State job bias remedies called separate, unequal

By Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle

Californians who complain of job discrimination are steered down two separate paths, a new study says - one for workers who can afford to hire lawyers, and another, less-rewarding road for those who can't.
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Lawmakers lash out at EDD

By Andrew McIntosh, The Sacramento Bee

Lawmakers are fed up with the state Employment Development Department, saying its technology staff is set to rack up $53 million in cost overruns on projects funded with federal stimulus money and is behind on assisting the unemployed.
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Obama official 'very disturbed' by Anthem Blue Cross rate hikes

By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times

In a rare step, the Obama administration called on California's largest for-profit insurer to justify its rate hikes, saying the increases were alarming at a time when subscribers face skyrocketing healthcare costs. Read More

Two L.A. firms to pay settlement in probe of New York 'pay-to-play' scandal

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times

Two Los Angeles companies embroiled in a New York state pension fund corruption scandal agreed Monday to pay a total of $19 million to settle a state investigation into the "pay-to-play" scheme. Read More

Despite budget crisis, state spent $75 million on vehicles, office furniture

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

Even as the state grappled with a budget crisis last year, bureaucrats spent nearly $45 million on new vehicles, almost $30 million on new furniture and more than $2 million on off-site meetings and conferences, a legislative panel has found. Read More

California is No. 1 in laws protecting animals, Humane Society reports

By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times

California has the strongest animal-protection laws in the country, with detailed regulations shielding animals from harm whether in homes, on farms, at racetracks or in the wild, the Humane Society of the United States reported Monday. Read More

Fixing seasons of California discontent

By Stu Woo, The Wall Street Journal

The prospect of more California-statehouse dysfunction this year is adding momentum to two efforts to overhaul California's budget process — including one that could rewrite much of the state's constitution. Read More

Foreign energy firms getting windfall of U.S. stimulus funds

By Brooke Williams, Watchdog Institute, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Of the more than $2 billion the federal government has given out to boost the economy and create green-energy jobs, more than three-quarters has gone to foreign-owned companies that dominate the global wind-power industry. This latest finding by the Investigative Reporting Workshop, a nonprofit at American University in Washington, D.C., is illustrated clearly in San Diego County, where about a dozen commercial wind developers have offices. Read More

San Diego curfew law is flawed, court says

By Greg Moran, The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego's teen curfew law was struck down — again — by a court because it was too broad and did not provide sufficient constitutional protection for youths. Read More

IRS digging into personal use of state cars

By Jon Ortiz, The Sacramento Bee

The IRS wants to know how nearly 9,000 state workers have used their government-issued vehicles. Read More

Details revealed on financing for governor's meal with legislators

By Steve Wiegand, The Sacramento Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has released a partial list of guests to his closed-door lunch with legislators last month, and revealed who picked up the tab for their steak-or-salmon feeding. Read More

Health care department breaches privacy

By Andrew McIntosh, The Sacramento Bee

The Department of Health Care Services said Monday it has breached the privacy of 49,352 people who receive adult day-care services from the state. Read More

Community colleges rethink missions as budgets tighten

By Laurel Rosenhall, The Sacramento Bee

As community colleges deal with the state's ongoing budget crisis and consider cuts to classes, programs and staffing, they are examining which kinds of students they should continue to serve. Read More

Three Democrats call for Abel Maldonado's rejection

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times

As Sen. Abel Maldonado's confirmation hearing in the Assembly Rules Committee was postponed until Tuesday, three Assembly Democrats held a Capitol news conference arguing that Maldonado's nomination as lieutenant governor should be rejected. Read More

Jerry Brown calls pension funds' Iran investments illegal

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times

State Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown sent letters to the heads of California's two largest public pension funds Monday, accusing them of violating state law by continuing to invest in companies that do business with Iran. Read More

Schwarzenegger to carry Olympic torch

By Michael Rothfeld, Los Angeles Times

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is traveling to Vancouver, Canada, to serve as a torchbearer Friday morning for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the committee organizing the Games announced Monday. Read More

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)
Elected: November 2003, 2006
Term expires: January 2011

	State capital: Sacramento
	State nickname: The Golden State
	Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (D)
	Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D)
	Attorney General Edmund G. Brown (D)
	Senate President Pro Tem: Darrell Steinberg (D)
	Speaker of the Assembly: Karen Bass (D)

The seventh annual Hal Hovey Award was presented Feb. 3 to Marc Perrusquia, an enterprise and investigative reporter for The Commercial Appeal, the daily newspaper in Memphis Tenn. The award is made jointly by Stateline.org, which is part of the Pew Center on the States, and Governing Magazine for outstanding coverage of state and local government.

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The Stimulus and the
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California daily news roundup

State job bias remedies called separate, unequal

Lawmakers lash out at EDD