http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ en-us kyamamura@sacbee.com 2008-05-13T11:00:32-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012543.html Nothing like starting out the day with a good death penalty joke. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared Tuesday at a conference on alternative energy in Irvine co-hosted by the University of California, Irvine, the Milken Institute and New Majority California, a... 12543@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T11:00:32-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012536.html Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, who campaigned hard for the speakership, has landed a pretty good consolation prize: majority leader. That is the number two post in the Assembly. 12536@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T10:59:57-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012541.html New Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will urge legislators to “take the fear out of California’s future” and consider restructuring the tax system. Bass, D-Los Angeles, has prepared a nearly 10-minute acceptance speech for her swearing-in ceremony today. Her office... 12541@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T10:45:36-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012540.html Here’s a question for trivia buffs: What Bible will Karen Bass use today when she’s sworn in as the Assembly’s first African American woman speaker? Her right hand will be placed on a copy of the “New Women of... 12540@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T10:27:28-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012539.html Joel Fox, the president of the Small Business Action Committee, has launched a new political site covering California politics, called Fox & Hounds. The site features a right-leaning blogpen of contributors including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's economics adviser David Crane, former... 12539@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T10:20:44-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012533.html Assemblyman Hector De La Torre today endorsed Rod Wright's campaign for state Senate. Not that it was much of a surprise. Wright's opponent, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, called De La Torre "the most racist legislator I have encountered in over 40 years" in 2006. 12533@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T09:39:29-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012529.html The Senate Republican primary campaign between Assemblywoman Mimi Walters and Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu has turned negative, as both candidates are sending out critical mail pieces and airing attack ads on local TV. 12529@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-13T09:22:15-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012526.html A new TV ad by a left-leaning group aims to frame Republicans as the yacht tax loophole-loving party. But the ad may be just as successful in making the GOP out to be the sex-crazed, bikini-bearing, champagne-pouring, strawberry nibbling party of the young and beautiful. 12526@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T16:37:20-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012504.html We just completed a caption contest, so we're not going to launch another one today, but we'd love to know what you think Massachussets Sen. Ted Kennedy (left), his wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy(middle) and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (right) are laughing at. 12504@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T12:42:09-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012502.html Looking for Assembly members today? Check Valley Hi Country Club’s 18-hole golf course. The Assembly scheduled a 9:30 a.m. session today, unusually early, since the gavel typically bangs closer to noon on Mondays to accommodate legislators’ flights from Southern... 12502@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T12:22:00-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012499.html Watch Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass speak to The Bee's Capitol Bureau. 12499@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T11:49:05-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012496.html Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally turns 82 today. That makes him the combined age of Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (41) and Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines (also 41). Dymally served as lieutenant governor in the 1970s and in Congress in the early 1980s. He is running for state Senate this year. 12496@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T11:13:53-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012494.html Speaker-elect Karen Bass said Monday she plans to have a limited agenda during her speakership, focusing from the start on the budget, which she declared as her priority number “one, two and three.” Bass, who will be sworn in on Tuesday as the first African American woman speaker of the Assembly, spoke with The Bee Capitol Bureau about a range of topics, from her election priorities to her plans for committee chairmanships. 12494@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T10:50:19-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012488.html It's not every day that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes second billing in an op-ed. But he does so today, co-authoring an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal with Carlos Gutierrez, the U.S. secretary of commerce. 12488@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T08:59:35-08:00 http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012486.html A $980 million bond aimed to expand and revamp California's network of children's hospitals has qualified for the November ballot, the secretary of state's office reported late Friday. 12486@http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/ 2008-05-12T08:52:50-08:00