articles identified concerns about the construction and examination of reinforced concrete foundations for the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge main tower and other Bay Area toll bridges, and about their ability to withstand an extreme earthquake. The hearing will offer California Department of Transportation Officials an opportunity to respond to issues raised in articles. Caltrans previously has dismissed concerns about the Bay Bridge.

The agency "must adequately resolve questions about the quality of (seismic upgrade and inspection) work," according to the committee's background paper. It added that the Senate hearing "will identify potential next steps" toward reassuring the public and the legislature about Bay Area bridges.

BURBANK - The California Republican Party and its officehiolders spent heavily to qualify a referendum that would overturn the new state Senate maps drawn by an independent state commission.

The referendum qualified and is Proposition 40 on the November ballot. But the state GOP convention is poised to do a 180-degree turn and urge voters to uphold the Senate districts that it had strenuously opposed.

The party's invitiatives committee voted unanimously for that position Saturday after hearing pleas from the Senate's GOP leader, Bob Huff, and Sen. Mimi Walters. The full convention will vote on Sunday.

Huff and Walters told the committee that the referendum was pushed not so much to get voters to overturn the new districts, but as the basis for a plea to the state Supreme Court to use the previous districts for the 2012 elections.

Ordinarily, something being challenged by referendum is held in abeyance until voters have spoken, but the court declared that even though the referendum had qualified, the commission's new districts would still be used for the 2012 elections. The ruling relied on a 30-year-old Supreme Court decision on another Republican-backed referendum on redistricting.

Republicans have feared that they could lose two of their 15 Senate seats this year, thus giving Democrats a two-thirds supermajority in the Legislature's 40-member upper house and enabling them to pass tax increase bills without GOP support.

Huff, however, told the committee that he now believes Repblicans can eke out 14 seats, thus denying Democrats a two-thirds majority, and under the new districts could pick up a seat or two in 2014. Therefore, he now wants the referendum to fail.

Adding more confusion to the situation, the voting rules governing a referendum are different from those of other ballot measures. Huff now wants a "yes" vote on Proposition 40 to affirm the commission's new districts and reject the challenge that the GOP had once bankrolled.

The committee also voted to recommend party support for Proposition 31, a measure sponsored by California Forward to revise the state's budget procedures, with the most controversial provision being a "pay-go" requirement affecting any new spending or tax cut with an impact of $25 million or more.

"Pay-go" would require that such changes include offsetting revenue increases or spending cuts to neutralize their fiscal effects. Unions strongly oppose the concept, seeing it as a spending limit, and some conservatives also oppose it because it would make tax cuts less likely.

Updated at 4:51 p.m. to include Proposition 31 recommendation.

State Sen. Lois Wolk, who chairs the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, criticized Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg on Friday for cutting off a cable television broadcast of her committee hearing Wednesday.

The hearing -- one required by law -- was called to present facts and pro and con arguments about four pending ballot measures, Propositions 30, 31, 38 and 39, and as it opened, Wolk said she hoped it would give voters with information to cast informed votes.

But just before the hearing began, someone from Steinberg's office ordered the California Channel, a public affairs channel carried by most California cable systems, to not air the hearing.

A Steinberg spokesman said later that it was to prevent advocates and opponents of the measures from using recordings of the hearing in campaign advertising.

"The decision not to broadcast the hearing was made by the president pro tempore's office without my knowledge or consent, or that of my staff," Wolk said in a statement. "I strongly disagree with the decision, as the hearing was held to fulfill a state-mandated discussion on the initiatives so as to inform the public."

Steinberg has strongly backed Proposition 30, a sales and income tax increase sponsored by Gov. Jerry Brown. One of the opponents to the measure, Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, cited Steinberg's approval of Senate staff raises as a reason not to vote for the measure. But his testimony, along with that of others on the four measures, was confined to the hearing room and a difficult-to-find Internet audio feed.

When Sen. Lois Wolk opened a hearing of her Senate Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday to consider four major ballot measures dealing with taxes and the state budget, she said she hoped the testimony and the factual data would help voters make rational decisions.

Fat chance.

The hearing on Propositions 30, 31, 38 and 39 was scheduled to be televised by the California Channel, but at the last second, Senate leaders blocked the broadcast. Thus it allowed only the few spectators in the hearing room and those technologically adroit enough to find the Internet audio feed to listen to the mini-debates on the measures.

Why the cutoff?

Perhaps the Senate's Democratic leader, President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, didn't want to give opponents of Proposition 30, the sales and income tax hike he strongly supports, air time, especially when they were bound to criticize Steinberg's giving raises to Senate staffers.

Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association did, in fact, highlight those Senate raises during his opposition testimony on Proposition 30.

But Rhys Williams, Steinberg's spokesman, said the cutoff wasn't aimed specifically at Coupal and other tax opponents, but at everyone arguing for and against all four measures.

By Torey Van Oot and Jim Sanders

At least 93 California legislative employees making more than $100,000 received raises this year, a review of newly released payroll records showed.

While six-figure wage earners represent just a fraction of total legislative staff, the Capitol now has more than 300 employees making more than $100,000.

Forty-seven Senate employees with six-figure salaries received raises between Jan. 31 and June 30 of this year. Six additional employees in that pay range received raises but were promoted or assigned to a new job. Records released to The Bee under the Legislative Open Records Act show that at least 189 employees in the upper house now make six figures or more, a net increase of 15 since Jan. 31.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said today that he hopes the budget agreement approved later this week lessens the need for any additional "blue pencil" cuts by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The Sacramento Democrat said he expects legislators to consider 21 remaining budget trailer bills on Wednesday, which is Gov. Jerry Brown's final day to act on the main budget bill lawmakers passed earlier this month.

Steinberg said leaders have been "working very closely with the administration" as the final details of the bill language are hammered out. Democratic leaders and Brown announced last week that they had reached an accord on differences that remained after the first budget bill cleared both houses.

"I don't know what to expect," Steinberg said. "The governor does have constitutional authority in that regard, but given the fact that the budget that we've now come to will have a very healthy reserve, even above the $544 million that we passed a week ago Friday, I hope that the blue pencils are minimal."

The Senate is expected to convene at 9 a.m. on Wednesday for floor action on the trailer bills. Steinberg said all he expects most of the language that will be voted on Wednesday to be in print by tonight.

One tiny word can make all the difference.

And one slip of a finger might remain in print for years without correction.

Buried deep in 55 pages of California Senate rules, for example, is a big smile for writing perfectionists.

Here it is, a sentence that expands upon a rule that each Senate select committee terminates upon adjournment of the regular session in which it was created:

"In deciding whether to re-establish a select committee established in a previous regular session, the Committee on Rules shall consider the extent to which the select committee successfully achieved its assigned objections."

Surely, it meant "objectives."

Objections, anyone?

Sen. Rod Wright folded on today's round of Internet poker debate under the dome, pulling his legalization legislation from a committee agenda before it could come up for a vote.

Senate Bill 1463, which would legalize and regulate online poker in California, was scheduled for a vote in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee today. Wright, who chairs the committee, announced to a crowded room at the start of the hearing that he decided to pull the bill from the agenda, sparking an exodus to the hallway.

Despite months of talks and some recent amendments, the legislation faced opposition from major gambling tribes and card rooms, including many that support the idea of legalizing online poker but oppose the specifics in the Inglewood Democrat's bill. The critics say the current version of the bill gives too much power to horse racing and Las Vegas and international gambling interests, while shutting out some California tribes.

Supporters of legalizing Internet poker in general say the move could raise millions for the state in new revenues, arguing that such business and money is currently going to off-shore operations.

Wright spokeswoman Jennifer Hanson said the senator "can't say for certain this bill is still going to move," though she said it was possible that he will consider another round of amendments to the current language.

RELATED STORIES:

AM Alert: California budget discussions continue as anti-tax campaign begins

Sen. Sharon Runner thought getting a new set of lungs signaled the end of the worst of her battle with a rare auto-immune disorder.

Then came recovery.

"It's been a long haul," the Lancaster Republican said today. "It takes a while. I'm still not 100 percent, but it's great to be able to breathe, to be able to walk further, to be able to do the things that I used to be able to do."

Runner's comments came as she returned to the Senate floor for the first time this year. Her office announced in January that complications from limited scleroderma, a condition she has had for years, landed her back on the transplant list. The risk of infection kept her away from the Capitol as she waited for a double lung transplant, which occurred Feb. 24.

Alicia Trost, the oft-quoted spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, is moving on to take a position as the Communications Department manager for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.

Trost came to the Legislature in 2004 as the press secretary for Steinberg's pro tem predecessor, Oakland Democratis Sen. Don Perata, then stayed on when the office switched hands. Steinberg, D-Sacramento, eventually promoted her to communications director.

"I live in the Bay Area and my daily commute with two kids has finally caught up with me," Trost said today on her Twitter account. "It is time to work closer to home."

Trost's experience outside of the government included six years as a morning news producer for Oakland television station KTVU.

Her job in the pro tem's office paid $9,636 per month, according to the Senate's payroll website. BART's media staff didn't immediately return a call and an email seeking the salary for the communications position.

Republican Leroy Ornellas is airing his first television spot in the targeted 5th Senate District.

The San Joaquin County supervisor is battling Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Stockton, for one of two November runoff spots in the swing district, which encompasses all of San Joaquin County and part of Stanislaus County. The third candidate on the ballot, Democratic Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, is expected to make it to November by carrying the Democratic voters in the primary.

The 30-second ad, which is running on cable stations through the June 5 primary, is centered on the Tracy dairy farmer's "no more bull" appeal as the only candidate who is not currently serving in Sacramento.

"I've been a dairy farmer all my life and I know bull when I see it and I see a lot of it in Sacramento," he says in the spot, which is posted below. "I see politicians fighting, not solving problems, raising taxes, not cutting waste."

Berryhill, who had to move into the district to be eligible to run, has the backing of the Senate Republican Caucus and some powerful Sacramento interests. A committee funded largely by the California Medical Association, for example, recently reported spending $33,500 on mail pieces opposing Ornellas. The Senate GOP believes Berryhill has a better shot of defeating Galgiani in the seat.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pledged today to put forward for the 2014 election a package of major changes to California's initiative process, including a provision to make it easier for legislators to place tax measures on the ballot.

The Sacramento Democrat, speaking at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon, outlined a trio of initiative reforms he said "will both strengthen California's tradition of direct democracy and empower the people elected by their communities...to make clear choices."

He said he plans to put the proposals on the 2014 ballot either through a vote of the Legislature, a task he said could be easier if Democrats secure a supermajority in the upper house this November, or by gathering the necessary voter signatures through the initiative process.

UPDATE: 4:20 p.m. The California Lottery Commission is taking down the ad. Read more at this link.

Leaders of the Legislative Women's Caucus are demanding that the California Lottery Commission take a new television ad off the air, saying a scene in which a woman slaps a man who scores a win on a scratch ticket "glamorizes violence."

"We certainly believe this commercial not only portrays women in a poor light -- by perpetrating violence -- but also endorses the act of violence itself," Sen. Noreen Evans and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, who co-chair the caucus, wrote in a letter Wednesday to Lottery Director Robert O'Neil.

The letter, posted after the jump, asks the Lottery Commission to pull the ad and "scrutinize the content of future ads which may contain harmful messages that are paid for with public dollars."

"It is inappropriate for any entity, especially a state-funded Commission, to promote its products through the use of violence," the letter reads.

The "Luck has a new look" spot, posted below, shows a woman in black, assumed to be "Lady Luck," walking up to a man playing a California Lottery Black Scratchers ticket at a bowling alley. After she slaps him across the face, he looks at his scratch card and says, "I won!"

A spokesperson for the Lottery Commission was not immediately available for comment. The commission website lists several Lady Luck-themed promoted for the Black Scratchers game running through the month of April.

The Senate moved forward today with plans to direct mortgage reform proposals sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris to a joint legislative conference committee, passing placeholder legislation over objections from Republican lawmakers who said the upper house was manipulating the legislative process.

The move would allow a six-member committee to hammer out the details of the proposals to apply terms of the major foreclosure settlement reached between 49 states and five major banks to apply to all California lenders outside the normal committee process.

The package of bills on the topic sponsored by Harris, which includes proposals addressing problems stemming from "dual tracking" and "robo signings," was pulled from committee agendas in the Senate and the Assembly this week.

A Senate committee gave the green light today to legislation that would block public and private universities and employers from seeking access to applicants' social media accounts.

Senate Bill 1349, by Democratic Sen. Leland Yee, bans employers and educational institutions from asking prospective or current employees and students to hand over their user names and passwords or provide access to the account.

The bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee 7-0. It now heads for consideration in the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee.

Yee announced plans to pursue the legislation after an Associated Press report cited examples of such practices happening in other states, though the San Francisco Democrat said the issue had come up before in conversations with Silicon Valley interests. While California's public universities and colleges say they do not currently request such information, a legislative committee analysis says some private institutions have sought access to student athletes' accounts.

"While social media have provided a useful avenue for socialization and expression, the author contends that it has also put employees, job applicants, and students at risk of having their privacy blatantly violated by employers and schools," the committee analysis reads.

Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, introduced a similar proposal earlier this year. That bill, A.B. 1844, is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee next week.

RELATED POSTS:

Bill would stop requests for job seekers' social media logins

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt, 17, and Bob Florian showcasing a Facebook page. Washington Post photo by Susan Biddle.

Steve Glazer, a top unpaid adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown, cleared a key hurdle today for winning confirmation to the California State University Board of Trustees.

The Senate Rules Committee approved Glazer's appointment by a bipartisan vote of 5-0 at a confirmation hearing this afternoon, signaling smooth sailing for the Brown appointee as he heads to a vote of the full Senate.

Glazer's confirmation hearing had been delayed last week amid questions about support from Senate Republicans, whose votes are needed to hit the two-thirds threshold for approving CSU trustees.

Another Brown appointee to the board, former chairman Herbert Carter, failed to win approval after Republicans signaled they would not support him in a floor vote. But unlike Carter, Glazer had not made a controversial vote for a generous campus president pay package on the same day the board moved to increase tuition.

Glazer told members of the committee today that while he believes the board should do what it can to attract top-tier talent for open posts, "we need everyone in the system to make sacrifices" during a time of budget constraints.

"We have to live within our financial means," he said. "We have to set the right example."

Glazer, who is helping run Brown's tax measure campaign, was appointed to the board by the Democratic governor last year. He faces a May 3 confirmation deadline.

RELATED POSTS:
Senate delays confirmation hearing for Steve Glazer

Should wealthy Californians serving time as inmates head directly to jail AND pay the tab of their incarceration costs?

A state Senate committee today decided the answer to that question is no -- for now, at least.

Senate Bill 1124, by Sen. Anthony Cannella,would require the courts to order prisoners who can afford to pay for part of their state prison or county jail stay to do so.

While current law allows a judge order someone sentenced to state prison to pay all or part of the "reasonable costs of the imprisonment," Cannella says that his proposal would result in more so-called "pay-to-stay" orders and alleviate financial burdens for the correctional system.

"I'm just suggesting that the one percenters that we talk about who have the ability to pay for their incarceration do just that," the Ceres Republican told members of the Senate Public Safety Committee.

The bill failed by a vote of 2-3. Critics complained that it would put an undue burden on families and inmates readjusting to life after bars, but Democrats voting no pointed to potential costs for the court system, which would have been required to set a hearing to determine whether the inmate would be able to reimburse the state.

"This is not a time to be imposing any additional requirements on our courts in my view," said Public Safety Chair Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley.

Still, several Democrats sitting on the committee endorsed the concept of the proposal. Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, suggested commissioning a report on how often the current option to force repayment is exercised and looking into a pilot program.

'I think it's a great bill, and I think in a different time and a different place it would be very effective," Calderon said.

PHOTO CREDIT: Inmates wait in the Roger Bauman Facility for assessment at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center on March 5, 2012. Renée C. Byer, Sacramento Bee.

It's all hands on deck as the deadline approaches for supporters of Gov. Jerry Brown's tax measure to turn in the hundreds of thousands of signatures they need to qualify for the November ballot.

In addition to calling and mailing voters pleas to send signatures in, campaign supporters have asked some Democratic staff members in the Legislature to circulate petitions for the constitutional amendment on their time off.

The volunteer effort is organized by the political, non-state arms of the Assembly and Senate Democratic caucuses, which are funded and staffed by the California Democratic Party, both the Assembly and Senate Democrats say.

The use of the "R word" could soon be expelled from California laws.

The California Senate today unanimously approved a bill today that would strip the phrase "mentally retarded" from existing statutes, replacing that and related terms with "intellectual disability."

"Words do matter and the 'R word' is outdated and offensive to people with intellectual disabilities and their families," bill author Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, said today.

Pavley's office said it is difficult to track how many times the language is used in state code because it comes up in many contexts, including provisions related to education, social services and criminal justice. To avoid added costs, the changes dictated by the bill would be made as part of routine review or revisions to code. The federal government adopted a similar change in 2010.

Senate Bill 1381, which does not affect state services for people with such disabilities, now heads to the Assembly for consideration.

Much talk, no action -- yet. California's Citizens Compensation Commission spent two hours today discussing state officeholder compensation, but no decisions were made and none of its members suggested raising pay of legislators or other statewide officeholders.

Chairman Tom Dalzell said he suspects that the state's budget crisis would bar any pay hike, even if there were sentiment to do so when the commission reconvenes in May to consider any written motions submitted by members.

Today, commissioners identified several issues they may want to consider in the future -- whether senators should be paid more than Assembly members because of larger districts, for example, and whether California's prohibition on legislative pension benefits should be taken into consideration in comparing pay to other states.

Jon Ortiz has used Storify to tell the tale, collecting photos, tweets and other information from the Web. This post will take a little time to load, but it's worth the wait.

A handful of state lawmakers wore gray-hooded sweatshirts this morning at this morning's session, taking up the symbol of solidarity and protest that has sprung up around the country over the slaying of Trayvon Martin.

Sen. Curren Price, who gaveled the session to order, wore one of the hoodies over his suit jacket and tie. Other Democrats, including Juan Vargas, donned the sweatshirts bearing "In memory of Trayvon Martin" stenciled in black letters on back.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, put on his sweatshirt before addressing the Senate.

Martin's Feb. 26 death has reignited a national debate about race. The 17-year-old was wearing a hoodie when he was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman, a self-described neighborhood watch captain. Zimmerman claimed self-defense under Florida's "stand your ground" law and has not been charged.

Martin's family and those who support them say he was a victim of racial profiling and that law enforcement officials haven't adequately investigated the teen's death.

Hoodie-wearing protesters around the country have said Martin's killing is part of a larger pattern of injustice against African American men. On Wednesday, Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Illinois, wore a hooded sweatshirt on the floor of the House of Representatives. Rep. Gregg Harper, a Mississippi Republican who was presiding over the chamber, kicked Rush out of the chamber for violating a dress code ban on hats.

A California senator is seeking to block employers from requesting social network login information as part of the job application process.

Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, announced today that he plans to introduce legislation to ban demands for usernames and passwords from job seekers and current employees, saying content on sites like Facebook and Twitter, such as personal photos and calendars, "have no bearing on a person's ability to do their job and therefore employers have no right to demand to review it."

"It is completely unacceptable for an employer to invade someone's personal social media accounts," Yee said in a statement. "Not only is it entirely unnecessary, it is an invasion of privacy and unrelated to one's work performance or abilities."

While it is unclear how common such requests are in California, questions about legal and privacy concerns have emerged as some companies and government agencies increase their scrutiny of candidates' social media presences. A recent report by the Associated Press detailed examples of the requests in states across the country.

Yee's bill, which has yet to be formally drafted, would also prohibit employers from asking the applicant or employee to voluntarily show them their social media accounts. Legislation on the topic has also been introduced in Illinois and Maryland, according to the Associated Press.

Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, introduced a similar proposal earlier this year. That bill, A.B. 1844, is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on April 18.

RELATED POST:

Employers ask job seekers for Facebook passwords

Editor's note: This post was updated at 12:36 p.m. to include the Campos bill.

The price of access is going up for top donors attending this weekend's Pro Tem Cup at San Diego's Torrey Pines Golf Course, an annual golf outing held to raise cash for the California Democratic Party.

Contributors looking to spend some quality time with Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg this weekend can expect to pay up to $60,000 -- a $10,000 increase from recent outings, according to this year's invite and event listings from 2011 and 2008.

The top "Two Day Platinum" price includes golf for four on Friday and Saturday, an evening with Steinberg, two nights accommodation, attendance at an awards BBQ and "commemorative gifts," according to an invitation. The "Two Day Gold," which includes the same access for two people, spiked $5,000, to $45,000 this year.

Prices for the cheaper packages, which start at $10,000 for golf for one on Saturday, one night's stay, the awards BBQ and gifts, remained steady. Spa packages are available for interested parties who don't want to golf.

The increased ticket price comes as Senate Democrats prepare for major battles in several swing districts where victory could mean securing a two-thirds majority in the upper house. Those targeted races, including the Stockton-area 5th Senate District, are expected to be costly battles.

The fundraiser, which starts tomorrow, is sponsored by cable industry interests, including the California Cable & Telecommunications Association, Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats, declined to comment on details of the fundraiser, including package prices, ahead of the event.

The Senate confirmed today Gov. Jerry Brown's pick to lead the state Military Department.

Major General David S. Baldwin, who was appointed acting adjutant general by the Democratic governor last April, was approved by a unanimous vote of 35-0 during Monday's floor session. Baldwin's duties include leading the troubled California National Guard. A Bee investigation has detailed financial and management problems within the Guard, including evidence of "double dipping" and fraudulent bonuses and student loan repayments.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg acknowledged that the appointment had been controversial, in part due to the department's history, but said Baldwin "has committed to address the years of wrongdoing and try to change the culture within the department." He said after discussions and a lengthy Senate Rules Committee confirmation hearing, he is "hopeful and confident" that Baldwin is "up to the job."

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is looking to shore up donor support for Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani's bid for Senate, circulating an internal poll showing the Livingston Democrat holding a double-digit lead in the contested 5th Senate District.

The race between Galgiani, Republican Assemblyman Bill Berryhill and San Joaquin Supervisor Leroy Ornella, also a Republican, is expected to be one of the year's top state legislative contests. A slight voter registration edge for Democrats in the San Joaquin County district makes it one of three seats Senate Democrats are targeting as they try to get to the two-thirds mark in the upper house.

The polling memo, which was sent to members of the capital's lobbying community by Steinberg's political director, shows Galgiani leading both Republican rivals, with a strong edge among decline-to-state voters.

Pollster Paul Goodwin called the findings of the telephone survey "quite encouraging" for Galgiani in the memo.

"She is almost certain to finish first or second in the June primary, and has a wide lead over her Republican opponents looking ahead to November," the memo reads.

Berryhill's political consultant dismissed the results, saying other polls have painted a much different, closer picture of the race. Republicans say their efforts in the district have caused Democrats' roughly four-point registration edge to drop to about 2 percentage points, with numbers they say have historically resulted in GOP wins.

"If Steinberg's so panicked that he's walking false polls around, you know that Bill Berryhill is going to beat Galgiani," Berryhill consultant Duane Dichiara said.

PHOTO CREDIT: Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, casts her vote on the budget cuts portion of the Democratic budget plan during the Assembly floor session, Tuesday Dec. 16, 2008.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 5:05 p.m. to correct the town of Galgiani's residence. She is from Livingston, not Livermore.

An Assembly budget subcommittee voted unanimously Wednesday to block expansion of a statewide court case management system that has become the focal point of a months-long political war between the state's judicial leadership and some rebel judges.

The latter -- backed by the politically powerful Service Employees International Union -- have complained that millions of dollars are being wasted on the computer system while local courts are being compelled to curtail their operations and lay off employees as state financing of courts is reduced.

The budget subcommittee's action bolsters the Assembly's position in a conflict with the state Senate over court management. The Assembly has passed legislation, Assembly Bill 1208, that the rebel Alliance of California Judges sponsored to give local judges more power over distribution of operational funds.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who chairs the state Judicial Council and heads the Administrative Office of the Courts, has publicly complained that the legislation violates judicial independence, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has declared that the bill will be held in his house without a vote.

Steinberg, however, is under pressure from the SEIU, which represents court employees facing layoffs and is a major source of campaign money for Democrats. Wednesday's action makes the computer system financing a potential bargaining chip in the inter-Capitol maneuvering over the legislation.

The subcommittee's action came after the Legislature's budget analyst and the state auditor delivered reports that strengthened the critics' positions.

So far, legislators were told, the Administrative Office of the Courts has spent $556.5 million on the system but it's been deployed in only a few counties. Even so, Auditor Elaine Howle pointed out, the AOC certified that the system is complete, thereby triggering a limited warranty period from the contractor that could leave the state holding the financial bag if problems crop up later.

Judges themselves are divided over the efficacy of the system, some professing that it lightens their workloads, while others saying it is unusable. In recent weeks, the chief justice and her allies have backed off their previous intent to install it in every county and indicated that they'd give local judges more leeway.

Democratic Assemblyman Ben Hueso signaled today that he is dropping his effort to strip Fish and Game Commission President Dan Richards of his appointment.

Richards came under fire from animal rights groups and Democratic lawmakers after a photo featured in a hunting publication that showed him posing with a mountain lion he shot in Idaho began circulating online. Unlike in California, where voters banned killing mountain lions in 1990, Idaho allows the hunting of the animal.

Critics say his actions, while not illegal, raise doubts about his ability to lead the commission. Hunting groups and Republican lawmakers have come to the defense of Richards.

Hueso, a Democrat of San Diego, drafted a resolution to oust the former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointee after Richards dismissed calls to step down. But the fate of the resolution, which required a majority vote in both houses, was uncertain after Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg signaled he wasn't interested in taking it up in the upper house.

In a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown, Hueso and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez said they have decided to work on crafting legislation to "improve the standards and practices of the California Fish and Game Commission," including a revised conflict-of-interest code for commissioners. The lawmakers urged the Democratic governor to begin his search for a "suitable replacement who can step in and serve as soon as" Richards' term end in January 2013.

The San Jose Mercury News, meanwhile, reported that the commission could act in May to remove Richards as president of the panel.

DFG Letter

PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Richards. The Press-Enterprise/David Bauman

Sen. Sharon Runner is being released from the hospital less than two weeks after receiving a new set of lungs.

Runner's office announced on Feb. 24 that the Lancaster Republican had received a double lung transplant and was recovering at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Runner, who was elected to the Senate in a 2011 special election, has suffered for years from a rare autoimmune condition called limited scleroderma.

While Runner said at the time of her campaign that her condition had improved, infections related to the disease landed her back on the transplant list and prevented her from returning to the Capitol this year.

In addition to praising the work of her doctors and surgeons, Runner thanked the family of her anonymous organ donor in a statement released by her office.

Capitol oddsmakers have assumed for months that the 39th Senate District, which covers the urban center of San Diego County, would be easy pickings for Democrats in this year's election.

Maybe not.

The district's once overwhelming Democratic registration margin has narrowed to under eight percentage points since it was redrawn by the new independent redistricting commission. And last week, the assumed Democratic candidate, Assemblyman Marty Block, acquired a potentially serious Republican opponent, former Assemblyman George Plescia, declared his candidacy.

Prior to redistricting, Democratic Sen. Christine Kehoe enjoyed a 15-point registration gap but the commission expanded it into more conservative suburban neighborhoods.She's now vacating the seat due to term limits.

One hallmark of the district is it's very large contingent of independent voters. Democrats now have 37.8 percent of its voters, Republicans have 30.4 percent and independents are now 26.7 percent.

Thus, the election could easily hinge on how independents lean, and in Plescia, Republicans have a candidate with a centrist image - so much so, in fact, that he was ousted as GOP leader of the Assembly in 2006 for not being confrontational enough with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was feuding with GOP conservatives over taxes.

Schwarzenegger later appointed Plescia to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

The assumption that the 39th Senate District was safe for Democrats has figured in the calculations of whether they could pick up two seats in this year's election and achieve the holy grail of a two-thirds supermajority in the 40-member house.

When Republican Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, opted to run for Congress rather than vie with Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, in the reconstituted 27th Senate District, it appeared that Democrats had a lock on 27 seats. But Plescia's candidacy now creates a shadow of doubt.

California state Sen. Sharon Runner is recuperating at UCLA Medical Center after a successful double lung transplant, her office announced this afternoon.

Runner expects to be released from the hospital in two to three weeks and will initially work from home, the statement said.

The Lancaster Republican, who has a rare auto-immune disease, announced Wednesday that she would not seek re-election in November. She has been absent from the Senate since January.

Gov. Jerry Brown's pick to lead the California State University Board of Trustees could soon be out of a job.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said today that he will not schedule a floor vote on the confirmation of CSU trustee Herbert L. Carter without a commitment for the Republican support needed to approve his nomination.

"If there are no Republican votes, I will not be interested in having a major floor fight," the Sacramento Democrat told reporters today. "The votes are either there or they're not there."

Carter, who has served on the board since 2004 and now chairs the board, faces a Wednesday confirmation deadline to complete his current term. His confirmation has drawn controversy because of the board's move last year to hike a campus president's compensation package and approve tuition increases at the same meeting.

Steinberg said he is confident that Carter's performance at a "vigorous" Senate Rules Committee hearing won him support of the 25-member Democratic caucus.

Republican Sen. Sharon Runner, who is awaiting a lung transplant for a rare autoimmune disease, announced today that she will not seek re-election in November.

Runner has been absent from the upper house since January, when she disclosed that complications related to her condition required her to work outside of Sacramento. She said today that she expects to make a full recovery and will focus on "business and philanthropic efforts" after leaving office.

A California state senator blasted ESPN today for using a racial slur in a Web reference to New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin, calling on the network to do more than just apologize "in addressing this unacceptable act."

Democratic Sen. Leland Yee said the headline, which was posted online early Saturday morning, "harkens back to 1947 when Jackie Robinson heard some of the ugliest racial epithets as he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball."

"It is shocking that in 2012, Jeremy Lin's meteoric rise in the NBA is accompanied by the same offensive comments and slurs," the San Francisco Democrat said in a statement. "It is even more disturbing when such racism is promoted by our nation's leading sports network."

The network apologized for what it acknowledged was an "offensive headline" earlier today, saying in a statement that it is "conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again." The headline was taken down after about 30 minutes.

Yee spokesman Adam Keigwin said the senator also wants to know what actions were taken by the network after the same phrase was used during the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. If the same person was responsible in both cases, Yee believes that person should be fired, he said.

"If no action was taken then, they obviously need significant training in racial acceptance within their newsroom," he said.

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PHOTO CREDIT: New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin, front right, lays up for two of his 20 game points on a shot in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, in Minneapolis.Jim Mone / AP Photo.

The California Legislature conducted its second "per diem session" of the year Friday, with both legislative houses meeting briefly, thereby allowing their members to leave town for a three-day holiday weekend without losing their $141.86 per day, tax-free expense payments.

Had the Legislature not met Friday and observed Monday's Presidents' Day holiday, lawmakers would have lost the payments for four days, totaling nearly $70,000.

The Senate met for about 20 minutes, doing little more than ceremonial events. The Assembly devoted its session, about 45 minutes, mostly to a resolution marking the 70th anniversary of the 1942 presidential order, issued in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, that citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry, many of them in California, be rounded up and placed in internment camps.

The per diem payments, averaging more than $25,000 per year per legislator on top of their salaries, are supposed to compensate legislators for housing and meals in Sacramento. The state constitution says that the payments continue seven days a week, as long as the Legislature is not out of session for more than three consecutive days.

The Legislature's long-standing practice is to meet from Monday to Thursday - the latter having been dubbed "getaway day" -- unless there's a crunch of business, but when there's a Monday holiday, it routinely has brief sessions on Fridays to avoid violating the three-day rule.

In effect, it's a four-day weekend because members are off duty from Friday morning until Tuesday. A few members, however, don't accept the per diem payments.

California legislators would be required to post their office budgets and monthly office expenditures online under legislation proposed this week by a Republican assemblywoman.

Modesto Republican Kristin Olsen said her bill is needed because the Legislature often does not hold itself to the same standards of openness and transparency that it requires of other government agencies.

The Assembly lost a court fight last year after withholding office budgets as confidential documents. A Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled that member-by-member budgets are public records and ordered them released.

Olsen's Assembly Bill 1730 would require the office budgets posted online to include all allocations and expenditures, including caucus supplements, travel expenses, office rent and staff salaries.

AB 1730 does not mention committee budgets, which often are used by Assembly members to help pay salaries of personal aides. Olsen plans to amend the bill to include committee expenditures, spokeswoman Jennifer Gibbons said.

The Senate Rules Committee approved some committee membership shuffling yesterday, including some changes made at the request of the new Senate GOP leader Bob Huff.

One of the biggest changes was to the Senate Health Committee, where Sen. Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach, replaces Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, as vice-chair.

Strickland and Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, also swapped their respective posts on the Senate Governmental Organization and Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committees.

Several GOP members picked up new committee assignments to fill seats vacated by Huff, whose spokesman said he needed to free up time to focus on his responsibilities as leader.

While committee changes under the dome are often sparked by political considerations, a Huff spokesman said these shifts were made to move the leader off the committees and honor some requests made by members.

"There was no king-making here," spokesman Bill Bird said. "Requests were made to Bob for committee assignments and Bob took those requests to Senate (President) Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and those requests were made."

All the committee changes are detailed in the Rules Committee agenda, which is posted here.

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A Democratic political strategist and a former Democratic assemblyman will help lead opposition to a proposed ballot initiative that would reduce California's Legislature to part-time.

Political consultant Steve Maviglio, former spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, said today that he has joined forces with Burbank attorney Dario Frommer, a former Assembly majority leader. Fundraising has not yet begun, Maviglio said.

The group will butt heads with Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, and with Ted Costa, the head of a political watchdog group, over the duo's proposed constitutional amendment.

The secretary of state's office gave the green light Monday for proponents of the proposal to begin collecting the 807,615 valid voter signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.

Backers hope to encourage the election of citizen legislators who have outside sources of income and are not so politically ambitious that they become overly dependent upon powerful special interests.

The measure calls for the nation's most populous state to meet three months per year -- and for lawmakers' pay to be cut from $7,940 per month to $1,500 per month -- or $18,000 annually.

The initiative also would require legislators to adopt a balanced, two-year budget by June 15 of each odd-numbered year -- and to forfeit salary and per diem for each day it is late.

Lawmakers would be barred from accepting state employment or appointment to a state post while serving in the Capitol or for five years afterward.

Maviglio said that a part-time Legislature would discourage many good candidates from running and would lead to a more corrupt Legislature, with many lawmakers having outside jobs that conflict with issues at the Capitol.

"You'd end up with more inexperienced legislators who lack the ability to tackle the state's major challenges," he said.

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

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation's efforts to diffuse controversy surrounding its funding dispute with Planned Parenthood hasn't improved the breast cancer charity's standing with the California Legislative Women's Caucus.

Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, said Monday that the caucus has no plans to restore its partnership with Komen. She said the incident left lingering questions about "whether their highest priority is women's health care."

"Basically the fundamental problem is this incident politicized women's health care. And I don't believe that should be political football," Evans said in an interview.

Evans had announced last week that the caucus had decided to cancel its annual bake sale to raise money for the charity and pull sponsorship of a breast cancer awareness event that turns the Capitol dome pink each year in response to Komen's decision to cut breast cancer screening grants it had provided to Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Komen, which cited a congressional inquiry into Planned Parenthood as the reason for the decision, backed off its position after coming under fire from women's health advocates, Democratic lawmakers and others who said the move was sparked by pressure from anti-abortion groups. Komen Vice President for Public Policy Karen Handel, who supported cutting the funding, resigned in the wake of the controversy.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Naomi Gonzalez, left, and Elvia Castro, right, both of Salinas, leave a breast cancer awareness event at the Capitol after it was lighted pink during a day long of events at the Capitol's north steps on Monday, February 8, 2010. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

The state Legislature has taken a loss of more than $1 million on the sale of dozens of cars it had purchased for legislators over the years.

As today's Bee reports, the Assembly and the Senate have sold 64 vehicles that were part of a now-defunct legislative car program. Instead of paying subsidized leases on a state-purchased car of their choosing, lawmakers now receive a monthly stipend to cover costs related to driving on the job.

Spreadsheets detailing the purchase and sale prices of cars assigned to members of the Assembly and the Senate are posted below (click on the Senate tab to see the upper house data). Click here to view the sheets in a new window.

The Senate also sold a 2006 Ford Crown Vic that had been assigned to special services detail for $6,500, replacing it with the 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid purchased for Sen. Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster. That car had been purchased for $15,050 in 2007. Sen. Tom Berryhill exchanged the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee he had been driving previously for the recently sold Lexus, which was an unused car in the fleet, earlier this year. The purchase price for the Lexus, which had been used by at least one other member previously, was not available at the time of publication.

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California lawmakers say goodbye to their state-purchased cars

Editor's note: This post has been updated to note which Senate vehicles were purchased used. Some of those cars were transferred from the Assembly or other members.

Several California lawmakers are severing ties with Susan G. Komen for the Cure over the breast cancer foundation's decision to stop providing breast cancer exam funding to Planned Parenthood.

Democratic Sen. Noreen Evans, who chairs the Legislative Women's Caucus, blasted the decision in a statement, saying it "defies logic ... to deny the most disadvantaged women the critical care they need."

Evans announced Wednesday that the caucus has decided to suspend its annual bake sale to raise money for the foundation and withdraw its sponsorship of a recent tradition of illuminating the Capitol dome with pink lights to raise awareness of breast cancer.

"I am frustrated, angered, and offended that Susan G. Komen for the Cure let a radical political viewpoint withdraw its support for women's health care," Evans said in a statement, referring to reports that the funding decision was made in response to pressure from anti-abortion groups. "I am hopeful they will reconsider their draconian move and fund Planned Parenthood throughout the nation."

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, is making a fashion statement out of his protest. The Los Angeles Democrat announced that he will no longer serve as a "Pink Tie Guy," male volunteers who wear neckties featuring the nonprofit's signature hue to show support of its efforts.

"Komen has placed its supporters in the untenable position of aligning themselves with acquiescence to the agenda of the religious right, or aligning themselves with healthcare and breast cancer organizations that will not bow to such pressures," he said in a statement. "The choice is clear to me. I choose the latter."

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PHOTO CREDIT: Naomi Gonzalez, left, and Elvia Castro, right, both of Salinas, leave a breast cancer awareness event at the Capitol after it was lighted pink during a day long of events at the Capitol's north steps on Monday, February 8, 2010. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

The California Supreme Court will rule Friday on what state Senate district boundary lines will be in effect for this year's legislative elections if a pending referendum qualifies for the ballot.

Justices will post their ruling at 10 a.m. Friday on the court's website, said Lynn Holton, Supreme Court spokeswoman, in a press release.

The matter stems from a referendum attempt by a Republican-backed group, Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting, which opposes new state Senate maps drawn by a citizens commission and has gathered signatures in an effort to overturn them at the ballot box.

Because this year's legislative elections will be held before the group's map challenge could be decided by voters, the Supreme Court must decide which boundary lines will be used if the referendum qualifies for the ballot.

County elections offices currently are counting signatures filed by FAIR to determine whether 504,760 are from valid voters, which would place the newly drawn Senate maps on the November ballot.

The Supreme Court conceivably could order the FAIR-challenged Senate maps to be used this year. Justices also could revive maps that were in effect from 2002-10 or select a special master to draw new districts.

California's legislative and congressional districts were drawn last year, for the first time ever, by a 14-member citizens commission consisting of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four independent or minor-party voters. The Legislature drew political districts in decades past.

* Updated at 2:20 p.m. to add information about the Supreme Court's options and about the structure of the redistricting commission.

Democratic Assemblyman Sandre Swanson has decided not to challenge Democratic Sen. Loni Hancock for the newly drawn 9th Senate District next year, eliminating a potentially costly and divisive same-party battle for the East Bay seat.

In a statement released by the Senate Democratic Caucus, the Alameda Democrat said he would hold off on seeking the Senate seat until 2016, when he plans to run with Hancock's endorsement. Both Swanson and Hancock cited the caucus' efforts to pick up the two seats needed to hold a two-thirds majority in the upper house in the joint statement.

"As Democrats, we must come together to work for the good of all Californians," Swanson, who has now endorsed Hancock, said in a statement. "2012 provides an incredible opportunity for us to achieve a supermajority in the State Senate and that must be every Democrat's top priority."

Swanson, who is termed out of the Assembly this year, had announced in December that he would run for the safe Democratic seat, claiming Hancock had previously promised that she would support him instead of seeking a second term. Hancock thanked Swanson for his support in the statement, saying she "can't think of a better person" to succeed her if she is re-elected next November.

"Nothing is more important," the Berkeley Democrat said in a statement."than having Democrats come together for the greater good."

SD09 Press Release

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Democratic legislative leaders sued Controller John Chiang today for blocking their pay during last year's budget dispute, a decision that drew scorn from lawmakers last summer.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez said the Democratic controller overstepped his bounds when he decided that lawmakers sent Gov. Jerry Brown a flawed budget last June and docked their pay. They said they are not suing for back earnings, but to ask the court whether Chiang can intervene this year if lawmakers face another budget dispute with Brown at the June 15 deadline.

The lawmakers filed in Sacramento Superior Court, hiring Arthur G. Scotland, retired presiding justice of the 3rd District Court of Appeal, as well as the Los Angeles firm Strumwasser & Woocher. The Legislature's operating budget, financed by tax dollars, will pay for legal costs. Billing rates range from $435 per hour for the two lead attorneys to $130 per hour for a paralegal, according to the leaders' offices.

Chiang said his own party's lawmakers failed to balance the budget largely because their plan underfunded schools by $1.3 billion according to his interpretation of the state constitution. He also said they failed to pass all of the bills necessary to carry out a balanced budget. Chiang's decision came after Brown vetoed the first budget lawmakers sent him at the deadline.

Under a 2010 voter-approved law, lawmakers lose their pay and tax-free expense money if they do not send the governor a balanced budget by the June 15 deadline. Democrats added that provision as a sweetener in Proposition 25, the main thrust of which was reducing the budget vote threshold to a majority, rather than two-thirds. The controller believes he has discretion to determine what counts as a balanced budget under the initiative.

Steinberg and Pérez believe the controller has no role under Proposition 25 to determine the validity of the Legislature's budget. Scotland said today the controller illegally interfered with the Legislature's powers of appropriation.

Aside from veto powers, Steinberg said "neither the governor nor any member of the executive branch may brandish the threat of withholding legislative pay because they disagree with the decisions made by the legislative branch."

Brown and lawmakers ultimately reached agreement on June 27, costing most lawmakers about $4,830 each, equal to 12 days' worth of pay and expense money. The state saved a total of $583,200 in foregone legislative pay.

Mindful of public acrimony against the Legislature, the two leaders emphasized Tuesday that they were not asking for back pay. "Let me be clear from the outset, both the pro tem and I have waived our claims for renumeration should this lawsuit succeed," Pérez said. "This is fundamentally an issue of separation of powers."

Chiang said Tuesday in a statement that he welcomed the court's review. But he also used the words of fellow executive branch members as a retort to lawmakers.

"It is noteworthy to point out that the Legislature's budget proposal was not only vetoed by the Governor for not being a 'balanced solution,' but it was determined by the Treasurer to not be financeable, and would have, within months of its passage, led to the issuance of IOUs," the controller said.

Chiang's move gave Brown leverage in budget negotiations, as the controller essentially suggested that Brown could block legislative pay with his veto pen. Lawmakers have seethed ever since. If their lawsuit succeeds, they would not only have greater pay protection this year, but also greater leverage. Brown has asked lawmakers to pass significant cuts to health and welfare programs and to put school funding at risk if voters reject his tax plan.

Legislation to create a "single-payer" health care system in California won approval in a key committee today, getting the OK for a vote of the full Senate.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Senate Bill 810, Democratic Sen. Mark Leno's universal health care measure, by a vote of 6-2.

The vote came as the committee met to consider bills introduced in 2011 that are projected to cost the state at least $50,000. A fiscal analysis of SB 810 estimated that running a health care system that would be open to all 37 million Californians could cost up to $250 billion a year.

The bill, which supporters say would provide greater access to health coverage and lower costs, does not include any taxes or fees to cover the cost of the system, which would be run by a new state agency.

The concept has been introduced in the Legislature multiple times in recent years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed one version approved in the 2007-2008 legislative session. A 2009-2010 measure, also authored by Leno, died in the state Assembly.

The committee also approved urgency legislation related to local redevelopment agencies, which are set to shut down next month due to legislation and court decisions.

Senate Bill 654, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, would allow the local governments to keep redevelopment money budgeted for low- and moderate-income housing. The bill, which also affects repayment of loans from local governments, would need to win approval from two-thirds of members in both houses to take effect immediately.

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation containing a similar provision last year, saying it would be premature to take action before a legal battle over dissolving the agencies was settled.

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A Republican senator's push to override Gov. Jerry Brown's veto of his state parks legislation failed today in the California Senate.

Sen. Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo, brought up for reconsideration Senate Bill 356, which had proposed giving local governments the opportunity an opportunity to take over operation of state parks slated for closure due to budget cuts.

Blakeslee said the override would send a message to Brown, whom he described as California's "dreamer" governor in light of Wednesday's State of the State address, that the Legislature is working to "to economize and keep parks open."

"We have real world problems today that need immediate addressing and this is an opportunity for us potentially to keep state parks open that would otherwise close," he said.

Thirty-five senators had voted for the measure when it cleared the upper house unanimously in September. But support for bucking the Democratic governor, who called the legislation "unnecessary" in a veto message, was not as strong. Blakeslee's attempt to secure the two-thirds vote needed to override Brown's action failed with 13 lawmakers voting yes and 22 voting no. Those turning thumbs down included 20 Democrats who supported the bill last year.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said that while the legislation is "meritorious," a move to override a governor's veto is "not a decision to be made lightly." Such a decision, he said, should be made by leaders from both caucuses, not an individual member.

"This isn't the bill, this isn't the time," the Sacramento Democrat said.

Blakeslee bristled at Steinberg's response, arguing that it shouldn't be left to "two people to emerge from a smoke-filled room" for the Legislature to use its constitutional authority to act independently of the governor and override a veto.

The presiding officer, Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian, admonished Blakeslee for mischaractarizing Steinberg's remarks, and Blakeslee conceded that one part of his statement wasn't accurate.

"Smoking in state buildings in California is not allowed, so it probably would not be a smoke-filled room," he quipped.

Republican legislative leaders rolled out their response to Gov. Jerry Brown's 2012 State of the State address Tuesday, slamming the Democratic governor for telling Californians that the"sky will fall" without higher taxes.

"Today Governor Brown shared his vision for California for the year ahead," Assembly GOP leader Connie Conway says in a video. "Republicans were eager to hear his ideas for the many challenges facing our state. Unfortunately, the governor's vision is centered around one thing: higher taxes."

The only thing is Brown hasn't shared that vision yet.

The California Legislature conducted its first "per diem session" of the year Friday -- brief meetings of both legislative houses that allowed their members to take off a three-day holiday weekend without losing their $141.86 per day, tax-free expense payments.

Had the Legislature not met Friday -- the Senate for less than 30 minutes, the Assembly for slightly over an hour -- and observed Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, members would have lost the payments for four days, totaling nearly $70,000.

The per diem payments average more than $25,000 per year per legislator on top of their salaries, although a few members don't take the money. Per diem is supposed to compensate legislators for housing and meals in Sacramento. The state constitution says that the payments continue seven days a week, as long as the Legislature is not out of session for more than three consecutive days.

The Legislature's long-standing practice is to meet from Monday to Thursday - the latter having been dubbed "getaway day" -- unless there's a crunch of business, but when there's a Monday holiday such as MLK Jr. Day, it routinely has brief sessions on Fridays to avoid running afoul of the three-day rule.

Both houses devoted much of their brief meetings to speeches commemorating King, the civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968.

Although technically it's a three-day holiday, it's more than four days for the Legislature, since it convened at 9 a.m. Friday and won't reconvene in the Capitol until midday Tuesday.

California's top Senate Democrat today shut the door on Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal to make deep cuts to social services programs in the first few months of the year.

The January spending plan unveiled by Brown today includes nearly $1.4 billion in cuts to the state's welfare-to-work and subsidized child care programs. The Democratic governor called on lawmakers to approve those cuts in March to maximize savings.

But Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, echoing comments made Wednesday, said he wants to hold off on further spending reductions in hopes that the state will see an uptick in revenues this spring.

"Why would we make cuts that are going to harm people and harm the economy in March when in fact in May there's a real not just possibility, but if the trend continues, a probability that the deficit number is going to be less," the Sacramento Democrat told reporters, pointing to improvement in a revenue forecast made in December.

Former Democratic Sen. Ruben Ayala, who was a leading force on water policy during his two decades in the state Legislature, died last night. He was 89.

News of his death was announced in a statement from the office of Democratic Assemblywoman Norma Torres, who now represents Ayala's home region. A Torres spokeswoman said Ayala had been battling a prolonged illness.

Ayala, a former mayor of Chino and member of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, was first elected to the upper house in a1974 special election, according to JoinCalifornia.com. He went on to win six full terms in Senate before stepping down in the late 90s due to term limits.

The longtime Chino resident authored 1980 legislation that proposed building a peripheral canal to transport water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The measure, Senate Bill 200, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown but voters blocked it in a 1982 referendum.

Torres said in a statement that Ayala's "passion for our community and public service inspired us to build a better future for our children."

"If you ever had the chance to meet and speak to the Senator, you would've seen his passion for his family and the community he served," she said.

Read the obituary published by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin at this link.

PHOTO CREDIT: California state Senators Ruben Ayala, D-Chino, left, and Quintin Kopp, I-San Francisco, listen during a joint legislative committee on allegations of mistreatment of inmates at Corcoran State Prison at the Capitol in Sacramento, on Wednesday Oct. 21, 1998. (AP Photo/ Bob Galbraith).

The Senate Republican Caucus, as expected, is starting the new year with a new leader.

Senate Republicans unanimously selected Bob Huff as the successor to outgoing leader Bob Dutton in a closed-door meeting following today's legislative session.

Huff said he expects"pretty much a continuum" of the caucus' current leadership style and policies, citing job creation and keeping Democrats from picking up the seats they need to secure a two-thirds majority in next year's election as top priorities.

"I expect this to be more of a baton handed off," he said of the transition.

While Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats are planning to use their majority-vote power to pass a budget plan and go directly to the ballot with a tax hike instead of negotiating with Republicans for revenue solutions, Huff said he hopes to be engaged in the process.

"The voters have given the Democrats the ability to craft a majority vote budget, to the degree they want to do that, they can," he said. "I think they're missing the boat. I think the more that voters see the Legislature working in a bipartisan way, the more they'll be receptive to ideas that end up on the ballot box."

Huff, who served as vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee, had been jockeying earlier this year with the more conservative Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, for the support of GOP colleagues. The Diamond Bar Republican secured the support of a majority of his 14 colleagues over the legislative recess, and Anderson nominated him today for the post.

Dutton, who is wrapping up his final year in the Senate and running for an Inland Empire Assembly seat, had announced late last month that he would pass the torch early this year. He issued a statement congratulating Huff after the vote, repeating earlier commitments to ensuring a "smooth and orderly transition."

Huff said he expected the transition -- including an office swap -- to be completed by Monday. He announced several expected changes in GOP leadership, including tapping Sen. Tom Harman for the caucus' No. 2 leadership post and Dutton as vice chair of the Senate Rules Committee.

Sen. Bill Emmerson, who was involved in last year's budget negotiations as a member of the "GOP 5," is expected to replace Huff as vice-chair of the Senate Budget Committee. All committee assignments will require sign-off from the Senate Rules Committee.

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California Senate Republican leader to step down in January
Jockeying to succeed Senate GOP leader Bob Dutton begins

Editor's note: This post was updated at 4:20 p.m.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sens. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, and Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, talk during the 2012 session in Sacramento, Jan. 4, 2012, before Huff was selected as the new Senate GOP leader.

GOP Sen. Sam Blakeslee has started publicly signaling that he might not run for re-election this year.

The San Luis Obispo Republican told Bee sister paper The San Luis Obispo Tribune that his decision is tied to the fate of the new district maps drawn by the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Democrats now hold a 16-point registration edge over Republicans in the central coast swing seat Blakeslee won in a 2010 special election. But critics of the new Senate maps have collected hundreds of thousands of voter signatures in an attempt to ask voters to reject the districts next fall. If the referendum qualifies, the decision of whether to use the newly drawn Senate map this year will be left up to the state Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hold a hearing next week on the issue.

The former Assembly GOP leader said if the current maps prevail, he is unlikely to run for a second term in what is now the 17th Senate District.

"I want my community to understand that by making this decision, I'm not walking away from a fight," Blakeslee told The Tribune. "But I'm not willing to lose the entire last year in office in (a vain) pursuit of office. I'm 100 percent engaged to make sure this last year is the most impactful as it possibly can be."

Blakeslee's decision not to run, which has been rumored for some time, would ease the path for Senate Democrats to come one seat closer to a two-thirds majority in the upper house. The only prominent declared candidate in the race so far is Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, who announced in August his own bid for the upper house.

Read the full Tribune story at this link.

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Interactive map: See your new California legislative and congressional districts

PHOTO CREDIT: Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo at a March 2011 legislative hearing. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

Republican Sen. Sharon Runner announced today that an ongoing battle with a rare autoimmune condition has landed her back on the lung transplant list.

The 57-year-old Lancaster Republican, who has been diagnosed with a condition called limited scleroderma for more than 20 years, said the decision to again seek a double lung transplant was made by her doctors after she experienced several lung infections.

To avoid risk of future infections, she is not returning to the Capitol as the Legislature reconvenes today. She said in a statement, however, that she plans to continue work away from the office in what her chief of staff described as a "germ-free location."

"Given my overall good health, combined with my age, the doctors expect me to make a full recovery. And I look forward to continue the fight to protect Californians," she said in the statement.

Runner, a former assemblywoman, was elected last year to fill the seat vacated by her husband George Runner's election to the state Board of Equalization. She said at the time of her run that her treatment for limited scleroderma, which has no known cure, had been successful and that she no longer required the transplant. She had been hospitalized for infections related to limited scleroderma in 2008, about two years after she began suffering from complications related to the condition.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assembly Member Sharon Runner, listens to Mexican President Felipe Calderón speak to a joint session of the California Assembly and Senate at the state Capitol on Feb. 13, 2008. (Sacramento Bee file photo / Brian Baer)

The state Senate quietly approved a $120,000 taxpayer-funded settlement last year to resolve sexual harassment allegations made against Democratic Sen. Rod Wright by a former member of his staff.

The settlement agreement was reached after a private mediation between attorneys for the state Senate and former Wright aide Fahizah Alim in April 2010, Alim's attorney confirmed to the Bee.

Attorney John Poswall said Alim was reassigned to another Senate office after raising concerns about what he described as a "totally inappropriate" and "intolerable" work environment in early 2010.

"The environment in Sen. Roderick Wright's office is beyond anything anyone would expect of a public official or even any employer in the 20th century," Poswall said. "It is totally intolerable towards women and certainly black women."

Alim, a former Bee reporter who now works for Democratic Sen. Curren Price, has not responded to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Wright declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. Both cited private personnel issues.

In the market for a new car this holiday season?

The Legislature is selling off dozens of vehicles it had purchased under a soon-to-be axed program that has long covered the bulk of a car payment, along with the cost of gas, insurance and maintenance, for members of the Assembly and Senate.

The full scoop on shelving the car program, including questions over the cost of replacing the leased vehicles with mileage reimbursement, can be found in today's Bee. For those wondering what sort of rides legislators were driving on the taxpayers' dime, memos containing the full list of the cars, their purchase price and the portion of the lease paid by the state and the member as of March of 2011 are posted after the jump. Some members included in those lists, such as Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, elected to give up their cars earlier this year.

A breakdown of the cost of the old program can be found at this link.

As we reported in today's Bee, the state Senate salary handed out salary increases to nearly one-fifth of its staff in recent months.

Here is a spreadsheet detailing the Senate staff raises identified in a Bee analysis of payroll data. The list was compiled by comparing the current pay data, which is posted here, with the payroll as of July 31. At least 10 more staff members not included in this chart received pay increases related to a promotion that resulted in a job classification change.

The Capitol Christmas tree arrived on the west lawn this morning, hauled in from El Dorado County and lifted from a flatbed truck by crane.

The 40-foot-tall white fir is 15 feet shorter than last year's. It was donated by the U.S. Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics. As is customary, the tree will be decorated with hand-crafted ornaments made by people with developmental disabilities.

A tree-lighting ceremony, the Capitol's 80th annual, will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 7.

The state Senate has pulled the plug on a longstanding practice of using public funds to provide snacks and meals for members under the dome.

The Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, voted 3-1 to change the policy in a meeting held over the phone Tuesday, Steinberg spokesman Mark Hedlund confirmed in an email. The decision was first reported by the Los Angeles Times Tuesday.

Under the proposal approved by the Rules Committee, members will be asked to pay $2,000 a year to cover coffee room expenses and meals when the business of the house, such as late legislative sessions, prevents lawmakers from leaving the Capitol.

"It has been a long tradition in the Senate that our coffee room provides snacks for Members on session days, and meals in situations where the Senate remains in session over normal dining hours," Steinberg wrote in a memo to committee members. "However, not all traditions can or should be maintained indefinitely; our institutional practices should reflect our best judgment as times and circumstances change."

The change came after the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that the Senate spent at least $111,316 on food, including deli platters, granola and ice cream, in 2011 -- 10 percent more than it had spent the year before. On top of their salaries, senators receive tax-free payments of $143 a day to cover travel and other expenses related to their work while in Sacramento.

Senate memo on meals

A Republican-backed referendum campaign to overturn the state's new Senate districts is vowing to submit more than 700,000 signatures Thursday to place the issue before voters next November.

The drive needs 504,760 valid voter signatures and has about 650,000 now, with a last-minute push likely to boost that total to 725,000, perhaps 750,000 said David Gilliard, a political strategist leading the drive.

A sizable cushion of signatures is needed in any referendum drive to account for those disqualified because they are duplicates, or because the voter is not currently registered, or for various other reasons.

"We' re going to have, I think, enough room for our validity rate to be where it needs to be," Gilliard said. "So we're very happy."

The GOP-led campaign targets Senate maps that critics say are likely to give Democrats the two additional Senate seats needed for the party to gain a two-thirds majority, the margin needed to raise taxes or fees.

Republican Sen. Sharon Runner will undergo surgery Monday to mend a broken elbow.

The Lancaster Republican's office said the injury was sustained "during a friendly sports competition with family." She also fractured her tailbone in the the fall.

"I want to thank all those who have already sent their kind wishes and thoughts," Runner said in a statement. "While this will change my office schedule, I will continue to work from home to serve my constituents."

Runner's recent injury isn't her first health scare while serving in the Legislature. During her time in the state Assembly, she was diagnosed with a rare lung disease and told she needed a lung transplant. She said during her campaign for the Senate seat vacated by her husband George Runner's election to the state Board of Equalization that her treatment has been successful and she no longer needs a transplant.

State Sen. Joe Simitian, black-listed by the Azerbaijani government after traveling to a separatist region while on a diplomatic visit, was back at his Palo Alto office today, not entirely crestfallen.

"Let me put it to you this way," the Democrat said. "It's a disappointment I can live with."

Simitian was among a group of California senators visiting Azerbaijani officials in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital city, when he went on his own to Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominately ethnic Armenian region and the center of a longstanding dispute.

The visit violated Azerbaijani rules restricting travel in the region - though the United States does not restrict travel there - and Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's consul general in Los Angeles, said Tuesday that Simitian was "basically black-listed ... will not be allowed back."

No one in Azerbaijan told Simitian, apparently. The news, first reported by local media, reached the senator via Google alert.

"I have not actually heard directly from anyone in Azerbaijan," he said.

Simitian said that after listening to Azerbaijani officials' concerns about Nagorno-Karabakh, he felt compelled to hear from the other side.

"I was trying to get a better sense of the dynamic," Simitian said. "My view was that since I was halfway around the world, I would just continue on. ... Fundamentally, my view is that the public is better served by elected officials with a broader world view rather than a narrower world view."

The Senate Rules Committee said lawmakers paid their own way. The only public resources involved were travel expenses for two staffers on the trip.

Lawmakers, apparently, are never too busy for a few laughs.

The final floor sessions of the year kicked off last week with tall stacks of bills and rousing games of legislative bingo.

That's the bipartisan game lawmakers play to fuse silly phrases into their "debate."

In a swipe at a potential rival for the 51st congressional district, Sen. Juan Vargas issued an oddly-timed press release Monday demanding that "termed out, drunk-driving legislators" step down from the California Unemployment Appeals Board.

Vargas, D-San Diego, went on to list six former lawmakers on the seven-member board, with the parenthetical note "Drunk-driving arrest" next to the names of former Sens. Roy Ashburn and Denise Moreno Ducheny.

Ashburn's 2010 DUI is widely remembered in the Capitol, but Ducheny's March 2000 DUI arrest is not common knowledge. Vargas has already announced he will run for the newly drawn San Diego-based 51st congressional district. One of his chief rivals is expected to be Ducheny, another Democrat who was termed out of the Senate last year.

Vargas scheduled a 1 p.m. press conference in San Diego to announce he will write legislation to eliminate the unemployment appeals board, and he demanded that all members step down immediately. It is highly unusual for a lawmaker to spend the first business day after legislative session discussing a bill that he intends to pursue next year.

"It is time to stop this wasteful board from being the place where termed out, drunk-driving legislators get an easy government job and get paid $128,000 per year at taxpayers' expense!" Vargas "exclaimed" in a statement. "Every year it's considered for dissolution by the Administration but this year, I will author a bill so that our legislature can decide to eliminate this board once and for all."

Vargas denied that the effort was meant to target Ducheny, saying that the timing of the announcement was in response to the Senate's recent vote to confirm Ashburn and another appointee to the board.

"We just appointed Ashburn and everyone said, 'How is he qualified when he just had a drunk driving (offense) when he was a legislator?" Vargas said, though it was unclear whether such comments were publicly made during the floor vote. The Senate approved Ashburn's appointment on a bipartisan 31-4 vote last month; Vargas abstained.

He said Ducheny's decade-old arrest was included in the release because "everybody knows about" it and he "wanted to make sure that we didn't just attack the Republicans."

"If the board is going to exist, at least they shouldn't have people there that have committed a crime," he said.

Ducheny dismissed Vargas' announcement as a "disrespectful" effort to "grandstand for what is clearly political reasons."

"It's a shame that somebody would take on a whole system and a board that protects the due process rights of workers just to make a personal attack for his political gain," she said. "It was written about me and so he's attacking all of my colleagues because he wants to get to me."

Torey Van Oot contributed to this report.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 2:44 p.m. with added quotes from Ducheny and Vargas.

As Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders dicker over a package of business tax incentives aimed at boosting the state's stagnant economy, an oversight office created by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has concluded that previous corporate tax breaks cost many billions of dollars more than anticipated.

The report, issued Thursday by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, provides ammunition for tax reformers who have called for closing corporate loopholes to raise state revenues and who are leery of opening new ones.

Brown has proposed to change the way multistate and multinational corporations are taxed to raise revenues, then use the proceeds for targeted tax breaks to spur job-creating investment. But with the 2011 legislative session in its final hours, he's encountered resistance from Republicans whose votes would be needed for the tax swap.

Meanwhile, Steinberg's investigators, who are mostly former Capitol reporters, have concluded that "some California tax breaks are acting as blank checks, costing the state billions of dollars more than anticipated when they first were put in place..."

They estimate that over the last decade, 10 major corporate tax breaks have cost the state treasury $6.3 billion more than estimates when they were enacted, including $1.3 billion more in 2010-11.

The Senate took a brief break from the end-of-session madness Tuesday to congratulate the Ocean View All Stars on winning the Little League World Series.

The Huntington Beach team defeated Japan 2-1 to win Sunday's championship game in Pennsylvania. Watch the video below to see GOP Sen. Tom Harman give kudos to the 11- and 12-year-old ballplayers from his hometown.

The office of Republican Assemblyman Jim Silva, who also hails from Huntington Beach, arranged a similar ceremony on the Assembly floor.

Video by Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

The Senate and Assembly released member-by-member spending records this afternoon, weeks after The Bee and the Los Angeles Times filed suit against the Assembly in an attempt to force disclosure of current office budget and spending records.

Friday's release shows that both houses have concluded that the public has a right to see all or parts of current-year records regarding the spending of millions in taxpayer funds.

"As I have previously announced, I have asked Assembly Rules Chair Nancy Skinner to form a task force to study our options to modernize the Assembly's records policies," Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez said in a statement. "I am eager to receive the results of their work when we reconvene for next year's legislative session. I have also listened to concerns from members in both parties about the need to modernize how the Assembly maintains and shares information."

"I believe that we can take steps now to increase the accessibility of information as to how the Assembly operates. To that end, I have consulted with Assemblymember Skinner and we have directed the Assembly Rules Committee to begin posting the most up-to-date Assembly expenditures through July on our website."

Find the Assembly's 2010 spending here and 2011 year-to-date spending here.

Find the Senate's 2010 spending here. The Senate has not posted its 2011 information online.

Traditionally, both houses have published such data 12 months after the end of each legislative year - thus, 2011 records would not have been unveiled until the week after Thanksgiving 2012.

Analyzing current-year records will allow Californians to identify the Legislature's biggest spenders and determine how money is being spent in a year of fiscal distress forcing cuts in many state programs.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino called attention to office records last month by claiming that had slashed his budget for casting the only Democratic vote against this year's budget.

When the Assembly balked at releasing office records, citing a legal exemption for preliminary drafts and correspondence to legislators, The Bee and Los Angeles Times filed suit. That litigation is pending.

This post has been updated to reflect that the records have been released.

Republican state Sens. Tony Strickland, Mimi Walters, Joel Anderson and Doug LaMalfa are among the first contributors to a signature-gathering campaign aimed at repealing the state's newly drawn Senate districts.

GOP strategist David Gilliard said the drive has about $500,000 in contributions or commitments from business, community and political groups, including the California Republican Party.

Former Gov. Pete Wilson has joined with other GOP leaders in sending out a fundraising appeal that contends the new districts could enable Democrats to gain a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

"Democrats are perilously close to gaining the ability to raise our taxes and expand our already bloated government -- unless we take immediate action," the mailer said.

"The state Senate lines drawn by the California Redistricting Commission virtually guarantee a Democrat super-majority in the California State Senate in 2012. A successful drive to put a referendum on the June 2012 ballot is the best way to prevent this from happening."

State law requires Gilliard's group, Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting, or FAIR, to report contributions of $5,000 or more within 10 days of receipt.

Strickland and Walters have contributed $25,000 apiece, Anderson $10,000, and LaMalfa, $5,000. Other contributors are Patrick Dirk, chief executive officer of the Troy Group, $10,000; Paula and Kent Meehan Trust of Beverly Hills, $10,000; and Barth Family Trust of San Marino, $7,500, state records show.

Strickland and Walters could be harmed by the new Senate districts, which were drawn for the first time this year by a 14-member citizens commission rather than the Legislature.

Strickland, R-Moorpark, has seen his safe Republican seat redrawn as a competitive district in which Democratic Sen. Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills also resides.

Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, was moved into an even-numbered district, meaning that she must relocate to seek a new four-year term next year or leave the Legislature when her current term expires in 2014 and wait two years to run again for a Senate seat.

Gilliard said the drive hopes to begin gathering signatures statewide next week. It must collect 504,760 valid voter signatures to qualify for the June 2012 ballot.

Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to remove two GOP appointees to the California Water Commission sparked a partisan dispute under the dome this morning as Senate Republicans sought to approve the appointees despite Brown's plans to replace them.

Brown said last week that he