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

California's political watchdog agency has filled its vacant executive director post.

Fair Political Practices Commission Chairwoman Ann Ravel announced today that John W. Wallace, a longtime attorney with the agency, has been selected for the position.

Wallace, who has been an assistant general counsel in the agency's legal division for 10 years, served as the commission's acting general counsel for several months last year.

"John is perfect for this job," Ravel said in a statement. "He has a great deal of experience in the Act, he has management and personnel experience, and he is committed to the FPPC."

The appointment was approved by the five-member commission during a closed-session meeting conducted via phone Thursday, FPPC spokeswoman Tara Stock said.

The executive director duties had been delegated to various members of the FPPC staff, including Ravel and the commission's general counsel, since former Executive Director Roman Porter stepped down in October. Ravel had previously said that the commission did not have enough money to hire someone new for the post.

Stock said Wallace's current salary will not change with the promotion, though the amount was not immediately available. The Bee's state worker database lists Wallace as having made $115,436 last year.

A Democrat running for the state Assembly has agreed to plead guilty to federal bribery charges, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

John Tran, a former Rosemead mayor and City Council member, is accused of accepting $7,000 in payments from an informant with a developer that had business in front of the city during his time on the council. He is a candidate for the 49th Assembly District, an open Southern California seat.

Read the full story at this link.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation allowing the state to borrow $865 million from earmarked funds to help avoid a cash flow problem in March, Brown's office announced today.

Senate Bill 95 was approved by the Legislature on Thursday, after Controller John Chiang warned that without additional borrowing and payment delays, the state would fall into the red by March. The bill mostly involves transportation funds.

The Democratic governor signed the bill without comment.

A key House panel late Thursday gave the back of its hand to California's embattled high-speed rail program.

In another sign of high-speed rail's political travails, the House committee writing a massive transportation bill, included an amendment that prohibits new federal funds from going to California's proposed $98 billion project during the five-year life of the bill.

"I want to make sure that the money that comes to California goes to highway funding," Republican Rep. Jeff Denham said in an interview.

Denham, who has moved his California residence from Atwater to Turlock, offered the amendment during a long and sometimes contentious markup of the bill dubbed the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.

Denham's amendment, adopted by a 31-22 vote, marks the first and only time the word 'California' appears in the House transportation bill that started out at 847 pages. It was fought by Democrats, during a hearing that stretched more than 16 hours and ended at 2:45 a.m. Friday.

"I think it's a big mistake," Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, said of Denham's total high-speed rail cutoff. "The high-speed rail authority is rapidly adjusting its program, looking for ways of significantly reducing the cost."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RENO - Ron Paul told supporters here tonight that his libertarian ideas are gaining traction and that his presidential campaign - despite Paul's inability to break through in early primaries - remains aglow.

"I believe that we will be able to win this," the Texas congressman told several hundred people at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino. "We must remain in this battle and do our very best."

The Republican candidates were campaigning today in Nevada ahead of the state's caucuses on Saturday. Paul finished a distant second to the frontrunner, Mitt Romney, in the Silver State four years ago.

Paul said to cheers tonight, "The revolution is alive and well."

His appearance came just hours after Romney spoke at an event down the road in Reno. Hundreds of people turned out for each rally, but Paul's had something Romney's lacked. Outside the room where Paul spoke, two supporters propped up an inflatable punching bag with a photograph of President Barack Obama, charging $1 each in a "Ron Paul fundraiser to 'beat' Obama."

They planned to take the cash in to Paul but said they were strictly "unofficial."

News coverage of actress Demi Moore's recent medical emergency has led one California lawmaker to push for new restrictions on the release of taped recordings of 9-1-1 calls.

Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona, announced today that she plans to introduce legislation to "protect the privacy of 9-1-1 medical emergency calls."

The Pomona Democrat, who worked as a 9-1-1 call operator for 18 years, said in a statement that medical emergency calls "contain private and sensitive information that should never be broadcast to the world."

Moore was hospitalized last month after paramedics responded to a call for medical assistance at her Los Angeles home. Portions of the tape of the 9-1-1 call, which was released last week, includes an unidentified woman telling the operator that Moore was "semiconscious" and "convulsing" after smoking something " similar to incense." The tape was edited before its release to remove statements that could violate medical privacy rules, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A "millionaires tax" initiative spearheaded by the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign received petition language today, as well as backing from the powerful California Nurses Association.

CFT spokesman Fred Glass said his group expects to begin collecting signatures Monday now that state Attorney General Kamala Harris has issued official petition language today. Harris titled the measure "Tax To Benefit Public Schools, Social Services, Public Safety, And Road Maintenance."

The CFT/Courage plan would raise taxes by three percentage points on income above $1 million and five percentage points on income above $2 million. State fiscal analysts say the proposal would generate $4 billion to $6 billion annually, with a $6 billion to $9.5 billion windfall in the 2012-13 fiscal year because the plan would capture 18 months of taxes.

The plan is competing with Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative, which would raise income taxes on earners starting at $250,000 for single filers, as well as increase the statewide sales tax by a half-cent.

The proposals have split the labor community so far. CFT and CNA are backing the "millionaires tax," while the California Teachers Association and Service Employees International Union State Council are backing Brown's proposal.

The governor wants rival campaigns to stop their efforts and join his coalition, but they say they are pressing on. Besides CFT's proposal, civil rights attorney Molly Munger is backing a $10 billion income tax measure, while hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer is pursuing a corporate tax change that would pay for clean energy projects.

CFT donated $500,000 last week to back its signature-gathering efforts.

"We are prepared to spend enough to get a million signatures," Glass said. "It's not just going to be CFT spending the money. We have partners, and we'll be announcing a couple more sizable contributions soon."

Not only does California have more than 2 million unemployed workers, but nearly half of them have been jobless for 27 weeks or more, according to new data assembled by the state Department of Employment Development.

"Between May 2007 and February 2011, the number of people who were jobless 27 weeks or more in California rose an astounding 620 percent," says the EDD report.

Those who are called "long-term unemployed" grew from 15.9 percent of the jobless population in late 2007 to 46.8 percent last March, remaining over 46 percent in December.

"The rapid rise in long-term unemployment can be directly tied to the collapse of the housing bubble in California," the report continues. "This event had dramatic effects on the construction and finance industries and on the duration of unemployment among workers displaced from these industries."

It notes that housing construction permits reached a peak of 20,554 in September 2005, then plummeted to 2,418 in January 2009.

Long-term unemployment knows no gender or ethnic boundaries, although Latinos -- who were heavily engaged in construction -- were hit somewhat harder than non-Latino workers. Among all workers, those middle-aged and older have fared worse than those younger, perhaps reflecting their heavy involvement in construction trades.

Gov. Jerry Brown told a television interviewer this week that California has lost manufacturing employment "at about the same rate as the rest of America, so this is a national problem."

True or false?

It depends on one's definition of "about."

Data from Brown's own Department of Employment Development reveal that over the last 10 years, manufacturing employment in California has declined by one-third, from 1.8 million to 1.2 million.

Brown's right about the decline in factory jobs being a national phenomenon, but the rest of the nation has fared a bit better with a 28.8 percent drop over the last decade, from 14.9 million (excluding California) to 10.6 million, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

California's neighboring and competitive states have also seen declines, according to data compiled by the California Manufacturing and Technology Association, but not as steep as this state.

Texas' decline has been 23 percent. Nevada's is 18 percent, Arizona's 28 percent, and Oregon's 26 percent.

Brown made his comments Wednesday in response to a question from Current TV talk show host Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan.

California lawmakers sent bills to Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday that would allow the state to borrow $865 million from earmarked state accounts and K-12 districts to continue busing their students this school year.

The Democratic governor supports both measures, though his office has not said when he will act on them.

Senate Bill 81 would help rural and urban students that rely heavily on buses by transforming a $248 million mid-year transportation cut into a general-purpose reduction that hits all 1,042 school districts evenly. Some rural districts stood to lose more than $1,000 per student; under SB 81, all districts will lose about $42 per student.

The bill had bipartisan support in both houses, though some suburban Republicans have objected because their districts long ago reduced bus service and now face a larger cut under SB 81.

The Senate and Assembly also approved Senate Bill 95 allowing the state to borrow $865 million from earmarked accounts, most of which fund transportation. It is part of a plan to ensure the state does not run out of cash to pay its priority bills in early March.

Controller John Chiang said this week that without $3.3 billion in additional borrowing and payment delays, the state will fall below its comfortable cash cushion for several weeks starting Feb. 29. Chiang said that by March 8, the state would end up $730 million in the red.

Besides the internal borrowing in SB 95, the state plans to ask Wall Street for a short-term loan, have the University of California borrow on the state's behalf and delay payments to Medi-Cal hospitals and counties.

In other action, both houses passed Senate Bill 98 to reinstate the Board of Registered Nursing through 2015 after Brown vetoed a bill last year to extend its existence. The governor said he objected to last year's proposal, Senate Bill 538, because it would have expanded pension benefits for board investigators.

Jim Sanders and Dan Smith contributed to this report.

Committees in the House of Representatives will cut their spending by an average of 6.4 percent, under a resolution passed Wednesday night.

With lawmakers mindful of the massive federal deficit, the House approved by voice vote the budget-trimming authored by Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River. Lungren chairs the House Administration Committee.

"All of our constituents need us to do more with less and to rein in government spending," Lungren said during the evening debate. "Families have been required to tighten their belts, and they constantly ask us to do the very same thing."

Some House Democrats opposed the measure, which exempts the House armed services and ethics committees from the cuts. The resolution does not need Senate approval.

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

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

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

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

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

Now that California's redevelopment agencies are no more, Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed four boards responsible for dissolving agencies in Los Angeles, Merced, Stanislaus and Ventura where local governments decided not to take on the job. Brown named 12 people in all to serve on the new local authorities, which will handle such matters as paying existing bond debt, disposing of assets and managing properties until contracted work is done. Read more at this link.

SEEING RED: If you notice Capitol denizens wearing red today on the eve of National Wear Red Day, chalk it up to their support for the fight against heart disease, the nation's leading killer of women. Find health screenings from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in the Capitol's Room 125.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Proponents of high-speed rail, including construction workers and college students, hold a news conference in support of the project starting at 9:45 a.m. outside Sacramento City Hall, 915 I St., where the High-Speed Rail Authority Board is meeting at 10 a.m. The Bee's David Siders reported in this story earlier this week that Gov. Jerry Brown said Sunday that project will cost far less than nearly $100 billion and that fees paid by carbon producers would be a source of funding

BALLOT MEASURE: Proponents of an anti-human trafficking ballot initiative hold a presser to highlight their signature-gathering campaign. Those listed to attend include Ron Cottingham of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, former Facebook official Chris Kelly, Daphne Phung of California Against Slavery and others. The event starts at 11 a.m. at Wind Youth Center, 701 Dixieanne Ave. in Sacramento.

Gov. Jerry Brown said this evening that California is losing manufacturing at a rate no faster than the rest of the country, telling the TV show host and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm the problem is a national one.

"This is the place where Facebook started, where Hewlett-Packard started, where Steve Jobs built Apple Computer just a few miles from where we're sitting," California's Democratic governor said on Current TV's "The War Room with Jennifer Granholm. "This is a place of innovation."

Granholm told Brown, "When I was governor of Michigan, I would come here and try to get people in Silicon Valley to take their technology to scale in Michigan, because California seemed to be so expensive."

Brown defended his state, saying California "has lost manufacturing at about the same rate as the rest of America, so this is a national problem."

Said the former Michigan governor: "Oh, for sure."

Constituents are pitching in to make Assemblywoman Linda Halderman and her staff members feel right at home in the Capitol's doghouse.

The Fresno Republican has renamed her shoebox-sized office the Bulldog House in honor of the four-legged Fresno State mascot.

Supporters have contributed decorations and bulldog memorabilia to convert her cramped 391-square-foot digs into a colorful conversation piece. Giant paw prints lead from the hallway to her office. A bulldog caricature adorns her outer door. A bullseye target hangs from her inner door, which is framed to look like a doghouse.

Halderman, a conservative politician and a medical surgeon by profession, said she has no idea why Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez chose her for the tiny accommodations.

And the Los Angeles Democrat has not elaborated, she said.

"I think logic is really unlikely in the Capitol," she said. "I just figure things are random or arbitrary, and we don't really need to know."

Now that she's unpacked, however, Halderman plans to stay a while.

No bark, no bite, no complaint. "They'll have to drag me out of that office kicking and screaming," she said.

PHOTO CREDIT: Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, the Fresno Republican occupying the "doghouse" office at the Capitol this year, is maximizing the photo-op possibilities of the position. Feb. 1, 2012, Jim Sanders / Sacramento Bee

California stands to gain hundreds of millions of tax dollars after Facebook goes public, but fiscal analysts say it's hard to predict when that money will flow into state coffers.

The Menlo Park-based social media giant filed papers today to launch a $5 billion stock offering, and state officials are giddy over the prospect of Facebook money helping California dig out of a $9.2 billion deficit.

The state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, dubbing the potential state windfall the "Facebook Effect," estimates California could receive more than $1 billion across the next several years. The Department of Finance has not included the Facebook IPO in its projections, while the Analyst's Office assumed some stock offerings would take place, though not one as large as Facebook's.

"We don't know what the specific amount is going to be, but if it's as significant as it's projected, then on behalf of a very grateful state, I will happily go to Mark Zuckerberg's house and wash his windows or mow his lawn," joked H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance, referring to the company's CEO.

California would gain once Facebook insiders sell shares and pay state income taxes on their gains.

If voters approve Gov. Jerry Brown's tax plan in November to raise income taxes on wealthy earners (in addition to hiking the state sales tax by a half-cent), Facebook employees could pay as much as 12.3 percent to the state on income above $1 million. Tax proposals by the California Federation of Teachers and attorney Molly Munger would impose higher rates than Brown's plan.

Without any tax hike, millionaire rates would be at 10.3 percent, including the one percentage point tax for mental health services.

The big question mark is when those employees will begin selling -- and paying the state. While Brown and lawmakers would love for money to flow as soon as possible, LAO forecaster Jason Sisney says it may take a couple years for the state to benefit.

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.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who pops up from time to time to snipe at Gov. Jerry Brown, suggested today that his fellow Democrat lacks a "vision for greatness" and is "not necessarily the most collaborative executive," and he criticized social service cuts Brown has proposed.

"We've got a governor who is doing a very good job focusing on solvency," the former San Francisco mayor, who dropped out of the gubernatorial race in 2010, said on KQED Radio's Forum. "But what we need is a vision for greatness again."

Brown and Newsom have a distant relationship, and about the warmest thing Newsom would say about Brown today is that he is a "unique person" and "in many respects a brilliant political tactician."

As he has before, Newsom said he was disappointed by proposed cuts to early education and welfare programs. But he also suggested that he could do better, and that he had an answer for the administration when asked what budget measures he might come up with instead.

"You give me your finance team, give me the controller, and give me your department heads, and give me 48 hours," Newsom said, "and I'll come up with them."

Brown spokesman Gil Duran declined to comment, except to say, "We stay busy over here in the governor's office."

Supporters of a tobacco tax slated for the June primary ballot launched the opening salvo today of what is expected to be a multimillion dollar campaign, framing their effort as a battle to beat moneyed "big tobacco" interests.

At a news conference kicking off the campaign, Proposition 29 proponents cast their measure, which would raise taxes on cigarettes by $1 a pack to fund cancer research and anti-smoking programs, as an approach to improve health and save lives.

"It's this simple: A no vote on Proposition 29 supports tobacco companies' strategy of singling out poor people and people of color for addiction and death. A yes vote on Proposition 29 is a vote for better health and live saving research," Joe Debbs of the American Heart Association said, adding: "From our perspective there is no middle ground. You're either with us, or you buy big tobacco's lies."

Supporters marked the official launch of the campaign for the initiative, which qualified for the ballot in 2010, by holding rallies in 21 other locations across the state that featured a bed with the message, "Let's see who's in bed with Big Tobacco."

Early money is already flowing into the campaign coffers of candidates running for legislative seats across the state.

Tuesday was the deadline for state candidates to file their year-end campaign finance reports, which cover cash raised and spent through Dec. 31, 2011.

Wondering which legislative hopefuls are leading the pack and which are starting 2012 in the red? We've gathered the numbers for some of the races on our radar this cycle.

The spreadsheet includes 2011 totals for candidates we're tracking in some of the state legislative races Capitol insiders have been closely watching so far (blank fields mean a report had not been filed electronically at the time this sheet was posted). Full reports can be viewed at this link.

We're open to updating the roundup to include more races, so send any hot contests we might have missed to tvanoot@sacbee.com. Stay tuned for a look at the money flowing in top congressional races in tomorrow's Bee.

Editor's note: The spreadsheet has been updated to correct the cash on hand for Jeff Miller's campaign and add figures for a Southern California Assembly race.

Looks like controversial legislation on how to fund California courts has been put on ice in the Senate.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told reporters today not to expect to see action on the legislation, Assembly Bill 1208, any time soon. The measure passed the Assembly on Monday.

"The Senate has no near-term plans to refer that bill," Steinberg said, adding "It's a long year and a long session."

The bill, which would give trial court judges more power in spending decisions currently controlled by the state Judicial Council, which is led by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, was the subject of intense debate in the state Assembly this week. It cleared the lower house by a vote of 41-23 on Monday.

The bill, which is backed by a splinter group called the Alliance of California Judges and a union that represents court employees, is opposed by Cantil-Sakauye and 44 of the 58 presiding judges of the county courts.

Steinberg didn't address opposition or the merits of the bill today, but instead signaled he was irked by a comment made by the bill's author Assemblyman Chuck Calderon, D-Whittier, on the floor this week.

"I know Chuck Calderon's big comment about why he didn't fix the bill in the Assembly and instead (sent) it to the Senate was something to the effect of 'If I had it my way, we'd eliminate the Senate,'" the Sacramento Democrat said. "Not that I took any note of that."

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Assembly OKs bill to give local courts more power over spending

There's another battle brewing in this year's California ballot wars: The Yes on Proposition 29 campaign is cranking up.

Prop. 29 -- called the California Cancer Research Act -- would hike tobacco taxes by $1 per pack of cigarettes to fund research and smoking prevention efforts. It's one of two measures on the June primary statewide ballot.

Expected to be on hand at proponents' presser today are Jim Knox of the American Cancer Society's state's division, Kimberly Weich Reusché of the American Lung Association in California, and American Lung Association volunteer Steve Larson, who has stage 4 lung cancer. The event runs from noon to 2 p.m. on the Capitol's west steps.

Gov. Jerry Brown takes to the airwaves this evening, appearing on Current TV's "The War Room with Jennifer Granholm" starting at about 6:05 p.m. Pacific Time.

The California Newspaper Publishers Association, meanwhile, is in town for its 15 annual Governmental Affairs Day, and no fewer than five elected officials are scheduled to address its members.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez is up first this morning, followed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, then Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway and Senate Republican leader Bob Huff. State Controller John Chiang is to address the group after lunch. (The state's cash flow may well be on the agenda.) The event starts at 10 a.m. at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento.

Under the dome, a joint legislative hearing held with the Legislative Women's Caucus and the state Commission on the Status of Women looks at a new report, "Falling Behind," on the effects of the recession and the state's budget on women and their families. Listed presenters include Judy Patrick of the Women's Foundation of California, Jean Ross of the California Budget Project, and Sandy Gleysteen, who heads the commission. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4202.

Another joint hearing will consider recommendations from the California Community Colleges' task force on student success from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Room 4202. Later, an oversight hearing will look at the affordability of college textbooks starting at 2 p.m. in Room 444.

The Senate Rules Committee will take up the governor's appointments, starting at 1:30 p.m. in Room 113, with California Technology Agency Secretary Carlos Ramos and California State University trustee Herbert Carter required to appear. Carter is likely to face questions about executive compensation, given the reaction after CSU trustees hiked a campus president's pay package amid tuition increases.

BALLOT INITIATIVES: Democratic Sen. Loni Hancock of Berkeley and Assemblyman Paul Fong of Cupertino join with Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation and representatives of the Greenlining Institute to discuss the results of a recent poll on ballot initiative reform as well as responses from a statewide "listening tour." The briefing runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Capitol's Room 2040.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, celebrates his 59th birthday today.

Editor's note: Due to an error in the press release, an earlier version of this post misspelled the name of Kimberly Weich Reusché.

California Democrats are starting 2012 with an $8.7 million fundraising advantage and 13-point voter registration edge over their rivals in the Republican Party.

The cash edge was reported in year-end campaign finance filings released Tuesday. The California Democratic State Central Committee ended 2011 with $9.3 million in the bank, after raising $2.77 million in contributions in the final three months of the year. The California Republican Party came close to matching Democrats in contributions, raising nearly $2.34 million, but reported having just shy of $439,000 cash on hand due to heavy spending on an effort to repeal the new state Senate maps via a referendum drive.

The campaign cash numbers were reported on the same day as Secretary of State Debra Bowen released updated voter registration figures showing that Democrats continue to hold a 13-point lead statewide, 43.63 percent to 30.36 percent. Both parties saw slight declines in registration in the last year, while the percentage of voters registered as decline-to-state rose to an all-time high of 21.24 percent.

CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro downplayed the registration numbers in a statement issued by the party, saying that Californians continue to show their support for the party by voting for fiscally conservative measures on the ballot. He said that he expects the party to make gains in closing the registration gap ahead of the 2012 election.

Democrats didn't seem too worried about that prospect.

"With these kind of numbers, I think California Democrats can really start to get used to the Del Beccaro era," CDP spokesman Tenoch Flores quipped.

California Sen. Ron Calderon is abandoning his bid for the newly drawn 38th Congressional District, opting to remain in the state Senate and back Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez for the Southern California seat.

"I have had the honor of representing portions of the Gateway Cities and San Gabriel Valley for the past nine years and I am incredibly proud of my record as a legislator committed to creating quality jobs, improving our system of public education, protecting frontline services and keeping our neighborhoods healthy and safe," Calderon said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to represent many of the communities in this Congressional District as a Member of the California State Senate and I look forward to working with Congresswoman Sanchez to champion local job creation and economic development."

The Montebello Democrat's decision comes just over a week after Sanchez emerged as the overwhelming favorite for the state Democratic Party endorsement, winning more than 70 percent of the vote at the party's regional pre-endorsement conferences. Both candidates have yet to file their year-end campaign finance reports, which are due by the end of today.

Calderon, who will be termed out of the Senate in 2014, has also been dealing with personal hardships in recent weeks.The wife of his brother, former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, and his mother-in-law have both passed away since the start of the new year.

Legislation to allow local governments in California to keep using redevelopment funds earmarked for affordable housing projects cleared the state Senate today on a majority vote, after a failed attempt to win the votes needed for the measure to take effect immediately.

Senate Bill 654, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, would allow cities and counties to retain tax dollars contained in the low- and moderate-income housing funds of the soon-to-be shuttered redevelopment agencies. Such funds contain about $1.36 billion that will otherwise be redirected to schools and other local government functions when the redevelopment agencies are dissolved on Wednesday.

The fate of that money is uncertain. Even if the measure is passed by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, its provisions would not take effect until next year without a two-thirds vote for an urgency clause.

An attempt to win two-thirds passage of the measure failed without GOP support, 24-1, after majority Democrats rejected amendments proposed by Senate GOP leader Bob Huff.

"I appreciate the pro tem's desire to address affordable housing, but we must go further," the Diamond Bar Republican said, raising questions about outstanding bonds and redevelopment projects already under way.

The bill cleared the upper house easily on the second try, with 10 Republicans who had abstained from the first vote voting yes. That margin would have been enough for the now majority-vote bill to pass as an urgency measure.

Amid the procedural maneuvering, Steinberg told colleagues on the floor that he would be willing later to put the language into a new budget bill so that it could be take effect immediately with majority-vote approval. Steinberg's office said that local agencies overseeing the transition could also opt not to decide what to do about the funds until the issue is resolved.

The agencies, axed as part of last year's budget package, are slated to be disbanded Wednesday. Legislation to delay that date until April 15 has failed to gain traction.

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Rural and urban school districts in California that make heavy use of buses appear safe -- for now.

State lawmakers are fast-tracking legislation that would transform a $248 million midyear school bus cut into a general-purpose reduction that hits each K-12 district evenly. The Assembly Budget Committee passed Senate Bill 81 with bipartisan support Tuesday, while an aide to Gov. Jerry Brown testified that the governor supports the proposal.

But Brown still wants to eliminate specific funding for buses in his 2012-13 budget, along with removing earmarks for a variety of other K-12 programs. He instead proposes a new block grant funding system for schools, out of which he suggests districts could fund bus service if they choose.

In Tuesday's hearing, Republicans and Democrats representing rural areas joined together to lobby for SB 81, which only applies for the remainder of this school year. The bus cut was triggered when state forecasters determined last month that California would fall $2.2 billion short of a $4 billion tax revenue bump that Brown and lawmakers assumed in the 2011-12 state budget.

"It's a catastrophic problem in my district and in many other rural parts of California," said Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, who represents the North Coast area. "Eliminating the school bus system creates dangerous situations for many children in California, but for my district it means it would be impossible for many children, if not most children in some districts, to attend school at all."

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown was confiscating state-issued cellphones and cars. This year, he's finding grout pumps and chairs.

Such is his attention to budget dust in austere times.

In a memorandum last week to agency secretaries, Brown's executive secretaries, Jim Humes and Nancy McFadden, ordered agency secretaries to review their property-accounting procedures.

"We recognize that the state has over 190,000 employees, and that property can be occasionally lost or misplaced in the regular course of business," their memo said. "However, every state employee must use state property responsibly, and departments must have effective internal controls."

The agencies are to report their findings within six months.

Brown's office provided some examples of state-owned items that were found after being reported lost, stolen or destroyed.

They included one $415,000 X-ray machine and four $26,000 dental chairs at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a surveillance system erroneously listed as "missing" at a Department of Motor Vehicles field office, and a $26,000 grout pump reported stolen, but later found.

Brown is trying to improve documentation and tighten controls, spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford said.

The state Senate today approved $13 million in settlements and fees in legal disputes lost by the state, including nearly $1 million in court-ordered attorneys fees in the Entertainment Merchants Association's successful challenge of a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the industry group last year in its effort to block the violent video game ban, upholding decisions at the federal and appellate court levels. Critics of the law, which was approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005, had argued that the restrictions violated their First Amendment right to free speech.

The legislation, Senate Bill 730, was approved with bipartisan support, by a vote of 32-5.

Senate Bill 730 also gave the green light for a $4.23 million settlement in a lawsuit between EdFund, the state's former student loan guarantor, and a Mather business park office complex, two payments totaling $5.5 million in cases against the Department of Forestry and the Department of Fish and Game and a $1.5 million settlement in a lawsuit against the Department of Parks and Recreation filed by a man who had been struck by a falling tree at Los Banos Creek Reservoir in Merced County.

The appropriation bill, which requires a two-thirds vote to take effect immediately, must be approved by the Assembly before heading to Gov. Jerry Brown, who defended the video game law as state attorney general, for consideration.

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The Assembly rejected legislation today that would have required independent expenditure comittees to provide more disclosure of their contributors in backing candidates or ballot measures.

Assembly Bill 1148 fell two votes short of the two-thirds supermajority required for passage. Every Democrat but Cathleen Galgiani of Livingston supported it, and every Republican but Nathan Fletcher of San Diego opposed it or did not vote. The final tally was 52-26.

Democrats touted the measure as a way to ease voter cynicism by providing greater disclosure by independent committees, which can spend unlimited sums to support candidates or ballot measures.

Republicans countered that the bill would restrict freedom of speech. What the state needs instead are less restrictive candidate contribution limits, so that donors could give whatever sums they desire to candidate-controlled committees and there would be less incentive to create independent committees, GOP lawmakers said.