California Politics

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California will enter the fourth month of its fiscal year on Friday without a state budget in place after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers failed to agree on Thursday on a spending plan.A spokesman for the governor told reporters in the state capital of Sacramento that Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers did not reach a budget agreement after meeting throughout Thursday but that they were inching toward a deal."Every day they meet they get...Read Full Story

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders abruptly canceled their scheduled budget talks Tuesday, hours after Schwarzenegger's press secretary blamed "union bosses" for blocking pension reforms the governor insists are needed to solve the state's long-term financial problems.Closed-door negotiations aimed at breaking the state's record-long budget impasse had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon until the governor's office released a message saying that no such meeting would take...Read Full Story

The head of California's senate announced late Friday that the legislature reached an agreement with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger over the state budget and closing its 19.1 billion dollar deficit.Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg made the announcement to reporters in Sacramento surrounded by three other senior California legislators.California has been without a spending plan since the new budget year began on July 1.Steinberg said that legislators will return next week to finalize...Read Full Story

The California Supreme Court on Monday upheld Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to furlough state workers, dealing a major victory to part of the governor's budgeting plans.In its unanimous ruling, the court concluded that the state Legislature's 2009 budget legislation "validated the governor's furlough program."State employee unions have been challenging Schwarzenegger's order since he implemented two-day-a-month furloughs for more than 200,000 state workers in February 2009. He later...Read Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California does not have to pay state employees for furloughs imposed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after the state's highest court said on Monday the 2009 budget made the cuts legitimate.The deal ends a challenge to the unpaid furloughs by unions representing 200,000 state employees and could ease the passage of a deal between Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers for California's current-year budget.The Republican governor had imposed the days off without pay since...Read Full Story

The California Supreme Court will release its much-anticipated ruling Monday about whether the governor has the authority to furlough state workers.Government employee unions have been challenging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order since he first implemented two-day-a-month furloughs for more than 200,000 state workers in February 2009. He later expanded it to three days a month, which has translated to about a 14 percent pay cut.Schwarzenegger said the move was intended to save money as...Read Full Story

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California entered its 100th day without a state budget in place on Friday as lawmakers continued debating a legislative package that was to make up the spending plan agreed upon in principle with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week.The state Assembly on Thursday passed the package's main budget bill and was working on related legislation early on Friday. The state Senate had not passed the main budget bill.The legislators had been expected to approve the state...Read Full Story

In October 2008, Esteban Nunez and three friends went out looking for a fight. They attempted to enter a fraternity party on the campus of San Diego State University. They were turned away at the door, and went to the apartment of a relative. There, they spent several hours drinking and cursing at the fraternity that turned them away. They then went out looking for a fight, and they found one. Four men ended up being stabbed in the fight, and one, Luis Dos Santos, ended up dying from his...Read Full Story

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - A top California lawmaker said on Friday the state's leaders had reached a final agreement on closing a $19.1 billion deficit to balance the state budget, ending a record stalemate over a spending plan.Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced the deal Friday evening following closed-door negotiations with other top lawmakers and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the governor's office in the state capital of Sacramento and 93 days after California...Read Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's controller said on Tuesday he would not pay lawmakers after they approved a state budget whose "numbers simply did not add up," vowing to withhold paychecks until they submit a balanced budget.Although Democratic lawmakers who control the legislature had approved a budget last Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the budget a day later.Controller John Chiang said he was acting under terms of a law approved by voters last year to withhold lawmakers' pay...Read Full Story