Capitol Alert

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation today to exempt a planned 75,000 seat professional football stadium in Southern California from environmental review, he called it a significant step to improve the economy.

"This is the best kind of action state government can create - action that cuts red tape, generates jobs, is environmentally friendly and brings a continued economic boost to California," said Schwarzenegger said as he signed the measure in the City of Industry, surrounded by local political, business and labor figures. "This legislation allows us to move forward with the construction of the nation's greenest football stadium and create thousands of jobs."

But Schwarzenegger's action, sought by football stadium developer Ed Roski Jr., also had the unusual effect of uniting opponents on the left and right.

The Planning and Conservation League saw it as a foot-in-the-door weakening of environmental review laws. "With this measure, the governor and both houses of the legislature have suggested - for the first time - that they will interfere with active court cases, and deny citizens' groups their due process rights, if developers have enough money to hire lobbyists," PCL said. "Though this legislation sets a dangerous example, it cannot become a precedent. Developers must not be allowed to purchase CEQA exemptions and sidestep laws that exist to protect every Californian."

But state Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, was no less critical, albeit for different reasons. "The governor should not have signed this bill into law," Cox said. "This measure was fast-tracked for passage, ignoring all current rules to protect citizens' rights of public participation and transparency in the lawmaking process. The Senate did not hold a single public hearing on this proposal and the Assembly held one hearing in an obscure committee - the Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media."

The measure, heavily lobbied by Roski and the City of Industry, was initially stalled in the Senate by its top leader, Darrell Steinberg, but he agreed to allow a vote after efforts to negotiate a compromise on environmental lawsuits failed.

A bill signed into law Wednesday not only restores $16.3 million this year in state funding to 94 domestic violence shelters throughout California -- it's sparked dueling accounts of how the situation arose.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the bill, offered his version of how funding for a service that has bipartisan support ended up slashed and then restored.

And Sen. Leland Yee, the San Francisco Democrat who first introduced the bill to restore funding, has his version. The governor gutted the funding in July with a line-item veto.

The governor proposed reducing or axing funding for domestic violence in his May revised general fund proposal. (Check out item 38 on page 5.) But the Legislature didn't go along with it.

The governor's Tuesday press release says the Legislature forced him to cut the money because lawmakers passed a budget that failed to close a $1 billion gap.

Yee's release says he's pleased the governor signed the bill restoring funds, but remains "dismayed" the governor cut the money in the first place.

The shelters' money will come from a one-time loan, with interest, from the state's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund. It's to be repaid by June 30, 2013.

Back in special session, the state Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would restore $16.3 million in funding to 94 domestic violence shelters throughout California.

Republican senators held up the bill during the Legislature's final session last month because they were peeved some proposals they wanted had not been fulfilled.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut the funding as a line-item budget veto, arguing that the Legislature had not cut enough overall.

The bill that restores funding goes to the governor for his signature. The bill transfers money from the Renewable Fuel and Technology Fund to the General Fund as a loan.

Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, was the bill's original author. His name was removed during the end of the session, though, after he generated some ill will among fellow Democrats for not voting for budget cuts his colleagues felt they were forced to approve.

Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, is listed as the author now.

On the floor, Yee, said he was just glad the bill was passed. But he got in a dig by arguing for the Legislature to allow for "diversity" of opinion. "We're not in the Stone Age," he said. "We don't beat people down."

Rex Babin is the political cartoonist for The Bee. You can see a collection of his work here.

Earlier this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seized on a measure to end the practice of docking cow tails as an example of frivolous laws being considered by legislators in the height of a budget crisis.

He slammed spending time debating the measure as "inexcusable" during apress conference and ridiculed it on his always buzzing Twitter feed.

But while the bill, SB 135, wasn't considered worthy of debate a few months ago, it was deemed worthy of the "animal lover" governor's signature in the final hours of the bill signing period.

Another bill that went from the butt of the governor's jokes to law last night?

AB 606, a measure creating a California Blueberry Commission to study the booming berry industry.

In a meeting with The Bee editorial board in June, Schwarzenegger suggested that perhaps the constraints of a part-time legislative calendar could press lawmakers to focus on serious work instead of "creating a blueberry commission and all those kind of things."

And in a July 8 press conference, the governor seemed blue in the face over the blueberry bill, the cow tail measure and a third bill to create requirements for labeling honey, which he also signed into law last night.

"Well, it's obviously very sad that we are in the biggest financial crisis and we are way overdue to get the budget done and we face a $26 billion deficit and I ask over and over and over the legislators upstairs to just focus on the budget and here they are, they're debating over the definition of honey. And a week ago they debated over cow tails and, a few weeks before that, they debated over should we have a Blueberry Commission in the state of California and all those kinds of things," he said at the time.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear pointed out that the criticisms came in the midst of the budget negotiations -- when the "the Legislature should focus on the budget above all else."

"At the time he wanted them to focus on the budget, he thought that the budget was the most important issue," he said. "Obviously, the budget is done, and he believes these bills are worth signing."

Unsurprisingly, the governor's decision to sign two gay-rights measures elicited strong reactions from groups on both sides of the issue.

In the final hours of the bill signing period, the governor signed a bill to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and a measure that designates May 22 a day to honor the slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk.

Geoff Kors, executive director of the gay-rights group Equality California, commended the governor for signing the "critical and groundbreaking measures into law and rising above partisan politics to improve the lives of LGBT Californians."

"Californians will now learn about Harvey's amazing contributions to the advancement of civil rights for decades to come," Kors said in a statement. "He is a role model to millions, and this legislation will help ensure his legacy lives on forever."

Kors also applauded the marriage recognition bill for providing "much needed protections for same-sex couples who have, or will in the future, legally marry out of state and who deserve to be treated like any other married couple."

Randy Thomasson, president of the conservative coalition Save California released a statement characterizing Milk as a "public liar" and sexual predator who was in "no way a good role model for impressionable schoolchildren."

Thomasson slammed the move to commemorate Harvey Milk Day at California schools as "more in-your-face, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination" for public schoolchildren.

Thomasson also voiced concerns about the type of activities that could constitute commemorative activities aimed at teaching about Milk's life.

The governor had vetoed an identical measure to the Milk bill last year, saying the former San Francisco supervisor should be recognized on a local level.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said increased recognition of Milk's accomplishments, including a posthumous Medal of Freedom from President Obama, prompted the governor to sign the bill.

"The governor believes Harvey Milk has come to symbolize the gay community in California, and he wanted to honor the importance of and contributions of the gay community in California," McLear said.

Photo: Harvey Milk in an undated file photo.

Feeling well rested and ready to start the week after a weekend of watching for a water deal and waiting anxiously to see how your favorite bills emerged from the governor's desk?

We didn't think so.

As expected, the water talks droned on throughout the weekend and more than 700 bills got dealt with by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the final hours leading up to his midnight deadline for acting on end-of-session legislation.

Despite a weekend-long marathon of negotiations, the clock ticked closer to 12 with no deal in sight before the midnight end of the bill signing period. At about 9:30 p.m., Schwarzenegger pulled back from his threat to veto legislation unrelated to water unless leaders "get the job done," saying enough progress was made to a special session on the issue.

"Over the past few days we have made enough progress in our negotiations that I am calling a special session on water. While we still have a few remaining issues to work out, I commend the legislative leaders for their focus and commitment to solving this crisis and I will weigh all the bills on their merits," he said in a statement.

Jim Sanders has the scoop on what went down in today's Bee. Click here for a list of legislation that Schwarzenegger acted on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking of those vetoes (and the threats behind them), Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico has plans to introduce a bill today that would define the governor's threat to veto "a lot" of bills if a water deal wasn't sealed -- and similar actions by legislators -- as extortion.

Torrico wasn't amused by Attorney General Jerry Brown's "doilies and tea" response to requests to weigh in on whether the threats could be considered criminal, so he decided to take clarifying the law into his own hands.

Good luck finding a governor to sign that bill.

It's a good thing Capitol denizens can take the Columbus Day holiday as a brief respite to help lower their blood pressure after a weekend of waiting, watching and nail biting.

Oh wait, they can't.

The annual paid day off was axed for state workers as part of the February budget fix, and the Legislature altered its holiday schedule so it would be in line with the state workers' calendar.

The lost holiday has ignited a showdown between SEIU Local 1000 and the administration, with the union urging members to skip work and take the day as a paid holiday. As The State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz wrote last week, whether members go to work will be a test of how much power the union holds.

As for what's on tap today: the Senate Revenue and Taxation committee is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. for an informational hearing on the tax commission's recommendations.

Have two cents (or more) on the matter?

What should be done to fix California's tax system is up for debate at the SacBee.com reader forum. Click here to join in on the debate, which is moderated by The Bee's Daniel Weintraub.

Update 9:33 a.m.: Here is the fourth and final list of bills signed and vetoed by the governor last night.

Update: Click here to see a list of the third round of action.

Update 8:35 p.m.: Schwarzenegger's office says the governor has signed 79 more bills and vetoed another 89, leaving the fate of more than 300 bills in the balance as leaders resume water talks. Click here for a list of the bills he signed and vetoed.

As legislative leaders continue talks on a package of water bills, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office released word of the fate of 183 bills.

The governor, who threatened to veto "a lot" of bills if leaders can't strike a water deal, has until midnight to act on the more than 500 bills remaining on his desk.

See the governor's office's list of the 89 bills he signed and the 94 bills struck down with the veto pen after the jump.

Attorney General Jerry Brown sent a letter to lawmakers today saying he won't look into the legality of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's threat to veto legislation unless a water deal is reached.

In the letter, addressed to two lawmakers who had requested separate opinions on the legality of mass veto threats, Brown states that the state constitution protects the governor's right to decide whether to veto legislation as "an intrinsic part of the legislative process."

"We believe that the doctrine of separation-of-powers counsels against our inquiring into the legality of Governor Schwarzenegger's veto threats," Brown wrote.

The letter goes on to quote former German President Otto von Bismark's famed quip on the political process -- "There are two things you don't want to see being made -- sausage and legislation" -- and a line describing the withholding of bills as "a game of legislative 'chicken," before delivering a closing message to lawmakers ruffled by the governor's tactics:

"Compromise in the rough-and-tumble legislative process is not achieved by doilies and tea."

Updated at 1:16 p.m.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today affirmed a looming threat to veto a large bulk of the bills that have been sent to his desk unless lawmakers can strike a deal on a package of water bills.

"I made it very clear to the legislators and to the leaders that if this does not get done then I will veto a lot of their legislation, a lot of their bills, so that should inspire them to go and get the job done," he said at the end of remarks to the Association of Community College Trustees' Leadership Congress, which is meeting in San Francisco today.

Legislative leaders are scheduled to meet with the governor at 11:30 today to continue to work toward a self-imposed Friday deadline for reaching an agreement on the bills. Schwarzenegger, who has until Sunday to act on more than 700 bills that were sent to his desk at the end of the session, has been withholding action on the bills during the ongoing water talks.

The Bee's Matt Weiser has more on the bills and what is at stake in the negotiations here.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders met in the governor's office for about two and a half hours Wednesday to hash out a water deal, but they said several outstanding issues remain, including the size and characteristics of a multibillion-dollar bond.

They plan to meet again Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Leaders have set Friday as a goal for producing some semblance of an agreement as the governor continues to withhold action on 703 bills that face a Sunday deadline. They said they did not discuss the bill situation Wednesday.

Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, said leaders were focusing on a bond smaller than the $12 billion one previously discussed. He said Republicans are looking at one between $8 billion to $10 billion.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said the size of the bond remains a concern after the state went through a historic budget crisis. He said leaders are discussing how much of the bonds should be paid for by all taxpayers as opposed to water users, as well as conservation requirements and environmental concerns.

On a side note, Hollingsworth met earlier Wednesday with Steinberg in the pro tem's office to ease tensions after the two feuded during Tuesday's "Big Five" meeting.

Egos are clashing in the Capitol during this final week of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bill-signing period.

The Republican governor has signed only three of the 706 bills that lawmakers sent him last month as he still demands a water deal from the Legislature. After a "Big Five" meeting today, leaders said they now see Friday as the latest deadline to reach a water accord, and it is likely that Schwarzenegger will wait until this weekend to act on the remaining bills.

The governor is trying to use what leverage he has -- his signature -- as a means to keep water talks alive.

"We'll consider all the bills on their merits, but right now we're focused on pushing the Legislature toward an agreement on water," said Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear.

"Merit" is a vague enough word that could still translate into a blanket veto. Schwarzenegger set precedent last year by rejecting 35 percent of the bills on his desk and using a boilerplate message for 136 of his 415 vetoes blaming the state's budget delay rather than any specifics of the proposals. In September, the governor vetoed a bill and threatened to do the same to 72 others in an attempt to force lawmakers to act on prisons, renewable energy and water.

Majority Democrats in both houses, who have authored most of the bills on Schwarzenegger's desk, are grumbling over the governor's tactics. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, acknowledged today that Schwarzenegger previously broached the idea of having the Legislature again withdraw its bills until a water deal is reached. But the governor has not made a direct request, and Steinberg dismissed the idea as a nonstarter and "silly."

In the Assembly, Democrats are employing tactics that seem designed to pressure the governor into signing bills. Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, sent a letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown asking him to investigate whether the governor's strategy is illegal. He cited a part of the state constitution that says it is a felony to seek to influence a legislative vote by means of "bribery, promise of reward, intimidation or other dishonest means."

"While politicians are certainly allowed to express their disagreements in any way they find productive, they are not allowed to refuse to perform their sworn duties in order to force the legislature to accept policy positions," Torrico wrote. "And public officials are specifically prohibited from the kind of direct 'horse trading' in which a government official agrees to take, or not take, a certain action in exchange for a specific vote."

Assembly sources said some Assembly Democrats even suggested on a conference call last week that the lower house should impeach the governor if he imposes a mass veto. The constitution says the Assembly has the "sole power of impeachment" and that it can pursue it on a majority vote for unspecified "misconduct in office." The Senate would then conduct a trial.

The idea seems to crop up every time lawmakers are frustrated with the governor, said Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco. It appears to be mostly talk for now.

"I know some members have mentioned the possibility of impeaching the governor," Torrico said, adding, "There's certainly a growing number of members who consider the governor's extortion tactics to be illegal and a dereliction of duty. But (impeachment) has not been discussed formally in the caucus as an option."

In a non-response response, McLear said, "We're not responding to rumors or political hype. We're focused on pushing the Legislature to close on water."

Meanwhile, an ongoing clash between Steinberg and Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth continued in today's "Big Five" meeting. Hollingsworth previously accused Steinberg of reneging on a deal to kill a free tax preparation program, tweak a tax change for businesses and make a GOP senator the lead author on a homebuyers' bill. Steinberg has contended he never committed to making those changes.

Tensions between the two leaders erupted again today, and Steinberg left the meeting early, sources said. They will return Wednesday to resume talks.

With 11 days left for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to act on end-of-session legislation sent to his desk, lawmakers, lobbyists and legislative staff are dying to learn the fates of their beloved bills.

Add one more name to the list of people anxious for answers: Oprah.

Or the editors at the media maven's namesake magazine, at least.

The queen of daytime television's mag is set to run a piece on faulty mammogram machines that includes mention of SB 148, a bill by Democratic Sen. Jenny Oropeza that would require operators of the breast cancer detection scans to post notices when the machines fail to meet certification standards.

The piece, budgeted for the mag's November issue, is scheduled to hit newsstands Oct. 13, smack in this middle of Breast Cancer Awareness month, which begins today.

But the deadline for putting the issue to bed was last Friday, leaving editors (and many of the magazine's 2.4 million readers) in the dark about whether the measure will be signed into law.

O editors corresponding with Oropeza's office to check the status of the bill said yesterday that they may be able to push back the deadline for sending that page to the presses until Friday, Oropeza spokesman Ray Sotero confirmed.

But the extension might not do much good for the publication; Schwarzenegger's office won't say what action the governor will take on the bill, or when.

Spokesman Mike Naple wrote in an e-mail that the governor is reviewing legislation sent to his desk has no formal position on the mammogram measure.

Jim Downing has a story in today's Bee about AB 856, which is intended to ensure the claims of organic fertilizer companies don't reek of fraud.

The bill, which would increase penalties for violating organic fertilizer standards, was passed by the Legislature and will be sent to the governor's desk.

Check out The Bee's investigation into issues in the organic fertilizer sector here.

It may have been a down year for the elderly, the infirm and state parks, but California's animal population fared pretty well in the just-recessed legislative session.

That's according to the Humane Society of the United States. The group pointed to bills sent to the governor that would:

* Curb "puppy mill" abuses.
* Increase penalties for dog fights
* Prevent animal abusers from owning pets in the future.
* Protect harbor seals at a beach in San Diego
* Increase fines for poaching (animals, not eggs).
* Ban the practice of "tail docking," which involves amputating cows' tails.

"We are pleased with these outcomes," said Jennifer Fearing, the society's senior California director. "These new additions to California's animal welfare laws reflect the value that our citizens place on humane treatment of pets and other animals and represent a great step forward for our state."

So, does all of this prove the state is going to the dogs?

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg wants to hold off on legislation that would waive California Environmental Quality Act requirements for a proposed NFL stadium in Southern California.

ABX3 81, a last-minute deal that would fast-track the project by granting an exemption to the requirements, passed the Assembly last night.

Steinberg told Senate colleagues today in a letter that he wants parties involved in litigation tying up the project to take another shot at negotiations before the Senate takes up the bill.

He called the stadium plan, which supporters say would create up to 18,000 jobs, is an important project, but wrote, "It has been my experience that negotiation -- not abrogation -- is the preferred method to concluding challenges and expediting the project's delivery."

He wrote that the Senate will take up the bill during special session if an agreement cannot be reached before the end of the month.

Read the letter after the jump.

Update: Lawmakers avoided a veto override by transferring the language of Cook's vetoed bill into another piece of legislation, AB 717, which passed in the final hours of the session. That bill will be sent to the governor's desk.

With time running out in today's end-of-session madness, it appears less likely that the Legislature will override Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a bill honoring Vietnam veterans.

The bill's author, Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, says that Senate Republicans won't agree to go along with the veto override, which requires two-thirds support in the Legislature.

Cook said he still has hope for a late-day override, but he's also pushing for Assembly Bill 717, a gut-and-amend bill that contains the same language as the vetoed Assembly Bill 264. Both bills would dedicate March 30 as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" and encourage schools to use that day to recognize the contributions of Vietnam veterans.

The Republican governor vetoed AB 264 on Tuesday after telling lawmakers he would kill any bill they did not withdraw because he felt they were ignoring priorities like water and his appointments. Cook, a Vietnam veteran and retired Marine Corps colonel, chose not to have his bill withdrawn, and Democrats openly dared Schwarzenegger to veto such a politically sensitive bill.

Schwarzenegger immediately did so. Overriding Schwarzenegger's veto would be an act of legislative defiance not seen since 1979. Cook said Democrats are on board, but sources said Republicans may be wary of pursuing an override against their own party's governor.

Cook, who met with Schwarzenegger on Thursday, said he has an assurance from the governor that he would sign AB 717 if it reaches his desk. Cook said it remains unclear what will happen.

"The bill is relatively straightforward from a policy standpoint, but the veto was tremendous in terms of sensitivity," Cook said. "It's a visceral symbol of being forgotten, of being disrespected or disregarded, if you will. In the last few days, it's become a symbol of political leverage that disgusts so many veterans."

Update: The governor made good on his threat last night, vetoing AB 264, a bill to create a day honoring Vietnam veterans that the Assembly sent back to his desk as a "dare." Read more from Kevin Yamamura here.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has demanded that both houses withdraw 73 bills awaiting action on his desk as an apparent bargaining chip in the final days of the session. He has threatened to veto any bills that he must act on by the end of business Wednesday.

Though an e-mail circulated to Senate chiefs of staff says the request is to provide the governor's office with more time to act on the bills, an e-mail sent to Assembly chiefs of staff and a statement by Schwarzenegger's communications director point to the host of large issues still looming over legislators' heads with just three full days left before the regular session ends Friday.

"The Governor believes that we must act on the major issues facing our state - water, prison, renewable portfolio standard, appointments - before we consider other issues. These issues have been debated for up to 5 years; it's time for action so we can move California forward," Schwarzenegger's Communications Director Matt David wrote in an e-mail.

A marker of a legislative session's final days is the emergence of legislative language that lobbyists circulate, hoping to get them enacted before opposition can develop.

Known as "mushroom bills" because of they sprout in darkness, these are measures that probably could not pass through the ordinary process because of their controversial nature. And they include several measures that had already been rejected, such as one, sponsored by local government unions, that would require cities to get state permission before declaring bankruptcy, sparked by Vallejo's insolvency..

As the final week begins, a number of mushroom bills are floating around the Capitol, including one that the City of Industry wants to exempt its planned football stadium from the usual environmental impact process. It's aimed at short-circuiting opposition to developer Ed Roski Jr.'s stadium plan from nearby cities, which say they will bear the impacts of traffic and other side effects if professional football is played in Industry.

Industry has hired a squad of well-connected lobbyists to pass the stadium measure and also promote its scheme to allow cities to extend soon-to-expire redevelopment projects in return for allowing the state to shift some redevelopment funds to the deficit-ridden state budget.

Click here to read the proposed additional language to the Public Resources Code.

A bill to restore funding to the Healthy Families children's insurance program was approved by the Assembly this afternoon 62-5.

AB 1422 would fill the more than $100 million funding shortfall faced by the program by raising premiums and co-pays for some families and replacing an existing fee on managed care providers that contract with Medi-Cal set to expire with a new, lower tax. The bill was passed by the Senate earlier this week and now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

Schwarzenegger issued a statement shortly after the vote saying he would sign the bill and calling its passage a "great victory for California's kids."

"I am very pleased that all parties came together including the Legislature, the health plan industry, children's health advocates, the First Five Commission and others to find a shared solution to fund this important program that ensures not one child will lose their health care coverage -- without any new general fund dollars," he said in the statement. "Everyone was forced to make very difficult but necessary decisions to balance our budget, and these are the kinds of solutions we should be looking for in this tough economy."

Once signed into law, the additional funding will allow the board that runs the program to cancel plans to disenroll an estimated 600,000 children because of insufficient operating funds.

Read Susan Ferriss' story on the bill here.

This post was updated at 4:35 p.m. to include Schwarzenegger's statement. It was also updated at 10 a.m. Friday to reflect the final vote on the bill; some Assembly members changed their vote after the initial call, a practice that is permitted during the floor session as long as the switch does not change the final outcome of the vote.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass released the Assembly's version of the prisons cuts bill today. The Assembly is expected to take up the plan Monday, spokeswoman Shannon Murphy wrote in an e-mail.

As expected, several key elements of the Senate-passed plan have been eliminated, including the creation of a sentencing commission, the release of some inmates to electronic surveillance or alternative custody and changes to the prosecution standards for "wobbler" crimes, which can currently prosecuted either as misdemeanors or felonies.

Read a summary of the bill and changes here or the bill language here.

Supporters of a bill that would create "Harvey Milk Day" to honor the slain San Francisco supervisor are hoping that the gay rights figure's induction into the California Museum's California Hall of Fame will give their efforts a boost.

Milk, who was recently lauded by the White House as "revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights," is one of 13 2009 Hall of Fame inductees selected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver.

In announcing the list this morning, Schwarzenegger said the Hall of Fame honors the state's most influential men and women "for their drive, willingness to take risks, dedication and success in touching the lives of millions of people - not just in this state, but around the world."

But the governor vetoed a bill just last year that would create "Harvey Milk Day" to recognize the slain San Francisco supervisor's life and contributions to gay rights, saying it was more appropriate to honor Milk at a local level.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger!

The vacationing governor flew back to California yesterday to consider a boatload of bills awaiting his OK. The end count: 128 pieces of legislation signed into law and nine vetoed. Soon after, he headed back out of the state to continue on with the break.

To see a list of the bills, click here.

News broke Thursday that slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk is among the 16 "agents of change" who will be awarded the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom .

Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city, will be posthumously bestowed the country's highest civilian honor by President Barack Obama in an Aug. 12 ceremony. Milk was killed by a fellow San Francisco supervisor in 1978, and his life story was the subject of a 2008 Academy Award-winning film.

The White House lauded Milk as "revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights."

But when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill last year that would have created a day of remembrance in California for Milk, he said the late San Franciscan "should continue to be recognized at the local level by those who were most impacted by his contributions."

He may get another chance.

Another bill to designate May 22 "Harvey Milk Day" to honor Milk passed in the Senate earlier this year. The bill, SB 572, is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor has no position on the current bill until he sees it.

The state Senate, which refused Monday to approve controversial legislation that virtually mandates the spaying and neutering of dogs and cats, reversed itself today after its author agreed to make changes.

The bill, SB 250, passed after Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, agreed to exempt hunting and working dogs from the measure and to declare it will not apply to an animal escaping its yard for the first time.

"Critics of past efforts to encourage spaying and neutering have said clearly that any legislative solution to our shelter crisis must focus on owner responsibility, and I believe this measure does just that," Florez said when introducing the bill.

The measure, a successor to past efforts to require neutrering pets, has generated huge controversy among pet owners and breeders. It fell five votes short of passage on Monday but cleared the Senate on a 21-16 vote today, sending it to the Assembly.

There's nothing more likely to pass for progress around the Capitol than a legislative hearing. With that in mind, be alerted that Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, has scheduled a June 16 hearing by the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture to see if California really needs a Dept. of Food and Agriculture.

Florez appears to be leaning toward the "no" column. A news release from his office today says the committee "will meet to consider whether or not it makes sense for agriculture to remain the only California industry with its own $100 million general fund-backed agency, when most of its functions could be performed by other departments."

Florez says that in the light of California's budget woes, it might make sense to allocate the business part of ag to a business department and the environmental and health aspects to environmental and/or health agencies.

"Agriculture had its own set of rules on air quality and worker protections for a long time, but we have finally reversed those to protect both the environment and public health," Florez said. "There are certainly more changes in the pipeline to protect the state's finances."

Of course if we don't need a Dept. of Food and Ag., doesn't it follow that we don't need a Committee on Food and Ag. either?

The state Senate voted today to require large motorcycles to undergo the same biennial smog checks now required of cars, but it's unlikely to be enacted in that form.

The 22-17 vote was largely along party lines with Democrats joining the author of the bill, Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, in support and Republicans opposed. But to get enough votes for passage, Pavley promised to eliminate mandatory smog checks from the bill and and change it to tighter regulation of motorcyclists who remove their machines' catalytic converters.

Pavley said motorcycle owners now enjoy an "unfair loophole" because many remove their catalytic converters, knowing they won't face smog tests. But Republicans, led by those who are motorcycle owners themselves, described it as an ineffective and expensive intrusion, and it fell well short of the required 21 votes until Pavley promised to amend it in the Assembly.

As written, the measure, SB 435, applies only to post-2000 motorcycles with engines of 280 cubic centimeters or more displacement.

The state Senate today rejected one of the legislative session's most controversial bills, aimed at encouraging -- or perhaps compelling -- dog and cat owners to have their animals neutered.

Former Assemblyman Lloyd Levine carried pet sterilization measures for several years but was unable to move them through the Senate. After his departure, Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, took up the cause but his bill, SB 250, died in the Senate, falling five votes short of the 21 required.

SB 250 didn't ban unsterilized pets outright but made it very difficult for owners of dogs and cats to keep them without sterilization. It generated bitter confrontations among animal owners.

Two politically sensitive bills quietly have been shelved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee in a way that requires no lawmaker to take a potentially controversial vote.

Assembly Bill 53 called for a two-year freeze on salary increases or overtime pay for about 800 non-union state employees - primarily managers or executives - whose salary tops $150,000 annually.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Cañada-Flintridge, said the state's highest-paid employees should share the pain of seniors, college students and other taxpayers stemming from the state's fiscal mess.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee opted to hold the bill Thursday, meaning no floor vote will be taken.

To reach the Appropriations Committee, bills must have an estimated cost of $150,000 or more to the state.

AB 53 could save about $2.5 million in salaries over the two-year period, but it could dent state coffers nonetheless by hampering recruitment of top investment managers for the state's pension system, according to an appropriations committee analysis.

Portantino, anticipating that his AB 53 bill would be sidetracked, requested amendments several weeks ago to a separate bill in the Senate to contain his pay-freeze proposal, which would give him another chance to sell the idea. His request is pending before Senate leaders.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee also held Assembly Bill 1501, which would have restructured salaries for members of state boards or commissions who earn $100,000 or more.

The measure by Assemblyman Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, would have required high-paid commissioners to serve full-time or to be paid only for the actual hours they work.

Determining what part-time board members do and how long it takes them to do it each month could cost the state about $300,000 annually, according to the appropriations committee.

Several state boards and commissions historically have been plum landing spots for termed-out lawmakers.

Both AB 53 and AB 1501 bills passed Assembly policy committees without a dissenting vote.

Here's one thing Senate Democrats and Republicans can agree on: Seatless bicycles.

The newest thing in pedal pushing is touted as a blend of running and traditional cycling, but here's the catch: Seatless bicycles are illegal on California streets.

The vehicle code bans bicycles on streets unless the rider is "upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto."

Senators voted to change that this week, 33-1, by passing Senate Bill 527.

The measure by Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, would permit bicycles that are designed by their manufacturer to be seatless.

The bill is sponsored by Elliptigo Inc., which says its "glide bike" is propelled by movements resembling a running stride or natural walking.

"However, because the rider's feet remain in constant contact with the glide bike, the body sustains significantly less impact than it would if it were running," the company says on its Web site.

SB 527 now goes to the Assembly.

The California Chamber of Commerce listed its 2009 "job killer" bills today, just in time for the end-of-May floor action in the Assembly and Senate.

Among the 27 bad-for-business measures the chamber is targeting is Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's Assembly Bill 1000, which would require employers to provide paid sick leave, and Sen. Tom Torlakson's ACA 22, which would increase tobacco taxes by $1.48 per pack of cigarettes.

The chamber has a strong record at killing the job killers, particularly in the governor's office.

Since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn into office, he has nixed 47 of the Chamber's 51 "job killer" bills. In 2008, he vetoed nine of 10.

A month ago, the Chamber released a list of "job creators."

The full list of 2009 job killers, complete with the Chamber's own description of the bills, is on the jump.

A bill declaring a Harvey Milk Day in California - to honor the slain gay rights figure - passed the state Senate today 24-14 and now goes to the Assembly.

No surprise that all 23 Democrats present voted yes. But Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, changed his vote from a "no" on the same bill last year to the sole GOP "yes" on the floor Thursday.

Two things swayed him, said Maldonado, who earned flak from GOP collegues recently when he became one of six in his party to vote for the February budget deal. On Thursday, Maldonado said he was already feeling heat from conservative callers to his office about the Milk vote.

He said he is telling those who object that he read the Milk bill closely, as he did this time, rather than listening to groups complaining about what it supposedly would do. "There's nothing in this bill that mandates teaching that Harvey Milk was a homosexual," Maldonado said. "For folks calling this "Gay Day," I say read the bill."

Maldonado said he erred last year in believing that the bill would force, instead of "encouraging," the teaching of Milk's life and leaving it up to local schools to decide.

But Maldonado also credited recent testimony before the Senate Education Committee recently with changing his mind. That testimony happened to come from a young gay man, Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award this year for his screenplay of the movie "Milk."

Maldonado said he empathized with Black, as he described growing up in a Mormon family in Texas and California and feeling emotional turmoil and isolation because of anti-gay sentiment. "I rarely get swayed by testimony," Maldonado said.

When Black said that Harvey Milk was someone he looked up to, Maldonado said, he took it to heart.

Last year, the Milk bill made it through the Legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said it would be more appropriate to honor Milk on a local level.

Maldonado said he doesn't see why Milk Day shouldn't be declared for the entire state.

He called Milk, who was slain by a fellow San Francisco supervisor in 1978, "a dedicated public servant. And I think he should be honored for it."

"He was murdered," Maldonado said. "To me, he was a man who was a capitalist, and an entrepreneur who happened to be gay."

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre was horrified to find the following paragraph buried in the deed of his South Gate home:

"No lot in said tract shall at any time be lived upon by a person whose blood is not entirely that of the Caucasian race, and for the purpose of this paragraph, no Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Hindu, or any person of the Ethiopian, Indian, or Mongolian races shall be deemed to be a Caucasian, but if persons not of the Caucasian race be kept thereon ... strictly in the capacity of servants or employees ... such circumstances shall not constitute a violation of this condition."

De La Torre, whose home was built in 1946, has no idea how many other deeds contain such relics of the past. Courts have ruled that race-based deed restrictions are unconstitutional and unenforceable, but the state should go further and require their removal, De La Torre said Thursday.

"It's 2009, we have an African American president -- to have this stuff in our official documents, sitting there, we just shouldn't abide by it," he said.

"In the South, they didn't let the 'Colored Only' restroom signs stay up, right? To me, it's analogous of that. You knew it happened, it's horrible, let's get rid of it."

De La Torre's Assembly Bill 985 would require title companies, during the sale or transfer of property, to remove any deed restriction based on race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, disability, source of income or sexual orientation.

The Assembly passed the bill Thursday, 66-0.

It now goes to the Senate.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino does not give up easily, apparently.

The Democrat from La Cañada-Flintridge hedged his bet today, nearly two weeks after his bill to freeze pay for hundreds of California's highest-paid state employees was placed by Assembly leaders onto the Appropriations Committee's suspense file, a maneuver sometimes used to quietly kill controversial legislation.

Portantino gutted an unrelated bill today in the Senate, Assembly Bill 224, and replaced it with his pay-freeze proposal. The maneuver ensures that his idea will get a second chance if the initial version, Assembly Bill 53, is shelved as expected before reaching the Assembly floor.

Portantino is pushing to impose a two-year ban on raises for about 800 state employees -- primarily managers or executives -- who are paid more than $150,000 annually. His bill excludes state workers covered by a labor contract or employed by the University of California, which has constitutional autonomy.

In his Senate version of the pay freeze, Portantino has included a ban on the payment of bonuses to state employees covered by his $150,000 threshold. He also would prohibit state agencies from using federal stimulus money to increase pay for such workers.

Portantino's office declined comment today.

Legislation to pave the way for tens of thousands of laid-off California workers to obtain federal aid for health insurance cleared its final legislative hurdle Monday.

Without a dissenting vote, the Assembly concurred in amendments to the measure and sent it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Assembly Bill 23 would take effect immediately if signed by the governor.

The legislation would allow workers laid off from small businesses to qualify for the same nine-month federal subsidy now available to those from larger firms.

The federal government currently offers to pay 65 percent of the health insurance premium for workers who were laid off by firms with 20 employees or more, and who retained health-care benefits formerly provided by their employer.

AB 23 would offer the same subsidy to employees cut from smaller firms, totaling two to 19 workers. The bill would apply to workers whose employment was terminated between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009.

AB 23 was jointly proposed by Assemblymen Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, and Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego.

Jones called the bill "critically important" to the health and welfare of innocent victims of economic recession.

"When they lose their job, they lose their health care," Jones said. "And when they lose their health care, they can't provide for themselves or their families if they get sick or injured."

Jones said the state, which faces a projected multibillion-dollar shortfall, would not be responsible for paying any portion of the health-insurance subsidy.

The example of slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk helped him make peace with being homosexual, says Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award this year for his screenplay for the movie "Milk."

Black will testify Wednesday at the state Senate in favor of a proposed law to declare Harvey Milk Day in California.

Black was born in 1974 in Sacramento, and was raised in a conservative Mormon home in Texas and the Salinas Valley. When he won his Oscar, Black thanked his mom for always loving him the way he was, and said that Milk's story gave him hope "to one day live my life openly as who I am - and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married."

He'll testify before the Senate Education Committee at 9 a.m. in Room 4203.

Despite the promise of millions in savings to the chronically ill state budget, the Assembly Appropriations Committee this morning stalled a bill that would prohibit pay raises and overtime for state employees who make more than $150,000.

Assembly Bill 53 by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino has drawn opposition from some state entities that pay big salaries: CalPERS, CalSTRS, the University of California and California State University. All except UC would be covered by the measure's provisions; the UC regents would be encouraged to adopt the same cap.

But the measure was sent to the committee's suspense file, a holding spot typically reserved for measures that are likely to cost the state money, Committee staff said the freeze would affect 820 state employees and save the state about $2.5 million between 2010 and 2012. If UC adopted the sames rules, another $17 million would be saved.

But the same analysis also noted that CalPERS and CalSTRS could compensate for the salary freeze by increasing bonuses for highly paid workers. Moreover, it said savings could be offset by agencies incurring additional costs trying to recruit employees willing to work for the capped salaries.

If UC adopted the policy, the analysis added, "the freeze could impacts the ability of the system to attract and retain top professors, which could in turn jeopardize receipt of millions of dollars in federal and private research grants, and hamper the ability of the system to operate revenue-producing hospitals and health clinics."

It all added up to the suspense file. Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, was clearly unhappy, noting that bills should go to suspense only if they cost the state money. His bill, he said, "saves the state money at a time of a budget crisis."

Committee Chairman Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, tried to be encouraging. "This issue is not done," he said. "It will live for another day."

Faced with a choice of saving between $2 million and $3 million a year, or preserving a potential and lucrative post-legislative retirement haven, Democratic lawmakers in both houses rejected bills today that would have abolished the state's Integrated Waste Management Board.

Senate Bill 44, by Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, was torpedoed by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, while Assembly Bill 1150, by Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, was scuttled by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. Neither bill received any votes from Democrats.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had sponsored the bills. They would have shifted the board's duties to other state agencies - and wiped out $132,178-a-year sinecures for three former legislators who are on the board - and were appointed by the governor and Legislature.**

"A vote against this is a vote against a more streamlined, more cost-effective and more efficient manner of running government and meeting our environmental goals," the guv said in a news release following the votes.

Denham was more succinct: "In the midst of a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, if the Legislature can't even make this - the easiest of cuts - it's going to be a long summer."

**The guv appointed former Sen. Carole Migden; the Legislature appointed former Sen. Sheila Kuehl and former Assemblyman John Laird.

The labor contract for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 has stalled in the state Assembly, reports Jon Ortiz on the State Worker blog.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. But the real challenge will be the floor, where the contract needs GOP votes to pass -- and doesn't have Republican support.

Rumors have swirled for the better part of a week that the contract is dead. Union executives and rank-and-file workers have called and e-mailed The State Worker to report that the bill is dead. Some said it won't get out of Appropriations. Others opined that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signaled to his party that, given the worsening state of the economy, that he is ready to walk away from a deal that took the administration and the union nearly a year to negotiate.

The governor's office and the Department of Personnel Administration both denied that accusation last week when we talked to them.

The motives and nature of the opposition to the bill remain unclear, but what will happen if the bill fails isn't. The union and DPA would have to reopen negotiations. Given the hard bargaining that went into the deal now in the Assembly, we expect even tougher talks the next go-round.

Jim Zamora, spokesman for SEIU Local 1000, said that President Yvonne Walker declined to comment "at this time."

The California Chamber of Commerce -- well known for its ability to scuttle bills it deems "job killers" -- has released its wish list of legislation, the 2009 "job creator" bills.

The chamber has identified 14 such bills. "If ever there was a time to pass legislation that will result in the immediate hiring of people, it is now," said its president, Allan Zaremberg, in a prepared statement.

Nine of the 14 bills are authored by Republicans. A couple of the notable bills include former Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill's water bond legislation (SB 371) and a bill by Republican Sen. Bob Dutton to expand the $10,000 homebuyer's credit for new home purchases that was included in the February budget deal.

A couple of the bills are likely to go nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Legislature, especially those targeting the 40-hour work week and required meal and rest periods.

With that, here's the CalChamber's list (with its clearly favorable description of each bill):