Capitol Alert

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger weighed in again Monday on Fourth of July fireworks, stating that the money raised by charities is far less than the cost of fire damage and that people living in fire-prone areas ought to be "a little less selfish" in considering whether to light fireworks this year.

The Republican governor last week urged Californians to boycott home fireworks, including the "safe and sane" kind sold in many Sacramento parking lots. Appearing Monday at an event promoting an electric-car company in San Carlos, he said he stopped short of a ban because he thinks each community can determine for itself whether fireworks pose a serious risk.

The governor's anti-fireworks stance has been controversial in areas like Sacramento, where families have long purchased fireworks for home use and charities sell them to raise money.

"People say, well, you know, then we cannot raise all this money for these charitable organizations," Schwarzenegger said. "But think about it. How much money do we raise for those charitable organizations? Compare it to the damage that a fire can cause, the homes that it can destroy. Like last year, 2,000 homes and structures, that's so much more expensive."

"So let's be a little less selfish about all of those things and let's just think about the better good for everybody," Schwarzenegger added. "So I just recommend that everybody be very cautious and those that live in dangerous areas not buy any fireworks."

The story of Laura Richardson continues.

Today's update comes from Gene Maddaus at the Daily Breeze. He reports the freshman Long Beach congresswoman is driving the most expensive car of any member of the House of Representatives -- at taxpayers' expense.

Richardson is driving a 2007 Lincoln Town Car, with a $1,300 per month lease, according to the Breeze.

About 130 representatives leased cars last year, according to a report compiled earlier this year by Taxpayers for Common Sense. Most were in the range of $400 to $800 per month.

"No comment," he said.

Other recent Richardson stories include her multiple default mortgage payments and not paying her car mechanic and driving a city-owned car for a year and 30,000 miles, apparently, for personal use.

Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines visited with The Bee Capitol Bureau on Monday morning and sounded dour about the Legislature's chances for passing a state budget anytime soon.

"We're doing meetings, but we're not making a ton of progress," Villines said on the final day of the 2007-08 fiscal year.

The four legislative leaders are meeting regularly, but "a lot of it is building a rapport."

Next year's budget is supposed to be in place by July 1. The state faces a $15.2 billion deficit. "We're not going to make the deadline for tomorrow," Villines declared.

In part, he blamed Democrats for sticking to a plan to raise taxes - $11 billion in the Senate and $6 billion in the Assembly - for stalling talks. He called such figures "totally unfounded and out of touch with reality."

"We understand the budget is a compromise. Being in the minority, we understand that," Villines said. "But we're having a difficult time getting our counterparts to really change their original premise on the budget, which is, 'We need taxes. We need to continue spending in government and that's the budget that we want.'"

"I keep waiting for that to end so we can get to where we are seriously negotiating," he added. "We haven't gotten there."

He also criticized Democrats for refusing to name what taxes they would raise. "They don't want to put it out there," he said.

Villines said he expected the two sides to eventually agree to about $10 billion in reductions to the deficits, but called the last $5 billion "the unresolvable number."

Assemblyman Roger Niello, a Fair Oaks Republican and vice-chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, agreed. He said lawmakers were "struggling through the conference committee" for the budget. The committee, on which Niello sits, has "closed out maybe 20 percent of the items," he said.

Both Republicans said GOP reform proposals - for the budget and schools -- would be key to a deal. But, so far, those plans have fallen on deaf ears.

Legislative Republicans, among other reforms, have called for a tough spending cap limiting the growth of government to inflation and population growth. That would likely prevent the creation of new government-funded programs.

"They're really not acknowledging the reforms at this point," Villines conceded.

Here are some of the highlights of the hour-long discussion:

On areas of agreement: Villines said the budget for prisons was one of the areas Democrats and Republicans have come together. He said lawmakers would "probably get to where (the) corrections (budget) is almost flat."

On negotiations over naming acceptable cuts and tax hikes: "It comes down to a couple of things. They say give us a list of cuts. We say well, we recognize a lot of the governor's already...we're asking them, lay out this tax increase. What is this tax increase? Of course, they don't want to do that."

On Democrats not naming tax hikes: "What we're saying is give us this list your talking about so that we can at least have a good negotiation and understand where you're trying to go."

He later said: "If that's their priorities, if that's their values, then they need to put it on paper and vote on it."

On using the lottery in the 2008-09 budget: "There is general agreement on this between the four of us (legislative leaders). The lottery, if it is to be used at all, is only for out-year solutions."

"You can't say it's a this year issue," Villines said of putting the lottery on the fall ballot. "What if the voters say no?

On potentially borrowing funds from voter-approved accounts like Proposition 10 and Proposition 63: "We are willing to look at some borrowing if it has a funding mechanism to pay it off." The lottery, he said, could be such a mechanism.

On tax-loophole closing: "We are more than willing to look at what they are saying (are) loopholes."

On legislative deadlines: I've never seen a rule that's followed in the Legislature

On future budgets: "Next year could be worse than this year."

On the PR war to come when the budget is late: "The truth is labor is a bottomless pit of money and they will continue to do things that they do" such as stage events when the budget is late.

Photo credit: Brian Baer, Sacramento Bee

Another Capitol reporter gone

Steve Geissinger, a longtime Capitol reporter who most recently worked for Bay Area News Group, East Bay (which publishes the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times, among other papers), has joined the ranks of laid off Sacramento scribes. California Majority Report.

Ma's new squeeze

The San Francisco Chronicle's Matier and Ross report Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, has a new "romantic connection" -- Washington lobbyist Patrick Koch, "whose brother is married to President Bush's sister."

There's a political connection, as well, the paper reports:

Whatever their personal relationship - and neither was returning calls to comment - Ma is apparently eager to promote Koch's business interests.

Ma also set up and attended a meeting with incoming Speaker Bass to introduce Koch and to explain his business - although we're told SB1438 was not discussed.

Consultant on both sides of gay marriage

Capitol Weekly has the short but strange story of Robert Kaplan, the Los Angeles political fundraiser who has registered eight political committees on both sides of the gay marriage debate.

Capitol Weekly reports:

(A)ll the of names he's registered come in pairs: Americans for Same-Sex Marriage, Americans Against Same-Sex Marriage, Californians For Same-Sex Marriage, Californians Against Same-Sex Marriage, Yes on Gay Marriage, No on Gay Marriage, Yes on Same-Sex Marriage, No on Same-Sex Marriage.

Morally, Kaplan said, he approves of marriage equality and opposes the constitutional ban, which California voters approved in 2000. He said that he has been in talks to work with an independent expenditure campaign in support of same-sex marriage, but nothing is yet official. But he'd already picked up several "easily identifiable names."

'Predator' politicians

First, there was Jesse Ventura. Then there was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now a third star of the 1987 "Predator" film is trying to launch a political career: Sonny Landham.

Landam is running as a longshot Libertarian candidate against Kentucky senator and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Associated Press.

Mrs. McCain's CA tax bill

As Newsweek reports "When you're poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you're rich, it's hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying."

Cindy McCain, the wife of GOP presidential nominee John McCain owed some back property taxes in San Diego County. Once the magazine contacted the campaign, Mrs. McCain, a beer heiress, paid up.

As Tom Brokaw, the longtime NBC anchor settled into the chair as host of "Meet the Press," he began his first interview with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with a hardball question.

"When you ran for governor in 2003, you ran as a fiscal conservative who would change the system, who would bring business-like techniques," Brokaw said. "Now, you are facing a $15-billion deficit here in California. Unemployment is running at about 6.8%; you've got the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. If you were the CEO of a public company, the board would probably say, 'It is time to go.' "

Schwarzenegger replied, "Are you always that positive?"

You can watch the entire 18-minute interview on YouTube (posted below) or scan through the transcript.

MR. TOM BROKAW: Welcome back to this special edition of MEET THE PRESS, concentrating on the American West, which will be a crucial battleground in this election year. And we're joined now by the familiar figure of Governor Schwarzenegger of California, here at the Reagan Library in California.

And Governor, you were the guest of Tim Russert several times.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R-CA): Several times, and he always did great interviews with a lot of humor, tough questions, but we had a great time, and I really miss him, I have to say that. And he was--I remember when I ran for governor, he called me, and he says, "If you make that, if you win, then I will take care of the rest." And I said, :What are you talking about?" And he says, "I will get you to run for president. I will make sure that we change the Constitution." Well, it never happened, but anyway, I miss him very much.

MR. BROKAW: Oh, I can't make the same promise, but I can...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Come on, Tom. You can.

MR. BROKAW: I can--I can...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: You have the power.

MR. BROKAW: I can continue the tough questions.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: OK.

MR. BROKAW: When you ran for governor in 2003, you ran as a fiscal conservative who would change the system. You would bring businesslike techniques. Now you're facing a $15 million deficit here in California. Unemployment is running at about 6.8 percent. You've got the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. If you were the CEO of a public company, the board would probably say, "It's time to go."

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Are you always that positive? I can't believe it. Well, first of all, let just say that we are very happy that since I've come into office that we've changed a lot of things and improved California and got California back on its feet, and started paying off some of the debt and started to rebuild California for the first time in four decades, and fixed worker's compensation, and all kinds of great things happened. And the most important thing is that I was able to bring Democrats and Republicans together. Now, that doesn't mean that when you are doing a good job that the economy doesn't go down eventually. What goes up must come down, and I think that we see that nationwide. We see other states are struggling, the country is struggling, people are struggling, and I think we see it now all over the world. And I think the key thing for it is to again, bring everyone together and just start right away with an economic stimulus package, which of course is done on a national level, but also each state has the responsibility to do that.

MR. BROKAW: But when you came in, Governor, you said that spending was out of control here, and your rate of increase in spending is about the same as your predecessor, Governor Gray Davis. It's running about, what, 34 percent since you took office upward.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, Tom, as you know, you've been around long enough to know that the numbers are misleading, because we've paid off a lot of debt, and that is counted in the spending. So I'm very proud that we paid off a lot of the debt, and that we got the economy going again, and that we also got the state jump-started in rebuilding again, the roads, the levees, the schools, expanding our universities, building more career educational facilities. And we're now in the middle of negotiating, also, water infrastructure so that we can secure the water and provide reliable, safe, good water for the people of California, not two or three years from now, but 40, 50 years from now. So I think there's all kinds of great things happening. The key thing is to continue moving on and moving forward. If it is infrastructure, if it is health care reform, education reform, and all the things that we set out to do, and we're going to continue on. Like I said, the most important thing is that both of the parties work together to accomplish all of those things, because with just one party you could never do it.

MR. BROKAW: It appears that the people, however, have some real questions about your leadership. Your approval rating has gone from, what, 60 percent in December down to about 40 percent recently. It's tough to govern under those circumstances.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Not at all. I'm having a great time as governor of California, and it is a very challenging job and I've always known that when I get into that it would be a challenging job, but it's the most exciting job and it also is a job that gives me the satisfaction to serve the people of California, because I think that California has given me everything that I have. If it is my body building career, my acting career, the money that I've made, everything, my family, everything is because of California. So this is a way of giving something back. And I don't shy away from the challenges, never did. I'm very, you know, persistent in continuing moving forward. So, you know, it's, it's all about leadership and bringing people together and solving those problems. That's the key thing. And California is the greatest place in the world, and we're going to keep it that way.

MR. BROKAW: Let's talk national politics for a moment. Most analysts that I know say that John McCain would have a very, very hard time carrying this state in the fall. I don't think that that will come as any surprise to anybody who watches politics. But you also have 19 congressional seats held by Republicans here in California. How many of them will survive?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that the Republicans have a good shot of keeping all their seats. I mean, that all depends in the end of what the mood of the state of the nation is at the time of the election. I think the key thing is, is for Washington to show that they can work together and get things done. This year, I have to say, I'm very disappointed of what has happened. There's a lack of, of, of action in Washington. They cannot even get done the littlest things. Just recently with the tax credit for renewable energy, which, you know, started in the early '90s and now it, it's, it runs out at the end of December, by the end of this year, and they cannot even get that done. Immigration reform or the infrastructure of the United States, health care. There's so many issues that are so important, they can't get anything done. So, I think that the people are frustrated, people are angry because they look at that and they say, "Well, wait a minute. We just changed the leadership there. First it were the Republicans in and we thought that they can't get anything done. Let's put the Democrats in power, now they can't get anything done, either." So, I think that the people are angry about that, and rightfully so. So, I think depends of what the mood is if anyone would lose a seat or two. I doubt it.

MR. BROKAW: You endorse Senator McCain as the presidential candidate, saying he was a crusader who had the best interests of the environment in mind. Now, he's in favor of offshore oil drilling and he wants to build 45 nuclear plants. Do you still stand by his record in that regard?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I'm very proud of him. I'm 100 percent behind him. That we don't agree on everything, that's clear; nor do I with my wife. I mean, it doesn't mean that we should split, it just means that we don't agree on certain things. I don't think that you will find that everyone agrees on everything. And he is terrific with the environment. He has been there four years ago and stood by my side when I talked about the environment, when I talked about the--fighting global warming and putting together a good energy policy and starting with the green building initiative or start building the hydrogen highway in California and the million solar roof initiative. He was there and he supported me on every step of the way, so he's the real deal when it comes to the environment. I think he has great ideas and there are some things, like I said, I don't agree with, but there's a lot of things I do agree with. And I think that he will be a bresh of--fresh breath of air in Washington when he becomes president, because we really would have, for the first time, a really strong energy agenda and a great way of fighting global warming.

MR. BROKAW: Let me ask you about something that Tom Friedman has written in The New York Times about President Bush and energy policy. It was entitled "Lead or Leave." He said that the president two years ago said we're addicted to oil. "Now," he says, "we have" a "new Bush energy plan: `Get more addicted to'" it. It's "hard," according to Mr. Friedman, "to find" "words to express what a massive, fraudulent, pathetic excuse for an energy policy this is." Do you agree with him on that very harsh assessment of the president?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I'll tell you that we have always had a good relationship with the White House and with President Bush, and there were certain things that were done very well and we worked together very well, and there were other things where I have spoken out, where I disagreed with, which was on environmental issues. I don't dwell on the negative. The fact is that we have had a good relationship with him. And I think that, you know, it's easy to, you know, kick someone when they're down and to just be part of, you know, let's attack Bush, type of thing. But I don't go for that. I think that he's done great work, and in some things that he has failed. And I think that he probably knows that. The key thing is now to look forward. We in California have never paid much attention to the federal government's action when it comes to the environment because there was a lack of leadership. We moved forward very aggressively here, and we started looking into a future and really did things that were, you know, very unique for the United States, and we led the way.

MR. BROKAW: We talked about the housing crisis here in California. You have 72,000 homeowners who are in one stage or another of foreclosure; 20,000 have already lost their jobs, or lost their homes, in California especially. When real estate goes south, it drags the economy with it. It's about construction and home furnishings and appliances. It's about tax revenues. Is this going to be bad for a long time? Is it going to be a longer recovery than anybody anticipates at this point?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, first of all, let me just say that it is sad when you see the kind of people that are unemployed, and how tough it is to get a job, and this is why we want to pump in as quickly as possible the billions of dollars to get people back to work, especially in the construction business. But I, I, I am as amazed as everyone else of how quickly that came. And the housing crisis, the mortgages--the subprime mortgage crisis and all this kind of things, because I've had last year in the spring, meetings with economists and they said to me that for the next two years the economy in the United States is going to be strong, the economy worldwide is going to be strong. There is nothing that is indicating any decline at all.

Sure enough, two, three months later we've seen the slowdown in the housing market, we have seen the subprime mortgage crisis appearing, we've seen our revenues shrinking in Sacramento and $200 million a month came in less than anticipated. Then it went up all the way to $600 million by December already. So this really I think was a big surprise to everyone. And I don't think anyone can really guess of how long it will take. We are very fortunate here in California because we have so many different economies. We have the real estate, we have the entertainment economy, we have biotechnology, we have high technology, we have agriculture. We have all these different economies so that gives us some strength even though we are suffering because of the decline of the housing market.

MR. BROKAW: But has California been on a binge that was just unrealistic? A lot of speculation about cashing in on the real estate market, buying the big SUVs to drive on the freeways, one passenger using all that energy?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, no, I think that, you know, there were big mistakes made by borrowers and there were big mistakes made by lenders. And I think that everyone was on such a roll and the real estate market always, every year, went up and up and up, and so people started speculating. And, of course, what happened was the housing market was like the do- com bubble, it was a housing bubble, and it finally--the whole thing collapsed. And now we have to just wait until we grow our way out of this situation. And I think that by next year we will grow out of it.

MR. BROKAW: You have a lot of propositions on the ballot again this fall. One of them would mean a constitutional ban on gay marriages. Do you support that?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I think the Supreme Court made a decision there. It was apparently unconstitutional to stop anyone from getting married. It's like 1948, the interracial marriage, when the Supreme Court of California has, you know, decided it was unconstitutional and then later on the Supreme Court of the United States followed, I think 10 or 12 years later. So I think it is, it's good that California lead--is leading in this way. I personally believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But at the same time I think that my, you know, belief, I don't want to force on anyone else, so I think we should stay with the decision of the Supreme Court and move forward. There are so many other more important issues that we have to address in California. So I think to spend any time on this initiative I think is a waste of time.

MR. BROKAW: There's another proposition that would require a waiting period and parental permission before a minor could get an abortion or the termination of a pregnancy. Do you support that?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes, I support that. I think there should be a notification of the parents, and I was always for that. And I have two daughters myself. I would not want to have someone in the school take my daughter to a clinic to get an abortion without telling me or my wife. I think one or the other should know. If my daughter decides she doesn't want to let me know but she feels more comfortable with my wife, that's perfectly fine with me, because my wife and I, we are partners in raising our kids. But someone, one of us both, should know, and I believe in that 100 percent.

MR. BROKAW: It's well known that your wife, Maria Shriver, endorsed Senator Obama early. Is that off-limits in discussion in your household, and if he wins and says he'd like to have her join him in Washington in some capacity...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well...

MR. BROKAW: ...would you think that's a good idea?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: First of all, I think that it's great that she has her own opinion about this, and I supported it 100 percent when she called me before she did the appearance at UCLA. And I told her, "Go ahead, do it. You know, I think that you feel very passionate about that, and I feel very passionate about the person I endorse, which is McCain." And I think that we have always been like that. She has always endorsed or, you know, supported the Democratic candidates, I've always supported Republican candidates.

It makes it interesting discussion at night at home when we have dinner. Sometimes she pulls in the cutouts of Obama or whoever candidate she's for and is putting it right next to my breakfast table, and I have to look at it, and then of course when he screws up in one way or the other, the kids carry out the cutout, and he has to be outside the house for awhile, and then they carry him in again. So we have those kind of things going on. But I--you know--there's--I can only take all of these things for so long. Eventually, you know, I also sick and tired of it. So one day at night, I remember being at dinner, I got up because I had it, and I got up, and I said, you know, "McCain is the man. He's the best man for this country and for the future, and Maria is absolutely wrong with that Obama fellow. Absolutely wrong." I was so lucky that Maria was out for dinner that night. It was easier to do that.

MR. BROKAW: Her very closest friend and her family is Caroline Kennedy, who is on the
Obama vice presidential selection committee.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Can you believe that? When I heard that, I was like, I can't believe that--I mean, for Caroline to be...

MR. BROKAW: To you have any inside information for us? I mean, does Maria talk in her sleep or anything?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I've been talking to Caroline. No. But she's working, I'm sure, very hard at this, and she's taking it seriously, and you know, she has been a big supporter of Obama right from the beginning, so I think it's terrific for her. She's a very smart woman, and she will be very good in helping them in making a decision.

MR. BROKAW: Did Senator McCain asked you for advice about how he should run against Senator Obama?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: He did not, no.

MR. BROKAW: What would you tell him?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I would say, "Look. You have a lot of smart people around you. Ask them. I'm going to give Senator McCain advice on how to run against you."

MR. BROKAW: You have talked recently and again in this interview about the importance of the two sides getting together and finding common ground, people working together again. Here at the Reagan Library and the LBJ Library in Texas, they'd like to have a series of town halls using both libraries in that kind of bipartisan fashion. Do you think that that would advance the interests of the country during this campaign year?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: I think so. I mean, this--I think it will be interesting to have a debate between the two candidates, and to have town hall meetings together so that people can hear from both of them without having this formal kind of question and--you know, question and answer sessions where they stand behind a podium. I think those are fake. I don't buy in on what they say when they do those kind of--when they do this kind of format. I think a town hall meeting will be much better, and I think that it will be also very important for them to talk about reaching across the aisle.

And I think this is the very attractive part about Senator McCain, because he doesn't just talk about that. He has proven it over and over again, that he can reach across the aisle, he can bring people on board and create some action. And I think that's what we need in the future. We need to have someone there that can bring both of the parties together, because there's no way that we can reshape and fix our country, the various different ills that we have, and create again a better image overseas, with just one party. You have to have both parties work together, and this is why I'm a big believer in post-partisanship. It has worked here in our state, and it's a whole new way of looking at it. To be willing to compromise and to be a public servant and not a party servant.

MR. BROKAW: Governor, thank you very much.

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you. Good to see you again.

There's a lively debate going on at the new Fox and Hounds blog about the future chances of the redistricting measure on the November ballot.

Dan Weintraub keyed into this debate earlier this week, but the contributors to the site have kept it going.

The first shot was fired by Joe Matthews, the Los Angeles Times reporter turned New America Foundation fellow.

His headline says it all: "Redistricting doomed to failure."

"Here are some immutable truths about California. The sun sets gloriously in the West. The Clippers lose more games than they win. And redistricting ballot initiatives fail," Matthews predicted.

He said the measure was doomed once the Democratic Party opposed it.

"To have any chance at succeeding, a redistricting initiative needs more than bipartisan support. It needs partisan acquiescence. And this measure doesn't have that," he wrote.

Joel Fox, the chief proprietor of the site and president of the Small Business Action Committee, made a counter argument, saying "there are enough differences" between this campaign and past failures.

"The campaign for the initiative won't seem as partisan as some Democratic Party leaders will try to make it. A number of groups that often align themselves with the Democrats have endorsed this initiative. So have some visible Democratic politicians such as Steve Westly, and I don't think he will be the only one," Fox wrote.

"Joe Mathews is wrong," chimed in Tony Quinn, the political analyst who works for the California Target Book. That's the book that analyzes competitive races in the state.

While Quinn acknowledges the last nine attempts to change how California draws its political maps have failed, proponents can win if they succeed "in convincing the public that it has true bipartisan support and increases choice in elections."

"This initiative is advantaged by being on a high turnout general election ballot. The partisan Democrats Mathews thinks will kill the measure come out in droves in low turnout primaries, but their votes are diluted in a high turnout election that includes independents and less ideological voters," Quinn points out.

Plus, he writes, "if proponents can tap into voter distemper, they can make even an obscure topic like redistricting an attack on the privileges of the political class."

"If...if...if," responded Matthews.

"Recently, I've begun diagnosing a California disease called Redistricting Fantasy Syndrome," he wrote, tongue-in-cheek. "Most of the population doesn't know enough about redistricting to be susceptible to the disease. But in certain elite precincts, RFS has become a minor epidemic, striking down otherwise sensible moderate "goo goos" who persist in the belief that good process is good for you."

He went on to concede, "I hope Tony's right and redistricting passes. It potentially could make a small improvement in the state's politics."

But he remains bearish on its chances: "The success scenarios he offers are preposterous."

Quinn has commented back saying Matthews is "pretty much like the stopped clock that's right twice a day."

"This may be his hour," Quinn wrote. "If the politics of the past is prologue, he is right -- it will lose."

But Quinn sees a difference in the political climate.

"The electorate is angry, dissatisfied and open to doing very odd things," he wrote. "As I sit waiting for the Clinton-Giuliani presidential debate that will never be, I am reminded how wrong the conventional political wisdom has been."

The debate, it seems, will continue through November.

Former Assemblywoman Marilyn Ryan, a Republican first elected in 1976, died Sunday. She was 75.

The Associated Press has a brief obituary.

In the 1960s, Ryan became active in development of the then-unincorporated Palos Verdes Peninsula . She later joined in the movement toward cityhood for Rancho Palos Verdes. She was elected the first mayor in 1973.

In 1983, then-Gov. George Deukmejian appointed Ryan director of the California Arts Council. She retired in 1985 because of severe rheumatoid arthritis.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has assigned numbers to the 11 ballot measures that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, starting over with No. 1, which was assigned to the oft-delayed $9.95 billion bond issue to partially finance a high-speed rail system in the state.

The official deadline for placing measures on the November ballot was Thursday but it's still possible that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature will place one or more additional measures on the ballot dealing with the budget, especially if they include "securitizing" proceeds of the state lottery in a budget deal.

Governors and legislatures have stretched the deadline for their own measures in the past, sometimes by authorizing the distribution of supplemental ballot pamphlets. There is, however, a practical deadline for putting new measures on the ballot, probably in late August or early September.

From Bowen's full announcement, here is the numerical lineup:

Proposition 1 Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. SB 1856 (Ch. 697, 2002) Costa. Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with the responsibility of directing the development and implementation of intercity high-speed rail service. This bill would enact the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, which, subject to voter approval, would provide for the issuance of $9.95 billion of general obligation bonds, $9 billion of which would be used in conjunction with available federal funds for the purpose of funding the planning and construction of a high-speed train system in this state pursuant to the business plan of the authority. Nine hundred fifty million dollars of the bond proceeds would be available for capital projects on other passenger rail lines to provide connectivity to the high-speed train system and for capacity enhancements and safety improvements to those lines. Bonds for the high-speed train system would not be issued earlier than

January 1, 2006. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the general election on November 2, 2004. (Note: Subsequent legislation moved this measure to the November 2008 ballot.)

Proposition 2 Treatment of Farm Animals. Statute. Requires that an enclosure or tether confining specified farm animals allow the animals for the majority of every day to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up, and turn around. Specified animals include calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens, and pregnant pigs. Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes. Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Probably minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs, partly offset by increased fine revenue. (Initiative 07-0041.)

Proposition 3 Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Statute. Authorizes $980,000,000 in bonds, to be repaid from state's General Fund, to fund the construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, furnishing and equipping of children's hospitals. Designates that 80 percent of bond proceeds go to hospitals that focus on children with illnesses such as leukemia, cancer, heart defects, diabetes, sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. Requires that qualifying children's hospitals provide comprehensive services to a high volume of children eligible for governmental programs and meet other requirements. Designates that 20 percent of bond proceeds go to University of California general acute care hospitals. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State costs of about $2 billion over 30 years to pay off both the principal ($980 million) and the interest ($1 billion) costs of the bond. Payments of about $67 million per year. (Initiative 07-0034.)

Proposition 4 Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor's Pregnancy. Constitutional Amendment. Amends California Constitution to prohibit abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent, legal guardian or, if parental abuse reported, an adult family member. Provides exceptions for medical emergency or parental waiver. Permits courts to waive notice based on clear and convincing evidence of minor's maturity or best interests. Mandates reporting requirements, including reports from physicians regarding abortions on minors. Authorizes monetary damages against physicians for violation. Requires minor's consent to abortion, with exceptions. Permits judicial relief if minor's consent is coerced. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potential unknown net state costs of several million dollars annually for health and social services programs, court administration, and state health agency administration combined. (Initiative 07-0053.)

Proposition 5 Nonviolent Offenders. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation. Statute. Requires State to expand and increase funding and oversight for individualized treatment and rehabilitation programs for nonviolent drug offenders and parolees. Reduces criminal consequences of nonviolent drug offenses by mandating three-tiered probation with treatment and by providing for case dismissal and/or sealing of records after probation. Limits court's authority to incarcerate offenders who violate probation or parole. Shortens parole for most drug offenses, including sales, and for nonviolent property crimes. Creates numerous divisions, boards, commissions, and reporting requirements regarding drug treatment and rehabilitation. Changes certain marijuana misdemeanors to infractions. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased state costs that could exceed $1 billion annually primarily for expanding drug treatment and rehabilitation programs for offenders in state prisons, on parole, and in the community. Savings to the state that could exceed $1 billion annually due primarily to reduced prison and parole operating costs. Net savings on a one-time basis on capital outlay costs for prison facilities that could exceed $2.5 billion. Unknown net fiscal effect on expenditures for county operations and capital outlay. (Initiative 07-0081.)

Proposition 6 Criminal Penalties and Laws. Public Safety Funding. Statute. Requires new state spending on various programs to combat crime and gangs, and to operate prison and parole systems. Increases penalties for several crimes, including violating gang injunctions, using or possessing to sell methamphetamine, or carrying loaded or concealed firearms by certain felons. Eliminates bail for illegal immigrants charged with violent or gang-related felonies, establishes crime for removing or disabling a monitoring device affixed as part of a criminal sentence, and changes evidence rules to allow use of certain hearsay statements as evidence when witnesses are unavailable. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net state costs likely to exceed a half billion dollars annually primarily for increased funding of criminal justice programs, as well as for increased costs for prison and parole operations. Unknown one-time state capital outlay costs potentially exceeding a half billion dollars for prison facilities. Unknown net fiscal impact for state trial courts, county jails, and other local criminal justice agencies. (Initiative 07-0094.)

Proposition 7 Renewable Energy. Statute. Requires all utilities, including government-owned utilities, to generate 20% of their power from renewable energy by 2010, a standard currently applicable only to private electrical corporations. Raises requirement for all utilities to 40% by 2020 and 50% by 2025. Imposes penalties for noncompliance. Fast-tracks approval for new renewable energy plants. Requires utilities to sign longer contracts (20 year minimum) to procure renewable energy. Creates Solar and Clean Energy Transmission Account to purchase property or rights of way for renewable energy. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State administrative costs of up to $3.4 million annually for the regulatory activities of the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission, paid for by fee revenues. Potential, unknown increased costs and reduced revenues, particularly in the short term, to state and local governments resulting from the measure's potential to increase retail electricity rates, with possible offsetting cost savings and revenue increases, to an unknown degree, over the long term to the extent the measure hastens renewable energy development. (Initiative 07-0066.)

Proposition 8 Limit on Marriage. Constitutional Amendment. Amends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: The measure would have no fiscal effect on state or local governments. This is because there would be no change to the manner in which marriages are currently recognized by the state. (Initiative 07-0068.)

Proposition 9 Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole. Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Requires notification to victim and opportunity for input during phases of criminal justice process, including bail, pleas, sentencing and parole. Establishes victim safety as consideration in determining bail or release on parole. Increases the number of people permitted to attend and testify on behalf of victims at parole hearings. Reduces the number of parole hearings to which prisoners are entitled. Requires that victims receive written notification of their constitutional rights. Establishes timelines and procedures concerning parole revocation hearings. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Unknown potential increases in state prison and county jail operating costs due to provisions restricting early release of inmates. To the extent that any such costs were incurred, they could collectively amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. A potential net savings in the low tens of millions of dollars for the administration of parole reviews and revocations if the changes related to parole revocation procedures were not overturned by potential legal challenges. (Initiative 07-0100.)

Proposition 10 Bonds. Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy. Statute. Authorizes $5 billion in bonds paid from state's General Fund, allocated approximately as follows: 58% in cash payments of between $2,000 and $50,000 to purchasers of certain high fuel economy and alternative fuel vehicles; 20% in incentives for research, development and production of renewable energy technology; 11% in incentives for research and development of alternative fuel vehicle technology; 5% in incentives for purchase of renewable energy technology; 4% in grants to eight cities for education about these technologies; and 3% in grants to colleges to train students in these technologies. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State costs of about $9.8 billion over 30 years to pay both the principal ($5 billion) and interest ($4.8 billion) costs on the bond. Payments of about $325 million per year. Increase in state sales tax revenues of an unknown amount, potentially totaling in the tens of millions of dollars, over the period from 2009 to beyond 2018. Increase in local sales tax and VLF revenues of an unknown amount, potentially totaling in the tens of millions of dollars, over the period from 2009 to about 2018-19. Potential state costs of up to about $10 million annually, through about 2018-19, for state agency administrative costs not funded by the measure. (Initiative 07-0101.)

Proposition 11 Redistricting. Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Creates 14-member redistricting commission responsible for drawing new district lines for State Senate, Assembly, and Board of

Equalization districts. Requires State Auditor to randomly select commission members from voter applicant pool to create a commission with five members from each of the two largest political parties, and four members unaffiliated with either political party. Requires nine votes to approve final district maps. Establishes standards for drawing new lines, including respecting the geographic integrity of neighborhoods and encouraging geographic compactness. Permits State Legislature to draw lines for congressional districts subject to these standards. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Probably no significant increase in state redistricting costs. (Initiative 07-0077.)

Sen. John McCain has been inching in that direction (at first he announced he was happy Californians would be voting on the measure), but the GOP presidential nominee made it official late Thursday: He endorsed efforts to ban gay marriage in the state.

The Protectmarriage.com campaign released a short statement from the Arizona senator:

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

ProtectMarriage.com campaign chairman Ron Prentice welcomed the backing and even reached out to Sen. Barack Obama, McCain's Democratic opponent. "We hope that U.S Senator Barack Obama will join Senator McCain in endorsing the initiative, and would welcome his support as well," Prentice said in a statement.

Based on Obama's past, Prentice shouldn't hold his breath.

While the Supreme Court's decision in favor of gun rights is clearly the top story from the high court today, another decision is likely to quickly affect future California political campaigns.

The court struck down the so-called "millionaire's amendment" in federal campaign finance law, which has allowed candidates who are running against opponents spending more than $350,000 of their own money to collect larger contributions.

The most recent California race triggering the amendment was the GOP primary between Doug Ose and Tom McClintock. Ose spent millions of his own money, allowing McClintock to raise money three times above the usual $2,300 limit.

In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that violates the First Amendment.

"We have never upheld the constitutionality of a law that imposes different contribution limits for candidates who are competing against each other," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.

The law applies only to congressional candidates, not those running for the state Legislature.

The court did leave open the possibility that Congress could alter the law.

Alito wrote that if the higher limits applied to all candidates, the suit on which the court ruled "would plainly fail."

AP has more.

Today is the deadline for lawmakers to qualify a measure for the November ballot. But deadlines in the Capitol are rarely as firm as they seem.

A potential November ballot measure could be the cornerstone of a budget deal, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed both a spending cap and a rainy-day fund, as well as a plan to borrow against future earnings of the California Lottery.

According to state election law, June 26 is the final day for a legislative measure to be place on the Nov. 4 ballot. But that deadline has proved malleable in past years, as lawmakers can push back the deadline for weeks, so long as local officials still have time to cobble together a ballot design.

John Myers at Capital Notes describes the process:

Lawmakers have stretched their time limits on ballot proposals several times in recent years. And the reality is that once they blow past today's official deadline, it becomes a question of how long do local elections officials need to design and print their ballots ... and how much are lawmakers in Sacramento willing to spend to send out an extra ballot pamphlet to millions of voters?

In the past, local elections officials have needed (very roughly) about two months.

Politico weighs in with the latest story about California Rep. Mike Honda and has karaoke singing ways.

Honda, or so the story goes, has used karaoke to gain comfort with public speaking.

A 2002 profile by the Washington Post called him, "The Karaoke Congressman."

The Post joined Honda for one karaoke session in 2002:

He becomes patently less nervous after having three glasses of Sapporo beer in 25 minutes. The karaoke starts. Two Honda staffers, Eric Werwa and Daniel Shin, sing the "Gilligan's Island" theme song to the visible amusement of everyone, especially themselves. Honda is doing the one-armed "I love you, man" hug with Bruce Klein, a lobbyist for Hewlett-Packard who has come to watch Honda perform. Klein predicts that karaoke will soon become a potent power activity in Washington.

"It is a great leveler," Honda agrees. "Everyone makes themselves vulnerable."

Ok, so karaoke may not have caught fire in the nation's Capitol, but Honda is still going strong, drink in hand.

Politico.com has the story from Honda's recent 67th birthday at a D.C. karaoke bar:

The evening was a celebration of his 67th birthday, and in addition to his current employees, a considerable contingent of former staffers filtered in throughout the night. Each received a bear hug from Honda.

"It's a diuretic and a laxative," Honda said with boyish delight after taking the glass back. (The concoction turned out to be unfiltered sake.)

As for Honda's favorite songs, it is pretty clear that the Spanish love ballad "En Mi Viejo San Juan" is atop the list.

According to both news stories, he belted out the same tune -- en Espanol -- in both 2002 and 2008.

The California Air Resources Board has posted its draft of the so-called AB 32 Scoping Plan.

It is the initial blueprint to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions targets set by the 2006 law.

The Bee's Jim Downing describes much of the plan in today's paper.

But you can see the executive summary of the document or the whole enchilada.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will speak Thursday at a climate change conference in Miami hosted by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Schwarzenegger is expected to discuss how California and other states can help the country reduce its dependence on oil and increase use of alternative fuels.

Schwarzenegger has worked with Crist on climate change issues in recent years, though the two coastal governors disagree on whether the federal government should lift a moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

Schwarzenegger thinks the ban should remain intact, a position Crist shared until reversing course earlier this month and supporting offshore oil exploration.

Crist said he switched positions because gas prices are hurting Floridians. Of course, Crist also had political incentive to change his mind. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain supports lifting the offshore oil ban, and Crist is considered a potential vice presidential pick for McCain.

Vultures are starting to circle over four of Sen. Jeff Denham's budget reform proposals, including one that would ban pay for legislators if they don't pass the budget on time.

Denham isn't even likely to get full support from his Republican colleagues, judging by the votes still open in the Senate Rules Committee.

Denham's Senate Constitutional Amendment 16 would impose a pay freeze whenever the budget isn't passed by the June 15 deadline.

The GOP senator from Atwater, who has tangled with Democratic leader Don Perata on a number of occasions, has also proposed constitutional changes aimed at getting his minority party more clout.

One of those proposals would require a two-thirds vote for budget bills to get out of committees and subcommittees. Another would increase the number of members on the budget conference committee from six to 10.

Denham has also proposed that the Legislature meet 24 hours a day until a budget bill is passed.

The California Democratic Party has selected the winning video clip for its Summer of Change contest.

The ad is running in Sacramento this week. Contestants had submitted clips showing what's at stake in the budget battle.

To learn more about the contest, click here.

The largest of the three organized ethnic caucuses in the Legislature -- the California Latino Legislative Caucus -- is likely to stay about the same size next year.

The June primaries brought few opportunities for either gains or losses for the 26-member group, as many of its members did not face term limits. Few Latinos ran in open or competitive seats.

Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, said the 2010 elections will test the strength of the caucus much more than this year's. Coto noted that 12 caucus members will face term limits then, compared to a few this year.

"That's when the bigger challenge is going to occur," said Coto, the chairman of the caucus.

Assemblyman Joe Coto

Currently, the Latino Caucus (which excludes the two elected Latino Republicans, Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City) has nine members in the Senate, none of whom face term limits this year and all of whom are expected to return.

In the Assembly, two departing Latino members -- Democrats Nell Soto of Pomona and Fabian Núñez of Los Angeles -- are favored to be replaced by Latinos, Norma Torres and John Perez, respectively.

The caucus must also defend the seat of termed-out Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford. Fran Florez, a Latino Democrat and mother of Sen. Dean Florez, is opposed by Danny Gilmore, a Republican and former CHP officer.

The only gain the caucus anticipates, Coto said, is the seat of termed-out Garcia, where Democrat Manuel Perez will run against Republican Gary Jeadron in the general election.

With Karen Bass replacing Núñez as Assembly speaker, neither house's leader is Latino. But the majority leader in both houses (Sen. Gloria Romero and Assemblyman Kevin de León Assemblyman Alberto Torrico*) both are, Coto noted.

"We like our guys in those types of leadership positions," he said. "We're pleased with that."

*The original post incorrectly reported de Leon as majority leader. He is the former majority leader and the next appropriations committee chair.

After making gains in the 2006 elections, the California Legislative Black Caucus looks to remain the same size in the next legislative session.

But the results of one competitive contest in November could add one more member to the eight-member caucus -- its first Republican.

Two of California's eight incumbent black lawmakers are termed out this year, but the Democratic winners in the June primaries in both districts were African American.

In those districts:

Compton Council member Isadore Hall is the heavy favorite to replace termed-out Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, and former Assemblyman Rod Wright is the favorite to replace termed-out Sen. Ed Vincent. Both seek to represent Democratic-dominated South L.A. seats.

Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas

Ridley-Thomas himself is running for Los Angeles County supervisor in November. Should he win, there would be a special election to replace him in 2009.

The biggest loss for the Black Caucus in the June primaries was in the race to replace Assemblywoman Loni Hancock. Former Berkeley City Council member Nancy Skinner finished first in the four-way race.

Tony Thurmond, an African American member of the Richmond City Council, finished second.

"We are trying to continue to encourage him to continue (his political career)," said Ridley-Thomas.

In another four-way race, San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson won the Republican primary to replace Assemblyman Guy Houston, R-San Ramon.

Wilson could become only the second black Republican in the state Assembly.

Ridley-Thomas said Wilson would be welcomed into the California Legislative Black Caucus. (In contrast, the California Latino Legislative Caucus does not count Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado or Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia as members.)

Asked whether the all-Democratic Black Caucus would consider endorsing Wilson, who's running for a seat Democrats hope to win, Ridley-Thomas said, "Yet to be determined."

The Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus is expected to expand following the June primary elections, with as many as 10 members in next year's Legislature.

The all-Democratic Asian caucus currently has seven members but is expected to add Paul Fong and Mariko Yamada in the Assembly and former Assemblywoman Carol Liu in the Senate.

The Joint Asian Pacific Islander Caucus -- which includes the Legislature's three Asian Republicans (Assembly members Shirley Horton, Van Tran and Alan Nakanishi) -- is expected to grow by only one, as both Nakanishi and Horton are termed out.

Assemblyman Ted Lieu

Lieu, D-Torrance, said the victory of Fong -- who ran in a four-way Democratic primary -- was of particular note. "There were three API candidates running in that race, and he came out in first," Lieu said.

Yamada, a Yolo County supervisor, bested West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon in a Sacramento-area Assembly race. But, as Lieu noted, both candidates are of Asian descent so it was likely a net gain no matter who won. Yamada still must win in November.

Former Assemblywoman Carol Liu was unopposed in her Democratic primary for Senate in a Democratic Los Angeles-area district.

All the current members are not termed out and face little opposition in November. Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, is not up for reelection this year.

The only loss for the caucus was the East Bay Senate race where former Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, finished behind Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley.

Lieu said many current caucus members "largely stayed out of that" race because Hancock is a current colleague.

Tran, R-Garden Grove, is likely to be the only Asian Republican in the 2009-10 Legislature.

"No matter how you look, we're growing," said Lieu. "That's very exciting because if you remember a couple of decades ago we had one person in the state Legislature or two at most."

California Attorney General Jerry Brown stepped into the politics of the mortgage meltdown Wednesday morning, announcing a lawsuit against Countrywide Financial, as well as the company's president and CEO.

Brown accuses the mortgage lender of deceptive advertising and pushing homeowners into risky loans for its own profit.

"Countrywide exploited the American dream of homeownership and then sold its mortgages for huge profits on the secondary market," Brown said in a statement announcing the suit. "The company sold ever-increasing numbers of complex and risky home loans, as quickly as possible. Countrywide was, in essence, a mass-production loan factory, producing ever-increasing streams of debt without regard for borrowers. Today's lawsuit seeks relief for Californians who were ripped off by Countrywide's deceptive scheme."

The Bee's Jim Wasserman has more of the story.

You can find Brown's lawsuit here.

Two trustees in Capistrano Unified School District were recalled on Tuesday night, after serving a combined 36 years on the board. Former Assemblyman Ken Maddox, now a Sacramento lobbyist, will be one of the replacements.

The Los Angeles Times has more.

One by one, the bills came up.

One by one, they fell short amid a chorus of non-votes.

If, as they say, revenge is best served cold, then Assembly Democrats delivered Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, a heaping portion Monday when they put much of his legislative package on ice.

By day's end, six of Machado's bills had been set back or defeated outright.

Though no one would quite come out and say it publicly, the seemingly orchestrated set of moves was retaliation for the deep-sixing of a series of high-profile Assembly Democratic bills in the Senate Banking and Finance Committee a week earlier. Machado chairs that committee.

Caught in the crossfire - in both houses - was a series of mortgage bills that both sides contend would firm up consumer protections and punish bad actors in the lending industry as record numbers of Californians face foreclosures.

"I hate the thought that good bills get killed for political reasons," said Norma Garcia, a lobbyist with Consumers Union. "And that, at the end of the day, consumers walk out of the Capitol with empty hands."

The story begins last Wednesday at Machado's Banking Committee.

The hearing, which lasted into the evening, was rough for Assembly Democrats. Some bills, like Assemblyman Dave Jones' AB 2359, were defeated outright. Others, like Assemblyman Ted Lieu's AB 1830, the cornerstone of the package, were so heavily amended at Machado's urging that consumer groups flipped from sponsoring the bills to dropping support. Lieu's bill had another hearing scheduled at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Garcia said Machado wanted to defer to federal regulations of lenders. "What is the point of having a Senate Banking Committee if all you are going to do is defer to the feds," she said. "You might as well not be here."

The Assembly Democrats were frustrated, even angry. Several declined, through aides, to speak on the record for this story.

The Assembly leadership, after all, had made the mortgage legislation a featured goal of 2008, promising to address the foreclosure crisis in a press event last fall and delivering bills through the lower house by late spring.

The Assembly exacted some revenge on Monday.

During the floor session, two Machado bills were moved off the Assembly consent calendar (though one was at his request, Machado later said).

Then came the late afternoon Assembly Banking and Finance Committee hearing - the counterpart to the panel that Machado chairs in the Senate. The Linden Democrat had four bills slated for the hearing.

Machado presented his first bill, SB 1053, touting its "consumer protections against brokers who put people into bad loans." Supporters lined up. No opposition testified. There were no questions.

"Is there a motion?" asked Assemblyman Pedro Nava, the committee chair and a Santa Barbara Democrat, followed by 10 long seconds of silence. "Seeing no motion, the bill fails for a lack of a motion, Senator."

One down. The next three (SB 1054, SB 1224 and SB 1286) didn't fare much better, combining to garner a single Democratic vote. All were granted reconsideration.

Asked after the hearing if nonvotes were retaliation, Machado said, "I am not going to lower myself to the pettiness of that."

"I think we presented quality bills that were sound on the problems they were directed at and, just unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues on this side of the house failed to see the merits of the consumer protections," he said.

"I am a senator and I deal with the policy merits," Machado added.

Nava hinted that blocking the bills would reopen negotiations on legislation Machado stopped last week. "There are a number of bills that are in the other house and perhaps now we'll have an opportunity to take a look at this whole issue of the mortgage finance crisis in a bigger picture," Nava said.

"It is not unusual at this point in the session for a different perspective to come into play that may be even broader than what we've been working on so far," said Nava. "So I see it as an opportunity."

Garcia, the consumer lobbyist, said with record numbers of foreclosures, "the good consumer bills are being gutted, stripped and killed. There's no justification for that."

Nava predicted Monday's votes would not be the end of the story.

"Listen," he said, "with this budget issue, we're not going anywhere."

The Bee's Jim Sanders contributed to this report.

Photo credits: Mel Evans/Associated Press file, March 2008, and Randy Pench/rpench@sacbee.com, Bee file, March 2007

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has waded into California's contentious gay marriage debate, sending a letter to local bishops urging California members to support the initiative to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

"The Church's teachings on this issue are unequivocal," reads the letter, which has been posted online. "We ask that you do all that you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by of your means and time."

The letter is signed by church president Thomas S. Monson. AP has more of the story.

The letter requests that it is to be read during "the sacrament" this Sunday, June 29.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is skipping this morning's 47th annual Capital Prayer Breakfast, the first time a sitting governor has done so, organizers told the AP.

Juliet Williams reports:

State Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico, has organized the breakfast the past three years. His office was notified late Monday that the governor was pulling out, spokesman Evan Oneto said.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk about energy issues with (Sen. John) McCain.

Schwarzenegger is spending the morning in Santa Barbara talking about energy policy.

While he's missing today's breakfast prayer session, the governor does invoke religion every now and again.

On Monday, while speaking to the Catholic Health Assembly in San Diego, he concluded his remarks pledging to continue to fight for health reform.

"And I know that with your help we can do it," Schwarzenegger said. "And even if it takes praying 20 rosaries, every day I will be on my knees praying the 20 rosaries but we are going to get the job done. Thank you very much. Thank you."

A roundup of the latest poll results in the state:

Obama vs. McCain

First off, Survey USA, which does automated polling, released a poll late last week in advance of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama's arrival in the state.

The survey, paid for by four TV stations, shows Obama with a sizable 12-point lead in California, 53 percent to 41 percent. The poll asked voters their opinion on a series of VP picks as well. Obama led no matter who the candidates chose.

(Hat tip on the survey: California Majority Report)

Religion in California

In today's paper, the Los Angeles Times reports on the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, which shows California to be less religious than the rest of the nation.

Some of the highlights:

• 71 percent of the nation is "absolutely certain in their belief in God. That number is 62 percent in California.

• Nationally, 39 percent attend religious services at least once a week. That number is 33 percent in California.

• Nationally, 50 percent believe homosexuality "should be accepted" by society. Fifty-nine percent thought so in California.

• Lastly, while 38 percent of Californians feel their values "are threatened" by Hollywood and the entertainment industry, that number is 42 percent nationally.

You can find the survey itself here.

California goes 'green'

Next 10, the nonpartisan research group, commissioned a poll on Californians' views on the environment. The survey is timed for the same week the California Air Resources Board will release policy recommendations to implement AB 32.

The poll's highlights (in the words of those that paid for it):

• 79 percent say that global warming is a serious threat to the economy and quality of life for California's future

• 58 percent say they support state policies even if they increase the cost of gas, electricity and some consumer goods

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to appear Sunday on "Meet the Press" as the first guest of Tom Brokaw, whom NBC named to replace longtime host Tim Russert on an interim basis through November.

Russert died June 13 of a heart attack at age 58.

Schwarzenegger is expected to tape the "Meet the Press" segment in California and will likely discuss the state budget, wildfires and water needs, said spokesman Aaron McLear. The governor and First Lady Maria Shriver, a former NBC News correspondent, considered Russert a family friend.

The Schwarzenegger appearance is scheduled to coincide with the Western Governors' Association conference, which starts Sunday in Wyoming. Schwarzenegger is not scheduled to attend the meeting.

Doctors and health care providers facing a 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal reimbursements won a minor court victory today.

A federal judge in Los Angeles sided with plaintiffs in deciding which court had jurisdiction over the lawsuit and ordered the case be moved back to state court.

But the ruling has come too late for health care advocates. That's because the suit won't likely be heard before the cuts take effect July 1.

"It's a shame we have to go this route," said Scott Seamons, regional vice president for the Hospital Council of Northern & Central California. "The only way to stop the bleeding is to go through the legal process."

Earlier this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers agreed to cut the state's health insurance program for the poor in a cash flow-saving move to keep the state solvent.

Doctors, hospitals and health care providers filed suit, seeking an injunction to prevent the cuts from being implemented. They said on average, hospitals already lose 28 cents on the dollar.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers remain far apart on the state's $15.2 billion deficit in what's expected to be another long budget battle.

Democrats in the Legislature want tax increases to cover what they consider to be vital services such as education. GOP members say the economy is in no shape to absorb taxes.

Watch as the political fireworks begin. Video was shot and editted by Judy Lin.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in two new TV ads, running in Japan, promoting tourism in California.

The California Travel and Tourism Commission has made a $5.1 million ad buy in Japan. The ads are expected to run until June 29.

Watch the two 15-second spots here.

The Bee's Jim Wasserman has more:

Commission research shows that 675,000 Japanese visited California last year. Each spent an average of nearly $1,200. The statistics indicate that one in five Japanese who visit the United States stops in California. The advertising campaign specifically targets women in their 20s and 30s, according to the commission. They are young women with good jobs who live at home and have disposable income to travel. The ads also target active baby boomers.

Schwarzenegger is a "very powerful icon" in Japan, said David Mering, owner of Mering Carson, which co-created the ads.

The actor-turned politician has starred in numerous past Japanese commercials.

A sampling of those are below:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized Senate Democrats on Monday for killing his universal health care plan in January and again questioned their motives.

The Republican governor gave a brief address at the Catholic Health Assembly in San Diego, where he stressed the uninsured problem in California is a "moral crisis" and that he still believes the state can achieve universal health care.

He said Senate Democrats opposed his health care plan in January because they said it would add $1 billion in state costs, but he suggested that argument was disingenuous because they wanted a single-payer system.

Schwarzenegger used a recent study by the Legislative Analyst's Office that determined a single-payer plan could generate a $40 billion shortfall, as Bee columnist Dan Weintraub wrote last week.

"So think about it, they didn't pass ours because of a billion dollars they were questioning, but they wanted something that costs $40 billion more," Schwarzenegger said. "They just believe very strongly in that thing that government should run health care."

Schwarzenegger only briefly alluded to the state's biggest problem of the moment -- a $15.2 billion budget deficit. He joked that Catholic Healthcare West CEO Lloyd Dean successfully turned around his health system's finances and that Dean ought to help do the same in Sacramento.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Schwarzenegger said. "There he has to deal with 120 legislators. It's a little more difficult. Only I am trained as the Kindergarten Cop."

The Capitol Resource Institute told supporters over the weekend that it was dropping its signature-gathering effort to qualify an initiative to overturn anti-discrimination legislation for gay and lesbian students.

The conservative group had first tried to mount a referendum campaign, but came up short of signatures in January. The group then filed an initiative (which has a longer signature-gathering window) to overturn the measure, SB 777, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl.

The Capitol Resource Institute said it was dropping the effort to focus on passing a ban on gay marriage on the November ballot.

"After much prayer, consideration and consultation we have made the decision to suspend the Save Our Kids campaign to allow our staff and supporters to dedicate themselves to the Marriage amendment," wrote Karen England, the group's executive director.

The Kuehl bill placed into law a provision that there cannot be discrimination in schools based on sexual orientation. Schwarzenegger signed the bill in 2007.

England's group has claimed the bill could prevent education about heterosexual couples. Supporters of the bill have said that is nonsense.

"Once we have passed the marriage initiative, we plan to re-file the Save Our Kids initiative and begin our campaign again," England wrote. "Some may consider this decision to suspend the campaign a discouraging setback, but we believe in the wisdom of prioritizing our work and devoting our entire attention to the marriage campaign."

The state Senate contest that is expected to be the most competitive in November has gotten off to a raucous start, after supporters of Hannah-Beth Jackson and Tony Strickland tangled in the streets of Thousand Oaks last week.

The two sides literally came to blows.

Strickland, a former assemblyman and the Republican nominee, was in town for a fundraiser with former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza hotel.

But supporters of his Democratic opponent, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, came out in force to protest Strickland, the Romney fundraiser and his acceptance of tobacco funds.

Supporters for both candidates met in the streets, where, eventually Joel Angeles, the chief of staff for Assemblywoman Audra Strickland (Tony's wife), confronted the protesters.

What ensued from there is a "he said/she said" tiff that left both sides pointing fingers, an elderly Jackson supporter on the sidewalk "looking for my hearing aid," and Angeles taking "an upper cut to the chin."

Here's the Ventura County Star's report:

The counterprotesters ended up gathering in front of a gas station on the southeast corner of Westlake Boulevard and Townsgate Road. Angeles stood on the opposite corner holding an anti-Jackson sign.

Louis Pandolfi, the Simi Valley resident who organized the protest against Tony Strickland, described what transpired as "horrible." At the front of a group of about 50 people, including one dressed as a cigarette in protest of campaign contributions from tobacco companies, Pandolfi said he heard Angeles tell them not to step on the curb.

Angeles denied saying that.

"My primary concern throughout the whole thing was the safety of all involved," Angeles said in an interview Wednesday.

"My attempt was to talk to someone who was leading the group and say, Let's keep our groups separated 10 to 20 feet apart.' There was a decision on their part to just move ahead."

As the group moved past Angeles, he ran in front of them, in what appeared to be an effort to stop their movement. Pandolfi said he was pushed.

Jack Phillips, a Vietnam veteran, retired minister and head of the Camarillo Democratic Club was elbowed to the ground by Angeles, in front of news reporters. His left arm was injured.

"He was moving back and forth to block people, and he bumped me," Phillips, 67, said. "All of a sudden, I found myself on the ground looking for my hearing aid."

Phillips said when he got up, he confronted Angeles. The two traded heated insults with their faces inches apart. Phillips said he put his finger into Angeles' chin.

Angeles said Phillips had "given me an upper cut to the chin."

The whole incident has become political fodder for the campaign, with Election Day still more than four months away.

Audra Strickland told the Ventura County Star that she was placing on Angeles on "a one-month leave of absence without pay for what I view as a show of poor judgment."

That clearly did not satisfy Jackson, who issued a statement saying, "Mr. Angeles' attack was provoked only by the protesters' desire to exercise their first amendment rights."

"Had Joel Angeles been my employee he would have been fired on the spot," Jackson continued. "There is no justification for anyone, let alone a state employee, to deprive anyone of their free speech rights."

The whole incident has fired up supporters of both candidates, particularly in the comments on the Ventura County Star blog of Brian Dennert, where posts have drawn more than 100 comments. (Dennert has pictures of the protest, as well.)

The Fresno Bee's E.J. Schultz has the latest here.

Whether you're at the state Capitol or on Capitol Hill, it's tough being an intern. You don't know how to screen phone calls or how to deal with a hangover on the job.

Never fear. An intern's survival guide surfaced recently out of Alaskan Rep. Don Young's office. It provides two pages of useful advice and etiquette for college-age youth trolling congressional halls.

Among the titillating suggestions, the guide lists nine preferred lobbyists who have access to anyone they want, including the brother of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Even congressmen and officials are supposed to be directed to Young's chief of staff.

To learn more, click here.

The guesses have poured in for Capitol Alert's budget pool. The nearly 300 predictions range from very optimistic to "when hell freezes over." According to our readers, California's Legislature could pass the state budget as early as next week or as late as January of 2009. See the full list of predictions here.

A large majority predicted the budget would pass in the summer doldrums of late August. This could be the smart bet. The 2007-08 budget passed on August 21 last year, and the Democratic National Convention begins on August 25. A smaller but wily group of entrants, however, imagines the stalemate could extend to mid-September. As one put it: "They won't get it done before the Democratic Convention and the Dems will be so mad about that, they'll make sure the Reps have to stay home and keep negotiating all through the Republican convention."

The Republican National Convention begins on Sept. 1. If the budget doesn't clear both houses by August 31, it would represent the longest budget standoff in 30 years. See the budget crib sheet for other important dates.

Capitol Alert isn't venturing a guess - but for the sake of future caption contests we hope this forecast is correct: "October 31 at 10:52 PM. And they'll all be in costume for the occasion."

The Kern County Democratic Party is angry with Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra for her semi-support of Republican Danny Gilmore as her successor in this year's election.

Parra has been feuding with the local state senator, Dean Florez, for years and is clearly unhappy that Florez's mother, Fran, is the Democratic nominee to succeed her. She's stopped just short of endorsing Republican Gilmore in the 30th Assembly District, considered to be the best chance that Republicans have of picking up an Assembly seat this year.

The Kern County Democratic Central Committee, in a letter to Parra, criticized her actions and suggested that she should be stripped of her Democratic National Convention credentials and legislative committee assignments.

The Bakersfield Californians has the story here.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission released figures today for independent expenditures from the June primaries, which show that indirect spending on behalf of state candidates continues to go up.

Independent expenditure spending for the June primary election totaled a whopping $11,783,605. Combined with $88 million spent since 2001, the total for all independent expenditures spent so far on behalf of state and legislative candidates is just shy of $100 million.

FPPC Chairman Ross Johnson said the latest election continues a trend where special interests funnel their support for candidates through independent expenditure committees.

Read the FPPC report here.

Here are the top 10 June legislative races based on independent expenditure spending:

1. Senate District 25, Democratic Primary, $1.78 million
• Former Assemblyman Rod Wright defeated Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally.
• More than 82 percent was spent on behalf of Wright, much of which was made by business interests.

2. Senate District 3, Democratic Primary, $1.4 million
• Assemblyman Mark Leno defeated Sen. Carole Migden and former Assemblyman Joe Nation.
• Nation received $503,822 in support from business interests, while labor groups spent $466,450 opposing him.

3. Assembly District 8, Democratic Primary, $1.15 million
• Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada beat West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon.
• Yamada benefited from $441,430 from mainly labor unions, while Cabaldon benefited from $712,244 from largely wealthy individuals.

4. Senate District 37, Republican Primary, $936,647
• Assemblyman John Benoit won against former Assemblyman Russ Bogh.
• Benoit benefited from $541,326, mainly from the California Dental Association. Bogh benefited from $395,321 with contributions from highway patrol officers, police and firefighters.

5. Assembly District 19, Democratic Primary, $785,877
• San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill edged out San Mateo County Community College Board Trustee Richard Holober and Millbrae Mayor Gina Papan.
• Papan benefited from $512,477 from a committee funded by doctors. A coalition of consumer attorneys, conservationists and nurses gave $72,293 to oppose Papan.

6. Assembly District 80, Democratic Primary, $690,090
• School Board Member Manuel Perez beat Cathedral City Councilman Gregory Pettis and Community Development Manager Richardo Marcos Gonzales.
• Perez received the lion's share of independent expenditure spending totaling $599,697, funded largely by labor unions.

7. Assembly District 40, Democratic Primary, $693,809
• Congressional District Director Bob Blumenfield ousted former Assistant State Controller Laurette Healey and educator Stuart Waldman.
• Blumenfield benefited from $323,963 in contributions, including Howard Berman for Congress and Michael Blumenfield. Waldman benefited from $354,591 in spending, primarily funded by dentists, realtors and insurance companies.

8. Senate District 9, Democratic Primary, $638,578
• Assemblywoman Loni Hancock defeated Assemblywoman Wilma Chan.
• Independent expenditures on behalf of Chan totaled $504,838, of which the largest contribution came from the California tribal Business Alliance. Hancock benefited from $133,740, with the largest donation from the Professional Engineers in California.

9. Assembly District 78, Democratic Primary, $555,850
• Community College Board of Trustees member Marty Block edged out college professor Maxine Sherard and small business leader Auday Arabo.
• Block benefited from $259,493, with the largest expenditure made by a coalition of consumer attorneys, conservationists and nurses. Sherard benefited from $269,357, the largest of which came from large business interests, including insurance companies and realtors.

10. Assembly District 52, Democratic Primary, $518,254
• Compton City Councilman Isadore Hall beat community activist Linda Harris-Foster.
• Hall benefited from 99 percent of the race's independent expenditure spending, largely funded by dentists, realtors and insurance companies.

It's no long a matter of "trained incapacity" on the part of the state in its inability to fix the California prison system's medical care crisis, receiver J. Clark Kelso said in court papers filed today.

These days, he said in the documents, it's "outright obstruction."

To get the $7 billion he says he needs to build 10,500 long-term care beds he has deemed crucial to a bringing prison medical up to constitutional standards, Kelso has threatened to unilaterally put the arm on the state treasury.

Kelso took a step toward that end today by asking U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson to add state Controller John Chiang as a defendant in the court case that the federal bench has used to empower the receivership.

Kelso said in the court papers he filed today that he wants Chiang added to the case because the receiver "may find it necessary to ask this court to order the controller to draw warrants on the State Treasury."

The court action followed failures by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to build the beds through proper state government channels.

The state Senate last month failed to pass a bill that would have paid for Kelso's medical beds with lease revenue bonds.

Since then, Kelso tried to get Schwarzenegger to use his emergency powers to contract the project out to the receiver unilaterally. The governor's office rejected the plan.

"We have and will continue to work in good faith with Professor Kelso in exploring options for funding the prison's health care system," Chiang said in a statement this afternoon.

"However, as we have made very clear to him, the State Controller's Office is constitutionally prohibited from drawing a warrant without a duly authorized appropriation from the Legislature or a court order," the statement continued. "Without one or the other, our hands are tied."

Read the receiver's filing here.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger split this week from Sen. John McCain on the issue of offshore oil drilling, but the Republican governor went even further Wednesday by suggesting any politician insisting on an immediate oil solution this year is promising too much.

Schwarzenegger may not have intended this as advice for a certain Republican presidential candidate, but McCain continues to advocate for a federal gas-tax holiday to bring immediate economic relief. Furthermore, President Bush and McCain this week have suggested that offshore oil drilling is necessary as a short-term solution because of rising gas prices.

"We all have to realize that you cannot change what is going on right now overnight," Schwarzenegger told reporters, according to a transcript. "So anyone that is looking for a solution this year won't find one, and any politician that is promising you a solution is -- I don't want to say it, but you know what."

That prompted laughs, to which the governor replied, "You know, I tell you the way it is."

The governor instead believes that energy demand should be met by alternative fuel sources and innovative vehicles, such as electric and biofuel cars.

He said the country should focus on these products "rather than looking for more of this, like I said, dirty oil that creates the big pollution in the world."

Republican legislators proposed a spending cap today that they said would end the boom and bust cycle of the state budget.

The GOP plan proposes a formula that would restrict state spending growth each year to the combined percentage growth in population plus that of inflation, the two of which they said now average about 5 percent.

If the economy is growing at a healthy clip, revenues in excess of the spending limit would be split between funding a new rainy-day reserve fund and paying down debt.

Once the reserve reached 10 percent of spending or the debt is paid off, leftover funds would be used to temporarily lower the state sales tax.

The Legislature would be able to tap the reserve only when revenue fell below the spending limit. The move would be subject to a two-thirds vote of lawmakers, which would help ensure Republican involvement in a Legislature where Democrats now hold a majority.

Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill, who was joined by Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines at a news conference in the Capitol, said he has watched spending grow out of control. Since he landed in office in 2000, Cogdill said, the state budget has grown 40 percent, well above inflation and population growth.

"This state has a spending addiction, and we need to treat it," Cogdill said. "We need to find a way to move forward in our budgeting processing in this state so that when we have good times we're acting in a responsible way, putting some of that money back into a rainy day fund so that when the economy turns down ... we don't have to face the prospect of either increasing taxes or slashing services."

Republicans said they didn't think Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget reform plan was the way to go because it doesn't restrain spending. Under Schwarzenegger's plan, the state would borrow $15 billion against future lottery funds and use the proceeds to establish a rainy day fund.

The governor's plan also calls for automatic spending cuts when revenues dip to a certain level. But lawmakers have resisted what they consider a diminution of their legislative authority.

Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and other Democrats criticized the Republicans for creating a "diversion" from negotiating the budget. They were joined by labor leaders, disability advocates and environmental representatives in opposing GOP proposals to change work laws and delay implementation of AB 32, a state regulatory effort to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

Bass said there are already so many spending formulas in place, it would not be wise to add an additional formula or place a hard cap on spending.

"It really is hard to say you want to put money in reserves when you're facing a deficit," Bass said. "The issue is raising revenue and that's what we need to do."

Last year's prison expansion plan is now projected to build 29 percent fewer beds than originally intended, according to figures that corrections officials released today.

Assembly Bill 900 had promised 53,000 new beds to help relieve overcrowding in California's prison system. The figures released today show that the $7.9 billion plan passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will now pay for 37,600 beds.

California Department of Corrections Secretary Matt Cate and his construction chief, Deborah Hysen, said that higher construction costs and altered plans calling for more cells instead of dorms account for the lower number of beds.

A component of AB 900 to build 16,000 new beds at existing prisons and tie them to improved rehabilitation programs has been cut to 8,600.

Another portion of the bill to house 16,000 new "reentry" beds at mini-prisons located throughout the state has been downsized from 16,000 to 11,000 beds.

Hysen said the bill's plan for 13,000 new county jail beds has now been reduced to about 10,000.

AB 900 also contained about $1 billion in what Cate described as "placeholder" funds to pay for 8,000 medical beds. The prison system's medical care receiver has since come up with his own $7 billion plan to build 10,500 such beds. Cate said officials are still trying to work out discrepancies between the two plans.

Hysen had previously said the state hoped to break ground in December on two new prison housing facilities. She said today that it is now "more likely than not" that the state can begin the actual construction work on at least one site.

"We haven't given up," Hysen said.

None of the $7.4 billion in bond money approved in AB 900 has yet been allocated by the State Public Works Board. Cate said the bonds can't be issued until the Legislature approves a clean-up bill to authorize AB 900's construction changes, which he said would remove a "cloud" that had been placed over them by an attorney general's opinion.

The Schwarzenegger administration offered the AB 900 construction plan as its main line of defense against a legal motion filed by inmates rights lawyers to cap the state's prison population.

The motion is scheduled for trial Nov. 17.

Read the corrections department's new strategy on overcrowding here.

Over the past three years, few board appointments have been as contentious as those made to the Board of Parole Hearings.

The 17-member panel decides when -- and if -- the state's most serious criminals have been rehabilitated and can be set free.

Here's a timeline of some of the confirmation fights between the Schwarzenegger administration and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata:

July 2005: The Board of Parole Hearings is reorganized as part of an overhaul of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

June 2006: Senate Rules Committee rejects Terry Farmer as parole board commissioner.

July 2006: Susan Fisher, the appointed chair of the board, faces rejection by the Senate and withdraws nomination.

January 2007: Fisher's replacement, James Davis, is confirmed after tough hearing. "Nothing about this gentleman was not qualified," Perata said. "It's just that the system is a mess."

January 2008: The Senate Rules Committee holds the appointment of parole board member Stan Kubochi, effectively blocking his confirmation. A second appointment, Michael Prezmich, is confirmed, but Perata warns, "We are not going to hear any more of these (law-enforcement background) confirmations after today."

March 2008: Senate Rules Committee holds the appointment of parole board member Darcel Woods, a former parole agent and deputy sheriff.

"Why is Perata more concerned about the freedom of killers rather than the safety of victims?" asks Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater, after Woods is rejected. "Perata's plan to put murderers back on the street is ill-conceived and dangerous for law-abiding Californians."

April 2008: Schwarzenegger continues to appoint police-types to the board, naming Troy Arbaugh, a former Nevada County sheriff, and Henry Aguilar, a former Los Angeles deputy sheriff, to the parole panel.

Perata also writes a letter to Schwarzenegger on the troubled prison system and the parole board:

"The Senate Rules Committee will not confirm parole commissioners who do not demonstrate a willingness to conform with Title 15, regulations to weigh remorse, responsibility and potential for violence as a factor for parole. Some of these inmates are senior citizens who occupy costly prison beds, have served well over their minimum parole date without incident, cost the state significant dollars in medical care and do not pose a risk to society."

June 17, 2008: Schwarzenegger annouces appointing another law enforcement professional to the board: Douglas Drummond, a former commander in the Long Beach Police Department.

June 18, 2008: Four Board of Parole Hearings appointees have a confirmation hearing.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders gathered Tuesday afternoon for more than an hour in the governor's office to kick off the budget-negotiating season. But all sides acknowledged it would be a while before they're sharing schnapps.

Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill said it's "just the beginning of the process." And Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said all the elected officials "understand what the responsibility is."

"Everybody doesn't like something and some people don't like anything," Perata said. "We're going to do this the way you do a normal negotiation."

Members of the Senate and Assembly are far apart on how to solve the state's $15.2 billion budget gap. Assembly Democrats proposed a plan to raise $5.1 billion from future lottery proceeds and to close tax loopholes to generate $6.4 billion in new revenues. But Senate Democrats rejected the lottery plan and say the state needs $11.5 billion in unidentified new revenues.

Meanwhile, Republicans continue to insist the budget can be balanced without tax increases.

By Shane Goldmacher and Kevin Yamamura

Voters will have yet another chance to strip state lawmakers of the power to draw political district boundaries in November.

An initiative to change how California draws its district boundaries qualified Tuesday for the November ballot after receiving heavy fundraising support from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this year.

The redistricting measure is the 11th -- and possibly last -- to be placed on the fall ballot. No other measures await random signature verification, though the Legislature could still place a measure (or measures) on the ballot.

The redistricting proposal, also backed by good-government groups, would establish a 14-member commission to draw districts for the state Legislature and Board of Equalization. State lawmakers currently have the power to create their own districts after each decennial census. The plan would still allow lawmakers to draw congressional districts.

This marks the second ballot go-around for the Republican governor, who failed to persuade voters to approve redistricting during the 2005 special election. The governor's proposal that year was part of an overall "reform" package that drew a backlash from teachers, nurses and public employees.

Schwarzenegger has now teamed up with groups such as AARP and California Common Cause. They argue that political districts created by an independent commission would make political races more competitive and possibly lead to more moderate representation in Sacramento.

The governor has raised and transferred $2.4 million for the initiative this year.

Schwarzenegger's political committee, the California Dream Team, has been the single largest donor to the signature-gathering effort. The governor has also solicited donations from his sizable Rolodex, including a $250,000 contribution from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The measure, written by California Common Cause, would strip the Legislature of the power to draw state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts, which occurs after the census every 10 years.

That power would shift to a 14-member "citizens panel." The state auditor would select an initial pool of 60 individuals. Legislative leaders could then narrow the list on a limited basis.

That elimination is followed by a hybrid process of random selection of eight members and six members chosen "to ensure the Commission has a good balance of skills and diversity," according to proponents.

The final 14 would be composed of five Democrats, five Republicans and four independents.

The power to redraw congressional lines would remain in the Legislature's hands.

Some Democrats opposing the measure are already trying to peg it as a Republican power grab, most vocally Steve Maviglio of the California Majority Report.

Over the weekend, the California Democratic Party voted to officially oppose the measure. Democrats also criticized the 2005 redistricting measure as a Republican power grab.

But backers of the 2008 measure continue to roll out endorsements of Democratic-leaning interest groups and political figures, including 2006 Democratic candidate for governor Steve Westly, the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and California Common Cause.

Here's the title and summary of the measure:

REDISTRICTING. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE. Creates 14-member redistricting commission responsible for drawing new district lines for State Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization districts. Requires State Auditor to randomly select commission members from voter applicant pool to create a commission with five members from each of the two largest political parties, and four members unaffiliated with either political party. Requires nine votes to approve final district maps. Establishes standards for drawing new lines, including respecting the geographic integrity of neighborhoods and encouraging geographic compactness. Permits State Legislature to draw lines for congressional districts subject to these standards. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Probably no significant increase in state redistricting costs. (Initiative 07-0077.)

Do you know when state lawmakers are going to pass the 2008-09 budget?

It's OK. We don't either.

But now that the constitutional deadline has passed, we are asking for your best guess -- with the promise of $25 worth of Starbucks gift cards for the person who makes the best prediction for the date and time of passage.

That date is clearly up in the air, as Dan Walters writes in his Tuesday column: "No one -- and that includes the governor and 120 legislators -- has the slightest notion of how or when the mess will be cleaned up."

Entering is pretty easy:

Send in your guess to contest@capitolalert.com. Pick an exact day and time the budget will have passed through both houses of the Legislature. All entries must be sent in by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, June 18. (Click for the full legal rules.)

Before sending in your entry, be sure to check out our budget pool crib sheet, a guide to the important (and not so important) dates in the extended budget cycle.

Happy guessing!

Here's our handy (at least we hope) guide to the important, and not so important, dates in the extended budget cycle:

June 15: Constitutional deadline to pass state budget (already passed) .

June 26: Last day for legislative measures to qualify for the November ballot. (Of course, lawmakers can always push back this deadline and use a supplemental ballot pamphlet.)

June 30: Last day of the 2007-08 fiscal year

July 1: First day of the 2008-09 fiscal year

July 3: Legislative summer recess is supposed to begin (provided the budget has been passed).

July 4: Independence Day

Aug. 4: The Legislature reconvenes from summer recess (if there was one).

Aug. 15: Last day for fiscal committees to send bills to the floor in both houses

Aug. 21: Date the 2007-08 budget passed

Aug. 25-28: Democratic National Convention

Aug. 31: Last day for any bill to be passed

Aug. 31: The latest day the budget has passed in the last 30 years. (It happened in the fiscal year 2002-03.)

Sept. 1: Labor Day

Sept. 1-4: Republican National Convention

Sept. 30: Last day for governor to veto or sign bills

Oct. 3: Assembly Speaker Karen Bass turns 55.

Oct. 31: Halloween

Nov. 4: Election Day

Nov. 30: Adjournment of 2007-08 Legislature

Dec. 1: Convening of 2009-10 Legislature. Sen. Darrell Steinberg begins reign as Senate president pro tem.

The peripheral canal is always a hot topic in the Capitol.

The Schwarzenegger administration has said it has unilateral authority to build a such a canal (folks in the Capitol now call this "conveyance"), but the administration insists it has no plans to do so.

The potential water transportiation system ostensibly has little to do with the state budget, but Michael Gardner at the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on how the water debate could seep into this year's budget talks.

Earlier this year, Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, requested an opinion from Legislative Counsel, which reported that indeed the Department of Water Resources "has the authority, without further legislative or voter approval, to build a conveyance facility, commonly referred to as the peripheral canal."

That has lawmakers trying to use the budget to reassert their authority, Gardner reports:

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said the Senate wants to make the point that "we're not out of the game." Lowenthal, who chairs a subcommittee, stripped $1.4 million from the governor's request to fund eight positions to study conveyance options.

Unless there is a breakthrough, the canal could move up alongside taxes and education as hot-button hang-ups if the budget stalemate drags through the summer, as expected.

With the constitutional deadline for a budget already past and no agreement in sight, another stumbling block is the last thing lawmakers and the governor need.

California's members of Congress disclosed the gifts they received last year in required disclosure forms on Monday, reporting everything from $1,700 winnings from a casino in Estonia to $300 in golf lessons from congressional staff.

The AP rounds up the giving (and receiving) from the state's delegation. Some of the highlights:

- (Sen. Barbara) Boxer got paid a $17,000 advance by Chronicle Books to publish a second novel. In 2005, she published a thriller called "A Time to Run" that revolved around a liberal senator much like Boxer herself. Her spokeswoman declined to reveal the plot of the new book, and no publication date has been set.

- (Sen. Dianne) Feinstein was given a $500 Annie Leibovitz print by Al and Tipper Gore and a $375 pillow by Marlene and Fred Malek.

The executive board of the California Democratic Party met over the weekend and voted the party's position on 11 ballot measures (10 that have already qualified and one that is expected to be certified soon).

In all, the party voted to support three measures on the ballot, to oppose six measures and to remain neutral on two more.

Several of the choices are of note.

• First, the party vote to oppose the redistricting measure backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Democratic opponents of the initiative are trying to tag it as a Republican power grab, but the measure does count the support of some major Democrats, including Steve Westly and Angelo Tsakopoulos.

• The second interesting opposition position the party took was on an alternative energy measure to require that more of the state's' energy come from rewnewable resources.

Proponents of the measure blasted the party, issuing a statement that read, in part, that while "the Democrats failed to support critical efforts to combat global warming, they did move to protect California's chickens and eggs."

• The party took a neutral position on a second alternative energy measure that qualified late last week.

• Finally, the party remained neutral on the victims' rights initiative bankrolled and written by Republican billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III, who was recently indicted and pleaded not gulity to drug, prostitution, bribery and securities fraud charges.

*Due to incorrect information provided by the party, the original version of this post reported the Democratic Party was neutral on the victims' rights measure. The party opposes the measure.

Here's the complete endorsement list:

High-speed rail bond: SUPPORT
Treatment of farm animals: SUPPORT
Children's hospital bond: SUPPORT

Redistricting: OPPOSE
Parental notification for abortion: OPPOSE
Sentencing of nonviolent offenders: OPPOSE
Increased criminal penalties: OPPOSE
Renewable energy requirements (solar): OPPOSE
Same-sex marriage ban: OPPOSE

Criminal justice system, victims' rights: NEUTRAL OPPOSE
Alternative fuels and renewable energy bond: NEUTRAL

U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson today approved receiver J. Clark Kelso's plan to fix the California medical care system.

Click here to read the plan.

The California attorney general and Riverside district attorney reported indicting four people for money laundering in Inland Empire Assembly and Senate campaigns on Monday.

The 37-count indictment charges Mark Anthony Leggio, James Lloyd Deremiah, and Nicola Cacucciolo and Nick Vito Cacucciolo (father and son) for exceeding the $3,300 contribution limit.

"Leggio contributed $50,000 in excess of campaign contribution limits to six candidates for Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization by filtering money through friends and associates," Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. "Today's charges send a strong message that the state will crack down on those who try to exceed California's campaign finance limits."

The Riverside DA's office launched the investigation in 2006.

"Democracy is the foundation of our society. The process by which we citizens elect our leaders and representatives must be honest and free from all corruption. Money laundering in elections hides a candidate's true support. When it is of this significant magnitude a fraud is perpetrated on the public," Riverside District Attorney Rod Pachecho said in his prepared statement.

State Sen. Bob Dutton, Assemblyman Anthony Adams and Board of Equalization member Bill Leonard are among the current electeds who received the laundered funds.

Read the indictment for yourself.

Henry T. Nicholas III, the billionaire funder of two 2008 tough-on-crime ballot measures, pleaded not guilty in court today to an array of drug and securities fraud charges.

Nicholas, the co-founder of Broadcom, has donated nearly $5.9 million to two ballot measures that have been confirmed for the November 2008 ballot. Earlier this month, he was indicted on 25 counts of allegations by federal prosecutors that included drug and prostitution use, securities fraud, bribery and death threats.

The Associated Press has the brief story of his not guilty plea. The AP reports Nicholas faces a maximum combined sentence of 20 years for the drug charges and up to 340 years in prison for the stock backdating counts.

The Bee reported the details of Nicholas' support of the two ballot measures last week. He is the largest donor to both the Marsy's Law measure (named after his sister) and the Safe Neighborhoods Act (sponsored by Sen. George Runner and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner).

Both campaigns said they would not be returning Nicholas' donations, though the Marsy's Law campaign said it would not spend any of his unspent contributions.

Nicholas is one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's largest contributors, giving the governor's political committees a total of $1.65 million. A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman said of returning the donations, "We will allow (the legal process) to run its course and make a decision based on the outcome."

Less than a week after Jeffrey Thompson was grilled by the Senate Rules Committee, he announced the state's prisons were changing their dental policies for women seeking to see their children.

Thompson, the prison system's assistant secretary for health care policy, was rebuked by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate last Thursday for a policy that led to women inmates pulling their teeth in order to enter rehabilitation programs.

"The choices that these women were given -- either pull out your teeth or don't see your baby -- is unconscionable," Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, said at the hearing.

On Friday, Thompson told the San Jose Mercury News that the extractions policy has ended.

"It's just the right thing to do," he told the paper, which first reported the policy in April.

Exactly one week after Assemblyman Mark Leno dispatched Sen. Carole Migden in the June 3 primary, his campaign faxed an invite to lobbyists and lawmakers across Sacramento.

Nothing new or exciting there.

But the headliner on the invite -- incoming Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg -- has drawn more than a few askew glances and quiet whispers in the Capitol corridors.

That's because, while Leno won the primary, he broke the unwritten rule that termed-out Assembly members shall not challenge incumbent senators of their own party.

Before the election, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata promised to fiercely defend Migden, saying, "To get her, Mark must come over us.''

But, it appears, now that Leno did just that, he'll be welcomed with open arms.

"I worked my tail off for Carole Migden," said Steinberg in an e-mailed statement. "But Mark will be my colleague in November and I want to help him pay off his campaign debt so he can help the Senate Democratic Caucus win our competitive races."

The fundraiser - a $1,000 per attendee affair at Spataro - is scheduled for June 25.

Tim Russert, the longtime host of NBC's "Meet the Press," died suddenly Friday while preparing for his weekly broadcast. He was 58.

Both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver, who worked at NBC with Russert, issued statements lamenting the passing of "an American icon in the world of political journalism," as Schwarzenegger described him.

Shriver said:

"Tim Russert was one of my closest friends and he was like a brother to me. He was not only a professional confidant but a personal one. He was always the first person to call me whenever anything happened with my family. And he always called me just to check in and see how I was doing and to encourage me. My heart goes out to his son Luke, his wife Maureen, his father, sister and entire family. They were his joy in life; family and faith were everything to him. He was one of a kind to me and I was lucky enough to have had him as a best friend."

Schwarzenegger said:

"Maria and I were deeply saddened to learn about the death of Tim Russert. Tim was an American icon in the world of political journalism who could relate to everybody. His insightful commentary and tough but fair interviews helped millions of Americans better understand our political system. It is hard to imagine a presidential election without Tim and his trademark graphics and questions on "Meet the Press." American politics and journalism will never be the same without him.

"But Tim was not only one of the top journalists of his generation; he was a close friend, a warm and generous person and a wonderful family man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Maureen, his son, Luke and his entire family."

Here is Schwarzenegger's last appearance on "Meet the Press" with Russert in 2006, shortly after his reelection.

"I love doing sequels, I tell you. But this, without any doubt, is my favorite sequel," Schwarzenegger told Russert.

The Washington Post has more details on Russert's passing.

The oft-repeated joke on the Senate floor whenever a Democrat-sponsored a "women's bill" comes up is that Republicans would be voting for the measure if only they had a woman in their caucus.

Well, joke no more.

With her primary win, Republican Assemblywoman Mimi Walters is likely headed for the state Senate, where she will find herself part of a growing caucus in the Legislature's upper house.

After tallying up the results of the June 3 primary, there could be as many as 14 women in the state Senate in the 2009-10 session - a 40 percent jump from the 10 current members.

In contrast, the number of seats held by female lawmakers in the Assembly is likely to decline by between two and five lawmakers. The speakership, however, remains in the hands of Karen Bass, only the second female leader in the lower house's history.

"The women were really good in some of those contested primaries," said Sen. Gloria Negrete-McLeod, chair of the current 34-member Women's Caucus. "Some, they didn't do so well."

For some women's groups, that was not good enough.

"The pendulum is swinging away from the great strides we made in the early 90's to even the playing field in the California legislature," reports California List, a statewide group dedicated to electing women. "Our dreams of equal representation for women are slowly declining. The trend seems to be that we lose two to three elected women legislators every election cycle."

Negrete-McLeod said improved communications could help the current women electeds reach out better to future ones.

"Women don't know other women that are running, especially when they are far away," she said. "The man may get endorsed by individual members, and not the woman, because we don't know who they are."

In the Senate - where candidates tend to be better known to the Sacramento establishment - eight of the incumbent women members are on track to return.

Meanwhile, former Assemblywomen Fran Pavley, Carol Liu, Loni Hancock and Mimi Walters are the prohibitive favorites to replace termed-out Sens. Sheila Kuehl, Jack Scott, Don Perata and Dick Ackerman.

That represents a net gain of three female senators.

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, is a candidate to replace termed-out Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, but she will have to face off against Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, in a race Republicans are targeting in November.

And in what's expected to be the most competitive fall Senate campaign, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat, is running against former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, a Republican.

The only "lost" seat for women in the Senate is held by Sen. Carole Migden, who was unseated after a single term by Assemblyman Mark Leno.

In the Assembly, women candidates didn't fare nearly as well. Gina Papan (AD 19) and Maxine Sherard (AD 78) lost in two of the closest primaries in the sate. Other women lost by far wider margins.

Five current assemblywomen (Sharon Runner, Sally Lieber, Shirley Horton, Bonnie Garcia and Patty Berg) are all on track to be replaced by male lawmakers.

The seat of termed-out Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, will pit Fran Florez, the mayor of Shafter and mother of Sen. Dean Florez, against former CHP officer Danny Gilmore, another potential loss for the caucus.

The only gain that's expected is Tulare County Supervisor Connie Conway replacing Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia.

All told, that represents a loss of four to five female members. Two more women - Joan Buchannan in AD 15 and Alyson Huber in AD 10 - are Democrats running in seats currently held by Republicans Guy Houston and Alan Nakanishi, respectively. Those districts' registration numbers offer hope for them in November (both switched to a Democratic-plurality earlier this year).

Negrete-McLeod said a sizable women's caucus is important because, "as you know, women tend to look at issues a little bit differently than men, and when women coalesce together we become a very formidable wall to get over."

She cited the so-called "Burkle bill" - a reference to the 2006 legislation to bill to seal financial records in divorce cases that was supposedly backed by billionaire businessman Ron Burkle.

"The men didn't even realize there a problem until it was explained to them," Negrete-McLeod said. "And then it didn't go anywhere."

The Capitol Resource Institute, which lobbies Sacramento on conservative social policies, has blasted an e-mail to its statewide network of supporters urging them to call their local legislator -- on their opponent's dime.

"Use Teacher Union's Money to Call Legislators!" blared the subject line of the e-mail.

Today is a "community call-in" day for members of the California Teachers Association.

Here's the CRI's not-so-secret plan:

The CTA is instructing its members to use a CTA-sponsored toll-free number to call lawmakers and urge them to raise taxes on Californians in order to "solve" the budget crisis. 888-268-4334
...
Well, CRI encourages you to do the same-use the CTA's toll-free number (and their money) to contact your legislators and urge them to NOT raise taxes on California families. 888-268-4334
...

When you use the CTA number, you will be greeted by a propaganda message regarding budget cuts. Simply stay on the line until you are prompted to enter your ZIP code. You will then be directed to your local senator or assembly member.

The Capitol Resource Institute then provides some anti-tax talking points. And no CRI e-mail would be complete without a reference to "homosexual indoctrination," "communism" and "spanking."

Remember that the CTA is the union that actively supports SB 1322, the bill that will allow Communists to teach in our schools, and AB 2943, the ban on spanking. The CTA also opposes legislation that will protect innocent school children from homosexual indoctrination

Senate Republicans, who last year were heavily criticized by Democrats during their 52-day standoff on the budget, have launched a budget Web site to air their own perspective on this year's contentious spending plan.

"Last summer, Senate Republicans had predicted a catastrophic budget shortfall if the state did not curtail state spending and adopt cost-saving measures," the site says. "Their protests fell on deaf ears."

The site has videos, op-eds and links to favorable coverage in the mainstream press.

Check out the Web site.

Democratic political consultant Garry South stopped by to chat today, offering his views on the governor's state lottery proposal (he represents the California Tribal Business Alliance), presidential politics (McCain's in trouble) and the next governor's race (he says Democrats better be careful.)

Here's a sampling of his thoughts:

On Schwarzenegger's approach to gambling and Indian compacts: "I don't think he's even gotten his feet wet on Indian gaming. He just wants money. He'll give up anything to generate more money."

On why voters sided with Schwarzenegger on the compacts on the February ballot: "It came at a time when voters were looking for an easy out on the budget deficit." Also, he said, the tribes on Schwarzenegger's side outspent the tribes on South's side, "109 million to $34 million."

On what's next: "God only knows what Arnold is negotiating with these other tribes. We don't even know with whom and what the terms will be. These compacts are for the most part poorly written. I think he's doing the state a disservice long term."

On how tribes view the governor's lottery plan: "Suspiciously."

On Democrats' chances in the 2010 post-Schwarzenegger contest: Democrats shouldn't "fool themselves in to thinking that all they need to do is put up a candidate with a measurable pulse and they take the governorship again. We Democrats have lost six of the last eight gubernatorial elections, and four of those six have been massive blowouts that took other Democrats down with them. We can't count on the supposed Democratic nature of this state to simply pull us through in 2010."

On why he thinks Democrats would be better off with a self-financed candidate (e-Bay investor Steve Westly, South's client in 2006, comes to mind): "Phil Angelides proved that under Proposition 34, if you don't have enough money to self-finance you simply can't compete for governor of this state."

On a run by state Attorney General Jerry Brown: "My fear about Brown is that because of his residual name ID....we end up with a nominee coming out of the primary in June who has no money against somebody who can put in $40-$50 million."

On what's wrong with wealthy candidates (except Westly): "They tend to think they are far superior to the typical politician, that because they're filthy rich and have met a payroll that they are better than those dime-a-dozen politicians."

On one of John McCain's problems in the general election (raising money): "He's going to have to take the federal ($84 million) check. Barack Obama has 1.5 million donors. If they gave $250 apiece between how and November, he would have $375 million to fund his presidential campaign."

On another problem for McCain (his age): "The average male life expectancy in this county is 75.2 His birthday is August 29. It's going to be pretty obvious that he's 72."

Former Rep. Tom Campbell, who served in Congress, the state Senate and as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's director of finance, has landed a new gig as a visiting professor at the Chapman School of Law.

Officially, he will be the "inaugural Presidential Fellow" at Chapman, located in Orange County. He is currently a business professor at UC Berkeley and the former dean of the business school.

The rest of his heavy academic credentials: He has a bachelor's and a master's from the University of Chicago, as well as a Ph.D. in economics from the same school. And don't forget his law degree from Harvard.

In 2000, Campbell, a Republican, lost to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in her reelection campaign.

The Department of Finance, the official name for the governor's fiscal shop, has a document showing just how many times in the last 30 years the California Legislature passed a budget by its June 15 constitutional deadline.

The short answer: Not often. It has been more than 20 years since it has happened.

In the mid-1980s the Legislature passed three on-time budget s(in a row!!) in the fiscal years 1984-85, 85-86 and 86-87. They also passed a pre-June 15 budget in 1981-82.

But that's it since 1978.

The next budgeting deadline is July 1, the official start of the new fiscal year. The Legislature has met that deadline about one-third of the time, passing a budget by the end of June 12 times.

It's been harder more recently, with five June budgets since 1990-91 and only one in the last seven budget cycles. That was in 2006-07, in the midst of the governor's race, and in a year when tax receipts provided an unusually easy year of budgeting.

You can find the Finance document here.

The department also has 21 handy answers to frequently asked budget questions. (that's where the chart is from), such as "How many state employees are there now vs. 20 years ago?" and "How much did the Governor veto from the Budget?"

Check out the FAQ.

In other budgeting news, Speaker Karen Bass announced (as is tradition) that the Assembly Budget chair (John Laird) and vice-chair (Roger Niello), as well as Appropriations chair (Mark Leno) will serve on the budget conference committee. Assembly members Noreen Evans (next year's budget chair) and Kevin de Leon (next year's approps chair) will " attend conference meetings to become familiar with the process, though they will not have a vote in the committee."

Members of the Senate Rules Committee -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- raked a Schwarzenegger corrections appointee over the coals in a confirmation hearing Wednesday.

At one point, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata compared the treatment of women seeking dental services in the state's prisons -- an area under appointee Jeffrey Thompson's charge -- to that of "Nazi Germany."

Perata postponed a vote on Thompson, whom Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed as assistant secretary for health care policy for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation last November. He must be confirmed later this year.

The hearing's central bone of contention was the practice, reported in an April story in the San Jose Mercury News, of women having their teeth pulled to enter vocational-training and drug-rehabilitation programs.

To gain access to such programs -- including those that let them live with their children -- women must be cleared of all health problems, including damaged teeth.

"The choices that these women were given -- either pull out your teeth or don't see your baby -- is unconscionable," Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, told Thompson.

Perata held up the a copy of the story and asked Thompson for an explanation.

Thompson acknowledged the need for improvement and concluded, "It's my charge to ensure that health care needs do not block our ability to place inmates, our women inmates, in these programs."

Perata was not pleased with that response.

"Let me just say that the best answer would say that this is bull---- and it is not going to happen again. You gave me a nice political answer that didn't serve me well, which means it doesn't serve you well," the Oakland Democrat said.

"That's outrageous," he continued. "I don't care what the reason is. It's outrageous. I just finished reading a book on, another book on Nazi Germany. That's the kind of stuff that goes on in other countries, in other regimes, not here."

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, is carrying legislation to shorten the waiting list for women seeking a prison dentist. The bill, AB 2877, is awaiting a hearing in the state Senate.

The other Democrats on the committee concurred with Perata. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, seconded the Senate leader "in less colorful language" and Sen. Gil Cedillo added he had "very serious concerns."

Rachel Cameron, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman, said the governor continues to "stand behind his appointment."

"We feel he is highly qualified to serve in this position," Cameron said.

Perata also demanded Thompson return for a second hearing with a "complete report" of how the problem was solved.

Senators also questioned Thompson's past experience - which included neither work in corrections nor in health care. He is a former teacher-turned-administrator, with a master's degree in administration.

"This doesn't seem to be related to anything you've done in the past," said Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga.

"One thing that I've never shied away from in life is challenge," Thompson said, adding that he was asked to serve by the governor. "As a Rotarian, I believe in service above self. That's why I'm here."

Dutton followed with, "What did you do to kind of prepare yourself with the technical knowledge that's required?"

"It's on the job training," he replied, adding that he spends lots of time "listening and conferring" with prison dentists.

Many of the health care services provided in California's prisons are under the control of a federal court-appointed receiver. Prisoner rights' groups sued the state over the lacking quality of health care.

But dental care and mental health services remain under the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's control.

"You're getting vented at," Battin said late in the 30-minute hearing. "It's the outrageousness of the (teeth-pulling) situation and you are sitting in front of us."

"I don't hold you responsible for that," he said, noting that Thompson started his job late in 2007. "I do hold you responsible to solve it."

State Senate leaders threw down the fiscal gauntlet Wednesday, rejecting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to tap the state lottery for money and proposing $11.5 billion in new taxes to balance the deficit-ridden state budget.

"There's not enough money there to fund next year," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said as he unveiled the Senate version of the budget. "We're proposing to raise taxes."

Schwarzenegger wants to "securitize" the state lottery by borrowing against future profits and use $5.1 billion of the loan proceeds for the 2008-09 budget, plus nearly $600 million in loans from various special funds, and fill the rest of the estimated $15.2 billion hole in the budget with spending cuts. He said he opposes broad new taxes, a position echoed by Republican legislators.

Assembly Democrats have adopted a version of the lottery plan and called for $6.4 billion in new revenues. Neither Democratic faction, however, has specified what taxes they want to raise.

Wednesday's release of the Senate budget sets the stage for a two-house conference committee to begin reconciling the minor differences in the two Democratic versions, but the big-ticket issues of major spending cuts and taxes will be negotiated by the governor and legislative leaders.

The constitutional deadline for legislative approval of a budget is June 15, but it's almost never met. The fiscal year begins on July 1, but Perata said flatly that a budget won't be written by then, either. He said he hopes to have a budget in place by Aug. 1, noting that the state faces a looming cash flow shortage in August if a new budget is not in place.

"This is not a morality play," said Perata, who will be leaving the Legislature later this year. "This is life."

Former President Bill Clinton pulled out of a commencement speech at UCLA late Tuesday, citing the continuing labor dispute between the university and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The speech was scheduled for Friday.

Meanwhile, former Speaker Fabian Núñez canceled a scheduled commencement speech at UC Davis, scheduled for today, because of the labor dispute.

AP has the story.

Speaker Karen Bass, in response to recent stories of ghost voting on the Assembly floor, told a Democratic caucus on Tuesday that there will be no more voting for members not present on the Assembly floor.

"We are going to enforce the existing policy, which means that there will be no voting when a member is off the floor," Bass told the San Francisco Chronicle.

State revenues for the general fund met projections in May, but income from the state's sales tax lagged behind expectations by 3 percent, which should "have everyone concerned," said State Controller John Chiang in his monthly cash flow report Tuesday.

Chiang reports that 11 months through the 2007-08 fiscal year, California has spent $10.2 billion more than it has collected in revenue.

Overall May revenues were off from projections by $1 million -- a small amount. Personal income taxes came in higher than expected (by $238 million), while sales tax receipts were down $124 million and corporate taxes were down $90 million from projections in the governor's May budget revision.

"The weakness of the sales tax should have everyone concerned," said Chiang in a statement. "The declines in consumer spending illustrate a lack of consumer confidence that not only affects the State budget, but also local governments throughout California."

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has certified a 10th measure for the November ballot that would authorize $5 billion in bonds to subsidize the purchase of alternative energy cars and renewable energy research.

The measure, sponsored by the Clean Energy Fuels Corp., would provide rebates to consumers purchasing high-fuel economy vehicles like the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic, according to a campaign fact sheet.

Of the $5 billion in bonds, $2.875 billion would go to such consumer incentives. Another $1.25 billion would go to the generation of solar and other renewable energy and $875 million would go to research, development and education of alternative energy and alternative-energy vehicles.

The campaign received more than $1.5 million from Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to gather signatures for the measure. On Tuesday, the secretary of state certified that the campaign had gathered more than the 433,971 valid signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.

Here's the official title and summary:

BONDS. ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY. STATUTE. Authorizes $5 billion in bonds paid from state's General Fund, allocated approximately as follows: 58% in cash payments of between $2,000 and $50,000 to purchasers of certain high fuel economy and alternative fuel vehicles; 20% in incentives for research, development and production of renewable energy technology; 11% in incentives for research and development of alternative fuel vehicle technology; 5% in incentives for purchase of renewable energy technology; 4% in grants to eight cities for education about these technologies; and 3% in grants to colleges to train students in these technologies. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State costs of about $9.8 billion over 30 years to pay both the principal ($5 billion) and interest ($4.8 billion) costs on the bond. Payments of about $325 million per year. Increase in state sales tax revenues of an unknown amount, potentially totaling in the tens of millions of dollars, over the period from 2009 to beyond 2018. Increase in local sales tax and VLF revenues of an unknown amount, potentially totaling in the tens of millions of dollars, over the period from 2009 to about 2018-19. Potential state costs of up to about $10 million annually, through about 2018-19, for state agency administrative costs not funded by the measure. (Initiative 07-0101.)

Today's Bee features a story about indicted billionaire donor Henry T. Nicholas, who is funding two tough-on-crime ballot measures, while facing allegations of drug and prostitution use and bribery.

Nicholas has been a top donor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, giving the governor's political committees $1.65 million.

Asked if the governor would return the money, Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said, "We will allow (the legal process) to run its course and make a decision based on the outcome."

Nicholas is also a major donor to Attorney General Jerry Brown.

In 2005, Nicholas gave Jerry Brown, a Democrat, $11,200 in his bid for California attorney general. That is the maximum donation allowable under state law.

Brown, who is California chief law enforcement officer, said through a spokesman he does not plan to return Nicholas' donation.

Brown worked briefly with Nicholas in 2004, when he recorded a radio ad to oppose Proposition 66, a proposal to amend the state's three-strikes law. Nicholas paid for the ad to be broadcast.

More Laura Richardson news

The man who bought Rep. Laura Richardson's foreclosed Sacramento home has received a notice to rescind the sale and is accusing the bank of giving the Long Beach Democrat preferential treatment.

"I'm just amazed they've done this," James York said. "They never would have done this for anybody else."

The story is in the Daily Breeze.

What a successful recall looks like

The California Taxpayers' Association weekly newsletter has the story of the recall of the Mono County assessor.

On June 3, Jim Lovett, accused of boozing on the job, was recalled by a stunning 93.7 percent of the voters.

Here's what Cal-Tax reports:

Jim Lovett, criticized for spending little time on the job and a lot of time with a bottle in his hand, was recalled June 3 by an overwhelming 93.7 percent of the voters. Board of Equalization staffer Jody Henning was elected as the new assessor.

Those claims were brought into serious question in February, when he was arrested for suspicion of drunken driving in the middle of a weekday, after reportedly acting erratically in the office and yelling at employees. After a confrontation with employees, he jumped in his vehicle (which had an expired registration) and drove away. Authorities said they were tipped off about his possible drunken driving, and that tip led to his arrest.

Dead man elected

In another odd June 3 election outcome, the Contra Costa Times reports Ernie Scherer of Pleasanton, who was murdered with his wife in March, won a seat posthumously on the Alameda County Republican Central Committee.

The saga of Rep. Laura Richardson's mismanaged personal finances continues to grow, as the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports that the freshman congresswoman failed to paid her car bills to one mechanic and abandoned her damaged car with another.

After wrecking her own car, she grabbed a city-owed vehicle and proceeded to put more than 30,000 miles on the car in just over a year. City policy states that city-owned cars are not for personal use in member's part-time role on the council in the 50-square mile city.

The car troubles come on the heels of news that Richardson lost her Sacramento home to a foreclosure after failing to pay her mortgage payments and defaulted on her two other homes in Long Beach and San Pedro.

All this while Richardson was loaning money to her own campaigns as she rose from the Long Beach City Council to the state Assembly and on to Congress in less than a year.

From the Press-Telegram:

In October 2005, her 1999 four-door 740iL BMW had an odd vibration in the front, so she took it to Signal Hill Foreign Auto Service, according to Leo Labreche, the shop owner.

"I couldn't get through to her, and then when the collection agency couldn't do anything, I thought, `There's nothing I'm going to be able to do,"' Labreche said.

A month later, she apparently wrecked the front of the car, rendering it undrivable. She then abandoned the car at another auto-body shop.

The Press-Telegram then reports that one day after Richardson abandoned her wrecked BMW, she checked out a city-owned Toyota Prius "for her council business."

She returned the car - 30,000 miles later - after she had left the council.

We'll let the Press-Telegram take it from here:

In a letter acquired by the Press-Telegram from then-City Manager Jerry Miller to Richardson dated Dec. 5, 2006, Miller asks Richardson to return her city vehicle, identified as a Prius.

She scrapped that effort in 2005 when she left her BMW at the auto body shop and again got behind the wheel of a city car.

Richardson, by the way, never returned the paper's calls for comment. She did, however, go to the auto shops to pay off her debts.

Last Tuesday - as she was paying off the car bills - she overwhelmingly won her Democratic primary for reelection with nearly 75 percent of the vote.

The spectre of "ghost voting" returns to the Capitol as Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi changed her vote six times on a bill in 22 seconds - all while two floors away in a committee hearing.

While state senators cast voice votes during floor session, members of the Assembly press little green and red "aye" and "no" buttons to cast votes.

Only the members aren't always the ones pressing their own buttons.

The San Francisco Chronicle's John Diaz reported the bizarre series of Hayashi votes in a scathing opinion piece that ran over the weekend:

In the Hayashi case, eyewitnesses said her initial "yes" vote was cast by Assemblyman Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, an assistant majority floor leader who colleagues said had taken the liberty of voting for other missing members as bills were being rushed to beat the deadline.

"I didn't even know who pushed the green button originally," Hancock said. "I was riveted on the screen, I was doing a million things ...but I saw the green light go on ... and I knew Mary didn't want to be the 41st vote."

Of course, such "ghost voting" is against the Assembly rules.

Assembly Rule 104 states: "A member may not operate the voting switch of any other member."

But during the end of session and house-of-origin deadlines - when the Assembly dispenses with hundreds of bills in less than a week - that rule is widely ignored. (It is ignored the rest of the year, as well, to a lesser extent.)

From the Chronicle:

De León acknowledged that he voted for his fellow Democrats at times, to help keep bills moving toward the 41 votes required for passage, but he emphasized that he would never knowingly cast a vote against a colleague's wishes. In the case of AB2818, de León said he was certain that he never discussed the bill with Hayashi, and was not aware of her position on it.

"It's not like it's etched in stone," de León said. "It's like you go to your ATM machine - same thing - change your vote."

The Chronicle has posted a video of the flip-flopping Hayashi vote.

Diaz also spoke with Assembly Speaker Karen Bass:

"It sounds like what is kind of the normal way we go about things got out of control," newly minted Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), said in a phone interview Thursday, when asked about reports of ghost voting, including the Hayashi incident. She promised to confront the matter at a closed-door Democratic caucus this week. "I hate that it had to come out this way, but it raised a red flag and I'm going to follow up."

"I don't think in any way, shape or form anything malicious was intended here," Speaker Bass said Thursday, at which point she said she had yet to discuss the allegations with de León or Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont.

The California Republican delegation to the national convention in Minneapolis selected its leadership over the weekend.

There weren't too many surprises.

Former Secretary of State Bill Jones, who chaired GOP nominee Sen. John McCain's California campaign, will serve as chairman of the delegation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be the honorary chairman.

Three GOPers - former Gov. Pete Wilson, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and state party chairman Ron Nehring - will be the delegation's co-chairmen.

In all, the party reports the California delegation will be the nation's largest (no surprise there, California is the biggest state) with 173 delegates, 170 alernates and 400 guests.

The GOP convention committee reps will be:

Rules: Bob Laurie and Jill Buck
Credentials: John Peschong and the Hon. Rosario Marin
Platform/Resolutions: Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Jennifer Russo
Permanent Organization: Sonia Denham and the Hon. Van Tran

Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified a ninth measure -- this one on victims' rights -- for the November ballot late Friday.

Here's the title and summary:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. VICTIMS' RIGHTS. PAROLE. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE. Requires notification to victim and opportunity for input during phases of criminal justice process, including bail, pleas, sentencing and parole. Establishes victim safety as consideration in determining bail or release on parole. Increases the number of people permitted to attend and testify on behalf of victims at parole hearings. Reduces the number of parole hearings to which prisoners are entitled. Requires that victims receive written notification of their constitutional rights. Establishes timelines and procedures concerning parole revocation hearings. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Unknown potential increases in state prison and county jail operating costs due to provisions restricting early release of inmates. To the extent that any such costs were incurred, they could collectively amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. A potential net savings in the low tens of millions of dollars for the administration of parole reviews and revocations if the changes related to parole revocation procedures were not overturned by potential legal challenges. (Initiative 07-0100.)

First lady Maria Shriver is usually the one known for dispensing advice, at least when it comes to publishing books. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has offered his own insight on how he raises his kids, including today at a press conference about new laws restricting use of cell phones.

Schwarzenegger's oldest daughter, Katherine, is graduating from high school tomorrow in Brentwood, and the governor plans to give the commencement address. Here's a look back at his parental observations:

On how he imposes a cell phone ban in his own family (today):
"But for me, I wanted to scare my kids so much -- because I knew that when I bought a car for my daughter and I said, 'Now, just remember, this car can be gone as quickly as you got it if I catch you driving -- and I will be following you every so often,' I said, 'But not with my car so you will recognize me. It will be with some different car. And I will find out if you raise your hand up there and hold a phone to your ear and then the car will be gone. So just so you know, the car will be gone and the cell phone will be gone.' So I think every parent has a different way of dealing with it, in order to create discipline and to save their lives. I mean, we cherish their lives, we want to save them."

On how his kids perceive his current job versus his previous one (April 2008):
"I have my daughter here, Christina, because today is where you take your kids to work, where the kids come to work with their parents, so she is up here. And the first thing I heard this morning was, 'This is not like the old days. I used to love coming with you to work.' Not just on that special day of the year, but every day my kids used to come to my movie trailer and watch all the things blow up and the fire and the shootouts and knives being thrown through the area and all those kind of special effects. They loved all those things. Now they say, 'This is boring, to go up there to Sacramento, boring. I mean, I don't want to go up there." But today I convinced her and said it was between coming to Sacramento, to a boring place, or to go to school. So she chose that, which I totally understand. So thank you, Christina, for being here today."

On policing your kids (April 2008):
"And I think that we have to do everything that we can by being little investigators. Go through the school bags, look at the phone numbers, look at the phones, check out where they're going, where they hang out, who do they hang out with. Call the parents, find out who are they spending the night with and so on and so forth, how many kids are over there. Sometimes maybe make a midnight stop, as unpleasant as it is for everyone, but I think it's very important to do things like that. The kids should always be a little bit thrown off. They say, 'My father is a little odd.' My kids always say, 'We don't know what he's up to. He's a strange guy and we're worried about him.' So that's the way I like it. I want them to love me, but I want them to be worried about me. Then we keep things much more under control and it has worked so far. It doesn't mean that next year we don't have a problem, but we will do everything possible."

On why kids need to study a variety of subjects (March 2006):
"The point I'm making to you is that you never know. My kids argue with me all the time. They say, 'I'll never need this chemistry.' I say, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' I said this to my daughter, when she said that. She said, 'Well, I really don't know yet. But I --' I said, 'No, no. You don't know yet. But what if you want to become a doctor? Then you need this chemistry. You just don't know. You don't know where this life is taking you.' Because that's the nice surprise about it. You know there are some times kids know at the age of 15 where you want to go, what you want to do in life, and other times you don't. You don't need to know. But the important thing is one thing, and this is to get your education. No matter what you do, what you're doing right now is the basic education. No one is asking you to specialize in anything. It's your basic education, and this is why it is very important."

Reflections on how he was told to do his homework as a child (May 2006):
"And I did the same thing when I was a kid, told my parents the same thing. I said, 'I'm never going to use that.' My mother made me sit at home and do my homework after school, and she would be there with a ruler in her hand. So it was the old style, you know, back in Austria many years ago, 40 years ago. And if I would get up from the table without having finished my homework, she would whack me over the head. That's the way it was. I'm not recommending that today, but I'm just telling you, I'm happy that she made me study, and I'm happy that the teachers made me study, because you never know."

Congratulations to Shant Apekian, the political director for the California Apartment Association, who answered 19 of the 20 quiz questions correctly and won the first tie-breaker.

For his effort, Apekian is the proud winner of $50 in gift cards to Starbucks.

And, of course, the newfound fame and notoriety in the Capitol community that comes with such a victory.

Congratulations as well to Michael Anadon of SEIU Local 1000 and Meg Catzen-Brown of Nossman Guthner Knox Elliott, who also answered 19 of 20 correctly.

Thanks, everyone, for entering. As usual, we learned that our readers tend to be smarter and better-informed than we are.

Here are the quiz questions, answers and explanations:

1. Which two Assembly candidates who lost in $1 million-plus general election campaigns in 2006 are running again this year?

Answer: Republican Danny Gilmore, who ran in AD 30 against Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, and Democrat Maxine Sherard, who ran in AD 78 against Assemblywoman Shirley Horton in 2006.

2. The father of which Assembly candidate has spent more than $100,000 on an "independent expenditure" on his son's behalf?

Answer: Bob Blumenfield, the Democrat who won the AD 40 primary, benefited from spending by his father, Michael Blumenfield

3. In which Assembly district are three Democratic primary candidates of Asian descent?

Answer: AD 22 with Anna Song, Kris Wang and Paul Fong (who won his primary)

4. Name the wives - and ex-wife - of lawmakers, present and past, on the June ballot?

Answer: This was one of the trickiest questions of the entire quiz. We were thinking of all the state legislative candidates who are wives and ex-wives of lawmakers, past and present, and credited all who named them. Those are:

And to those (Rexroad and Timothy Anaya of the Assembly Republican Caucus) who named Debbie Poochigian, who won a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

5. Name the only daughter of an ex-lawmaker on the ballot. Name the only mother of a current lawmaker on the ballot.

Answer: Assembly candidate Gina Papan, daughter of the late Lou Papan, and Assembly candidate Fran Florez, mother of Sen. Dean Florez.

6. Which open Assembly seat contains all or portions of nine different counties?

Answer: AD 2

7. Which Senate candidate has benefited from a "carbon free" independent expenditure campaign?

Answer: Fran Pavley

8. Which Bay Area Democrat and would-be Assembly member was once a Republican?

Answer: There were two correct answers to this question. Jerry Hill, who won the primary in AD 19, and Dominic Caserta, who lost the primary in AD 22.

9. Which Assembly district switched from a Republican majority to a Democratic majority of registered voters in 2008?

Answer: OK, grammatical sticklers, you're right, no district switched from "a Republican majority to a Democratic majority." But two districts did flip from a plurality of Republican registered voters to a plurality of Democrats. Those districts are AD 15 and AD 26.

We accepted either district as the answer, as well as those who said "none" because you have a better grasp on the English language than we do.

10. Which unopposed Democratic candidate for Senate was once a Republican?

Answer: There were two correct answers. Both Democratic Sens. Mark DeSaulnier and Elaine Alquist were once Republicans.

11. Which Assembly candidate had his opponent endorsed by his former boss?

Answer: Our intended answer was Stuart Waldman, the ex-chief of staff to Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, who lost the Democratic primary in AD 40 to Bob Blumenfield (who Levine endorsed).

One quiz-taker also mentioned Paul Hegyi, a losing Republican Assembly candidate and chief of staff to Assemblyman Van Tran. Hegyi had previously worked for the Johnson/Clark political consulting firm, which ran Republican Jack Sieglock's winning campaign against Hegyi. We awarded a point for the creative answer.

12. Who are the only two legislative candidates to have held constitutional office in California?

Answer: Senate candidates Mervyn Dymally, who served as lieutenant governor, and Carole Migden, who served on the Board of Equalization.

As on the wives question, we were only looking for legislative candidates, not congressional candidates. Rep. Dan Lungren once served as California's attorney general, however, and we credited those who named him.

13. Which Assembly candidate once served on the Board of Parole Hearings? (Hint: It had a different name at the time.)

Answer: Jim Nielsen, who won the AD 2 Republican primary. He previously served on the Board of Prison Terms.

14. Name the two California mayoral candidates who have spent at least $500,000 of their own money to run for office.

Answer: Kevin Johnson (Sacramento) and Steve Francis (San Diego)

15. Which GOP primary candidate could be only the second African American Republican ever elected to the state Assembly?

Answer: The answer we expected was Abram Wilson, mayor of San Ramon, who won the four-way primary for AD 15.

We also accepted those who said Mali Currington (AD 9), who is running a long-shot big to unseat Assemblyman Dave Jones.

16. West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, who's running for the Democratic nomination in the 8th Assembly District, was embarrassed when his car was booted in Sacramento for unpaid parking tickets and a rival's campaign manager saw it and alerted the media. What was Cabaldon's excuse for not paying the tickets?
a. He didn't think he had to since he was a local elected official.
b. He didn't think he had to since he was a legislative candidate.
c. He tossed them on his kitchen counter and forgot about them.
d. Someone stole them off his windshield and he wasn't aware of them.

Answer: C - He tossed them on his kitchen counter and forgot about them

17. Proposition 98 would make it illegal for governments to use the power of eminent domain to take any kind of private property to hand over to another private party. Proposition 99 does this for only one type of private property. What is it?

Answer: Proposition 99 only allows such protection for single family homes occupied by the owner for at least one year.
No one submitted that exact answer. So don't worry if you feel like you got close, everyone missed this one.

18. Sen. Carole Migden may be the next, but name the last state legislator who was defeated for re-election in his/her primary?

Answer: The answer we expected was former Assemblyman Brian Setencich, a first-term lawmaker from Fresno, who lost a GOP primary in 1996.

We also accepted the answer of former Assemblyman Phil Wyman, who lost to Sharon Runner in the 2002 GOP primary. That's because Wyman had represented AD 34 prior to redistricting, but ran against Runner in AD 36, having represented a portion of the district.

19. In what county supervisor race on the June 3 ballot is total spending expected to top $5 million?

Answer: Los Angeles County, where Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas and City Council member Bernard Parks will continue the battle in a November runoff.

20. Which incumbent Republican lawmaker is running as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary? And what is the name of his/her write-in opponent?

Answer: Sen. Abel Maldonado and Dennis Morris

Tiebreaker 1: What will be the final percentage of the recall vote in the abandoned recall effort of Sen. Jeff Denham?

Answer: The final percentage with 100 percent of precincts reporting was 24.03 percent in favor and 75.97 percent opposed.

Tiebreaker 2: What percentage of the vote will Sen. Carole Migden receive in her reelection campaign?

Answer: Migden received 27.9 percent of the vote in the final tally.

The two Democratic presidential contenders -- the winner, Sen. Barack Obama, and the loser, Sen. Hillary Clinton -- met secretly last night at the Washington home of California's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein.

Feinstein hosted the Democrats -- who met in private with no staff -- in her home. They sat with water and "two comfortable chairs" in her home, meeting for an hour.

The Washington Post has a write-up of the meeting, courtesy of Feinstein.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise has posted Feinstein's entire transcript recounting the event, her involvement and how it all went down.

"I can speak, I think, for Senator Clinton. She wants to do everything she can to bring the party together. She wants to do everything she can to see that the people who voted for her have their voices heard and that that's reflected in credentials and in the platform. She wants to have a working relationship with Senator Obama. And I think it's a very positive thing," Feinstein said.

Read the complete transcript:

If you're reading this while driving, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants you to STOP READING!

Standing in front of a freeway in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger rattled off a list of no-nos for drivers this morning: phones without headsets, food, e-mail and makeup.

The governor spoke in advance of a law taking effect July 1 that requires drivers to use a hands-free headset for their mobile phones. Drivers will receive a $20 fine for the first violation and a $50 fine for subsequent offenses. Another law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from using a cell phone at all starting July 1.

Schwarzenegger also recommended that people stop eating and applying makeup while behind the wheel, though neither is explicitly illegal.

"I think in general people should know, if they eat in the car and if they do their makeup in the car and if they make phone calls and doing e-mail and all of those kinds of things, it can cause accidents and it can cause death," Schwarzenegger said. "And I think that people should stop doing any of those things. But this (hands-free phone) law will really save lives. We want to start here."

It's unclear what impact the new law will have.

According to the California Highway Patrol, drivers using hand-held phones caused 931 crashes out of 441,334 total collisions in 2004, or one-fifth of one percent. A Harvard study in 2002 estimated that as much as five percent of U.S. accidents are caused by a driver on a cell phone.

A state Senate analysis for the new law in 2006 suggested that drivers using cell phones lose awareness whether they use a hands-free device or not. A 2003 National Safety Council study determined that laws that permit hands-free devices would be unlikely to eliminate driving distraction related to phones.

Schwarzenegger signed the long-sought proposal by state Sen. Joe Simitian in 2006 to ban the use of mobile phones without a headset. The governor let it be known that his own daughter, Katherine, that she would lose her car if he ever caught her on the phone while driving.

UPDATE (3:34 p.m.): CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader notes that a new Public Policy of California study suggests that the hands-free requirement could save 300 lives a year. The study found that mobile-phone use in cars has "no observable effect" in good weather or on dry roads but contributes significantly to traffic deaths in adverse conditions.

Forget whether California is a red or blue state. Gay-rights groups will be seeing a little less lavender in the Capitol after openly gay Democrats lost in four of the five legislative primaries they competed in on Tuesday.

The only winner was Assemblyman Mark Leno, who bested Sen. Carole Migden (who is also openly gay) and former Assemblyman Joe Nation.

But in four contested Assembly campaigns, the openly gay candidates lost:

• In Assembly District 8, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon lost narrowly to Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada.

• In Assembly District 14, Berkeley City Council member Kriss Worthington lost a four-way race to Nancy Skinner, a former Berkeley council member.

• In Assembly District 40, former assistant state controller Laurette Healey lost a three-way primary to Bob Blumenfield.

• In Assembly District 80, Cathedral City Councilmember Greg Pettis lost to Manuel Perez.

"I think across the board there was disappointment in the losses of the openly LGBT candidates," said Alice Kessler, director of government affairs for Equality California, a gay-rights advocacy group.

Two openly gay candidates - Tom Ammiano in San Francisco and John Perez in Los Angeles - won Assembly Democratic primaries with little to no opposition.

All told, the LGBT caucus is expected to shrink from five members to four - with Ammiano, Perez, Leno and Sen. Christine Kehoe. Assemblyman John Laird and Sen. Sheila Kuehl are termed-out, while Migden was voted out of office.

The caucus had six members in the 2005-06 legislative session.

Kessler said the losses were "a very serious thing."

"We recognize that we are not going to be as effective in accomplishing our legislative goals...if we don't have our own caucus and our own leaders," she said. "That's not to say we don't many allies and supporters that are willing to carry legislation for us, but it's a different thing when it's a member of your own community."

Kessler said the toughest losses were the Cabaldon race, in which outside spending topped $1 million, and the Pettis race in the Inland desert communities of Southern California.

"We've been trying to put (that seat) into LGBT hands for quite some time," Kessler said of the Pettis race.

In both losses, organized labor spent hugely to beat Cabaldon and Pettis, though Kessler said there was no rift between gay groups and big unions.

"The lens through which we look at these races is through a single focus," she said, compared to labor's wider set of priorities.

Some openly gay Republican candidates are running for office in 2008 - but face huge uphill battles in heavily Democratic districts.

Legislative Democrats on Thursday released their budget proposal to counter Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's May Revision.

One cornerstone of the plan is $6.4 billion in new revenue -- through unspecified tax "loophole" closures.

My colleague Judy Lin has the story.

"At the end of the day, from our point of view, we need to balance the budget with revenue," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said. "We said from the beginning we were not going to agree to balance the budget with cuts only."

Check out the Democrats budget proposal for yourself here.

Speaker Karen Bass announced more changes to Assembly committee chairmanships Thursday, promoting Assemblyman Dave Jones to chair the Health Committee next year and making three other key shifts.

Jones, a Sacramento Democrat, is currently chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The new chairmanship is considered higher on the Capitol pecking order, as many influential bills pass through the health panel, particularly as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said reforming the state's health system remains a top priority.

The current chairman, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, is termed out this year.

Replacing Jones as Judiciary chairman will be Assemblyman Mike Feuer, a freshman Democrat from Los Angeles and the current chairman of the budget subcommittee on transportation.

Feuer, who himself ran for speaker himself, had been a candidate for the chair of the powerful budget committee. Instead, he will wield the gavel over the Judiciary Committee.

Moving up to chair the Assembly Transportation Committee, another influential panel, is Assemblyman Mike Eng of Monterey Park.

Its current chairman, Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, is leaving the lower house after a single term for the state Senate.

Eng's move to transportation will open up the chairmanship of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. Bass will replace Eng with Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, a Hawyward Democrat.

None of the changes are effective immediately. The new chairs will take over the committees in December.

Here's a recap of all the committee chair and leadership moves Bass has made since her selection as speaker:

Majority leader: Alberto Torrico
Assistant speaker pro tem: Lori Saldaña
Appropriations: Kevin De Leon
Budget: Noreen Evans
*Rules: Ted Lieu
Health: Dave Jones
Transportation: Mike Eng (from Business and Professions)
Judiciary: Mike Feuer
Business and Professions: Mary Hayashi
Governmental Organization: Curren Price

*Lieu was named as the chair of Rules after Bass was elected speaker, but before she was sworn in. Officially, former Speaker Fabian Núñez made the move, though Bass has not changed the appointment.

Sen. John McCain may be from Arizona, but he probably should have been rooting against the Phoenix Suns and for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs.

That's because each of the seven times in the last 40 years the Lakers made it to the NBA finals in a presidential election year, a Republican won the White House.

The Lakers-presidential fact comes courtesy of Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News.

The prior years include: George W. Bush in 2004 and 2000, George H.W. Bush in 1988, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and 1980 and Richard Nixon in 1972 and 1968.

The Lakers begin playing the Boston Celtics tonight in the finals.

(Hat tip: Joel Fox at Fox and Hounds Daily)

"You're suggesting that the behavior of, what, panties on his head ... is unacceptable interrogation technique for a man who was involved in a conspiracy to kill tens of thousands of Americans?"

-- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R- Orange County) disagreed with the notion that taunting terrorism suspects with panties is a form of torture at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday.

The AP has more from the hearing:

In a debate about detainee treatment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the California Republican cited panties eight times, arguing that making suspected terrorists wear women's underwear on their heads isn't demeaning and degrading enough to be called torture.
...
An exasperated Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., reminded Rohrabacher that interrogators were also seen physically abusing detainees.

"I, in no way, will ever apologize that someone put panties on the head of this 9/11 terrorist and treated him without respect," he said. "That man should have no respect."

Sen. Barack Obama won another superdelegate vote Wednesday from Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego. That gives him a 34-30 superdelegate lead in California with seven superdelegates uncommitted. Media outlets determined Tuesday that Obama had enough delegate support to clinch the nomination over Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Here is Davis' statement:

"Democrats and all those who have chosen to participate in the Democratic primary have witnessed a sweeping, compelling and breathtakingly close contest among two exceptional leaders. As the representative of the 53rd Congressional District which saw slightly more than a 1 percent vote difference out of more than 100,000 votes cast (48.4% for Obama - 47.3% for Clinton), I experienced the difficulty of that choice. Both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama demonstrate the statesmanship, dedication and dynamism required to address the domestic and international challenges we face today.

"Given the closeness of the race, it was important that every voter be motivated to participate in this historic election. I am now happy to join the delegates from around the country in supporting Senator Obama to be our nominee and plan to work hard towards his election as President of the United States.

"I am confident that Senator Obama will be a legacy leader and move this country forward. With his ability to inspire, we will once again ask the difficult questions and uncover new ways of solving vexing and grave issues with strategic focus.

"I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on her campaign which can only be seen as one of the most singular displays of diligence in the pursuit of working on behalf of all people in our country. As a woman who has fought for the recognition of the role of women in leadership on every front, I am immensely proud of her and the impact she has had in defining the political, social, and economic landscape of our country.

"This contest has made us stronger. Millions of Americans are now inspired to engage in the debate on the future of our country."

The results of Tuesday's elections were bad for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, as the Oakland Democrat lost the only two major races in which he tried to flex his political muscle.

Most prominent was the defeat of the recall of Republican Sen. Jeff Denham, with more than 75 percent of voters thumbing down the measure.

Perata had been the driving force behind the recall, until he he suddenly abandoned the effort last month. Perata insisted the move was an attempt at bipartisanship in the face of severe budget deficits.

The Denham campaign accused Perata of trying to save face, backtracking only because the recall was losing so badly.

"This recall was widely condemned as unjustified and an abuse of the process. It set a terrible precedent. It raised the question which is more powerful - the will of the people or the agenda of an outside power-broker?" said Sen. Jeff Denham in an statement last night. "Tonight's rejection of this recall effort answered that question loud and clear."

The Modesto Bee has posted a video report from Denham's election night party.

The combination of the defeated recall and Senate Democrats' decision to not field a serious challenger to Sen. Abel Maldonado, a Republican up for reelection in a Democratic-plurality district, means there is almost no chance for Democrats to grab a two-thirds majority in the state Senate.

The party controls 25 of the 40 seats in the house, two shy of two-thirds. But only one seat in November - that of termed-out Sen. Tom McClintock - is considered winnable for the Democrats.

Perata also lost his only other priority legislative race.

In San Francisco, Sen. Carole Migden was defeated in her reelection bid.

Migden became the first incumbent to lose in a party primary in more than a decade, finishing third behind Assemblyman Mark Leno and former Assemblyman Joe Nation.

What does that have to do with Perata? Well, Leno broke one of the Legislature's unwritten rules - that termed-out members of the Assembly don't challenge incumbent senators.

That meant the job of helping defend Migden fell to Perata.

"I am disappointed by Mark Leno's challenge of a fellow Democrat with Carole's experience, accomplishments and skill,'' Perata told the San Francisco Chronicle last year. He promised the entire 25-member Democratic caucus would "vigorously defend Sen. Migden. To get her, Mark must come over us.''

Leno did. And he will be sworn into the Senate next year, as Perata terms out.

After last night's final Democratic primaries in Montana and South Dakota, Sen. Barack Obama has taken a three-superdelegate lead in the state despite Sen. Hillary Clinton's win here in February, while only eight superdelegates remain uncommitted.

Though various media outlets declared Obama the presumptive Democratic nominee after topping the required threshold of 2,118 delegates Tuesday, Clinton has not left the race.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean in calling on all superdelegates to make up their minds by Friday for the sake of party unity. Pelosi herself remains one of the eight undeclared superdelegates.

Steve Ybarra, a Sacramento superdelegate who represents Latino voters, said he remains undecided and does not believe he'll decide by Friday. He said he wants to see a greater commitment toward the Latino vote from one of the candidates.

"Well, you know, I've never been real good at following Howard Dean's instructions," Ybarra said Wednesday morning.

The list is as follows, according to California Democratic Party spokesman Bob Mulholland, a superdelegate who also remains undecided.

UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): Rep. Susan Davis committed to Obama, leaving seven uncommitted superdelegates in California. The list is updated below.

BARACK OBAMA (34)
Rep. Xavier Becerra
Rep. Howard Berman
Rep. Lois Capps
Rep. Dennis Cardoza
Rep. Jim Costa
Rep. Susan Davis
Rep. Anna Eshoo
Rep. Sam Farr
Rep. Bob Filner
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Rep. Jerry McNerney
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Linda Sanchez
Rep. Adam Schiff
Rep. Pete Stark
Rep. Maxine Waters
Rep. Henry Waxman
Steven Alari
Jeremy Bernard
Rachel Binah
Mary Ellen Early
Edward Espinoza
Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker
Eric Garcetti
Kamil Hasan
William Quay Hays
Inola Henry
Lou Paulson
Christine Pelosi
John Perez
Crystal Strait
Norma Torres
Vernon Watkins

HILLARY CLINTON (30)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Sen. Barbara Boxer
Rep. Joe Baca
Rep. Jane Harman
Rep. Doris Matsui
Rep. Grace Napolitano
Rep. Laura Richardson
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard
Rep. Loretta Sanchez
Rep. Brad Sherman
Rep. Hilda Solis
Rep. Jackie Speier
Rep. Ellen Tauscher
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep. Diane Watson
Rep. Lynn Woolsey
Carolyn Doggett
Dario Frommer
Hon. Maria Echaveste
Aleita Huguenin
Alice Huffman
Charles Manatt
Mona Pasquil
Dora Rubio
Mirian Saez
Garry Shay
Christopher Stampolis
Keith Umemoto
Alicia Wang
Rosalind Wyman

UNCOMMITTED (7)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Rep. Mike Honda
Calif. Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres
State Sen. Carole Migden
Bob Mulholland
Robert Rankin
Steve Ybarra

Michael Coleman at CaliforniaCityFinance.com rounds up all the winners and losers in local taxes on the June 3 ballot.

On the education front, six of the 13 education parcel taxes passed with the necessary two-thirds vote. Coleman reports 27 of the 33 education bond measures appear to have passed though "several measures are too close too call pending final tallies."

Coleman compiled the results all the rest of the utility and parcel taxes on the ballot, as well.

Assemblyman Guy Houston went looking for a new job, forced from the Legislature after serving his three terms in the Assembly.

The San Ramon Republican considered running for Congress -- for the seat of Democratic freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney -- but the GOP establishment was behind former Assemblyman Dean Andal.

So Houston opted for local office, running for county supervisor.

But he didn't run for an open seat, instead opting to challenge incumbent Supervisor Mary Piepho, a former Houston aide whom he had encouraged to run for the board in the first place.

The race turned negative.

"It was difficult, to be honest with you," Piepho told the Contra Costa Times. "It started off as a very personal campaign, but I believe in my accomplishments I've attained on the board and I recognize there's a lot more to do."

Piepho got the best of Houston Tuesday, winning 53 percent of the vote to Houston's 45 percent.

• In Los Angeles, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas finished first in the race for county supervisor against City Councilman Bernard Parks.

But neither candidate finished with more than 50 percent of the vote, so the election will continue in a November runoff. Spending in the race already topped $5 million.

• Also heading to a runoff is the Sacramento mayoral race, where former NBA star Kevin Johnson finished ahead of two-term incumbent Heather Fargo, but shy of the 50 percent mark.

• In San Diego, Mayor Jerry Sanders avoided a runoff, gathering more than 50 percent of the vote against wealthy challenger Steve Francis.

• San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre heads to a fall runoff against former Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith.

• Also in the San Diego region, Duncan Hunter the son will replace Duncan Hunter the father in Congress. Duncan D. Hunter (the younger) won more than 72 percent of the vote.

• Debbie Poochigian, the wife of former Sen. Chuck Poochigian, won election to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in a contested race.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain issued a statement Tuesday saying he was happy Californians will vote on a ballot measure to ban gay marriage ban this November.

In a statement, the Arizona senator said California voters should decide who has the right to marry "rather than having that decision made by judicial fiat."

Gay marriage was a defining issue of the 2004 presidential campaign, as many states voted to outlaw same-sex unions. Some predict the issue -- thrust into the spotlight with the recent California Supreme Court decision -- could repeat as a conservative touchstone in 2008.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he is opposed to the California measure to define marriage in the state constitution as between a man and a woman.

Here's a collection of the results of selected competitive Senate primaries:

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES

Senate District 3
Winner: MARK LENO
Losers: Joe Nation and Carole Migden

Leno 43 percent
Nation 29. 3 percent
Migden 27.7 percent

Current member: Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco
District: San Francisco, Marin and portions of Sonoma County

This was one of the most heated primaries in the state. Termed-out Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, opted to challenge San Francisco Sen. Carole Migden's reelection bid, splitting the city's gay and lesbian population. Migden didn't do herself any favors in the campaign - from her record campaign finance fines to her bout of reckless driving in the East Bay. What's more, after Leno announced his challenge, former Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, jumped into the fray. Interest groups threw independent expenditure money at Nation's candidacy - business groups in favor and labor opposed - totaling $1 million. In the end, Leno is heading to the Senate.

Senate District 9:
Winner: LONI HANCOCK
Loser: Wilma Chan

Hancock 56.5 percent
Chan 43.5 percent

Current member: Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland
District: Alameda County

This was a classic term limits-era race pitting one termed-out member (former Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland) against a sitting representative (Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley). Perata, the Senate leader, originally dual-endorsed in the race, but went on to pull his backing of Chan. Then, in the waning days. the Chan campaign sent a mailer announcing Perata's backing again. His campaign team did not return a call for comment. Health care interests funded an independent expenditure campaign for Chan, the former chair of the Assembly Health Committee, and a coalition of Indian tribes paid for attack mailers against Hancock.

But the Berkeley Democrat and wife of Berkeley mayor Tom Bates cruised to a 13-point win.

Senate District 23:
Winner: FRAN PAVLEY
Loser: Lloyd Levine

Pavley 66.4 percent
Levine 33.6 percent

Current member: Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica
District: Portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties

While some have suggested term limits produced races pitting one underwhelming candidate against another, voters in this Santa Monica-area seat faced a choice between two members who made their mark during six years in the Assembly. Former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, was the author of two landmark environment bills during her tenure. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, sponsored so many well-publicized bills (spay and neutering for pets, recycling of plastic bags, banning incandescent light bulbs) it could be hard to keep track. Pavley went in with an advantage, having represented much more of the Senate seat than Levine during his Assembly years. She was also backed heavily by an independent expenditure campaign funded by EdVoice. Ultimately, Levine lost big to Pavley -- by a nearly two-to-one margin.

Senate District 25:
Winner: ROD WRIGHT
Losers: Mervyn Dymally, Donald Dear and Kevin Biggers

Wright 44 percent
Dymally 35.1 percent
Biggers 7 percent
Dear 13.9 percent

Current member: Sen. Ed Vincent, D-Los Angeles
District: Los Angeles County

To say this was a race between Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, and former Assemblyman Rod Wright doesn't quite do it justice. As in other campaigns, independent expenditures played a key role here, with a business-based coalition spending more than $1.2 million for Wright. Unions countered late for Dymally. The 82-year-old lawmaker is an institution in African American politics, particularly in South L.A., having served as lieutenant governor back in the 1970s and in Congress in the 1980s. Donald Dear and Kevin Biggers also ran in the Democratic primary. In the end, Wright, beat them all.

REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES

Senate District 29:
Winner: BOB HUFF
Loser: Dennis Mountjoy

Huff 68.4 percent
Mountjoy 31.6 percent

Current member: Sen. Bob Margett, R-Arcadia
District: Portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties

Former Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy banked on the power of the Mountjoy brand in this Southern California district that his father represented for two decades. "The Mountjoy name has been on the ballot for 30 years and is still good and strong. It stands for principle," he even declared at a candidate debate. Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, far outraised Mountjoy, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mountjoy lost big, with Huff collecting more than twice as many votes as his GOP opponent.

Senate District 33:
Winner: MIMI WALTERS
Loser: Harry Sidhu

Walters 73.6 percent
Sidhu 26. 4 percent

Current member: Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine
District: Orange County

This was one of the dirtiest campaigns of the election season. Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu aired attack ads and accused Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, of missing votes, taking pay raises and voting for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (every member supported his election with a voice vote). Walters countered with mailers and TV ads with grainy black-and-white images of Sidhu, accusing him of being soft on illegal immigration, a potent message in Orange County.

Then, weeks before the election, Sidhu announced he would end the negative campaigning. It didn't matter. Walters, who was backed by the incumbent and former Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman, won big, with nearly 75 percent of the vote.

Senate District 37:
Winner: JOHN BENOIT
Loser: Russ Bogh and David Peters

Benoit 56.4 percent
Bogh 32.4 percent
Peters 11.2 percent

Current member: Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert
District: Riverside County

In a campaign in which little separated the two Republicans, this race turned on character and personal attacks. Capitol Alert documented some of those barbs in April, and the mud never let up.

The race also drew large amounts of independent expenditure spending, particularly for a Republican primary. Eleven outside groups spent money in the race for a total of roughly $1 million. Benoit, who is currently in the Assembly, bested Bogh, who termed out in 2006, by a wide margin.

Here's a collection of the results of selected competitive Republican primaries in Assembly seats:

Assembly District 2

Winner: JIM NIELSEN
Losers: Charles Schaupp, Peter Stiglich and John Martinez

Nielsen 45. 1 percent
Schaupp 23.1 percent
Stiglich 18.7 percent
Martinez 13.1 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville
District: Siskiyou, Modoc, Shasta, Tehama, Glenn Colusa and portions of Butte, Sutter and Yolo counties

Former state Sen. Jim Nielsen, who served as Senate GOP leader in the 1980s, was the front-runner throughout this campaign. Though he was dogged by residency questions (he's a longtime Woodland resident, which is outside the district), he easily beat the three lesser-known challengers. It probably helped that he had the backing of nearly every Republican member of the Assembly.

Assembly District 3
Winner: DAN LOGUE
Loser: Sue Horne

Logue 54.3 percent
Horne 45.7 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico
District: Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Nevada Yuba and portions of Butte and Placer counties

This was a standard GOP primary. Each candidate raced to the right, trying to stake out the conservative position in the solidly Republican northeastern California district. Sue Horne, a Nevada County supervisor, competed against Dan Logue, a Yuba County supervisor. They listed "businesswoman" and "businessman" on their respective ballot titles, as well. The two county supes split the endorsements of both Sacramento lawmakers and local officials. Logue benefited from independent expenditures from both medical and business interests to the tune of roughly $200,000. Logue, who was endorsed by the National Tax Limitation Committee, won by 9 points.

Assembly District 10
Winner: JACK SIEGLOCK
Losers: Paul Hegyi and David Sander

Sieglock 43.1 percent
Hegyi 29.5 percent
Sander 27. 4 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi
District: Amador and portions of Sacramento and El Dorado counties

As Jim Sanders reported in The Bee, this race featured the "real conservative," the "committed conservative" and the "staunch fiscal conservative." Paul Hegyi, chief of staff to Assemblyman Van Tran, was the youngest candidate in this race. Both Hegyi and David Sander, a Rancho Cordova City Council member, hail from the Sacramento portion of the seat. That left Jack Sieglock, a former San Joaquin County supervisor, as the sole candidate from the rest of the district. Hegyi trailed both Sieglock and Sander in fundraising, but benefited from a $50,000 independent expenditure campaign from EdVoice. Sieglock took advantage of the district's geography to win by nearly 14 points in this three-way race.

Assembly District 15
Winner: ABRAM WILSON (100 percent reporting, but race still very close)
Losers: Robert Rao, Scott Kamena and Judy Lloyd

Wilson 30.6 percent (9,680 votes)
Rao 29.2 percent (9,231 votes)
Lloyd 22.7 percent
Kamena 17.5 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Guy Houston, R-San Ramon
District: Portions of Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties

When all the bills are tallied, this four-way race could prove the most expensive GOP primary of the season. All four candidates raised at least $200,000 (including personal loans).

But money doesn't always make the difference.

Abram Wilson, the mayor of San Ramon, ran as the only "experienced" elected official in the race, while Robert Rao ran touting his business background - and using his earnings in the private sector to fuel his campaign. Judy Lloyd, a Schwarzenegger appointee and businesswoman, raised $300,000 for the race, but finished second. Scott Kamena, an optometrist and son of the mayor of Livermore, outraised his opponents and benefited from a big independent expenditure from the state's optometric association topping $220,000.

Wilson, riding the strength of his name identification as an elected official, was outspent by all his rivals but appears to have won a narrow victory.

Assembly District 34
Winner: CONNIE CONWAY
Losers: Rebecca Maze, Bob Smith and Jon Zellhoefer

Conway 43. 1 percent
Smith 34.2 percent
Maze 18.7 percent
Zellhoefer 4 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia
District: Inyo and portions of San Bernardino, Kern and Tulare counties

Becky Maze, another assemblyman's wife turned Assembly candidate, entered this race in 2007. But the path for her was hardly clear in this sprawling inland district, one of the biggest in the state. Connie Conway, a Tulare County supervisor, Bob Smith, a retired sheriff's deputy, and Jon Zellhoefer, a member of the Southern Inyo Fire Protection District board, competed in this four-way contest. Maze finished a distant third behind Smith and Conway, who is heavily favored in the fall in this GOP-leaning district.

Assembly District 36
Winner: STEVE KNIGHT
Losers: James Ledford and Steve Fox

Knight 52.7 percent
Ledford 33.9 percent
Fox 13.4 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster
District: Portions of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties

This was yet another race featuring a relative of a current or former lawmaker. In this case, Palmdale City Councilman Steve Knight, son of the late Sen. William "Pete" Knight, R-Palmdale, campaigned against Palmdale Mayor James Ledford Jr. and Steve Fox, a member of the Antelope Valley Community College District board. The Knight family name proved a winner -- by a 19 point margin.

Assembly District 54
Winner: GABRIELLA HOLT
Loser: Michael A. Jackson

Holt 55.5 percent
Jackson 44.5 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach
District: Los Angeles County

After the perennially targeted seat held by Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, this left-leaning district is among the seats Republicans want to capture come November. They hope they've found the right candidate in Gabriella Holt, a registered nurse and former school board member in the Palos Verde Peninsula Unified School District. Her resumé features are sure to appeal to the district's majority Democrats. She dispatched Michael A. Jackson, an aerospace project manager, in the primary.

Assembly District 60
Winner: CURT HAGMAN
Loser: Larry Dick

Hagman 59.8 percent
Dick 40.2 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar
District: Portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties

The two Republicans in this oddly shaped district tried to out-conservative each other. Larry Dick, a water board member from Orange County, had the endorsements of almost the entire OC legislative delegation. Curt Hagman, the mayor of Chino Hills who owns a bail bonds business, touted the backing of much of the law enforcement community. Law-and-order types launched a $100,000-plus independent expenditure on Hagman's behalf. Both candidates amassed large warchests, but Hagman won handily.

Assembly District 64
Winner: BRIAN NESTANDE
Loser: Kelly McCarty

Nestande 67.8 percent
McCarty 32.2 percent

Current member: Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Palm Desert
District: Riverside County

Noticing a pattern? This was yet another Assembly Republican primary with a relative of a past lawmaker in the race (Brian Nestande, son of former Assemblyman Bruce Nestande). While there's no immediate obvious connection between these candidates and the John Benoit-Russ Bogh Senate slugfest, the campaigns often seemed to dovetail.

That's probably because Nestande's brother, Barry, was Benoit's campaign manager in these overlapping districts. Both Benoit and Nestande won big. This race, like the Benoit-Bogh matchup, turned negative. McCarty aired an attack TV ad criticizing Nestande for donating to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, among other transgressions.

Assembly District 71
Winner: JEFF MILLER
Loser: Neil Blais

Miller 57.7 percent
Blais 42.3 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange
District: Orange and Riverside counties

Yet another GOP primary with both candidates running to the right. Neil Blais, the mayor of Rancho Santa Margarita, grabbed the endorsement of incumbent Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, a conservative firebrand. Jeff Miller, the mayor of Corona, secured the backing of the conservative California Republican Assembly. Along the way, they lobbed accusations of book-cooking (on campaign reports) and no-showing (for debates), as Miller won a comfortable victory, nearly 58 to 42 percent.

Assembly District 73
Winner: DIANE HARKEY
Loser: Mark Patlan

Harkey 74.5 percent
Patlan 25.5 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel
District: Orange and San Diego counties

Diane Harkey, the mayor of Dana Point, broke out on the Sacramento political scene in 2006 with a strong challenge to then-Assemblyman Tom Harman's bid for Senate. She narrowly lost in a special election. But she did, more or less, clear the field for her 2008 Assembly run, with Mark Patlan, a local businessman, entering the race right before the filing deadline. She easily won the primary. With the strong GOP-registration advantage in the district, Harkey is expected to cruise through the November elections.

Here's a collection of the results of selected competitive Democratic primaries in Assembly seats:

Assembly District 8
Winner: MARIKO YAMADA
Loser: Christopher Cabaldon

Yamada 51.6 percent (17,009 votes)
Cabaldon 48.4 percent (15,961 votes)

Current member: Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis
District: Portions of Solano and Yolo counties

This race was a battle of independent expenditure titans. West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon was backed by a large IE from EdVoice, an education advocacy group he formerly served as president for, as well as an assortment of business groups including, the real estate industry and the apartment association. His opponent, Mariko Yamada, a Yolo County supervisor and social worker, was backed by labor interests, headed by the California Teachers Association, which had often found itself at odds with Cabaldon's EdVoice.

Yamada appears to have edged Cabaldon one of the closest primaries in the state.

Assembly District 10
Winner: ALYSON HUBER
Loser: Jim Cook

Huber 64.9 percent
Cook 35.1 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi
District: Amador and portions of Sacramento and El Dorado counties

In what Democrats hope is a tidal year, some party activists hope AD 10 could be within reach. In the primary, party leaders (and the California Democratic Party) backed Alyson Huber, an attorney, over 2006 nominee, Jim Cook, a parole agent. Neither candidate raised significant sums for the race, which Huber won easily.

Assembly District 14
Winner: NANCY SKINNER
Losers: Tony Thurmond, Kriss Worthington, and Phil Polakoff

Skinner 46.8 pecent
Thurmond 24.5 percent
Worthington 16.4 percent
Polakoff 12.3 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley
District: Portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties

This was the rare four-way primary with all the candidates competing. Three of the candidates hailed from Berkeley. Phil Polakoff, a physician, entered the race as a would-be "citizen legislator" and invested some of his own money in the campaign. Kriss Worthington, a Berkeley City Council member, ran a liberal campaign. So did Nancy Skinner, a former Berkeley Council member. Tony Thurmond, who serves on the Richmond City Council, was the only non-Berkeley candidate. Skinner beat them all by a wide margin, pulling in more than 46 percent of the vote. She's expected to cruise in the general election.

Assembly District 15
Winner: JOAN BUCHANAN
Loser: Ted Ford

Buchanan 66.6 percent
Ford 33.4 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Guy Houston, R-San Ramon
District: Portions of Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties

At one point in 2007, this Democratic primary looked like it might have as many as seven candidates. But, one by one, the formidable would-be Democrats dropped out, leaving Buchanan, an 18-year veteran of the San Ramon Valley School Board, running against political novice Ted Ford. Buchanan easily won and conserved most of her campaign treasury in what is considered the number three Republican-held target seat for Democrats come November.

Assembly District 19
Winner: JERRY HILL (100 percent of precincts reporting, but race remains very close)
Losers: Gina Papan and Richard Holober

Hill 36.9 percent (11,038 votes)
Papan 35.8 percent (10,726 votes)
Holober 27.3 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco
District: San Mateo County

Republicans don't win election in the Bay Area all too often. So a few years back Jerry Hill, a San Mateo County Supervisor, switched registration to become a Democrat. Hill faced off against Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California and a member of the San Mateo County Community College District board, and Gina Papan, the mayor of Millbrae and daughter of the late former Assemblyman Lou Papan, both of whom took Hill to task for the registration switch.

Outside interests took a lot of interest in this race - spending well past three-quarters of a million dollars in the Peninsula district, most of it either for or against Papan. Hill appears to have squeaked out a narrow victory.

Assembly District 22
Winner: PAUL FONG
Losers: Dominic Caserta, Anna Song and Kris Wang

Fong 35.7 percent
Caserta 30 percent
Wang 17.4 percent
Song 16.9 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View
District: Santa Clara County

This was another crowded Democratic primary. The race featured three candidates of Asian descent: Anna Song, a member of the Sana Clara County Board of Education, Paul Fong, a trustee of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, and Kris Wang, a Cupertino City Council member. Fong received the always-valuable official backing of the California Democratic Party. The fourth candidate, Dominic Caserta, was once a Republican and is currently a Santa Clara City Council member. The party-backed Fong went on to a five-point victory.

Assembly District 27
Winner: BILL MONNING
Losers: Emily Reilly, Barbara Sprenger and Stephen Barkalow

Monning 51 percent
Reilly 23.9 percent
Sprenger 21.5 percent
Barkalow 3.6 percent

Current member: Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz
District: Portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties

This was a four-way race to replace termed-out Assemblyman John Laird. The three leading contenders were Emily Reilly, a Santa Cruz City Council member, Bill Monning, a lawyer, and Barbara Sprenger, a small business owner and former trustee of the San Lorenzo Valley School Board. The fourth candidate was Stephen Barkalow, a chiropractor.

The competitive Democratic primary was notable for how little independent expenditure spending it drew: roughly $25,000 as of the weekend before the election.

Monning first ran for the Assembly 14 years ago, losing to Bruce McPherson in the general election. He'll get a second chance after wiping out the competition in the primary.

Assembly District 40
Winner: BOB BLUMENFIELD
Losers: Stuart Waldman, Laurette Healey and Dan McCrory

Blumenfield 52.4 percent
Waldman 21 percent
Healey 20.6 percent
McCrory 5 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys
District: Los Angeles County

There was no love lost in this campaign between Stuart Waldman and Bob Blumenfield. Waldman, the former chief of staff to Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, ran to replace his old boss. But Levine, running for state Senate, endorsed Blumenfield, a top aide to area Rep. Howard Berman. Berman, in turn, backed Levine in his Senate race.

Waldman accused Blumenfield's former boss and father of illegally coordinating an independent expenditure campaign. Meanwhile, Waldman benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent spending from a business coalition. Laurette Healey, a former assistant state controller endorsed by local state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, tried to stay above fray. Dan McCrory also ran in this race as a Democrat.

Blumenfield won a huge 32-point victory.

Assembly District 46
Winner: JOHN PEREZ
Losers: Michael Aldapa, Arturo Chavez and Ricardo Lara

Perez 54.5 percent
Chavez 16.9 percent
Lara 14.5 percent
Aldapa 14.1 percent

Current member: Former Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles
District: Los Angeles County

Calling this a "competitive" primary would be overstating this race. A few months back, it looked to be one of the more intriguing June races, with John Perez, the cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, taking on top aides to Sen. Gil Cedillo (Arturo Chavez) and then-Speaker Fabian Núñez (Ricardo Lara). But the Latino slugfest was averted when the leaders apparently came to some type of backroom agreement, with Lara and Chavez dropping out in favor of Perez. Lara soon was appointed by Villaraigosa to the city's influential Planning Commission.

Assembly District 52
Winner: ISADORE HALL
Losers: Linda Harris-Forster, Deborah Leblanc and Diane Martinez

Hall 56.9 percent
Harris-Forster 24.7 percent
Martinez 15.4 percent
Leblanc 3 percent

Current member: Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton
District: Los Angeles County

Isadore Hall, a Compton City Council member, benefited from large independent spending in this race - more than a half-million dollars touting his credentials in this South L.A. seat. But one of his opponents was Linda Harris-Forster, the daughter of legendry South Central activist "Sweet" Alice Harris, who had the official backing of the California Democratic Party and Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Also in the race was Paramount businesswoman Deborah LeBlanc and Diane Martinez, the vice Mayor of Paramount, who ran unsuccessfully against Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally six years ago.

Hall, who had the endorsement of Dymally, won huge -- with nearly 57 percent of the vote.

Assembly District 54
Winner: BONNIE LOWENTHAL
Loser: Tonia Reyes-Uranga

Lowenthal 68.3 percent
Reyes-Urgana 31.7 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach
District: Los Angeles County

Legislative wives didn't fare well in the 2006 primaries (See Laura Canciamilla and Renee Chavez), but Bonnie Lowenthal, the ex-wife of Sen. Alan Lowenthal, tried to change that.

She succeeded.

The vice mayor of Long Beach, Lowenthal ran with the official backing of the California Democratic Party. She faced off against fellow Long Beach council member Tonia Reyes-Uranga, who also serves on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board. Lowenthal collected more than two votes for every vote her opponent received.

Assembly District 61
Winner: NORMA TORRES
Losers: Maurice Ayala, Paul Avila and Ken White

Torres 46.9 percent
White 25.7 percent
Avila 17.9 percent
Ayala 9.5 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Nell Soto, D-Pomona
District: Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties

This seat opened up late in the election cycle, as Assemblywoman Nell Soto, who has been sick and missed most legislative work in Sacramento since her election in 2006, announced her retirement. Norma Torres, the mayor of Pomona, quickly jumped into the race. So did Maurice Ayala, the son of longtime state Sen. Ruben Ayala. Paul Avila, a Ontario-Montclair school board member, and Ken White, a college instructor, also competed. Torres, with the backing of the Democratic Party and most party officials, won handily.

Assembly District 78
Winner: MARTY BLOCK (100 percent of precincts reporting, but race remains very close)
Losers: Auday Arabo, Arlie Ricasa and Maxine Sherard

Block 36.3 percent (9,585 votes)
Sherard 34.8 percent (9,188 votes)
Arabo 15.6 percent
Ricasa 13.3 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, R-San Diego
District: San Diego County

This primary campaign has major implications beyond the June vote. The 78th Assembly District is atop the Democratic Party's list of potential pickups in November, as Republican Assemblywoman Shirley Horton terms out in this Democratic-plurality seat.

Horton's 2006 opponent, Maxine Sherard, benefited from Sacramento-directed spending in her 2006 bid against Horton, but had to find her own way in this year's primary. She race against three other strong candidates, Marty Block, the president of the San Diego Community College District board, Auday Arabo, who was president of the state's convenience store association, and Arlie Ricasa (who ran in 2004), a member of the Sweetwater Union High School District Board of Trustees.

Block, with all precincts in, holds a narrow 400-vote lead over Sherard.

Assembly District 80
Winner: MANUEL PEREZ
Losers: Greg Pettis, Rick Gonzales and Richard Gutierrez

Perez 35.5 percent
Pettis 26.3 percent
Gonzales 25.4 percent
Gutierrez 12.8 percent

Current member: Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City
District: San Bernardino and Imperial counties

Like the 78th district, this primary has implications for November, with Democrats planning to mount a full charge to grab the seat GOP Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia has held for six years.

Greg Pettis, an openly gay Cathedral City Council member, had the backing of California's LGBT community. Even Mass. Rep. Barney Frank traveled out West to raise money for Pettis. But organized labor unions campaigned hard against Pettis and for Manuel Perez, a local school board member. Independent expenditures from Opportunity PAC, a union group, topped $550,000, attacking Pettis and promoting Perez. The third candidate in the race, Rick Gonzales, an investment banker at Wells Fargo, received a $50,000 independent boost from a shipping association. Richard Gutierrez, an orthodontist, also ran as a Democrat.

Perez, on the strength of labor's support, won with 35 percent of the vote.

A roundup of some of the interesting races across the state that aren't for the state Legislature or Congress

• In Los Angeles, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas is running for county supervisor against City Councilman Bernard Parks. Spending in the race will top $5 million as the two African American Democrats are slugging it out.

In many ways, the race is a test of the clout of organized labor in the Southland, where union groups have named Ridley-Thomas' election the top priority in June.

Whoever wins, they repercussions will likely reach Sacramento. If Ridley-Thomas is victorious, there will be a special election for his Senate seat. If Parks wins, there will be the rare open seat on the L.A. city council, a desire for many state lawmakers.

• Here in Sacramento, there is the mayoral race between two-term incumbent Heather Fargo and homegrown NBA all-star turned politician Kevin Johnson.

• In Contra Costa County, Assemblyman Guy Houston, R-San Ramon, is running for county supervisor.

What's of note is who he is running against: his own former aide, incumbent Supervisor Mary Piepho.

• In San Diego, Mayor Jerry Sanders is fighting for his political life against the same opponent he beat in the last election.

But wealthy businessman Steve Francis is spending even more this year -- $4.65 million -- double his spending in 2005, according to the Union-Tribune.

• Also in San Diego, City Attorney Michael Aguirre faces stiff competition in his reelection bid from four challengers: former Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith, City Council President Scott Peters, City Council member Brian Maienschein and attorney Amy Lepine.

Polls predict a runoff in November.

• In the Central Valley, Debbie Poochigian, the wife for former state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, is looking to start her own political career. She is running for Fresno County Supervisor against Clovis City Council member Nathan Magsig,

Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified four more measures for the fall ballot late Monday: the initiative to ban gay marriage, a measure to increase gang penalties and public safety funding, a measure to relax penalties for nonviolent drug offenses and a measure to require utility companies meet new renewable energy standards.

Those four join four others that had been previously certified: a measure to improve treatment of farm animals, a children's hospital bond, a high-speed rail bond and the third parental-notification for abortion measure in four years.

There could be more to come. The Schwarzenegger-backed redistricting plan has yet to be certified, though proponents announced gathering more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The titles and summaries of the latest certified initiatives are below. (You can find the full text of the measures on the secretary of state's page.)

LIMIT ON MARRIAGE. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Amends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: The measure would have no fiscal effect on state or local governments. This is because there would be no change to the manner in which marriages are currently recognized by the state. (Initiative 07-0068.)

RENEWABLE ENERGY. STATUTE. Requires all utilities, including government-owned utilities, to generate 20% of their power from renewable energy by 2010, a standard currently applicable only to private electrical corporations. Raises requirement for all utilities to 40% by 2020 and 50% by 2025. Imposes penalties for noncompliance. Fast-tracks approval for new renewable energy plants. Requires utilities to sign longer contracts (20 year minimum) to procure renewable energy. Creates Solar and Clean Energy Transmission Account to purchase property or rights of way for renewable energy. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State administrative costs of up to $3.4 million annually for the regulatory activities of the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission, paid for by fee revenues. Potential, unknown increased costs and reduced revenues, particularly in the short term, to state and local governments resulting from the measure's potential to increase retail electricity rates, with possible offsetting cost savings and revenue increases, to an unknown degree, over the long term to the extent the measure hastens renewable energy development. (Initiative 07-0066.)

CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND LAWS. PUBLIC SAFETY FUNDING. STATUTE. Requires new state spending on various programs to combat crime and gangs, and to operate prison and parole systems. Increases penalties for several crimes, including violating gang injunctions, using or possessing to sell methamphetamine, or carrying loaded or concealed firearms by certain felons. Eliminates bail for illegal immigrants charged with violent or gang-related felonies, establishes crime for removing or disabling a monitoring device affixed as part of a criminal sentence, and changes evidence rules to allow use of certain hearsay statements as evidence when witnesses are unavailable. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net state costs likely to exceed a half billion dollars annually primarily for increased funding of criminal justice programs, as well as for increased costs for prison and parole operations. Unknown one-time state capital outlay costs potentially exceeding a half billion dollars for prison facilities. Unknown net fiscal impact for state trial courts, county jails, and other local criminal justice agencies. (Initiative 07-0094.)

NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS, SENTENCING, PAROLE AND REHABILITATION. STATUTE. Requires State to expand and increase funding and oversight for individualized treatment and rehabilitation programs for nonviolent drug offenders and parolees. Reduces criminal consequences of nonviolent drug offenses by mandating three-tiered probation with treatment and by providing for case dismissal and/or sealing of records after probation. Limits court's authority to incarcerate offenders who violate probation or parole. Shortens parole for most drug offenses, including sales, and for nonviolent property crimes. Creates numerous divisions, boards, commissions, and reporting requirements regarding drug treatment and rehabilitation. Changes certain marijuana misdemeanors to infractions. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased state costs that could exceed $1 billion annually primarily for expanding drug treatment and rehabilitation programs for offenders in state prisons, on parole, and in the community. Savings to the state that could exceed $1 billion annually due primarily to reduced prison and parole operating costs. Net savings on a one-time basis on capital outlay costs for prison facilities that could exceed $2.5 billion. Unknown net fiscal effect on expenditures for county operations and capital outlay. (Initiative 07-0081.)

Federal court officials have released a proposed draft settlement in the state prison system's overcrowding cases. Neither side has agreed to its contents, but it can be reviewed here.

If the nastiest TV ads of the year are to be believed, California candidates for office are child molester-aiding, narcoleptic, greedy, self-serving politicians bent on helping illegal immigrants and not American troops abroad.

They're not fit for the Legislature or Congress, either.

The most common theme in the ads is politicians fattening themselves at public expense. The concept appears in no less than five of our top 10 attack ads.

Voters, in survey after survey, say they hate negative ads. But, in election after election, results show they work.

"No one likes negative ads," said Tim Clark, a Republican strategist involved in multiple primary campaigns this year. "No likes the idea of having a car accident either, but everybody slows down to see it. It has an impact."

While such ads have the potential to incite public backlash, many of the toughest ads are aired by independent expenditure campaigns, which have no direct ties to the candidates in the race.

By no means are we endorsing the accuracy or fairness of the content in any of the ads. Without further ado, here's the list.

1. Meryvn Dymally
Modeled after a Jeopardy segment, this ad attacks Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally in his bid for state Senate.

"He supports shortening prison sentences for convicted crack cocaine dealers," is the answer. "Who is Mervyn Dymally" is the question.

The ad was paid for by the Alliance for California's Tomorrow, a business-backed independent expenditure campaign.

2. Jeff Denham
This ad aired in the Central Valley, an early TV gambit in the since-abandoned bid to recall Sen. Jeff Denham.

"If the new ads are to be believed, Sen. Jeff Denham is a narcoleptic, massage-loving gambler who's hurting schools and taking secret pay raises on the job," is how The Bee's Amy Chance described this ad.

3. Tom McClintock
In his bid for Congress, Sen. Tom McClintock has weathered a blizzard of negative TV commercials courtesy of his GOP opponent, former Rep. Doug Ose.

In an AdWatch, The Bee's David Whitney said the ad "accuses McClintock of wrongly accepting tax-free living expenses while voting against the interests of soldiers defending the country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Message: Veterans are having a hard time while hypocrite McClintock is living large."

This ad is not on YouTube, but you can watch it here. It is the fourth ad down (the one with images of soldiers).

4. John Benoit
This ad goes after Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Palm Desert, who is running for state Senate against former Assemblyman Russ Bogh.

It accuses Benoit of playing softball and collecting his Assembly salary all while suing California for permanent disability. A political nonprofit called Desert Taxpayers for Truth paid for the ad:

5. Isadore Hall
Not the most professional-looking spot, this ad attacks Democratic Assembly candidate Isadore Hall, a Compton City Council member, trying to tie him to his brother's child molestation conviction.

"How can we trust him to protect our children?" the ad asks.

It was paid for by an Independent expenditure committee called California Voters against Corrupt Politicians, according to the disclaimer at the end of the ad. But there has been no reported spending on the ad, according to campaign filings with the secretary of state's office.

8. Mark Leno
This late-airing ad attacking Senate candidate Mark Leno drew the ire of the California Teachers Association, which has endorsed the San Francisco assemblyman.

Leno, who is in a three-way race against Sen. Carole Migden and former Assemblyman Joe Nation, is blasted for voting to cut money to education.

"Cutting the schools' money was the best deal we could get and I didn't lose my committee chairmanship," the ad quotes Leno as saying. It was paid for by an independent expenditure committee funded by the San Francisco Police Officers Association and another committee funded largely by PG&E.

7. Harry Sidhu
"Wrong on illegal immigration. Wrong for Senate." concludes this ad, which blasts Anaheim City Council member Harry Sidhu.

The spot, paid for by Assemblywoman Mimi Walters' campaign, features grainy black and white photos of Sidhu looking menacing.

8. Mimi Walters
The Mimi Walters vs. Harry Sidhu Senate contest is the only race on this list with ads aired against both candidates.

Sidhu fired the first on-air shot, accusing Walters of missing votes in the Assembly, "taking a big pay raise" and voting for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.

9. Mariko Yamada
Like many of the other attack ads, this one was paid for by an independent expenditure campaign, funded by EdVoice. The ad basically takes Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada to task for accepting pay raises and then tries to link her with every imaginable problem in California, from budget cuts to health care access to high gas prices.

10. Brian Nestande
This ad criticizes Republican Assembly candidate Brian Nestande, who is running in the Inland Empire against Kelly McCarty, who paid for the TV spot. The ad attacks Nestande on a number of fronts, from his past donating to Democrats to unpaid tax bills.

A couple of Capitol observers have pointed out that Republican state Senate candidate Harry Sidhu is following in the footsteps of Sen. Tom McClintock in making the case that cheapness is a political asset.

Sidhu sent out of a mailer last week announcing, "I'm just like you but, maybe a little cheaper."

Turns out, McClintock, in a failed bid for state controller way back in 1994, ran on a similar message.

"He's just like you. Only cheaper," blared McClintock posters that touting his wife-provided haircuts, reversible belt, re-soled shoes and $3.99 tie from the 1970s ("back in style any day now").

Below are images of the Sidhu mailer and the McClintock poster (apologies for the poor quality on the McClintock piece).

For those of you waiting for a kiss-and-tell insider account of the Schwarzenegger years in the Capitol, don't pin your hopes on it coming from Rob Stutzman.

The former communications director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote an indictment of former presidential press secretary Scott McClellan in the San Francisco Chronicle for his new book.

McClellan's tell-all about his time in President Bush's White House has been the talk political class since its release last week.

Stutzman takes on McClellan and his book as a failure of the public trust, writing that "a president must be able to rely upon the confidence to interact with his or her senior staff in candid and intimate ways."

"I've never served a president, but I've served high-level elected officials in a similar capacity to McClellan's and understand the nature of his job and the nature of the inner workings of executive offices of government," wrote Stutzman."To serve in such a capacity is a privilege, and though not commonly thought highly of by the public, "political hacks" such as myself still view the opportunity to serve a president, governor or other elected official as a performance of public service."

He continued: "McClellan's willingness to profit from his White House days by dishing on Bush while he is still in office is an act of self-indulgence that not only harms a sitting president but complicates the ability of future presidents to conduct their duties. And for that, McClellan should be ashamed."

While there's no planned statewide election in 2009, there will be an election in Los Angeles, where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will seek reelection. No candidate has stepped out to challenge the first-term mayor, but a couple of hopefuls dipped their toes into the mayoral waters this last week.

Firist, LA developer Rick Caruso (who's independently wealthy) told the Los Angeles Times' Tina Daunt, "I've been approached to run by a number of people. I'm considering it. We need some changes in the city and some strong leadership."

Then Bob Hertzberg, who ran unsuccessfully in 2005, told the Times he too was looking at the race (and a possible bid for city attorney). "I'm not ruling either one out," Hertzberg said.