Brown Signs Budget Three Days Before New Fiscal Year

At an 11 a.m. signing ceremony on June 27,  Gov. Jerry Brown signs California’s $145 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. His press office says he’ll be joined by Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat,  and Assembly Speaker John Pérez, a Los Angeles Democrat. The  Budget Act of 2013 is AB 110.      Read more »

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Wouldn’t News Be If the Democratic Majority Assembly Voted it Down?

Assembly Passes Corbett Bill Protecting Struggling Homeowners, Borrowers

SB 426 Clarifies Status of Debts Following Foreclosure

SACRAMENTO – Legislation that strengthens existing deficiency protections for borrowers after losing their homes in foreclosures passed from the Assembly floor earlier today (June 24, 2013). 

Authored by Senate Majority Leader Ellen M. Corbett, a Hayward Democrat, SB 426 specifically prohibits deficiency collections and adverse credit reporting on non-recourse loans following a non-judicial foreclosure.     Read more »

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In Fundraising, As Elsewhere, The More Things Change…

The line between felony and fundraising is plainly visible.

Public officials who vote or act in a certain way in return for a campaign contribution are guilty of  big time crime.

Yet California legislative history is littered with politicians and those who solicit contributions for them who have gone well outside the OB marker.      Read more »

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Irony: Closed-Door Meeting to Discuss Disclosure of Public Documents

That’s what state senators did Thursday June 20 — held a 20-minute private meeting off the Senate floor to talk about a section of the mammoth budget, awaiting action by Gov. Jerry Brown, that media outlets complain imperils the state’s Public Records Act. (It doesn’t.)

The act requires timely disclosure of documents requested by the media or members of the public.    Read more »

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Does Chuck Have a Conflict?

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First, “Pig-Roast-a-Palooza” and Now “Sausage Fest”

Apparently, pork really is the other white meat. At least when it comes to legislative fundraisers.

Sen. Ricardo Lara, a Los Angeles Democrat, just hosted “Pig-Roast-a-Palooza on June 18.

On July 2, the legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus holds its first fundraiser “celebrating freedom and equality.”

That would be “Sausage Fest 2013.”    Read more »

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At $4,100, It Must Be An Incredible Shoeshine

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How Much Pork Does $4,100 Buy?

Nothing remotely felonious about Sen. Ricardo Lara’s recent fundraising invitation, which can be seen in larger form by clicking the image to the left.

That said, the artwork on the Los Angeles Democrat’s solicitation might be a bit unappetizing to some.

But it’s certainly no crime to host a $1,000-a-head “Pig-Roast-a-Palooza.”    Read more »

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Buy California Fruit, Nuts, Vegetables, Cheese and Meat — Pretty Please

The “Choose California Act” was one of hundreds of Assembly bills volleyed into the Senate during the end-of-May frenzy before the deadline for legislation to leave its house of origin.

When it began its legislative life, the well-intentioned measure, AB 199, was eight paragraphs long. The bill sent to the Senate for its consideration on a 77 to 0 vote had been reduced to one, 30-word paragraph:

“All California state-owned or state-run institutions and all public universities, public schools and school districts in California are encouraged to purchase agricultural products grown in California to the extent possible.”    Read more »

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See the Stats in Paragraph Three

From the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation:

SAN QUENTIN – Condemned inmate Richard Ramirez, 53, was pronounced dead early this morning, June 7, 2013. He died of natural causes at Marin General Hospital.

Ramirez, widely known as the “Night Stalker,” was found guilty in 1989 of 13 counts of murder and numerous other counts of attempted murder, sexual assault and burglary.    Read more »

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