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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...

A state senator from Sacramento received a nod from his Democratic colleagues Thursday to replace Senate President Don Perata of Oakland when the East Bay legislator is forced out by term limits at the end of the year. Senate Democrats, who hold the majority in the upper house, met Thursday morning and agreed to get behind Sen. Darrell Steinberg to succeed Perata. But the caucus will not vote until Aug. 21, a week before the legislative session is scheduled to end. "At the right time, after Sen. Perata's term ends, I will be ready to go," Steinberg said at a...

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...

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,...

Libertarian group uses nonprofit status to avoid revealing source of $1.5 million spent to preserve state's term limits -- SACRAMENTO -- Just a few days after Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's widely heralded takeover of the No on Proposition 93 campaign, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization quietly chipped in $1.5 million to the cause. The group, U.S. Term Limits, spends considerable effort and money across the country trying to fend off attempts to weaken term limits laws, such as Prop. 93 -- which will appear on the February ballot -- in California. And the group tries to do so while steering clear...