It's hard not to notice that, in politics and in life, Governor Schwarzenegger seems to be an eternal optimist. But the early word from the Legislature's non-partisan analyst is that the governor's new budget may be, well, a tad too … Continue reading »

For health care policy wonks, a long-awaited set of numbers are in… an outside analysis that shows that while the two leading Democratic health care plans would not cover all the uninsured in California, they would also cost less than … Continue reading »

Today marks the semi-official beginning of a new feature both here at Capital Notes and, eventually, on a few other sites: a weekly podcast on California politics. We're calling it Talking Points, and its premise is pretty simple: a weekly … Continue reading »

It was a powerful photo op today on the east steps of the state Capitol. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Three of the leaders of the California Legislature. And the CEOs of a few dozen of California's biggest, and most successful, companies. … Continue reading »

For the past month, everyone from local elections officials to activists have waited for word from Secretary of State Debra Bowen about exactly how she will conduct her upcoming review of voting machines currently used in California. Today, she announced … Continue reading »

The twist that will make headlines out of today's three hour Senate hearing on the 'secret' plan to build a new death chamber at San Quentin: a corrections employee testified that Governor Schwarzenegger's staff knew about the plan well before … Continue reading »

As this morning's long informational hearing over plans to build a new death chamber at San Quentin continues, one early bit of news: the projected cost is more than double what was originally expected. The controversy began, as you might … Continue reading »

Tanker truck safety. Health care. Prisons. Redistricting. Global warming. Indian gaming. Special interests. If this were Jeopardy, that would be the answer. And the question would be: "what can you ask Governor Schwarzenegger in 20 minutes and 33 seconds?" On … Continue reading »

Supporters of California's existing law on legislative term limits are filing a lawsuit over the proposed ballot initiative to modify that law– specifically targeting the summary of the initiative prepared by Attorney General Jerry Brown. The lawsuit, to be filed … Continue reading »

As I attempt to recover from the extravaganza that was this past weekend's Democratic convention (and the San Diego hotel near the train tracks that prevented REM sleep), just a few tidbits of political and policy notes on this Tuesday… … Continue reading »