Governor recycles sales-tax hike budget -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, calling the Legislature's failure to agree on a budget deal shameful, made public on Wednesday his latest spending proposal, which includes a temporary, one-cent increase in the sales tax, additional cuts and spending limits intended to bank revenue in boom years.

Republicans will strip local government limits out of budget proposal -- Republican legislators are planning on bringing back a controversial spending limit proposal that failed late last week. But the new version of ACA 19 will be missing most of the language that would have imposed tough budgeting rules not just on the state but on local governments as well.

State Senate passes bill aimed at thieves of metal fixtures -- Twice in the past four years, San Joaquin County farmer Richard Rodriguez has been victimized by metal thieves making off with nearly $25,000 in sprinkler pipes. "As long as there's a market and the people who buy this stuff don't ask questions, this is going to be a problem," said Rodriguez, who works 500 acres.

Hearing date means California workers get full pay for August -- California workers targeted by a gubernatorial order to cut their pay to federal minimum wage have dodged that bullet - at least for August. A Sacramento Superior Court judge Wednesday set a hearing to decide the pay dispute for Sept. 12, too late to affect this month's payroll.

The Buzz: Budget may keep governor from sharing GOP lineup with Cheney -- The Republican National Convention announced Wednesday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is slated to speak on Monday, Sept. 1, the same night as Vice President Dick Cheney. But Schwarzenegger, who has told lawmakers to stay home from the national conventions if a budget deal isn't done, told reporters he will do the same.

Capitol Weekly: Ranking of the Legislators -- It's that time again. As Capitol staffers and lobbyists frantically come up against bill deadlines, and maybe even talk about the budget now and then, the editorial team here at Capitol Weekly has been busily reducing lawmakers to basic, rudimentary statistics.

Bill would give state tax relief for borrowers -- Struggling borrowers who persuade lenders to forgive part of their mortgage debt would get new tax relief under a bill, SB1055, on its way to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill, by Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, copies the federal tax forgiveness approved late last year by Congress and President Bush. Machado's version applies to California state taxes.

For rural California, stakes are high in Capitol's budget wars -- Sen. Dave Cox's 1st Senate District enfolds nine counties and parts of three more, a district that is 80 percent rural and stretches north to the Oregon line and south to Mammoth Lakes on the Sierra Nevada's eastern slope.

Legislature takes aim at urban sprawl and global warming -- A bill calling for financial incentives to target greenhouse gases would be the first in the nation.

Bush plan would blunt state birth control law -- A proposed Bush administration regulation on contraception and abortion would stop California from enforcing a state law that requires Catholic hospitals and charities to provide birth control coverage for thousands of female employees, state Attorney General Jerry Brown and family-planning advocates said Wednesday.

Protected immigrant faces charges in stabbing -- An immigrant suspected of being in the United States illegally - freed after being shielded from possible deportation by San Francisco officials despite committing two gang-related assaults as a juvenile - faces charges that he tried to stab a man to death last year in San Mateo County, authorities say.

State officials plan to appeal Medi-Cal ruling -- State officials are planning to appeal a federal judge's decision this week that blocked 10 percent cuts in Medi-Cal fees to doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals. The state also plans to ask next week for a reconsideration and a stay of the decision by U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder of Los Angeles, contending her ruling would cost California $575 million a year.

Tyrone Freeman steps aside as head of SEIU chapter -- President of California's largest local says it will be placed under a temporary trustee after Los Angeles Times stories reported payments to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.