Billing

WASHINGTON - House Speaker John A. Boehner said he probably won't support legislation allowing states to require that larger retailers collect sales taxes on Internet purchases. And a key House committee chairman said his panel would take a "more thoughtful" approach to the bill, which passed the Senate overwhelmingly Monday. The comments signaled that momentum from Monday's easy passage of the bill in the Senate won't lead to quick House action on the controversial issue. Boehner (R-Ohio)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Wearing a 2010 vintage Marco Rubio campaign T-shirt and matching button, Cheryl Griffin spewed frustration that the man she helped win a long-shot conservative bid for Senate is now leading an immigration overhaul. An evening downpour was falling on this coastal town, less a city than a hodgepodge of new and old subdivisions. But the weather did not deter Griffin, a small, skeptical woman, or her husband, Mark, a friendly man twice her size with rain dripping from his straw cowboy hat. The Griffins, who came down from neighboring Fort Pierce, were protesting Rubio's appearance at the annual Republican Party dinner.

WASHINGTON - As a sweeping immigration bill moves forward in the Senate, Republicans are demanding stronger border security measures than those agreed upon during four months of bipartisan negotiation. The process of toughening the bill could win additional votes from the GOP, but there is also a risk of losing Democratic support if the amendments go too far. "If, in fact, the American people can't trust that the border is controlled, you're never going to be able to pass this bill," Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told four officials from the Department of Homeland Security during a hearing Tuesday.

Proposed legislation to remove junk food and sugar-loaded drinks from vending machines at California state office buildings and on government property is intensifying debate about when the battle against obesity becomes a gateway to "nanny state" tactics. Backers of the Assembly bill, AB 459, said California shouldn't condone the sale of fatty snacks and sodas in the workplace when taxpayers are already shelling out vast amounts to cover the healthcare costs of overweight government employees.

SACRAMENTO - A "Made in USA" label has long been seen as an advantage in marketing a product. Now there are in-state manufacturers that want to see the adoption of an official label that declares Made in California. State Sen. Ellen M. Corbett (D-San Leandro) has introduced legislation to require Go-Biz, the governor's business development office, to come up with a plan - including the new label - to promote California-manufactured products. The bill, now before the Senate Appropriations Committee, would enhance California's reputation for making environmentally safe and energy efficient products, Corbett said.

My sisters and I spent the majority of our adolescence as foster kids in Los Angeles County. We entered the system after my parents divorced. My mom, who was both poor and mentally ill, wasn't equipped to be a single parent to six young children. No one told us about the bad odds we faced. Teenage girls living in foster care are 21/2 times more likely than other girls to become pregnant by age 19. Information about sexual development, reproductive health and pregnancy prevention is not readily available, in part because none of the many individuals who interact with youths in foster care has specific responsibility for providing such education.

Re "Israel's free pass from Boxer," Opinion, April 28 George Bisharat grossly misleads readers when he claims that bipartisan legislation I introduced would allow Israel to "continue racially profiling Americans of Arab and Muslim heritage who travel to Israel. " My legislation would give Israel the opportunity to join the U.S. visa waiver program, allowing Israeli citizens to travel to the United States without first obtaining a visa - a privilege extended to 37 other countries.

The Oracle of Omaha has taken to Twitter. The notoriously tech-shy billionaire launched his @WarrenBuffett handle Thursday, where he quickly garnered more than 180,000 followers. He is the second-richest person with a verified Twitter account, after tech mogul Bill Gates (@BillGates.) His first tweet: "Warren is in the house. " Twitter might be a perfect medium for Warren Buffett, who has built a reputation for a folksy approach to investing. But it's also a surprising move given that he's not exactly the most tech-savvy person on the planet.

SACRAMENTO - Controversial legislation that would restrict most professional athletes from out-of-state teams from filing claims in California workers' compensation courts won overwhelming approval Thursday in the state Assembly. Despite aggressive lobbying by professional football players and other athletes, the bill, AB 1309, passed 61 to 4. The measure now goes to the state Senate. "Our workers' compensation system has been increasingly exploited by out-of-state professional players at the expense of California teams and all California businesses," said the bill's author, Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno)

Silicon Valley has wielded its growing political clout at the state Capitol to kill a digital privacy bill that would have given consumers access to information about them being collected online. Had the Right to Know Act become law, California would have been the first state to take direct aim at an online industry that stockpiles and trades in a wide range of personal data about nearly every adult in the United States. In a major defeat for consumer groups and privacy watchdogs, AB 1291 will instead become a two-year bill, effectively putting it into a deep freeze until next year.