Capitol watchers ordinarily would prepare this week for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s annual State of the State address, but the governor is delaying matters until a week from Thursday.
Schwarzenegger aides aren’t saying exactly why the governor has decided to move his annual address to Jan. 15, but speculation is that the governor may want to broker a midyear budget deal before he speaks to his fellow Californians. Perhaps it’s better to have reached a partial budget solution than to explain that things in Sacramento are completely fouled up.
Senate President Pro Tem …

If you’ve been keeping track at home, today marked the sixth time in 2008 that the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a budget plan.
Here’s the message Schwarzenegger gave in a statement accompanying his budget plan:
Today’s announcement represents the sixth budget I have proposed to the legislature this year. The fact that the legislature has failed to reach a compromise between Republicans and Democrats and take action during the last three special sessions is inexcusable.
My proposal today follows the same blueprint of my last two proposals which balance cuts with …

Exactly three weeks before Barack Obama is sworn in as president, a local man is trying to make sure God is not included in the inauguration.
Michael Newdow, a self-proclaimed atheist, is most known for his fight to change the Pledge of Allegiance to remove the phrase “under God.”
On Tuesday, Newdow and 17 other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit says that a pastor should not be allowed to say prayers at Obama’s swearing-in ceremony and the chief justice of the Supreme Court should not …

Reporting from Sacramento — Two public employee unions on Monday sued Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to block his effort to furlough state workers in a cost-cutting measure as California’s treasury runs out of money. Last week, Schwarzenegger issued an executive order to require that all state employees take two unpaid days off each month starting in February. The governor said the measure is needed to conserve cash, with the state budget gap estimated to reach $42 billion a year and a half from now.
The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior …

A Ferrari-driving vice president of Fry’s Electronics Inc. who was allegedly such a heavyweight gambler that casinos chartered private planes to fly him to Las Vegas has been arrested on charges he embezzled more than $65 million from the retailer to fuel his lavish lifestyle and pay off debts.
Ausaf Umar Siddiqui is accused by the IRS of concocting an incredibly profitable scheme in which he cut side deals with some of Fry’s suppliers, buying their goods at higher prices than they would normally get, and buying more of them than …

Controller John Chiang laid out a nightmare scenario today of the state’s resorting to IOUs or costly and uncertain emergency loans if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators don’t agree on steps to close the state budget deficit very quickly because the state will run out of cash in about two months.
“Specifically, my office will be forced to pursue the deferral of potentially billions of dollars
in payments and/or the issuance of individual registered warrants, commonly referred to as IOUs,” Chiang said in a letter to the governor and other officials.
“In order …

Democratic state Sens. Gil Cedillo and Gloria Romero say they’re exploring running for the East Los Angeles County congressional seat that’s expected to be vacated by Rep. Hilda Solis, reportedly President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for labor secretary.
While Cedillo was expressing his interest Thursday to reporters on the floor of the Senate, Romero wandered by and said she was “definitely” looking at jumping into the race.
Told that in addition to Cedillo, the Calderon brothers — Assemblyman Charles and state Sen. Ron — could be contenders, Romero declared, “I can beat …

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg have issued statements in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s vow not to sign the Democratic budget plan.
Here the statements are, in full.
Steinberg:
Californians expect the Legislature to solve the state’s problems and that’s what we began to do tonight.
Democrats passed a responsible plan that reduced the budget deficit by $18 billion, but the Governor rejected it for reasons that have little to do with the deficit itself.
It would be easy to fire back at the Governor for his …

Both houses of the Legislature were to convene this evening to vote on a new Democratic budget plan that raises taxes without two-thirds votes but the sessions were delayed as legislative leaders negotiated for a signature from Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger reportedly was demanding concessions from Democrats on regulatory and labor laws that business groups have been demanding - changes that the Democrats’ allies in labor and environmental groups strongly oppose.
Lawmakers plan to return at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has released a detailed list of infrastructure projects that are at risk if the Pooled Money Investment Board votes Wednesday to suspend financing because of the Legislature’s inability to close the state budget gap.
Lockyer said the move is necessary so the state can conserve cash as revenues lag and the political deadlock continues. The state is unable to sell bonds to replenish the pooled money fund.
The board — Lockyer, Finance Director Mike Genest and Controller John Chiang — meets at 10 a.m. to take up the …