California Politics

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has nominated a Republican state senator to fill California's recently vacated lieutenant governor seat. Schwarzenegger says Sen. Abel Maldonado is the most qualified person for the post, which opened when Democrat John Garamendi was elected to Congress earlier this month. The governor made the announcement Monday evening on "The Jay Leno Show." The Assembly and Senate must confirm Maldonado's appointment, which would run through 2010. The 42-year-old Santa Maria lawmaker was one of three Republicans earlier this year to side with Schwarzenegger and Democrats in supporting a state budget that raised taxes. Schwarzenegger says Maldonado has the courage to reach across ... Read Full Story

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is summoning lawmakers for a special session on the state's water problems, even as legislative negotiators ended nearly 12 hours of talks without reaching an agreement. The legislative leaders plan to meet with the governor again Monday for their seventh consecutive day of discussions. The governor said late Sunday that negotiators have made enough progress that he is calling a special session on water. He acknowledged that they still have a few remaining issues to work out. Legislative leaders said substantial issues remain — including the amount of a water bond to pay for improving the state's inadequate and outdated water ... Read Full Story

California lawmakers met again Saturday in hopes of reaching a deal to upgrade the state's decades-old water system, but left without resolving a handful of major outstanding issues. Lawmakers offered only lukewarm reactions to their four-hour meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Saturday, despite the governor's claim a day earlier that they were on the verge of a historic breakthrough on water. "Sadly, there's little in the way of progress," Assembly Minority Leader Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, said as he left the meeting. He said the latest proposal would "create a vast new government bureaucracy." The legislative leaders are trying to draft a plan ... Read Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's general fund revenues for the first three months of its fiscal year were $1.1 billion below estimates in its budget, a sign the state's economic woes are far from over, Controller John Chiang said on Friday. The most populous U.S. state has suffered a steep drop in revenues this year in the face of the housing slump, credit crisis, financial market turmoil, surging unemployment and the recession. Chiang on Friday urged Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to brace for hard choices to keep the state's books balanced should revenues weaken further. "While there are encouraging signs that California's economy ... Read Full Story

      <em>Sen.Abel Maldonado, Abel Maldonado, Californias next lieutenant governor</em> <img src="http://cdn.freedomspeaks.com/Web/Uploads/state.ca-legislative-senate.ca-15/a48a119b465c4bacbd89a75abc0cefc3_xl.jpg"alt="Abel Maldonado"> For the second time in his political career, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned to talk show host Jay Leno to make a major announcement, this time nominating Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County), as California's next lieutenant governor Monday. Leno asked the governor about the position, which was vacated nearly three weeks ago after Democrat John Garamendi won a seat in Congress, and Schwarzenegger said he would announce it on the show. Earlier Monday the governor's spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor had not informed his staff of a decision. ... Read Full Story