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The speaker says he could support 'fair compromise' of tax increases, spending cuts. Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said Tuesday that he could support raising revenue – including selective taxes on the wealthy – to help bridge the state's projected $14.5 billion shortfall.Núñez said that a "fair compromise" would be to solve half of the money crisis with revenue increases and the other half with spending cuts.The Los Angeles Democrat, speaking at a lunch meeting of the Sacramento Press Club, said he could support the 50-50 approach used by Gov. Pete Wilson when faced with a similar budget crisis in the...

With the unexpected failure of Proposition 93, state lawmakers in Sacramento find themselves with some difficult questions on their hands, questions like: How did our efforts to fool the voters go wrong? And who's to blame? To that second question, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pointed the finger at Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. The Legislature, Arnold says, didn't deliver. By not getting the work of the people done - whether on water, health care, the budget or redistricting - the Legislature's top brass failed to prove itself worthy of the extra time in...

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez took responsibility for the failure of the term limits initiative on Tuesday's ballot and for not pairing it with redistricting reform. The defeat of Proposition 93 has set in motion the process to change leadership in both houses of the Legislature. Democrats plan to vote March 11 for a new speaker, although Democrats agreed that Nunez will stay on until the end of the legislative session in August. Proposition 93 would have shaved two years off the maximum amount of time most lawmakers could serve. But it also would have given dozens of lawmakers a chance...

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, and being it's the Year of the Rat, it seems appropriate to reflect on Proposition 93. Of course it would be more appropriate were it the Year of the Skunk. Those of you who recall Tuesday's election will remember Prop. 93 was the ploy by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and other termed-out legislators to hold on to their jobs a while longer by changing the rules. The pitch was that the actual total number of years a California legislator may serve would have...

Sacramento -- California voters' rejection of a ballot initiative that would have allowed state lawmakers facing term limits to keep their jobs longer is expected to create more challenges for the Legislature, which already faces the huge problem of solving the state's looming $14.5 billion budget deficit. Among the 34 lawmakers who will be looking for new jobs at the end of this year are three of the Legislature's four leaders: Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, and Senate Minority leader Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine.With those legislators becoming lame ducks, there probably will be...

California voters' refusal to alter state legislators' term limits will force three of the Legislature's top leaders to give up their posts. It also will free candidates running for 34 legislative seats from having to face an incumbent this year. Proposition 93 aimed to trim two years off the maximum amount of time most legislators could serve, but it also would have given dozens of lawmakers a chance to extend their stays in Sacramento. It failed by about 7 percentage points, despite support from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a who's who of labor unions, corporations and professional groups that poured...

An initiative to alter legislative terms while giving lame duck incumbents a reprieve headed down to defeat as the statewide count continued to grow Wednesday morning. As of 7 a.m., with about 95 percent of precincts reporting, Proposition 93 was trailing by six percentage points – 53 percent to 47 percent. Both sides remained cautiously optimistic late Tuesday night. "I'm hopeful, but I've never been willing to declare victory," said Kevin Spillane, spokesman for No on 93. Spillane attributed the tight vote, in part, to confusion by voters over whether Proposition 93 would tighten or loosen term limits. Opponents claim...

As local governments head for layoffs, it's politics as usual for Legislature's leaders - Based on the governor's proclamation last month, California is in the midst of a fiscal emergency. The state is spending about $600 million more every month than it is taking in. At the very least, the state is facing a $3.3 billion budget deficit in the current fiscal year.Given those numbers, you'd think that lawmakers would be working 12 hours a day, five days a week to wrap a tourniquet around the red ink.Once they were finished with this current-year surgery, they could then turn their...

SACRAMENTO -- Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, who drew heavy criticism last fall for using campaign funds for world travel and luxury purchases, continued to spend thousands of dollars on airfare and gifts in the last six months, according to financial reports made public Thursday. The reports show the Los Angeles Democrat spent $20,916 on Delta Airlines, $2,701 at Falconhead boot company, $579 for a "meeting" at a wine bar, and $4,074 at Nordstrom, Macy's and Williams-Sonoma stores between July 1 and the end of December. In an Oct. 5 article, The Times reported that Nuñez had spent tens of thousands...

Perata, Núñez are biggest legislative contributors to term limits measure. Incumbent Democratic lawmakers have donated or raised nearly $1.4 million for the Proposition 93 campaign, fueling accusations that the measure to alter term limits is a power grab.Fourteen Democratic Assembly members and three senators contributed money in their own name, while numerous others gave to special committees used by colleagues to solicit funds for the effort, records show.The two largest legislative contributors are Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, $350,000, and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, $300,000. The measure would give them an extra four years and six years in office,...

For weeks, Democratic legislators had been crossing their fingers, figuratively at least, and hoping that Republican voters could be induced into voting for Proposition 93, a measure to modify legislative term limits and extend the careers of termed-out lawmakers. They were pleased, therefore, when Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did a 180-degree political pirouette and endorsed the measure, saying he had developed a good working relationship with Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and wanted them to stick around. Schwarzenegger's endorsement, however, may turn out to have been the kiss of death for Proposition 93. Two...

A new campaign advertisement cites emergency response to last year's devastating Southern California wildfires as a reason to alter lawmakers' terms by approving Proposition 93.The 30-second TV spot features Tim Heard, an emergency medical technician from TLC Ambulance and Medical Transport, with offices in Rocklin and Sacramento.The following is a text of the ad, and an analysis by Jim Sanders of The Bee Capitol Bureau:•TIM HEARD: When fire hit Southern California, our state legislators didn't make the mistakes made with Katrina.They learned from experience, and helped us get the job done. That's why we support Prop. 93, because when lives...

San Diego - -- Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez fidgeted with his BlackBerry as he sat in a leather seat in the back of a black Buick Park Avenue and zoomed south on Interstate 5. He checked voice mail, read e-mail and barked his ideas for fixing California's ailing health care system to his staff in Sacramento. --snip-- He was a novice politician who had just won his first election. He also was a divorcé struggling to reconcile with his ex-wife, who had been his college sweetheart. And he was recovering from personal bankruptcy. Five years later, he is living a...

SACRAMENTO -- A complaint filed with state ethics officials Tuesday accused Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez of using a charity to illegally funnel donations into political activities. The complaint cites more than $270,000 that Nuñez solicited in 2005 and 2006 from corporations, utilities and other interests with a stake in legislation to pay for toy giveaways, scholarships, youth summits and other events that featured Nuñez and were arranged by his staff. The donations were the subject of a Times investigation in November, which showed how a small charity -- Collective Space -- in Nuñez's downtown Los Angeles district wrote checks at...

I’m starting 2008 feeling good about California. Why the optimism? Well, as one of 12 kids growing up in Barrio Logan, I guess I came naturally to holding on to a sense that things can be made better in the future. In reality, that’s how most Californians are. They see how things can be improved, and they are willing to do what it takes to get there. That’s why I’m confident that despite some disturbing headlines of late, 2008 can be a banner year for California. I’m confident we will move forward with health care reform and that next November...

As a political villain, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez is a pallid substitute for his flamboyant predecessor Willie Brown, self-proclaimed "ayatollah of the Assembly" who was the original poster child for California's term limits law. ...But in their search for a bad guy, the opponents of Proposition 93, which would make the law a little more flexible, have no choice. Núñez is the best they've got. Let's be fair. Proposition 93, which is on the February ballot, is a slippery piece of work. It offers present office holders, Núñez among them, a chance for more years in the house in which...

SACRAMENTO -- As Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez sought the endorsement of two major labor unions for his plan to overhaul healthcare in the state, he added several provisions to the legislation sweetening the deal for union members, ... The changes came soon after the unions donated more than $1 million combined to an initiative sponsored by Nuñez that would extend numerous lawmakers' terms, including his own. In the final version, unveiled only days before Monday's vote, the unions received three years of increases in state funding of health insurance for tens of thousands of workers who provide in-home care for...

WASHINGTON California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, facing criticism over his fundraising practices and international travel, escaped to friendlier terrain Wednesday to accept an award from Governing magazine. The Los Angeles Democrat was named one of nine "Public Officials of the Year" and was accepting the honor at a dinner at Washington, D.C.'s Willard Hotel, just blocks from the White House. Other honorees included Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire and Houston Mayor Bill White. The magazine cited Nunez's bipartisanship in working toward passage of last year's package of public works bonds - $37.3 billion for...

OAKLAND -- Now several years old, the sprawling federal corruption probe of state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has spurred him to spend more than $1 million on legal defense, clouded his two decades in public life and swept up close associates and his adult children. The investigation into the East Bay lawmaker's political and business affairs has largely operated out of sight in recent years, although FBI agents have searched his home and his son's. But public records, subpoenas and interviews with officials and others contacted by the FBI show that it has remained very much alive. A...

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez solicited $125,000 in charity contributions from Verizon shortly after pushing successful legislation last year that is expected to bring billions to telecommunications firms in coming decades. Less than three months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Núñez's hotly contested bill, Verizon spread holiday cheer to seven of the Assembly leader's designated charities in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $30,000. The contributions all were recorded in state disclosure documents on the same day, Dec. 7, weeks before the new legislation would allow Verizon, AT&T and other telephone firms to obtain statewide franchises to offer cable television programming. "It...