A long and detailed state Senate hearing about plans to send the California National Guard to help out at the border with Mexico revealed a few interesting items-- including that the federal government still hasn't signed off on the arrangement, and that Governor Schwarzenegger will remain in command of the troops.

The top officers of the Guard, as well as state emergency officials, testified before the special committee that was organized two weeks ago. And while there were a lot of answers, there appear to still be a lot of questions about the request by President Bush to augment the work of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Testimony at today's hearing revealed that federal officials are still reviewing a draft memorandum of understanding with each state. That MOU apparently is linked to any federal funding for the border assignment.

Meantime, state Guard leaders say they've made several recommendations to Governor Schwarzenegger about the ensuing mission. One duty the Guard does not want to participate in: "any mission or task that puts our soldiers or airmen in direct contact with any detainees or immigrants that the Border Patrol may have apprehended," said Col. David Baldwin.

"If not apprehension or detention," asked Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove), "what would the California National Guard personnel be doing?"

Col. Baldwin said the troops would be used for support duties. And he offered this interesting glimpse into how thinly stretched the Border Patrol really is: "In the Border Patrol, sworn [law enforcement] agents are their vehicle mechanics," he said. "So if we send down a vehicle mechanic that can fix a Border Patrol Humvee, that frees up a Border Patrol agent to go out on the line."

And unlike the National Guard's deployment to Iraq-- where the troops are federalized and therefore under control of the President-- these soldiers would remain under the command of Schwarzenegger. "The governor of each state has the right to decline any mission that he or she does not deem appropriate for their National Guard," said Col. Baldwin.

The hearing also touched on the question of an "exit strategy" for using the Guard. Federal officials have indicated the program could run as long as two years, until Bush's proposal for 6,000 new Border Patrol agents is fully implemented. But Guard officials told lawmakers that because the soldiers will still be inside California, those troops could be pulled off border duty in the event of a state emergency.

For now, there's only been discussion. Adjutant General William Wade told the committee that the governor has not issued any orders yet related to the border proposal, the key step towards mobilization.

A handful of college students received an unusual lesson in government studies today, courtesy of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the students got much more... including a hint into the governor's own work ethic.

In a small classroom on the campus of Sacramento State, Schwarzenegger delivered prepared remarks about how his budget plan would erase more than $3 billion of future obligations-- including money owed to schools and transportation projects.

The lecture was delivered to a group of graduate communications studies students and student orientation volunteers, and seemed staged to show the governor in the role of "educating" people about his budget. As political PR events go, that seemed reasonable... certainly more reasonable than last year, including the infamous PR event where he tried to promote responsible state budgeting by turning off a large spigot of red 'government' ink.

But the most noteworthy moments came in Schwarzenegger's answers to two questions from the students.

First, some news: the governor said that his goal for the first year of a second term would be, in his words, "to create health care for every citizen." The comment was made in response to a student question about universal health care, specifically the kind Massachusetts has moved forward this year.

Schwarzenegger said the Massachusetts model won't work, in part, because of California's larger uninsured population. But his comments clearly sounded like he favors some new effort.

"I believe we can really conquer that problem, once and for all, if everyone works together," he said. "It means that employers have to put money in, I think that employees have to put money in, and I think that the government has to put money in." The governor said he was currently studying the issue. And while it sounded like he favors something akin to an employer mandate program, it's important to remember that Schwarzenegger campaigned against a 2004 ballot measure that would have required large businesses to provide health insurance.

Finally, what sounded like a motivational 'tough love' speech to a female student who lamented the struggle between a job to pay for her studies, and having time to actually complete her studies.

If anyone expected Schwarzenegger to talk about ways the government should help her, they got a very different answer.

"There are 24 hours in a day," the governor said. "You sleep 6 hours." The students laughed, but he wasn't kidding.

"You sleep more? Just remember, sleeping is overrated. Let's assume 6 hours. So you have 18 hours left. Now think about what you can accomplish in this 18 hours."

Schwarzenegger then recounted his own success story, from part-time student to bricklayer to bodybuilding champion to... well, you know. "I had the will to do it," he said.

And then he threw in a little of the 'less-government-is-more' as he wrapped up his answer. "I think it is very important for kids not to just wait for their parents to take care of them, or for the school to take care of them, or for government to take care of them."

Class dismissed.

The annual speed course on the legislative process has begun-- also known as the final week for bills to clear their house of origin.

And it's not a small stack of bills to sift through, especially in this holiday-shortened week. When the Assembly began its session this morning, that chamber alone had 383 bills to consider over the next few days.

Some of the more interesting bills that cleared one half of the legislative obstacle course today:

* AB 2948, by Assemblymember Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), would have California join a group of other states in agreeing to award its Electoral College votes for President to the candidate that receives the most popular votes nationwide. The bill would only go into effect if another states joined in so as to ensure the outcome at the polls matches the outcome in the Electoral College, unlike what was poised to happen in the 2000 election.

* SB 1696, by Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove), would ban the California National Guard from participating in domestic law enforcement activities-- including surveillance operations, which is what the Guard was accused of conducting last year.

* AB 2190, by Assemblymember John Benoit (R-Palm Desert), would allow prosecutors to charge a person involved in a street racing accident with a felony. The state DMV, according to Benoit, noted a 9% increase in street racing convictions between 2004 and 2005.

* AB 1970, by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), would require electric devices sold in California to have a label that shows how much electricity the device uses. Levine calls some of these gadgets "vampire devices"-- saying they suck power, and therefore run up utility bills, even when a consumer thinks the device is turned off.

* SB 1404, by Sen. Mike Machado (D-Linden), would allow any parking ticket written for illegal parking in an area designated for street cleaning to be cancelled... if the city can't prove that the street cleaning actually took place as scheduled.

As the Memorial Day weekend begins, let me suggest a few items on this week's newsmagazine edition of The California Report.

With gas prices steadily hovering above $3 a gallon, California is building a budding ethanol industry. It's being touted as the clean, and even patriotic, alternative to foreign oil. But as my colleague Cy Musiker reports this week, ethanol's potential isn't so obvious.

Also, our program takes a look at a milestone in Golden State aviation: this week's delivery of the final commercial aircraft-- the Boeing 717-- in Long Beach. As you'll hear, there's a rich history of aircraft production in this southern California port city, and this week's celebration marks the end of an era.

You can find local air times for the program here. See you back here next week for the final run-up to the Democratic primary, new discussion of the National Guard on the California-Mexico border, and more.

Until then, cheers.

If you'd like to hear the two major Democratic candidates for governor in their own words, and facing questions from reporters and others, there's an online site just for you.

The Sacramento Press Club recently launched its website, complete with audio archives of the monthly luncheon speeches. (Full disclosure: I'm serving this year as the SPC president).

This past week, the organization hosted Phil Angeldies. Last month, Steve Westly was the featured speaker. Those two events were the first audio archives; the SPC plans to continue the online audio archive from here on out.

You can find the audio here.

There was a lot more celebration than confrontation in Thursday's arrival of Mexican President Vicente Fox at the state Capitol-- a day that began with news of immigration legislation being approved by the U.S. Senate, and ended with a lavish private dinner at one of Sacramento's most historic locations.

Immigration was discussed in Fox's visit with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators. More on that this morning on The California Report.

But for now, some of the lighter sights and scenes of the day:

* The Official Visit: Fox's arrival on the west steps of the Capitol, under large hanging U.S. and Mexican flags, went off without a hitch. Later, the cowboy aficionado world leader (who was photographed in Utah in a cowboy hat) received a cowboy-themed gift from legislative Democrats: a large gold and silver belt buckle with the word "California" emblazoned on the front.

* Popular, And Not So Popular: The reactions to Fox were pretty much split down party lines. Many Democrats seemed happy to see the Mexican leader. Assemblymember Nicole Parra (D-Hanford) had President Fox sign a photo she took with him in Bakersfield back in 2001. Republicans, meantime, wore yellow buttons that said "No Mas!"-- in response to the issue of illegal immigration. Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) even placed a tiny American flag at his desk, not far from the podium where Fox spoke.

* Shhhh: Reporters traveling with President Fox from Mexico were everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Almost two dozen last minute media requests for access to the speech flooded the Assembly Speaker's press office from foreign correspondents. Meantime, in the media room off the Assembly floor, a Mexican reporter translated Fox's speech into Spanish... simultaneously as he delivered it... out loud for anyone who cared to hear.

* The Party: Some 700 people were invited to the evening outdoor fiesta for Fox held in the courtyard of the Secretary of State's offices. Margaritas, tamales, sangria, taquitos, you name it... were everywhere. That, however, was not the final bash. A smaller affair, 150 people, were invited to a formal dinner hosted by Schwarzenegger at the historic Stanford Mansion, recently renovated for just such occasions.

* Checkout Is At 11:00 am: By the way, while the Stanford Mansion is available for formal state parties, there is nowhere for a visiting head of state to grab some shuteye. California has no official Governor's Mansion. President Fox and his entourage camped out in a downtown Sacramento hotel, though not the one where his host has camped out the last two and a half years.

* The Tour: The governor and First Lady Maria Shriver took President and Marta Fox on a 10 minute tour of an art exhibit honoring Latinas, in the museum next door to the courtyard party. Most of the tour was narrated by Shriver, who's been quite involved in the museum's exhibits. But the highlight came as they stopped at an exhibit that showed off items from the movie based on the life of artist Freda Kahlo. President Fox looked at one of the photos, immediately smiled, and said, "Salma Hayek." He remembered (as do I) that the sexy Hayek portrayed Kahlo in the flick.

* The Love: Memo to Phil Angelides, whose gubernatorial bid has been endorsed by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-LA): are you sure Nunez is still on board? After Nunez introduced the governor, saying that thanks to Schwarzenegger, "California is once again on the move," Schwarzenegger beamed. He then said he might use that sound bite in his campaign. Of course, Nunez also got in a good jab by saying that the governor and the Mexican president "both have similar accents."

* Too Much Information?: Schwarzenegger seemed in such a good mood while introducing Fox at the courtyard soiree that he launched into a list of all the things he loves about Mexico: the art, the architecture, the food... the tequila.

Uh oh.

"Oh man," he said. "I'm not gonna tell you, but I got drunk a few times with the tequila in Mexico." The crowd laughed, almost nervously it seemed. One woman in the back, though, signaled her approval with a party-esque scream.

Quickly, and thankfully, Schwarzenegger went back to his prepared speech.

The new poll from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California is out, showing a new, but slight, lead in the Democratic gubernatorial race for self-proclaimed "underdog" Phil Angelides over challenger Steve Westly.

But what seems even more interesting is how different men and women are seeing the candidates, and how women may ultimately hold the cards.

First, the overall headline: 35% of Democrats support Angelides, 32% support Westly. By the way, that's a 15 point improvement for Phil Angelides since last month's PPIC poll. Westly's numbers went up by 6 points. Both men, by the way, were tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the poll's theoretical November matchup.

But back to the Democrats, the PPIC poll found a gender split in the race: men favor Angelides by a pretty wide margin (43% vs. 29% for Westly), while women give a slight edge to Westly (35% vs. 28% for Angelides).

Sadly, we don't know why. However, what we do know is that more women-- 37% of those surveyed-- say they're undecided in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, compared to 28% of men.

And now the kicker, courtesy of PPIC pollster Mark Baldassare.

"Since women outnumber men in the Democratic electorate," he said, "undecided women will be pivotal in determining the winner in this primary election."

The entire poll is here.

In his comments on tomorrow's visit by the president of Mexico, Governor Schwarzenegger expressed skepticism about current proposals to crack down on business owners who hire workers who are not legally in the United States.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved a plan that would toughen the penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

This afternoon, I asked the governor what he thinks of such proposals, and what role the business community should play in this issue?

If there is a role, Schwarzenegger didn't mention it. In fact, he was critical of such proposals.

Here's his answer, in its entirety:

"You can't really make the businesses become the law enforcement agency, and become the experts. Because there are so many people that have falsified documents, they've falsified driver's licenses, they've falsified Social Security numbers, they've falsified birth certificates, and so on.

So how does someone that is an owner of a business know if those documents are real or not? And then all of a sudden, they find out they have illegal immigrants working for them. And they get arrested, or they get punished, or they get sued and all this.

"So it's very odd. We have to come up with a more comprehensive system, rather than just one idea."

Reporters often like to focus on the drama of even mundane news events, but it's hard not to notice the drama of what will happen tomorrow here in Sacramento.

The plot: the leader of Mexico will be greeted in California's capital with intense questions about illegal immigration, and by a governor who seems to have already visited every other world leader that has a vested interest in the state.

President Vicente Fox Quesada is scheduled to arrive in Sacramento tomorrow afternoon, where he will address a joint session of the Legislature and meet with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. On Friday, he's scheduled to speak to the state's business leaders before returning home.

Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-LA) both tried today to get themselves into the news media's "preview" stories on the Fox visit. The governor, who acknowledged that America is currently engaged in a "difficult debate" about immigration, said he has three main topics to discuss with President Fox: stregthening trade with Mexico, the problems with illegal immigration and border security, and environmental issues along the border.

He denied that the meeting would be a confrontational one. "Mexico is our friend," he said. "We know that when we work together, we can really do much better and that it will be beneficial for them, it will be beneficial for us."

But even as Mexico is California's largest trading partner, Schwarzenegger and Fox have never met-- at least not since the governor took office in 2003. Why?

"It has to do with the circumstances," said Schwarzenegger, who then launched into a somewhat confusing discussion as to why official trips to Japan, China, and Israel have taken precedence. He did say, however, that he plans a trade trip to Mexico "soon."

Earlier, Speaker Nunez told reporters that he will hold his own private meeting with President Fox tomorrow, and suggested there may have been a better California-Mexico relationship under former Governor Gray Davis.

And while he emphasized that there needs to be "mutual respect" between the two neighbors, Nunez did not mince words about what he will say to Mexico's president.

"I'm going to speak to him about the fact that Mexico needs to put its money where its mouth is" and improve its own economy, Nunez said. "Most people that come here from Mexico, they don't want to come here. They come here out of necessity, not out of desire."

The gist of Phil Angelides' remarks this afternoon in his speech to the Sacramento Press Club was that he's been consistent in both message and proposals for years-- unlike, he says, either his Democratic gubernatorial opponent or the man who currently holds the job.

The state treasurer's comments didn't break a lot of new ground news-wise, but might have cleared up a few issues that have arisen in the cantankerous Democratic primary-- a primary race that ends with voters going to the polls two weeks from today.

First, Angelides erased any doubts that he supported, or will continue to support, the package of inftrastructure bonds on the November ballot. "I'm going to campaign on behalf of these bond measures," he said. Angelides also reiterated comments in recent days praising legislators for striking the bond deal without Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who he implied is still trying to take credit for the bipartisan agreement. "The guy's trying to make nice for a few months to save his own job," he said.

And later, Angelides attempted to make it clear that he only supports tax increases on the wealthy and large corporations. The TV ads of his Democratic rival Steve Westly have referenced news reports from a few years ago where Angelides discussed changes in excise taxes, sales taxes, and more.

Today, Angelides said those comments were made during tougher budget times, and were merely about placing "all options on the table" before cutting education funding. "My [current] position," he said, "is no tax increases on middle class families. I'm only going to ask people making a half a million dollars or more, and big corporations, to chip in again."

And reflecting the current tenor of the Democratic race, Angelides also threw a few jabs Westly's way. Calling his opponent the "also Arnold," Angelides hinted that Westly's recent negative ads-- in light of a 'positive campaign' pledge-- are in some ways worse than even Schwarzenegger's record.

"At least [Schwarzenegger] waited to be sworn into office to break his promises," he said.