State Politics

The long-lived federal Auburn dam proposal is officially dead.

Molina Healthcare of California has been selected as the community provider for Sacramento County's Healthy Families Program, a state and federally sponsored program for uninsured children whose parents earn too much for Medi-Cal but who can't afford private insurance.

PHILADELPHIA – The nation's governors on Tuesday took their case to President-elect Barack Obama for a $136 billion infrastructure spending program they hope will funnel immediate government money toward bridges, roads and rail lines with the goal of creating jobs and spurring the economy out of recession.

The poor economy is hitting the bellies of 3.1 million California school children.

In the latest sign the battle over same-sex marriage is far from over, the Legislature's gay and lesbian caucus and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg Tuesday introduced a resolution opposing Proposition 8.

With lawmakers at an impasse over the state budget, the SEIU State Council, which represents public employees, took it upon itself to propose its own dream plan Tuesday.

The two big tax changes that Democrats proposed last month to cover part of the state's ever-worsening budget deficit were carefully chosen to give political cover to legislators who voted for them.

New members of the state Legislature, sworn in on Monday -- "An incredible honor and tremendous responsibility," said one -- have no time to bask. The spotlight they find themselves in also starkly illuminates the red ink they must find ways to eliminate.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger greeted a new legislative class Monday by calling two immediate special sessions to deal with this fiscal year's $11.2 billion budget shortfall and the state's economic slowdown.

Declaring that he had turned back a "liberal wave that swept over America and lapped at the edge of this district," conservative Tom McClintock claimed victory Monday in Northern California's 4th Congressional District.

Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has taken a lucrative seat on the board of directors for a workers' compensation insurer after helping broker a 2004 deal that benefited the industry.

The Legislature reconvened Monday with a couple of dozen truly new members – not counting the retreads and those shifting from one house to the other – and launched its biennial session with the usual celebratory rituals.

The 2009-10 version of the California Legislature convenes today, with a bunch of new members set to take over for the class of 2007-08.

More than 200 legislative staff members have received pay increases during this year of multibillion-dollar deficits, program cuts and the longest budget standoff in state history.

It got almost no media attention at the time, but when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled an array of new taxes and spending cuts to deal with a severe budget crisis, he also proposed a revolution in how schools are financed.

Sometime today, Darrell Steven Steinberg will formally become the 46th president pro tempore of the California Senate (the first from Sacramento in 125 years) – and the most influential state legislator in the most influential state.

Assemblywoman Nicole Parra may have found the perfect antidote to life in the Assembly doghouse – travel to political bashes in Maui, Las Vegas, Chicago and New Orleans, courtesy of political donors.

If there is a silver lining in California's prolonged budget crisis, it's a new awareness that it reflects a broader civic malaise.

The state Motor Vehicles and Employment Development departments dumped hazardous electronic devices in the trash between 2007 and July 2008, contrary to California's own environmental regulations, the state auditor says.

State lawmakers, facing a two-year, $28 billion budget hole, convene at the Capitol on Monday to take their oaths of office and begin a new two-year legislative session. Capitol Alert's Shane Goldmacher is keeping an eye on the incoming class of 25 new Assembly members – 15 Democrats and 10 Republicans. These five legislators are among those to watch. (Need a cheat sheet to keep track of all the new lawmakers who start at the Capitol next week? Find it Monday at capitolalert.com.)

For that someone special: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's costume from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" is up for sale this holiday season.

California officials have accused Amtrak of neglecting and delaying maintenance on state-owned passenger trains while it pockets extra money fixing private rail cars at an Oakland maintenance center largely built with state taxpayer funds.

SAN FRANCISCO – Although San Francisco isn't California's largest city, it has a sophisticated ambience that sets it distinctly apart, and a big part of that atmosphere is its cadre of old-money families, many with roots in the Gold Rush.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named roughly 20 new gubernatorial appointments this week, including placing a top donor on the panel overseeing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Jack Sieglock's nameplate unceremoniously was stripped by Capitol staffers and hurriedly replaced by Alyson Huber's outside a fifth-floor Assembly office Wednesday.

With the state's budget gap growing each day, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likened lawmakers to kindergartners and gave them an "F" for their budget performance in November.

Strong personal ties during the holidays can be a joy. In the workplace, they're a killer.

Former Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, who served as both Democratic foil and deal-maker with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will be the newest partner and co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, a political firm with offices in seven cities across the country.

California's financial free fall is likely to get much worse before it gets better, spreading from the statehouse to every other level of government, including schools, cities, counties and the special districts that fight fires, maintain parks and levees and run libraries.

The latest from the secretary of state in close races: In the 4th Congressional District, Republican Tom McClintock leads Democrat Charlie Brown by 1,578 votes.

The California Legislature's outgoing class debated, complained and pointed fingers of blame Tuesday – but in the end, it did nothing about the state's massive budget gap.

The long tradition of political appointees landing high-paid slots on California's waste board continued Tuesday.

In the end, Tuesday's hours-long legislative session on the state's rapidly deteriorating budget morass was nothing more than a drill – not a power drill, nor a close-order drill, but the political version of a dentist's drill, without anesthesia.

California's political watchdog agency is investigating a complaint alleging the Mormon church failed to report non-monetary contributions to the Yes on 8 campaign, a state official said Monday.

The U.S. Treasury has approved a $6 million investment in Rancho Cordova's American River Bankshares as part of the government's plan to spur lending and revive the economy.

During their last pre-election debate, Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo and her ultimately successful challenger, former pro basketball player Kevin Johnson, sparred over whether Sacramento should emulate Fresno, its slightly more populous municipal cousin.

An ailing economy is threatening the success of welfare reforms that in the past decade moved millions of people off the public dole and into jobs.

California's politicians – and the political media – are engaged in a great debate over whether closing a yawning budget deficit should entail new taxes, deep spending cuts or some combination of the two.

As a gesture of good will and good politics, Democratic Assemblyman John Laird stopped by the offices of freshman Republican legislators in 2007.

Surveys of Californians find them in a bleak mood – and no wonder.

Channeling her inner rock star, attorney Gloria Allred threw her arms in the air to the cheers of more than a thousand who rallied outside the state Capitol on Saturday in hopes of overturning Proposition 8.

Not even fiscal crisis trumps partisan politics in California, where lawmakers remained sharply divided on a budget rescue plan Friday with time running out in this year's session.

Treasurer Bill Lockyer joined Sacramento County and 18 other municipal bond issuers Friday to lobby federal lawmakers and the Federal Reserve to shore up battered municipal bond markets.

Several Californians are getting talked up as potential picks in the Obama administration.

State Sen. Tom McClintock on Friday surged to nearly a 1,800-vote lead in the tight congressional battle against Democrat Charlie Brown, perhaps sealing victory in the foothill 4th District.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a Fox News interview that aired Thursday that he will remain governor until his term ends in January 2011.

Eight years ago, the California Teachers Association, arguably one of the Capitol's three most influential interest groups, leveraged an extra $1.8 billion a year in school money from Gov. Gray Davis.

Business and environmental groups argued Thursday over whether California's plan to fight global warming will be a boon or a burden for the economy and low-income communities.

Past members of the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board may have violated state conflict-of-interest laws by approving a contract in which one of them had a clear financial interest, state Auditor Elaine Howle said Thursday.