Nothing like starting out the day with a good death penalty joke. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared Tuesday at a conference on alternative energy in Irvine co-hosted by the University of California, Irvine, the Milken Institute and New Majority California, a group of wealthy moderate Republicans who have donated to the... ... (more) | Comments

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, who campaigned hard for the speakership, has landed a pretty good consolation prize: majority leader. That is the number two post in the Assembly. ... (more) | Comments

New Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will urge legislators to “take the fear out of California’s future” and consider restructuring the tax system. Bass, D-Los Angeles, has prepared a nearly 10-minute acceptance speech for her swearing-in ceremony today. Her office released the following excerpt: “California is a giant in crisis... ... (more) | Comments

Here’s a question for trivia buffs: What Bible will Karen Bass use today when she’s sworn in as the Assembly’s first African American woman speaker? Her right hand will be placed on a copy of the “New Women of Color Study Bible,” New International Version. A Web site selling... ... (more) | Comments

Joel Fox, the president of the Small Business Action Committee, has launched a new political site covering California politics, called Fox & Hounds. The site features a right-leaning blogpen of contributors including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's economics adviser David Crane, former GOP Assemblyman Keith Richman and Fox himself. Fox promises a... ... (more) | Comments

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre today endorsed Rod Wright's campaign for state Senate. Not that it was much of a surprise. Wright's opponent, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, called De La Torre "the most racist legislator I have encountered in over 40 years" in 2006. ... (more) | Comments

The Senate Republican primary campaign between Assemblywoman Mimi Walters and Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu has turned negative, as both candidates are sending out critical mail pieces and airing attack ads on local TV. ... (more) | Comments

A new TV ad by a left-leaning group aims to frame Republicans as the yacht tax loophole-loving party.

But the ad may be just as successful in making the GOP out to be the sex-crazed, bikini-bearing, champagne-pouring, strawberry nibbling party of the young and beautiful. ... (more) | Comments

We just completed a caption contest, so we're not going to launch another one today, but we'd love to know what you think Massachussets Sen. Ted Kennedy (left), his wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy(middle) and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (right) are laughing at. ... (more) | Comments

Looking for Assembly members today? Check Valley Hi Country Club’s 18-hole golf course. The Assembly scheduled a 9:30 a.m. session today, unusually early, since the gavel typically bangs closer to noon on Mondays to accommodate legislators’ flights from Southern California. With more than 130 bills awaiting action and the... ... (more) | Comments

Watch Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass speak to The Bee's Capitol Bureau. ... (more) | Comments

Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally turns 82 today.

That makes him the combined age of Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (41) and Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines (also 41).

Dymally served as lieutenant governor in the 1970s and in Congress in the early 1980s. He is running for state Senate this year. ... (more) | Comments

Speaker-elect Karen Bass said Monday she plans to have a limited agenda during her speakership, focusing from the start on the budget, which she declared as her priority number “one, two and three.”

Bass, who will be sworn in on Tuesday as the first African American woman speaker of the Assembly, spoke with The Bee Capitol Bureau about a range of topics, from her election priorities to her plans for committee chairmanships. ... (more) | Comments

It's not every day that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes second billing in an op-ed. But he does so today, co-authoring an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal with Carlos Gutierrez, the U.S. secretary of commerce. ... (more) | Comments

A $980 million bond aimed to expand and revamp California's network of children's hospitals has qualified for the November ballot, the secretary of state's office reported late Friday. ... (more) | Comments

Another California superdelegate has declared for Sen. Barack Obama. Crystal Strait, the former president of California Young Democrats, issued a statement Sunday endorsing Obama. Strait has some timing. CNN reported she tied the superdelegates race with her endorsement. Here's what Strait said with her endorsement: "While representing the Young Democrats... ... (more) | Comments

Find out who won the Bonnie Garcia and frog caption contest. And see what caption Garcia herself sent in as an entry. ... (more) | Comments

Sen. Sheila Kuehl, whose Senate Health Committee was the final graveyard for the health care plan negotiated by the governor and Assembly Democrats, has written a post-mortem on the overhaul efforts.

In it, Kuehl, a leading backer of single-payer health care, writes, "The governor's plan appropriately fell because of the governor's own reluctance to make the difficult policy decisions necessary for the plan to be in any way affordable." ... (more) | Comments

California superdelegate Ed Espinosa unmasked himself twice this week. First he revealed that he was the mysterious "Mr. Super," an anonymous superdelegate, www.mrsuper.org who became a web phenomenon for political junkies with his musings on the ebbs and flows of the Democratic presidential contest and how they may affect the... ... (more) | Comments

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday she is "sticking with" Sen. Hillary Clinton. Earlier this week, Feinstein asked if Clinton "can get the delegates that she needs." ... (more) | Comments

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he's not concerned about pressing the Lottery to pay back $46,336 spent on a staff party last fall. “I don’t know if it should be paid back," Schwarzenegger said Friday. "I think we should really do everything we can not to let this happen again. Cause... ... (more) | Comments

Sempra Energy gave $50,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top fundraising cause days after the governor expressed frustration that environmentalists are trying to "slow down" the company's solar and geothermal project east of San Diego. ... (more) | Comments

At least one termed-out senator has landed his next job. Sen. Jack Scott, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, has been named the next chancellor of California's community college system. ... (more) | Comments

Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill, left; Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines, right. (Brian Baer/bbaer@sacbee.com)

Republican lawmakers Thursday trotted out another set of what they described as money-saving proposals, this time focusing on streamlining government by allowing more partnerships with the private sector.

... (more) | Comments

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continued his 2008 fundraising tour Wednesday by dropping in for a quick $1,000-a-head event in Fresno at the home of developer Tom Richards. After submitting 1.2 million signatures this week to put a redistricting initiative on the ballot, Schwarzenegger is continuing his fundraising push to ensure the... ... (more) | Comments

Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill, who Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, in part, credited with his decision to drop the recall of Sen. Jeff Denham, said the decision, "eliminates an unnecessary distraction in an already contentious budget year." ... (more) | Comments

Read the Senate leader's full reasoning on why he's dropping the recall campaign of Sen. Jeff Denham ... (more) | Comments

Dianne Feinstein, California's senior U.S. senator, has been a loyal backer of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential bid.

But Feinstein, after Clinton lost North Carolina by a wide margin and squeaked out a win in Indiana, is asking the New York senator to explain her path to victory in the Democratic primary. ... (more) | Comments

School districts, community colleges and redevelopment agencies understated property tax payments, costing the state at least $63 million between 2005 and 2007, according to the Controller’s Office. “These reporting and calculation errors resulted in the state unnecessarily spending millions of dollars to backfill schools and community colleges for a portion... ... (more) | Comments

Becky Maze, the wife of Assemblyman Bill Maze, is running for her husband's seat -- and using his old "Elect Maze State Assembly" signs. Her opponents aren't so happy about it. ... (more) | Comments

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez says he wouldn’t change a thing about his speakership. The Los Angeles Democrat, who will step down next week after four years as leader, said Tuesday that he has no regrets. ... (more) | Comments

Enter the Capitol Alert caption contest for a chance to win bragging rights at the water cooler and a $25 gift certificate to Starbucks. ... (more) | Comments

Here's some good fiscal news for California's budget, for a change: state Controller John Chiang reports the state collected $1.4 billion more in personal income taxes in April than expected. That puts the General Fund $738 million above the governor's January projections. ... (more) | Comments

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested Tuesday that he will ask lawmakers to lease the California Lottery when he issues his revised budget proposal next week. The governor spoke to reporters after celebrating a $70 million donation to the California Community Colleges, offering the lottery lease as a "creative" solution to raise... ... (more) | Comments

Sen. Dave Cogdill outlined his determined stance that this is “no time to raise taxes” to balance the budget, citing the state’s sagging economy and ongoing mortgage crisis in a wide-ranging interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau

He called the Denham recall a "blatant power grab," predicted the looming water crisis would "make the energy crisis pale in comparison" and endorsed the redistricting initiative backed by the governor. ... (more) | Comments

Sacramento developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, the Democratic financier whose family spent nearly $10 million backing Democrat Phil Angelides in the 2006 governor's race, has donated $25,000 to the redistricting measure backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. ... (more) | Comments

Good thing that Assemblyman Roger Niello doesn’t make his living racing bicycles. A recreational bike ride went awry Sunday, leaving the Republican lawmaker with a broken clavicle. Niello came to work Monday in a sling, which he expects to tote around for about six weeks. The accident occurred when... ... (more) | Comments

Free WiFi in the Capitol...Joe Nation launches first TV ad...and the speaker heads to Mexico for his last week on the job. ... (more) | Comments

A coalition of health care providers, including the doctors, dentists and hospitals, will announce a lawsuit to prevent the Legislature and governor from cutting reimbursement rates for health providers by 10 percent. ... (more) | Comments

In today’s Bee, I wrote about the growing trend of state lawmakers opening ballot measure accounts, particularly those legislators aiming for – or in – leadership positions.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the next leader of the state Senate, said in an interview that while he doesn’t control such an account yet, he likely will. ... (more) | Comments

You may be seeing the first shots fired by 2010 governor wannabes.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner responded to Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's letter criticizing his new insurance regulations with a sharply worded retort, writing he was "disappointed that the work product you left behind was flawed and needed to be fixed." ... (more) | Comments

By Jim Sanders
Mariko Yamada’s bid for the seat of termed-out Assemblywoman Lois Wolk is getting a hefty boost from an independent expenditure group sponsored by teacher and labor groups. ... (more) | Comments

Sen. Dean Florez, who took offense to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's comments earlier this week about small-town lawmakers, today announced he was introducing a resolution calling on the governor to take the high school exit exam. ... (more) | Comments

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata gave an extended interview with the Associated Press this week about his role in the recall of Sen. Jeff Denham. Perata said one motivation for the recall was to get Democrats closer to being able to pass a budget with tax increasses.

"If I have an opportunity of picking up a Democrat who would support a balanced approach to solving the budget problem, I'm going to do that," Perata said. ... (more) | Comments

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received gobs of national love last year as the Republican cover boy for environmentalism. His post-partisan message in 2007 played particularly well as President Bush's popularity sunk to new lows. That was last year. Sure, Schwarzenegger still gets national attention, but Time Magazine left him off its... ... (more) | Comments

Former baseball star turned author and steroids exposer Jose Canseco has joined the growing number of Californians to lose their home due to foreclosure. But case of Canseco, who earned millions as an athlete, is a bit different than your average missed house payment. ... (more) | Comments

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a Democrat, fires off a critical letter to Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican. The pair are both considered likely candidates for governor in 2010. ... (more) | Comments

You can't put too much faith in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deficit numbers these days, but in an interview with Patt Morrison of KPCC Radio, the governor said he learned this week of "a few billion dollars that came in unexpected." ... (more) | Comments

Pittsburgh tops Los Angeles as sootiest city in the nation. But, don't worry, Angelenos, the Southern California metropolis is keeping the overall pollution title. ... (more) | Comments

The campaign to recall Sen. Jeff Denham has released its second television ad of the campaign, another hard-hitting spot targeting Denham for pay raises he took in "secret" during the budget crisis. ... (more) | Comments