After last week's overnight budget sessions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers are taking things a little slower this week.
The governor is scheduled to have private meetings in Sacramento after spending Tuesday with his family in Brentwood.
Get used to seeing little of Schwarzenegger in California over the next two weeks. The governor flies to Hannover, Germany, next week for the CeBIT technology trade show and then plans to spend a few days in Columbus, Ohio, for the Arnold Sports Festival and Arnold Classic bodybuilding championship.
The Little Hoover Commission will examine Schwarzenegger's plan to consolidate the state's information technology services under one branch in a hearing Wednesday.
And the Legislature will hold a joint hearing Wednesday in the Capitol with several oft-quoted government experts examining California's initiative process.
They may explore, as one issue, the influence of money on ballot proposals.
Money also plays a huge role in legislative races, and several state lawmakers have $1,000-a-head fundraisers scheduled in Sacramento throughout the day. While some freshmen like Assemblyman Marty Block are raising money to stay in their current jobs, others are more concerned about the past and future. Termed-out Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has a "debt retirement reception" scheduled at Chops Steakhouse, and Assemblywoman Audra Strickland is raising money for a 2010 secretary of state bid at Gallaghers.
Former Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh once called such contributions the "mother's milk of politics." Now Assemblyman Kevin de Leon wants to provide more time at work for mother's milk to flow -- presumably the real kind.
De Leon will unveil bills Wednesday that give working mothers an additional 20 minutes each rest break to pump breast milk, as well as force health insurers to cover breast pump rentals and certified lactation consultants.
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