One other little tidbit,, Maldonado is the one who introduced the legislation for the Minimum Wage increase, SB1167.
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1151-1200/sb_1167_bill_20060110_introduced.html
Maldonado is also the one who jumped the Republican ship and voted with the Dems on AB 50, the gun ban legislation.