State Politics

Both houses of the Democratic-controlled Legislature worked to craft budgets Friday that are about $3.2 billion higher than the one proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee moved 221 bills proposing $700 million in spending off the suspense file and onto the floor Friday in preparation for a vote next week.

Measures aimed at creating new taxes on Californians were held by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, making it extremely unlikely that the taxes on cigarettes, soda, strip clubs, plastic bags or oil extraction will become law this year.

Sacramento lobbyists and others looking forward to attending a mixed-martial-arts fight in Las Vegas with Sen. Ricardo Lara on Saturday will have to find another way to enjoy the holiday weekend.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on UC Davis' law graduates to "pursue the work of justice."

California state government violated civil service rules by giving hundreds of salaried managers part-time jobs that paid them an hourly wage, according to an audit released Friday.

One day after a civil rights leader accused him of using racially charged politics in his criticism of California's prison realignment, former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado said Friday that Gov. Jerry Brown and "his buddies are trying to make it about race."

Two bills aimed at eliminating obstacles facing transgender people cleared the Assembly largely along party lines Thursday, including one measure to let students choose the bathroom and sports team that correlates with their gender identity.

Abel Maldonado, who is preparing to challenge Gov. Jerry Brown in next year's gubernatorial race, said Wednesday he will file a ballot initiative to repeal California's prison realignment, an issue Republicans consider a potential liability for Brown.

Thanks to the first two GOP amendments to Sen. Barbara Boxer's water resources bill, the California Democrat's legislation wouldn't merely address flood control, port improvements and storm protection.

Local politicians, lobbyists and business leaders from the Sacramento region fly across the country each year to meet federal officials – and eat at some of Washington, D.C.'s, best restaurants.

Legislators are turning up the heat on the California Public Utilities Commission, withholding money and lambasting the state agency over the past few months for failing to prioritize its core mission of ensuring safe and reliable utility service.

A plan for inmate population reduction in California's prisons that was submitted Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown and his corrections department to three federal judges may be dead on arrival.

In response to an embarrassing six-week queue of business filings, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a measure that immediately sends $1.6 million to the California secretary of state's office to relieve the backlog.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation to increase funding for a state effort to confiscate weapons from people who are prohibited from owning them because of mental illness or violent criminal pasts.

A Bee review of sponsored bills found that the forces behind legislation are often masked, leaving the public in the dark about the interests driving the creation of some new laws.

Californians have paid tens of millions of dollars the past three years in state fees that had been scheduled to die - but never did.

Even in heavily Democratic California, President Barack Obama's job approval rating has plummeted among voters, largely on his handling of the economy, according to a new Field Poll.

California lawmakers finally voted on a state budget Sunday – but it died a partisan death.

Beaches at Lake Natoma and Folsom Lake will go without lifeguards. Drivers could wait longer for licenses at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
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The day after unveiling $8.2 billion in proposed tax increases mostly on high-income earners and corporations, legislative Democrats on Wednesday said they have done all they can to trim the state budget without harming education and health care.