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Lawmakers in California have a tough month ahead of them as more than 1,500 bills, including major policies like greenhouse gas emissions, continue to stare down legislators.  

John Myers, Liam Dillon and Patrick McGreevy in L.A. Times report: "California’s two-year legislative session will come to a close at the end of August, which means the next few weeks will see a sprint of public policy infused with interest-group politics on as many as 1,500 bills."

"The August proceedings in the second year of a legislative term, before lawmakers return home for the fall campaign season, are historically fraught with intense last-minute negotiations and private deals."

"In short, it’s seen as an opportunity to push through controversial plans by twisting the arms of lawmakers either in need of support for the November election or those who are ineligible to run again because of term limits and thus are more willing to cast votes that once had been too politically dangerous."

Meanhile, Hillary Clinton goes on the offensive in battleground states by blazing a campaign trail through key areas in an effort to secure 'working-class white voters.'

Chris Megerian reports in L.A. Times: "By the time Hillary Clinton rolled up here for the final stop of her bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio, she had campaigned at a toy manufacturer, a wire factory, a convention center and a school."

"She bought a milkshake at a local shop, spoke from a church pulpit and showed off her husband’s locally-made shirt."

"And at every place along the way, Clinton tried to drive a wedge between Donald Trump and the white, working-class voters the Republican nominee is counting on to win thispresidential election."

SEE MORE in Beltway: Poll: Clinton leads Trump by 7 points following DNC -- Rebecca Savransky with The Hill; Fight with Khan family tests Trump's 'say anything' strategy -- AP in Sac Bee; Scott Walker distances himself from Trump's Gold Star attack -- Jonathan Swan with The Hill; Reporters Notebook: The search for unity -- Brad Bailey with Capitol Weekly; Reid: GOP leaders spineless for continuing to support Trump -- Cyra Master with The Hill; 

A man struggling with homelessness for more than a year in California is finally getting some government assistance. The problem at hand: He had to provide proof of chronic homelessness before receiving any help.

L.A. Times' Doug Smith writes: "After being discharged from detox, Rory Gallegos had nowhere to go. So he made the street his home."

"A year later, he thought he had found a home when the Hillview Mental Health Center in Pacoima offered him an apartment with onsite mental health services."

"But to qualify for a voucher to pay for the room, Gallegos first had to prove that he was chronically homeless. He couldn’t produce the necessary documents."

Lee Baca returns to federal court today where he will decide to continue with offering a plea deal, or take his case to trial.

Joel Rubin & Cindy Chang report in L.A. Times: "Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca returns to federal court on Monday facing a difficult decision: Withdraw his guilty plea for lying to federal investigators or accept the likelihood of a significant stint behind bars."

"Two weeks ago, U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson rejected a plea agreement Baca struck with federal prosecutors that would have limited his prison time to a maximum of six months. The judge said the punishment “would not address the gross abuse of the public’s trust … including the need to restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and the criminal justice system."

"Baca’s attorney, Michael Zweiback, had tried to negotiate with prosecutors and present Anderson with a new deal — presumably for more than six months. Zweiback told The Times on Saturday that the negotiations had failed and that Baca had not yet made up his mind about what to do."

The anti-legalization efforts against cannabis have just received a $2 million dollar boon to their warchest.

Patrick McGreevy reports in L.A. Times: "Facing well-financed campaigns to legalize recreational pot, a national coalition that includes former Rep. Patrick Kennedy has raised more than $2 million to fight initiatives in five states this year, including a November ballot measure in California."

"The money is being put up by the political arm of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-legalization group founded by Kennedy; David Frum, senior editor of the Atlantic; and Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy advisor to the Obama administration."

"The opposition campaign to California’s Proposition 64 will eventually get a large amount of the money because its vote affects so many people and is likely to have the biggest influence on other states considering similar proposals, said Sabet, president of the group, SAM Action."

Education districts in California employing CORE seek continuations for the program as the policy introducing the system approaches its expiration date. 

John Fensterwald with EdSource writes: "The six California school districts that designed their own school accountability and improvement model are asking the State Board of Education for permission to continue to develop their hybrid system in 2017-18 and beyond. The board will discuss and possibly vote on the proposal at its next meeting in September."

"The districts have operated through a nonprofit, the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE. They established a School Quality Improvement System under a waiver from funding restrictions and penalties of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan granted in 2013. But the waiver ended when Congress replaced NCLB with the Every Student Succeeds Act and turned over to the states the job of designing their own new school accountability systems using multiple measures of achievement. CORE and the California State Board of Education have taken that approach."

"In two July letters to the State Board of Education (here and here), CORE requested that it be designated a research pilot, providing data and insights to the board as it considers broadening its initial accountability system into areas in which the CORE districts are already doing innovative work. CORE’s continued efforts would help the state reach its goal of creating a single, coherent state and federal school improvement system, CORE Executive Director Rick Miller wrote."

Recent polling reveals that many Californians in lower income brackets struggle to attain affordable internet service at home.

Jeremy B. White reporting for Sac Bee writes: "Whether you can go online at home depends in part on your income, age and the language you speak, according to a new Field Poll conducted for the California Emerging Technology Fund."

"An increasing share of Californians enjoy home internet access, the poll found, up to 84 percent from 75 percent just two years ago. Much of that increase comes thanks to the prevalence of connected smart phones."

"But lower-income Californians remain less likely to have access. Just 68 percent of people who make less than $22,000 reported being able to get online at home, compared to the near-universal capability (97 percent) of those who make at least $100,000 or those who make between $40,000 and $100,000 (93 percent)."

In January 2016, a homeless man with late onset-schizophrenia attacked a security guard in Sacramento and was killed in the altercation. Now, many are wondering how the state's healthcare system drastically failed a family in need.

Cynthia Hubert reports for Sac Bee: "Mike Lehmkuhl crawled out from under the brush at his campsite near downtown Sacramento, where for months he had been sleeping on flattened cardboard boxes, eating scraps of fast food, hiding like a hunted animal. Standing before him was a private security officer in a crisp tan uniform."

"It was shortly after 1 p.m. on a cloudy, cool Saturday in January. The security guard, Adam Kelly, had been cruising the area as part of his regular patrol of the city’s River District and pulled over near Lehmkuhl’s site. The business district paid his company to curb crime in the area, and to roust the homeless people who regularly set up camp there."

"Lehmkuhl, gaunt and gray with a scraggly beard, grabbed one of the large tree branches that windstorms had scattered about the property, Kelly later told police. The security guard reached for his belt, where he carried a Taser on one side and a firearm on the other."

READ MORE on Health care: Frustration mounts over ObamaCare co-op failures -- Peter Sullivan with The Hill

And a tragic event unfolds over the weekend in Texas as 16 people are killed in a freak accident involving a hot air balloon -- the worst such accident in United States history. 

Steven Visser, Ralph Ellis and John Newsome with CNN report: "A hot air balloon believed to be carrying 16 people caught fire in the air and crashed in central Texas on Saturday morning, killing everybody on board, federal and local authorities said."