Keep 'em Coming: Even a casual observer of the Legislature realizes something's up when committee hearings drag on for hours, with bill after bill after bill being placed in consideration. Nope, it's not the normal pace of work... Friday is the final day this year for policy committees to hear any bill with a fiscal impact on the state. While there are too many for any single reporter to follow, a few merit mention.

That includes SB 1257, which Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Carlsbad) says would streamline the lengthy appeals process for Death Row inmates by imposing new timelines. The presentation included a tearful statement from Barbara Christian, whose daughter's murder resulted in a death sentence for Michael Morales. Morales is the inmate whose execution was delayed recently, who is the subject of court proceedings over the humaneness or cruelty of using lethal injection. Christian said that such a protracted process "victimizes the family." But majority Democrats eventually killed the bill, with Public Safety chairwoman Sen. Carole Migden (D-SF) saying that "death is different" than other punishments, and should be the subject of a thoughtful process. Meantime, the Assembly Public Safety Committee approved a Democratic bill to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, AB 2266 (Koretz/Lieber).

Also... a slate of bills related to changes in the way government uses the power of eminent domain, all drafted in the wake of the recent controversial Supreme Court decision. Four bills on the issue were heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee, including SCA 20, by Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), a proposed constitutional ballot measure to make eminent domain powers more difficult to use.

And on the Assembly side... AB 2412 by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) calls for each city and county in the state to hold an advisory vote before 2008 on whether they support Indian casinos in urban areas. That bill passed out of the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee.

The Politics of Fuel: Elected officials continue to speak out on the issue of rising gas prices. Governor Schwarzenegger took two steps today, directing state agencies to increase their use of biofuels like ethanol, as well as calling for another investigation into high gas prices. In comments this morning, the governor said he was "going to take some action" and investigate the possibility that price gouging has led prices to top $3 a gallon. "We can't ignore the possibility of Enron-style ripoffs that have victimized people before." said Schwarzenegger.

But the call for an investigation prompted a howl from the "anti-Arnold" Alliance For A Better California, which quickly released a list of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Schwarzenegger from companies like Chevron-Texaco and Shell. "If ever was a case of the fox guarding the hen house, this is it," said ABC spokesperson Robin Swanson in the press release.

Redistricting, Term Limits: Another affirmation of sorts today for some kind of link between changes to how political districts are drawn, and modification of the state's term limits law. In a Q&A at today's California Chamber of Commerce convention, the two leaders of the Assembly-- Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-LA) and Minority Leader George Plescia (R-San Diego)-- sounded as though they both were willing to support just such a deal. Plescia said while he supports term limts, the current 6 year Assembly/8 year Senate format "doesn't foster a good environment" for getting things done.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Chairman: The final title is the one that political icon Wille Brown will hold this weekend at the annual convention of the California Democratic Party. Brown has been tapped to be the head honcho of the event in the absence of party chairman Art Torres, who continues to recuperate from cancer surgery.