John Perez

State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, who is openly gay, on Friday was elected minority leader of the Colorado House. State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, who is openly gay, on Friday was elected minority leader of the Colorado House, the Denver Post reported. ?I will be a vocal advocate for the values and principles we care about as Coloradoans and as Democrats,? the 34-year-old Ferrandino said. ?I know the importance of creating strong bipartisan relationships, and I've always sought to do so in my role in the JBC,? he added, referring to his membership in the Joint Budget Committee. Last year, Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat, co-sponsored a bill that sought to recognize gay and lesbian couples with civil unions. The measure died in a Republican-controlled House committee after the Senate had approved the bill. Ferrandino is widely expected to reintroduce the proposed legislation next year. Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2006. Republican House Speaker Frank Mc

California Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani has publicly announced she is gay. California Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani has publicly announced she is gay. The 47-year-old Galgiani discussed her sexual orientation for the first time on Tuesday with the Stockton Record. In the wide-ranging interview, the Democrat from Livingston told the paper that she wanted to come out to be a role model for young gay people being bullied. ?It sickens me that young people would think about taking their lives because of who they are,? Galgiani said. Galgiani's spokesman confirmed the report to the Sacramento Bee. She added that she wasn't aware that she was gay until after she was elected to represent her district in 2006. Galgiani joins the seven-member Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus, which includes Democrats Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, Senator Christine Kehoe, Senator Mark Leno, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, Assemblyman Richard S. Gordon and Assemblyman Ricard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday unveiled a major overhaul of the pension plan for the state's public employees, proposing they equally share the cost of pension contributions and raising the retirement plan for most new workers to 67 from 55.

SACRAMENTO, Calif (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown, saying "no" to the organized labor groups that helped elect him, vetoed a bill on Tuesday to allow some child-care workers to unionize.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A top California lawmaker unveiled legislation on Friday to help advance a proposal for building a new stadium in downtown Los Angeles to bring the National Football League back to the second-largest U.S. city.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc has proposed a hiring spree of 7,000 jobs in California if state leaders put a recently enacted online sales tax on hold for two years.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California lawmakers rejected a bill on Monday that would have disincorporated Vernon, a small city near Los Angeles where excessive salaries of some officials attracted the attention of investigators.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's weak job market could spur lawmakers to help bring the National Football League back to Los Angeles, which has not had a franchise for more than a decade despite its standing as the second largest U.S. media market.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders have reached a deal that bypasses Republicans and relies on higher tax revenue forecasts and some spending cuts to close a $10 billion gap.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - There's no reward for a job poorly done, California lawmakers were told on Tuesday as their wages and expense pay were suspended after passing a budget that did not "add up."

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's controller said on Tuesday he would not pay lawmakers after they approved a state budget whose "numbers simply did not add up," vowing to withhold paychecks until they submit a balanced budget.

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California lawmakers used old tricks of delaying payments and rosy revenue forecasts to help nominally close a $10 billion budget gap and meet their budget deadline for the first time in years.

by Peter Henderson

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The leader of one of California's most prominent public employee unions and a top lawmaker are parting ways with Governor Jerry Brown over his plan to ask voters to back extensions of tax increases that expire this year.

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a budget on Monday that included "painful" cuts to state worker pay and social services and a plan to extend tax increases as the most populous U.S. state struggles to close a $25.4 billion deficit.

CA officials consider shutting down Industrial city with few residents and high-paid officials. Fewer than 100 residents live in this small burg in the shadow of Los Angeles, surrounded by miles of gritty, occasionally smelly warehouses, meatpacking plants and manufacturing businesses. It is one of the least populated, most nondescript municipalities in the country ? and one of the richest.

California Assembly Speaker John Perez talks about coming out gay in his It Gets Better video. California Assembly Speaker John Perez talks about coming out gay in his It Gets Better video. The It Gets Better Project encourages troubled gay teens to hang in there and not cave in to bullies because life gets better. During his freshman term in the Assembly, the 41-year-old Perez became the state's first openly gay person to lead the Assembly. ?When I was a teenager, I never thought I'd be able to live a happy and successful life as an openly gay man,? Perez says in his nearly 7-minute video. ?And now I have the privilege of serving in one of the top positions in California government.? Perez says he came out to his parents during Thanksgiving break while attending UC Berkeley. Coming from a traditional Latino household, he said, he feared the worst. Before returning to school, he told his parents. ?The first words out of my mouth were, 'I'm sorry,'? he says. ?I must have said that 50 ti

Welcome to the era of one-term speakers.With term limits picking off seasoned elected officials, leaders of the near future will have only one shot at the top spot in the Legislature's lower house to make changes and mark a legacy.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Thursday he will call a special session of the state legislature on December 6 to tackle the budget deficit, newly estimated at more than $25 billion through the next fiscal year.

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California's leaders failed to reach a final budget agreement to close a $19.1 billion deficit on Monday, the 89th day of their stalemate over a spending plan, top lawmakers said.