Politics

Bill would protect Calif. reporters' phone records

4:39 PM, May 23, 2013

SACRAMENTO - Government agencies would be required to give journalists five days' notice before they issue subpoenas to a third-party company for telephone records under a bill being introduced in the California Legislature.

Obama threatens veto of House student loan plan

1:21 PM, May 22, 2013

WASHINGTON - The White House Budget Office said Wednesday the GOP plan does not guarantee current low interest rates for students and creates uncertainty for them. The budget office says that if Obama were presented the current bill, officials would urge a veto.

House panel moves to curb military sexual assaults

1:12 PM, May 22, 2013

WASHINGTON - A bill approved by a House panel Wednesday authorizes changes to military law that would strip commanding officers of their authority to unilaterally change or dismiss court-martial convictions in major cases, such as rape and assault.

Senate Judiciary Committee approves immigration overhaul

9:58 PM, May 21, 2013

After three long weeks of hearings and debates, spectators burst out into screams and applause Tuesday night after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an immigration bill that would be the biggest overhaul to the nation's immigration laws in a generation.

Group says keep kids home on Harvey Milk Day

7:54 PM, May 21, 2013

SACRAMENTO - May 22 is Harvey Milk Day in California, a day recognizing the state's first openly gay lawmaker.

House GOP panel moves on deep budget cuts

3:24 PM, May 21, 2013

WASHINGTON - Republicans controlling the House are pressing ahead with slashing cuts to domestic programs far deeper than the cuts departments like Education, Interior and State are facing under an already painful round of automatic austerity.

Senate votes to make small cut to food stamps

3:15 PM, May 21, 2013

WASHINGTON - The Senate has voted to keep a $400 million annual cut - or roughly a half of 1 percent - to the food stamp program in a farm bill it is considering this week.

Senate OKs regulations for medicinal marijuana

9:57 PM, May 20, 2013

SACRAMENTO - California would take steps to regulate the sale of medical marijuana under a bill approved by the state Senate.

California's political power couple collaborate, compromise

9:29 PM, May 20, 2013

Jerry and Anne Brown, in an exclusive News10 interview, talk about their marriage and political partnership.

California law takes effect on microstamping guns

12:07 PM, May 18, 2013

LOS ANGELES - A California law that requires all semiautomatic handguns to be equipped with technology that stamps a code with the weapon's make, model and serial number on bullet casings is now in effect after years of delays.

Lew: Debt ceiling will hit after Labor Day

7:27 PM, May 17, 2013

President Obama's team warns congressional Republicans about the debt ceiling

Capitol Connection Podcast: Start Your Engines

6:38 PM, May 17, 2013

A big budget week, with the race now on for a Capitol deal by mid-June.

Legislative analyst pegs revenue $3.2B higher than governor

1:15 PM, May 17, 2013

SACRAMENTO - The state's independent budget analyst says California will take in $3.2 billion more than Gov. Brown estimated, providing Democratic lawmakers the opportunity to increase spending.

Bill would teach violence-awareness to Calif. students

2:03 PM, May 16, 2013

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers want schools to teach students about violence in American culture, in hopes it might help deter future mass shootings like those in Aurora, Colo., and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Obama, angry about scandal, ousts IRS chief

7:35 PM, May 15, 2013

WASHINGTON - President Obama said on Wednesday that he's accepted the resignation of acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller in the aftermath of revelations that agency officials were putting extra scrutiny on Tea Party groups' applications for tax-exempt status.

State officials say parks fundraiser wrongly used cash

6:27 PM, May 15, 2013

A private fundraising company hired to raise money for California state parks is accused of spending almost $1 million of a large donation on its own bills, an accusation it denies as legislators say they want more information.

State cash bonanza shrinks under Brown's new budget

1:18 PM, May 14, 2013

Gov. Brown's new budget plan assumes a smalller than expected impact from this winter's extra tax revenues.

Federal cuts trim Calif. budget outlook

10:49 AM, May 14, 2013

SACRAMENTO- Gov. Brown is announcing a spending plan for the coming fiscal year that is $1.2 billion lower than he projected in January despite surging state tax revenue.

5 key things worth watching in Brown's revised budget

2:13 PM, May 13, 2013

With Gov. Brown's revised budget being unveiled Tuesday, a quick look at the big things to watch for ... and the political debates to come.

Lawmakers debate how to spend $900M in new revenue

12:18 PM, May 11, 2013

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers are locked in a disagreement over how to hand out $900 million by the voter-approved closure of a tax loophole.

Analysts: Questions remain despite Benghazi testimony

8:25 PM, May 9, 2013

An investigation into a terrorist attack in Benghazi and the mishandling of security there has yet to answer key questions about who's at fault and what went wrong, security analysts said Thursday.

Calif. lawmakers move to punish hoax 911 'swatting'

4:09 PM, May 9, 2013

SACRAMENTO - Legislation approved by the state Senate would force pranksters who make hoax 911 calls like the ones used to target celebrities pay for the cost of police responding to the fake emergencies.

Assembly OKs transgender student accommodations

4:05 PM, May 9, 2013

SACRAMENTO - California schools would be required to let transgender students use the restrooms and participate in the sex-segregated programs of their choice under a bill passed by the state Assembly.

Republicans to back Obama's student loan idea

12:17 PM, May 9, 2013

WASHINGTON - House Republicans are willing to give President  Obama a rare victory on college loans. He wants to tie student loan interest rates to market rates.

New data show price differences for health procedures

8:03 PM, May 8, 2013

Hospitals will now be required to tell patients how much they charge for procedures.

GOP ex-lawmaker launches realignment rollback initiative

2:53 PM, May 8, 2013

Former lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado says he'll launch a 2014 ballot initiative effort to overturn the hotly debated law that sends some new felons to local sentences, not state prison.

Measure would ease hiring rules for U.S. tech firms

10:17 PM, May 7, 2013

WASHINGTON - Most U.S. technology companies would not have to first offer jobs to Americans before hiring overseas workers, under a measure introduced late Tuesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Internet sales tax passes Senate

5:12 PM, May 6, 2013

The Senate passed a bill Monday night aimed at making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases, but its final prospects remain uncertain.

Governor: Court prison order neither feasible nor safe

12:58 PM, May 3, 2013

In court documents just before the stroke of midnight, Gov. Brown argues that nothing short of the early release of violent criminals would fully meet the 2013 prison population target of federal judges.

Legislators advance bill to halt oil fracking

9:01 PM, Apr 29, 2013

SACRAMENTO - Bills to halt hydraulic fracturing in California pending a review of environmental and health impacts have passed their first legislative hurdle.  

Calif. lawmakers approve health insurance protections

3:36 PM, Apr 29, 2013

SACRAMENTO - Lawmakers have sent Gov. Brown a pair of consumer protection bills that prevent health insurance companies from discriminating and overcharging customers.

Calif. would take in billions if online sales-tax bill passes

4:09 PM, Apr 25, 2013

WASHINGTON - California would get billions of dollars in additional revenue each year if Congress passes a Republican-sponsored online sales-tax bill that has the backing of California's Democratic senators and President Obama, supporters say.

Democrats push back on governor's school funding plan

3:13 PM, Apr 25, 2013

Democrats in the California's state Senate are pushing back, ever so politely, on the specifics in Gov. Brown's plan to redirect billions of dollars to school districts serving the poor and English learners.

Calif. bill would allow non-citizens to serve as jurors

2:51 PM, Apr 25, 2013

SACRAMENTO - The state Assembly has passed a bill that would allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty.

Lawmakers probe gaps in fertilizer plant rules

2:22 PM, Apr 25, 2013

WASHINGTON - Top congressional Democrats are examining whether gaps in federal regulations might be placing at risk those who work and live near more than 6,000 fertilizer plants like the one that exploded in Texas.

Brown vows 'battle of their lives' for school funding critics

6:43 PM, Apr 24, 2013

Gov. Brown laid down a large political marker Wednesday, vowing to do whatever it takes to get the Legislature to approve his plan for shifting more education dollars to school districts that serve low-income students and English learners.