Fabian Núñez ends Assembly speaker tenure with mixed record of success
Fabian Núñez, the eighth and longest-serving Assembly speaker in the 13 years since the legendary Willie Brown was forced to vacate the position in 1995, is being forced out himself by a legislative term limit law he tried, and failed, to persuade voters to change.
None of Núñez's seven predecessors had more than a momentary impact; indeed, a few of them were there scarcely long enough to change the I-love-me plaques in the speaker's ornate office. But Núñez, elected as a first-termer in the hope that he could bring some stability and accomplishment to the Assembly, does have a record of sorts.
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol Bureau
10:28:09 PM Monday, May 12, 2008
Trouble could be brewing at CalPERSSomething is happening at the nation's largest pension fund, the Sacramento-based California Public Employees' Retirement System, which has nearly a quarter-trillion dollars in investments ranging from real estate to stocks.
09:23:32 PM Sunday, May 11, 2008
Insurance rules touch off political positioningLast week's sharply worded exchange of letters between Republican Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and his Democratic predecessor, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, sounded very much like opening salvos of the 2010 contest for governor.
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol Bureau
11:08:03 PM Monday, May 5, 2008
Dems gush over trickle of new membersCalifornia's Democratic leaders, who had seen their share of the electorate decline by about 15 percentage points over the last three decades, are crowing about an uptick in registration.
09:52:54 PM Sunday, May 4, 2008
Don't boost homeowner exemption, get rid of itRepublican state legislators complain constantly that majority Democrats ignore them and their ideas in fashioning legislative policy.
11:06:26 PM Thursday, May 1, 2008
Everyone feels home market pinchCalifornia may be the epicenter of the housing industry's meltdown, but very few areas of the nation are exempt from its effects.
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol Bureau
11:14:41 PM Monday, Apr 28, 2008
Classic duel under way in California's foothillsIt's the classic dilemma that afflicts members of both political parties as they choose candidates for offices from the presidency down: whether to opt for the true-believing ideological purist or the more pragmatic, and perhaps more electable, alternative.
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol Bureau
11:05:21 PM Thursday, Apr 24, 2008
Lawmakers occasionally, accidentally, do us rightOnce in a while, almost by accident, the California Legislature sets aside pettiness and venality and does the right thing.
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol Bureau
10:31:21 PM Monday, Apr 21, 2008
Everyone's guessing on size of state deficitWhen Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget office reported last week that revenues are running $1.2 billion below estimates for the current fiscal year, it added fuel to one of the Capitol's biggest guessing games: How large is the state budget deficit?
10:35:11 PM Sunday, Apr 20, 2008
Cynicism about capital is founded once againChalk up two more pyrrhic victories for the cynics about the Capitol's ability to do the public's business in a straightforward, unhypocritical manner -- and the outgoing speaker of the state Assembly, Fabian Núñez, is at the center of both.
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol Bureau
11:01:18 PM Thursday, Apr 17, 2008
Governor's tax musings may actually make sense10:58:18 PM Monday, Apr 14, 2008
Budget talks seem even slower than usual01:05:20 AM Sunday, Apr 13, 2008
Bills shows lawmakers lose touch with reality10:53:43 PM Thursday, Apr 10, 2008
State fair to cut exhibits by students10:52:14 PM Sunday, Apr 6, 2008
State senate race heats into ugly feud10:53:38 PM Monday, Mar 31, 2008
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