So much for getting a break from the state budget.

On this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we take a look at this week's prediction of a $20.7 billion budget gap and what that means for lawmakers once they return to Sacramento.

Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I also discuss the staffing changes inside the governor's office, and what it might mean for Arnold Schwarzenegger's last year in office.

Not that you missed us.

Our hiatus has come to an end for the Capital Notes Podcast, and we're back with our mostly snarky, occasionally thought provoking weekly dish on politics.

This week: a look back on the big water deal, the guessing game of who gets to be California's next "lite guv," and the tempest over recording phone calls at the office of the Attorney General.

(Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I mention in this podcast transcripts of those recorded phone calls, which can be read here.)

You're probably thinking that headline is just part of the normal snarky nature of our weekly Capital Notes Podcast, that there must be some double entendre or hidden joke in its meaning. Right?

Well, no.

In one of those great moments in podcast history, it turns out this podcast is only about 2/3 of what we thought it was. The culprit: a maxxed out digital flash card, onto which our audio records. You can imagine the surprise when the audio quits just as Capitol Weekly's Anthony York is making one of his insightful comments. Alas, lost to the ages.

This week's conversation focused on the end of the 2009 regular legislative session, from last minute wheeling and dealing to what happened on the big three policy issues: water, renewable energy, and prisons. Trouble is, the audio recording never made it to prisons, and actually stops abruptly in our chat on energy.

For those who smell some kind of coverup, rest assured: it wasn't an 18 1/2-minute gap forever linked to a dutiful secretary that did us in. Nope, just a snafu of modern digital audio... and one apologetic radio journalist.

As is proper to say on these occasions: "We regret the error."

The legislative year is coming down to the final hours, and much of the action has been intense and, in some cases, personal.

We've put out our weekly Capital Notes Podcast a day early, given how many legislative proposals are in limbo and thus might be a done deal by the time tomorrow rolls around. If you listen to this on Friday, the chatter from me and Capitol Weekly's Anthony York may be outdated.

In fact, one element of the week's big political drama is already dated -- the scandal that ended with a legislator's resignation. In the podcast, Anthony says that there had been no formal resignation letter from Assemblymember Mike Duvall (R-Yorba Linda). Anthony was right... until we came out of the studio, when word came that the letter had been submitted (see it here).

Check back for a legislative wrap-up podcast next week.

As the year's legislative session winds down, the political wheeling and dealing intensifies. That may be even more true this year, given how many big items remain on the 'to do list.'

We're finally back with a week-ending Capital Notes Podcast, and a look at the frenzy over prison reform, a comprehensive water fix, and what might be one of the last minute power plays hoping to sneak in before the final gavel falls.

Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I also discuss the ramifications of this week's special congressional election... and the parlor game of who might become the 'Lite Guv.'

With the Legislature on recess and our Capital Notes Podcast back after a pause, it's a good time for a reset on budget politics.

Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I recap Governor Schwarzenegger's budget vetoes, the likely legal kerfuffle over those vetoes, and new developments in the very long kerfuffle over prison overcrowding.

And now, we're formally retiring the word "kerfuffle."

With a vote on a state budget deficit solution either late today or tomorrow, we figured let's use our waiting time constructively... by pushing forward our weekly wrap.

This week's Capital Notes Podcast is all deficit agreement, all the time. Of course, we're not sure exactly how big either the proposal is... or the problem, hence the term "Twentysomething."

Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I examine some of the big items and finer points, including the dustup over spending cuts to the prison budget and assumptions that may not come true.

[Note: the draft report on the deficit deal that we reference can be found here, courtesy of crackerjack online whiz Scott Lay, whose day job is with the Community College League of California.]

We were all educated over these past few days in the ways of budget politics. Pun fully intended, of course.

On this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we examine the status of sputtering budget talks (at least, as of our taping on late Thursday afternoon). Most notably, the battle over Proposition 98 -- Test 1, maintenance factor, you know you love it.

Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I also discuss the likelihood that whatever deficit deal is struck, it's likely to again include those little maneuvers (some would call them gimmicks) that help close the final distance.

The impasse inside the state Capitol seems so intense that while the situation is probably one of chaos, it's led some to begin to chart some interesting conspiracies.

On this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we backtrack a bit to examine what's happened these last 10 days, from the blown fiscal year deadline to why even mathematical formulas are bendable by politics.

Capitol Weekly's Anthony York and I also discuss the very real sense that things are getting ever more... stuck... in resolving the state's multi-billion dollar deficit.

Seems like an appropriate time, what with the state handing out IOUs, to add our own. The Capital Notes Podcast is AWOL this week, but will be back next Friday. Which means, barring any budget news this weekend, check back here for postings and more after the Independence Day holiday. Do like we're doing: get some rest.