In a 20-minute speech to the state's presiding judges in the days after the Jan. 30 vote on Assembly Bill 1208, a stern-faced Cantil-Sakauye said she was "greatly dismayed" at the "meritless, false claims" in the floor debate and the voting process in the Assembly.

Click here to download video of Cantil-Sakauye's speech. Requires a Windows Media file player.

"It's one thing to lose an argument based on merit," Cantil-Sakauye said, "it's another thing when the facts are not represented."

She said she expressed her displeasure after the vote in a phone conversation with Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, who supported the bill.

She also said she was surprised that, with the bill in limbo and eight votes short of passing at 33-23, Pérez apparently helped round up the deciding votes for the 41-26 outcome.

"Because of my previous conversations with the speaker I thought for the most part then it would go away, because I understood that this bill would be up to each member to vote their conscience, that it wouldn't be the subject of political maneuvering...on the Assembly floor," Cantil-Sakauye said. "And that of course disturbs me, but I know our process is very different from the legislative process."

Pérez's office did not respond to requests for comment.

Cantil-Sakauye said the process "really called into question" the meaning of separation of powers. "That line has been and very well could be blurred based on the conduct and the involvement that occurred not only leading up to the bill, but how it squeaked out...of the Assembly. I don't know that anyone can stand tall after that process or claim a mandate after that process."

AB 1208 is pushed by a group of judges called the Alliance of California Judges and is backed by Service Employees International Union, representing courthouse employees.

The bill is stalled -- for now -- in the Senate. Cantil-Sakauye said she would continue pushing to kill the measure.

"That's my hill," she told the judges. "There are few hills as a judge. As you all know, we're neutral, we're objective, we're fact-finders. We left that persona (as advocates) behind a long time ago, but it is kind of funny how it comes back to you. Pretty quickly actually, about how when you're fighting for a value, or a principle you think threatens what you stand for, what you took an oath for."

PHOTO CREDIT: California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye visits The Bee on Jan. 26, 2012. Paul Kitagaki Jr. / Sacramento Bee

Patel replaces Ronald G. Overholt, who resigned after serving in the post for about five months, as reported here.

Patel quickly announced that she has no plans to serve permanently. A nationwide search currently is under way to find a permanent administrative director.

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye announced that the state Judicial Council had approved Patel's interim appointment.

Patel had been serving as regional administrative director of California's state court system. She was the executive officer of Sacramento Superior Court from 2001 to 2006.

Overholt's move comes as the court system's statewide decisions have come under increasing fire and a group of dissident judges is pushing Assembly Bill 1208 to grant local courts more control over spending.

Overholt, in a written statement, noted that courts have operated for the past three years in an "anxiety-generated climate" of fiscal crisis that has prompted ongoing budget reductions and internal reorganization efforts.

"My decision is based on a number of factors," Overholt said of his resignation.

"Among them is that the position of administrative director of the courts has become a lightning rod for controversy, impacting the focus on budget discussions, Judicial Council governance of the judicial branch, and the Administrative Office of the Courts itself."

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye called Overholt's decision "understandable but unfortunate."

Overholt's 30 years of service in court administration, including his stint as interim administrative director since September 2011, have been exemplary and his departure is a great loss to the state's judicial system, Cantil-Sakauye said.

"But we respect his judgment that a transition is necessary at this time for him and for the court system he has served so well," she said.

A new interim director will be selected while a national search continues for a permanent director.

"We are committed to getting pension reform done," the Sacramento Democrat said in a news conference.

Steinberg said he anticipated the question after the advocacy group, California Pension Reform, announced Wednesday that it was shutting down its effort to place a pension initiative before voters this year.

Steinberg said he is committed to passing pension reform before adoption of a state budget this year.

The Senate leader said he intends to address all 12 points of a pension overhaul proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, but added, "That doesn't mean we're going to do every point in the way he suggests."

California's clean-car makers are among the state's economic bright spots. And as The Bee's Rick Daysog reported last month, the California Air Resources Board has voted unanimously to tighten emissions standards by mandating that one in every seven cars sold in the state in the year 2025 be an ultra-low- or zero-emission vehicle.

Brown is expected to speak around 8 p.m. at the premiere, held at Tesla's Los Angeles Design Studio in Hawthorne.

The Model X is a luxury SUV crossover, according to an article posted Wednesday by Investor's Business Daily, which says Tesla has been teaming up with Toyota and Daimler, with Toyota using a Tesla power train in an electric RAV4, and Daimler putting Tesla-designed battery systems in some of its vehicles.

"As essentially a tech startup ... Tesla is a rarity in the car world. How well it does over the long haul is tied to interest from larger automakers, electric-car adoption and the price of oil," the article says.

Back in Sacramento, Capitol denizens can instead contemplate the joys of beef noodle soup. Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento and Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco are hosting a cooking demonstration of the Taiwanese signature dish featuring the winner of the 2011 international competition in Taipei.

Chef Hou Chun-Sheng will give his take at Spataro restaurant on L Street across from the Capitol, starting at 2 p.m. Spataro's Randy Paragary will also be on hand, as well as members of the Sacramento chapter of the California Restaurant Association.

Hou has become a big deal in Taiwan, and his champion recipe incorporates a rich beef broth, tomato paste, fermented bean curd sauce, hot chile peppers, and a bag of herbs and spices including star anise, cinnamon sticks, dried orange peel, and some stuff Capitol Alert hasn't heard of.

The Senate and the Assembly have both set floor sessions at 9 a.m. Beef noodle soup is not on the agenda. Click here for more details on the Senate side, and click here for the Assembly.

The Peace and Freedom Party, meanwhile, is unhappy that Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office left two of its four candidates off the list of generally recognized candidates for the June 5 presidential primary. The California party chair, C.T. Weber, has called a presser at 10 a.m. at Bowen's office, 11th and O streets.

There could be good reason for the move, though. A Bowen spokeswoman told The Bee's Torey Van Oot on Wednesday that websites giving information about one of the omitted candidates, Peta Lindsay, indicated that she isn't old enough under the U.S. Constitution to be president. (For the record, a president must be at least 35 at the time of inauguration.)

CAMPAIGN WATCH: Senate Republican leader Bob Huff is hosting a fundraiser tonight at Power Balance Pavilion for his 29th Senate District re-election bid. Single tickets to watch from a private suite as the the Sacramento Kings play Oklahoma City Thunder run $2,000 each. If you're strapped for cash and still want to go, StubHub had more than 400 tickets available for the game as of Wednesday evening. Starting price: $15.

The group's 60-second spots, narrated by comedian Will Durst, are running at least twice daily -- during morning and evening commutes -- on six Sacramento and nine Bay Area radio stations.

The spot by the California Alliance for Jobs can be heard here.

The group's push to rally public opinion comes at a time when the planned high-speed rail system is coming under increasing criticism, sparking efforts to kill it in the wake of a state auditor's report that questions its financing and ridership projections.

After the state slashed its higher education spending by 21 percent during the recession, the Democratic governor has proposed 4 percent annual increases to the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges for three fiscal years starting in 2013-14 -- but only if voters approve his plan to hike taxes on sales and wealthy earners. If voters reject the plan, the systems would lose state funding in 2012-13.

Brown made the 4 percent promise as a sweetener to his tax proposal, which he's trying to bill as a plan for funding education and public safety. The analyst's office recommended that lawmakers reject the 4 percent promise. Pledging to give automatic increases presents problems, the LAO said, because other parts of the budget could suffer, lawmakers would have little discretion if one higher education system needed more money than another, and the pledge ignores enrollment and inflation, among other reasons.

Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said the governor wants to give the education systems "a level of stability and predictability."

The analyst's office also raised questions with Brown's plan to increase grade-point average requirements to receive Cal Grant awards.

The Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project will receive $7.42 million, and the Folsom Dam Raise project will receive $720,000. In both cases, the money comes from a Corps of Engineers' "reserve fund" established by Congress late last year. Unlike the old congressional earmarks, the reserve fund was set up to be distributed competitively.

The Folsom Dam projects are designed to provide 200-year flood protection for much of Sacramento.

Reiner backed the ballot measure that set up First 5 and was its first commission chairman. Other listed speakers include former California first lady Maria Shriver's brother, Mark Shriver, who is senior vice president of U.S. programs at the nonprofit Save the Children.

Munger, fresh off her talk earlier this week before the California State PTA about her tax ballot proposal, will be featured Thursday at the two-day conference. She'll be moderating a panel titled "Getting Real About Revenue: Can 2012 Be the Year?"

She won't be getting any help from Democratic Sen. Ted Lieu of Torrance. He was burning up the Twitterverse on Tuesday, imploring advocates of tax ballot measures to consolidate support behind Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to avoid having all of them go down in flames.

Lieu quoted a tweet at one point from Republican consultant Matt Rexroad, who'd written, "Molly Munger may be the best thing to happen to those of us that want to defeat tax increases."

"Thx for validating the truth," Lieu tweeted back.

Lieu even got a shout-out from former California Republican Party chairman Ron Nehring, who tweeted, ".@TedLieu and I don't agree on much, except this: more tax hikes on ballot, more likely all fail. #Bipartisanship."

The First 5 conference is being held at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento at 14th and J streets. Click here to read more, and find the agenda at this link. Learn more about the Advancement Project, where Munger is president and co-director, here.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, meanwhile, is making an appearance in Sacramento at 1:30 p.m. today at the Siemens rail car manufacturing plant out on French Road. LaHood will be talking up President Barack Obama's commitment to rail as well as the creation of quality manufacturing jobs.

And Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to appear with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to announce a "green taxi milestone" in that city, according to a news release. The 10 a.m. presser will be, appropriately enough, at the Yellow Cab Co-Op, 1200 Mississippi St.

Sacramento Republican Barbara Ortega announced today that she will run to represent the 8th Assembly District, a swing seat that is expected to be a top legislative target this year.

Ortega, who currently owns a Sacramento business consulting and marketing firm called POW Group, said in a statement that she hopes to "bring my business experience and know-how to the Assembly so we can actually get things done to provide relief for California." Her resume includes stints as director and vice president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association and director of legislative affairs at the the United States Chamber of Commerce.

Her campaign consultant, Dave Gilliard, said she is filing the paperwork to start raising money for her race this week.

The race has become more crowded since Democratic Assemblywoman Alyson Huber decided not to run for re-election after her home was drawn into a new GOP-leaning district.

Three Democrats -- Franchise Tax board attorney Chris Parker, Rancho Cordova Councilman Ken Cooley and San Juan Unified School District Board Member Larry Miles -- and Republican Peter Tateishi, who works for GOP Rep. Dan Lungren, have also announced plans to run for the seat.

But when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this morning that the ban is unconstitutional, its reasoning focused so narrowly on Proposition 8 that a lawyer for same-sex marriage proponents suggested the Supreme Court might be less inclined to take up the case.

"The grounds for the opinion, in my view, do make it somewhat less likely that the Supreme Court will take it," said the lawyer, David Boies.

Unlike in many other states, gay and lesbian people could wed in California for a brief period before Proposition 8's passage in 2008. The appeals court ruled that California erred in stripping them of a right they previously enjoyed. It did not consider the broader question of whether gay and lesbian couples may ever be denied the right to wed.

Boies said the Supreme Court might elect to "wait for a case that would raise the more general issue." But Ted Olson, also a lawyer for gay-marriage proponents, said it may be "very difficult" for the Supreme Court to ignore a case of such magnitude. The two lawyers have been planning for years for the case to wind up in the Supreme Court, as have lawyers working with Proposition 8 proponents.

Backers of the same-sex marriage ban said today that they have not yet decided whether to appeal directly to the Supreme Court or request a review by a larger panel of the appeals court.

"Either way, one way or the other, the case will continue on," said Folsom lawyer Andy Pugno, the author of Proposition 8.

He said the focus of the court's ruling is unlikely to dissuade the Supreme Court from taking it, likely next year.

"This case is all about the rights of the voters to make a decision on an important public policy matter vs. one or two judges substituting their opinions for the will of the voters," Pugno said.

Aanestad's newly retained campaign spokesman, former California Republican Party Communications Director Mark Standriff, confirmed today that the former legislator will be a candidate in the 1st Congressional District.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, will be Aanestad's campaign chairman, Standriff said.

GOP Rep. Wally Herger, who now represents the area, announced last month that he will not run for re-election in the district, which runs from Yuba City to the Oregon border. Herger, of Chico, endorsed LaMalfa shortly after announcing his own retirement plans.

Aanestad told The Bee last month that he was considering a run for the seat. The 2010 lieutenant governor hopeful said the 12 years he spent representing the region in the state Legislature make him a good fit for the district.

"I already know most of the local issues of each of the areas and the people involved in the history," he said at the time. "It wouldn't be much of a learning process in terms of getting up to date on what the issues are for the district."

Standriff said Aanestad is unavailable to comment on his plans today due to patient appointments at his Grass Valley dental and oral surgery practice. He plans to make a formal campaign announcement tomorrow.

RELATED POSTS:
Former GOP Sen. Sam Aanestad considering run for Congress
LaMalfa 'moving forward' for Congress run after Herger announcement

PHOTO CREDIT: Then-Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Penn Valley, listens to the debate in the California upper house on Friday, September 11, 2009. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.

Editor's note, 1:09 p.m.: This post has been updated to reflect that Rep. Tom McClintock will be former Sen. Sam Aanestad's campaign chairman, not his manager.

Political consultant Steve Maviglio, former spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, said today that he has joined forces with Burbank attorney Dario Frommer, a former Assembly majority leader. Fundraising has not yet begun, Maviglio said.

The group will butt heads with Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, and with Ted Costa, the head of a political watchdog group, over the duo's proposed constitutional amendment.

The secretary of state's office gave the green light Monday for proponents of the proposal to begin collecting the 807,615 valid voter signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.

Backers hope to encourage the election of citizen legislators who have outside sources of income and are not so politically ambitious that they become overly dependent upon powerful special interests.

The measure calls for the nation's most populous state to meet three months per year -- and for lawmakers' pay to be cut from $7,940 per month to $1,500 per month -- or $18,000 annually.

The initiative also would require legislators to adopt a balanced, two-year budget by June 15 of each odd-numbered year -- and to forfeit salary and per diem for each day it is late.

Lawmakers would be barred from accepting state employment or appointment to a state post while serving in the Capitol or for five years afterward.

Maviglio said that a part-time Legislature would discourage many good candidates from running and would lead to a more corrupt Legislature, with many lawmakers having outside jobs that conflict with issues at the Capitol.

"You'd end up with more inexperienced legislators who lack the ability to tackle the state's major challenges," he said.

PHOTO CREDIT: The California state Capitol in Sacramento, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008. Michael Allen Jones / Sacramento Bee file photo

But a three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did exactly that Tuesday, citing Marx's quip that "marriage is a wonderful institution...but who wants to live in an institution?"

It was one of several cultural references (another was to the title of a Marilyn Monroe movie, "How to Marry a Millionaire") in the decision that was narrowly hinged on whether the state had the right to withdraw the right to marry once it had been extended, as it had been in California by a state Supreme Court decision.

The federal panel sidestepped whether gays and lesbians had a constitutional right to marry, saying, "We therefore need not and do not consider whether same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry."

But it declared that the state's voters could not terminate that right, saying that violated the Constitution's equal protection clause.

The decision repeatedly cited a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court decision setting aside a Colorado ballot measure barring certain rights to homosexuals, and thus appeared to be aimed at influencing the author of that decision (Romer v. Evans), Anthony Kennedy.

It's widely believed that when California's Proposition 8 reaches the Supreme Court, Kennedy will hold the decisive vote since the other eight justices are evenly divided between liberals and conservatives and Kennedy is often the swing vote.