Sine die

Today is the final day of the legislative session. This being the end of the two-year session, lawmakers must adjourn "sine die" before midnight. But as with most rules in the Legislature, there's always a  way around it.

Once upon a time, lawmakers would routinely stop the clocks inside the chambers to extend the working session. That little bit of legislative time stoppage has since been disallowed by the courts. But as it turns out, the adjournment doesn't apply to bills with an urgency clause or the state budget.

An urgency clause is a provision in a bill that allows it to be enacted within 90 days. Bills normally take effect on the Jan. 1 after they are signed into law. Urgency measures need a two-thirds vote.

So the real meaning of today's deadline is that midnight is the end of majority rule inside the Legislature. After that time, any bill, including the budget, must be passed with a two-thirds vote.

Lawmakers will spend a large chunk of their day today voting on competiting budget plans. Of course, neither plan will pass, but don't think of today's  budget vote as a drill. Think of it as Legislative Festivus. And this morning at 10 a.m. begins the official airing the grievences.

Kevin Yamamura reports, "We should not end this formal legislative session without having a full floor debate and votes on our respective visions of California," Darrell Steinberg said. "I know the 'D-word' gets used all the time, and I reject that."

"Plenty of people have been scratching their heads about why legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to hold floor votes tomorrow on competing budget plans. After all, neither Republicans nor Democrats have the requisite votes to pass their plans off the floor, and two Democratic members who have health issues will remain at home."

And so, barring some kind of miracle, the state will begin September without a spending plan in place. Tuesday's vote is little more than a statement of principle, with Democrats voting to save key social programs and Republicans refusing to support a spending plan that would require tax increases.

"Republicans are expected to support Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan, with a couple of exceptions. Republicans and Democrats differ on about $4 billion in budget solutions -- a gap that Democrats want to fill by delaying corporate tax cuts and with an elaborate, multibillion-dollar tax swap proposal that would increase several state taxes but decrease Californians' federal tax burden."

The California Legislature passed dozens of bills Monday with many more on the way Tuesday, the official final day of the legislative session. Among the bills passed is one that expands the use of carpool lanes.

Jack Dolan and Patrick McGreevy report, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure Monday allowing tens of thousands more Californians with environmentally friendly cars to drive solo in carpool lanes, while state lawmakers moved closer to approving reforms inspired by the eye-popping salaries of Bell city officials.

"Among the measures meant to crack down on abuse of public trust by government officials are three bills passed by the Senate that would limit how quickly local leaders can raise their own salaries, put a cap on their pensions and refund excess property taxes charged to Bell residents.

They also found time to raise lots and lots of money. 

Chase Davis reports, "Sitting members of the California Legislature have raised more than $380,000 during the last five days, as lobbyists and special interest groups scramble to push their bills through the Assembly and Senate before this year's legislative session draws to a close.

"Before we dig in deeper later this week, we thought we'd show you how things are stacking up.

"The Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, which is pushing a slate of bills related to mobile homes and property taxes, has contributed the most, giving $22,700 to nine different lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The Consumer Attorneys of California, which backed legislation that would streamline jury trials as well as several other bills, gave more than $14,000.

"Groups representing telecommunications, insurance companies, doctors and pharmaceutical companies round out the top of the list, which you can see here as a Google spreadsheet."

Meg Whitman spent the day on jury duty in Redwood City. 

"The former EBay chief was not selected for a trial, but she may have to return to the Redwood City courthouse on Thursday as the selection process continues.

"In the past, the candidate has struggled with another aspect of civic life -- voting on a regular basis. But a campaign spokeswoman said Whitman enjoyed her time at the Hall of Justice and Records."

Next thing you know they'll be telling us she breathes real oxygen.

The University of California's retirement fund is facing a deficit of more than $20 billion.

The LA Times reports, "The University of California retirement system faces a shortfall of more than $20 billion, according to a new report, and a task force of administrators and employees is recommending changes to help fix the problem.