By Mark Gutglueck
Friday, January 6, 2012

Questions continue to dog the second highest ranking member of the county auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector’s office with regard to the role he and a political action committee he controlled played in illegally passing through and laundering money for those convicted of or charged with participation in a bribery and extortion conspiracy.

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BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 27 November 2011 09:57 PM

SACRAMENTO – Instead of voting yes or no, members of Inland Southern California’s legislative delegation abstained on hundreds of bills that came before the full Assembly and Senate this year.

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Neil Nisperos and Benjamin Demers, Staff Writers
Posted: 11/27/2011 06:03:44 AM PST

Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series looking at the newly redrawn Inland Empire legislative districts for state Senate. Sunday’s installment was Congress; Tuesday will examine the Assembly. Recently redrawn state Senate lines likely won’t see a major shift of power in the Inland Empire from Republicans to Democrats.

Despite being in the minority in Sacramento, GOP senators have enjoyed a majority in the Inland Empire for years and that trend is unlikely to change.

The 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission introduced the redrawn maps in July.

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Paul Gann, left, and Howard Jarvis, celebrate the passage of Prop. 13 in 1978. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association recently released legislative scorecards for 2011. The scores are of particular interest to Republicans./AP

FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published: 20 November 2011 05:33 PM

Various Capitol interest groups began releasing legislative scorecards shortly after lawmakers finished their 2011 session in September.

Holding particular interest for Republicans are the rankings put out by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The organization, named after the force behind 1978’s tax-limiting Prop. 13, has a lot of influence in GOP circles, particularly at election time.

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By PE Politics
August 29, 2011 9:17 PM

The Senate finished its work Monday without taking up legislation that would require an indicted official to step down from appointed boards.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 2, 2011

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – Being at the center of Capitol budget negotiations earlier this year seems to have been good for the bottom line of state Sen. Bill Emmerson’s campaign committee.

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Emmerson

Administrator’s Note: Legislator carrying water for Majestic Realty……..

By PE Politics
July 25, 2011 4:39 PM

State Sen. Bill Emmerson’s Riverside County district is a good ways from downtown Los Angeles.

A weekend newspaper story, though, links an Emmerson bill to an effort to undercut a proposed NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles.

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Emmerson

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 13, 2011

A group of Senate Republicans who have been involved in budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown today released specific demands they want included in any deal that garners their support for a special election on taxes.

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By PE Politics
June 7, 2011 9:22 AM

State Sen. Bill Emmerson might be breathing a little easier this morning.

Tentative “visualizations” proposed last week by staff for the Citizens Redistricting Commission put the Hemet Republican’s home in a district that extended to San Diego and included the hometown of Senate colleague Joel Anderson, R-Alpine.

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Emmerson

By PE Politics
June 6, 2011 4:24 PM

Last week’s “visualizations” from the Citizens Redistricting Commission sometimes make it hard to see a district’s details.

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Emmerson

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, June 5, 2011

The Press-Enterprise

State Sen. Bill Emmerson demands that California adopt a spending cap, revamp its pension system for state workers and ease some state regulations.

The Hemet Republican, however, also is one of only a handful of GOP lawmakers willing to consider placing tax-extension measures on the ballot as part of a budget deal. That makes Emmerson a favorite of union chief David Kieffer.

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Emmerson

By Steven Harmon
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 06/03/2011 05:51:59 PM PDT
Updated: 06/04/2011 05:06:40 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO — Another deadline, another round of exhortations from Gov. Jerry Brown to complete a budget and allow the people to vote on tax extensions.

But is anybody listening yet? Maybe.

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Emmerson

By PE Politics
May 27, 2011 5:13 PM

State Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet, has demanded a spending cap, revamped pension system for state workers, and easing of state regulations as part of any potential deal to let voters consider extending higher taxes.

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Republican state senators confer in Sacramento. Before a voter initiative passed last fall, a state budget bill could be approved only with a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, which required some GOP support. That requirement is gone now. (Associated Press)

By Evan Halper and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
May 20, 2011

Reporting from Sacramento — Voters were assured that a ballot measure they passed last fall would punish lawmakers when the state budget is late, docking their pay and perks for every day that a spending plan is overdue.

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10:49 PM PDT on Sunday, May 8, 2011

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – He’s put in more than seven years’ worth of legislating, constituent glad-handing and fundraising, and yet state Sen. Bill Emmerson’s political future could come down to a number.

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By PE Politics
May 3, 2011 5:22 PM

A bill to put Riverside and San Bernardino counties into their own appellate court district failed on a party-line vote at its first committee Tuesday, with justices divided on the issue.

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12:36 AM PDT on Sunday, May 1, 2011

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

A bill calling for a new Inland-area based appellate court district in California will get a first look Tuesday in the state Legislature.

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Negrete-McLeod

By PE Politics
April 29, 2011 7:36 AM

State Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, represents all of the city of Pomona. And a press release this week from Cal Poly Pomona describes the school as being in Negrete McLeod’s district.

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Emmerson

By PE Politics
April 19, 2011 12:25 PM

State Sen. Bill Emmerson will be the beneficiary of a fundraiser tonight at the Riverside home of former University of California Regent Sue Johnson and her husband, Bill.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 14, 2011

No major breakthroughs to report on the state budget, but a few notes from the past couple days:

– Senate Republicans don’t seem particularly motivated to vote for taxes or a tax ballot, though they are still willing to engage in budget talks that involve pension changes and a long-term spending cap.

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Bill Emmerson and Bob Dutton

By PE Politics
April 1, 2011 11:00 AM

They have extensive San Bernardino roots, represented the same Assembly district, and share similar brands of Republican politics that have led them to part from their caucus over the years.

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Emmerson

By PE Politics
March 29, 2011 3:50 PM

State Sen. Bill Emmerson said Tuesday that budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown are over and won’t restart.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 28, 2011

When Senate Republicans released their list of policy requests late Friday, including notes of where Democrats had agreed, it seemed like the kind of move that typically spells disaster. But conversations continued Monday, albeit without the two Senate Republican leaders who made the list public.

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10:00 PM PDT on Friday, March 18, 2011

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – State Sen. Bill Emmerson will help determine if Gov. Jerry Brown gets his wish to ask California voters to extend higher taxes on income, sales and vehicles this spring. The Hemet Republican’s political career could go down the tubes as a result.

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By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 15, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Hopes of reaching a budget agreement this week dimmed after several Republicans said Monday that discussions with Gov. Jerry Brown had stalled.

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By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Mar. 13, 2011 – 1:00 am | Page 1A

From hosting lawmakers at his downtown loft to testifying in a packed committee room, Gov. Jerry Brown has taken a novel approach to the state budget.

Yet negotiations have returned to a familiar spot: trading additional revenue for long-term changes in state government. Brown is negotiating with a splinter group of five GOP lawmakers, whose wish list contains issues that have divided the Capitol for decades.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 11, 2011

Gov. Jerry Brown was working with advisers this morning on a pension reform proposal in his bid to reach a budget deal.

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By Torey Van Oot
tvanoot@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011 – 10:00 am

The fate of Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to put tax increase extensions on a June ballot appears to lie in the hands of five Republican senators.

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Friday, March 11, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) has issued an alert over the possibility that some or all of a group of five GOP senators may cut a deal to place $55 billion of tax increase extensions on a June special election ballot.

Unfortunately, another Inland Empire lawmaker is once again involved.

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Politics
March 11, 2011

By VAUHINI VARA

California’s top lawmakers have publicly distanced themselves from budget talks between five Republican senators and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. Behind the scenes, they have played key roles moving them along, according to people familiar with the matter.

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11:46 PM PST on Tuesday, March 8, 2011

By JIM MILLER and BEN GOAD
The Press-Enterprise

California’s political landscape lurched to the east Tuesday as new census numbers point to a major increase in representation for Inland Southern California over the next decade.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 8, 2011

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said after meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown this afternoon that the Senate will vote Thursday to pass spending reductions in Brown’s budget plan, despite lacking Republican support for tax extensions.

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10:38 PM PST on Sunday, March 6, 2011

By JIM MILLER and DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

SACRAMENTO – Redevelopment in Riverside and San Bernardino counties historically has been as much about the “development” part of the process as the “re,” agency records show.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 4, 2011

Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday he has personally talked to Republican legislators who might support his plan to ask voters to approve some $11.2 billion in tax extensions.

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Politics
March 3, 2011
Lawmakers Weigh Support for Governor’s Budget Plan in Return for Concessions

By VAUHINI VARA

In what could become a turning point in Gov. Jerry Brown’s effort to close California’s $26.6 billion deficit, a group of Republican state senators may support the Democratic governor’s plan to ask voters for extended tax increases, in exchange for concessions, people familiar with the matter said.

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By PE Politics
on March 1, 2011 9:17 AM

Any day now, state Sen. Bill Emmerson will get a stake through his head, figuratively speaking.

Assemblyman Paul Cook is already there. For several days, the Yucca Valley Republican’s mug shot has had a stick through it on the web site of KFI AM’s “John and Ken Show.” Cook also is portrayed underneath a bus driven by the show’s hosts.

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Dutton

Dutton: Bill would save schools millions
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 02/27/2011 07:02:29 AM PST

Sen. Bob Dutton has introduced a bill that would save money for local school districts by creating a statewide pay scale for all substitute teachers.

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Friday, February 25, 2011 – 4:00 p.m.

Well, it’s finally started.

The republican kabuki dance to sell out the people of California has began in earnest.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 23, 2011 | 11:05 am

Two-thirds of Republicans in the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they were forming a new group and pledged not only never to vote to raise taxes but also to block efforts to place a tax-hike measure before voters.

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Emmerson

By PE Politics
on February 2, 2011 11:52 AM

State Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet, has been named to an advisory board for the University of California’s Sacramento center.

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11:52 PM PST on Monday, January 31, 2011

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Paul Cook knows the foundations of California government as well as any of his colleagues.

Cook, though, wasn’t buying it Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown invoked the California Constitution to pressure the Yucca Valley Republican and other GOP lawmakers to allow a public vote on a five-year extension of higher taxes.

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Emmerson

By PE News
on January 9, 2011 8:02 PM

Two lawmakers from Inland Southern California are of similar minds when it comes to changing when the Legislature meets and creating a two-year budget.

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Emmerson

Published: Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

At least one lawmaker who attended Maui confab did it out of his own pocket – $4,000 worth

What’s it worth to fly to Maui to join legislative colleagues and Capitol interests in a weeklong conference mixing business with tropical pleasure?

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10:00 PM PST on Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge was in the nation’s capital last week to be formally inducted as a new fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration.

Loveridge, spotted strolling through the swanky lobby of the Washington Renaissance Hotel, called the induction an honor, given that few elected officials serve as fellows to the academy.

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By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Some California lawmakers were packing their bags for Hawaii last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he was calling a special December legislative session to tackle a projected $25.4 billion deficit.

Others already were there.

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