California Assembly

Although 28 members of the California Assembly supported a measure to allow new oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast, their votes are nowhere to be found in the official state database. After the measure failed, Assembly leaders expunged the vote altogether, sparing lawmakers running for reelection an official record of their controversial decision. The voting logs made available to the public on the Legislature's website do not indicate who voted for and against the bill on July 24.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass takes pride in being a consensus-builder, a soothing and maternal let's-get-along kind of leader. Now please pardon the interruption -- Madam Speaker is ticked off. She simmered as efforts to tame California's $26.3-billion deficit threatened to shred the health and welfare safety net she helped stitch together as a Democratic lawmaker from Los Angeles.

In his remaining months in office, outgoing Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez hopes he can leave a long-lasting mark on the Legislature with new term limits, a ban on fundraising during key periods and a new way of drawing state voting districts. He and the Assembly's minority leader, Mike Villines (R-Clovis), are discussing a constitutional amendment package that could be placed on the November ballot by the Legislature if two-thirds of lawmakers agree.

All these Democratic Assembly speakers in the post-Willie Brown era of term limits seem to pass through the state Capitol in a blur. Bustamante, Villaraigosa, Hertzberg, Wesson, Nunez. Next up: Bass. Six speakers in 11 1/2 years. But Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles is unique among that group: He has held the powerful post for four years-plus, making him practically a grizzled veteran.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, the gardener's son who rose from a San Diego barrio to one of California's most powerful posts, leaves office Tuesday having arguably fulfilled a vow he made when he was sworn in four years ago: to renew his chamber's prestige as "the house of ideas." But by many accounts, the Los Angeles Democrat and former labor leader failed to keep another pledge: to restore citizens' faith in government.

A heated clash between two candidates amid claims of illegal fundraising is defining a state Assembly primary race in the San Fernando Valley. Although four candidates are on the June 3 ballot for the Democratic nomination in the 40th Assembly District, which includes Northridge, West Hills and Van Nuys, much of the focus has been on Bob Blumenfield and Stuart Waldman. The latter claims his chief rival is illegally collecting campaign contributions from family members.

A state Assembly committee Tuesday killed a bill strongly opposed by cruise companies that would have placed peace officers for the first time on passenger ships sailing from California ports. The committee voted 2-2 with three abstentions, effectively ending efforts by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to increase regulation of the $35.7-billion industry.

Despite lobbying efforts by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, an Assembly committee Tuesday killed a bill that would have cleared the way for the Los Angeles Police Department to make officers' disciplinary hearings and records open to the public. The bill faced stiff opposition from many of the state's powerful police unions, which argued that the measure would compromise officer safety. LAPD Chief William J.

State oversight of for-profit trade schools, which enroll 400,000 Californians a year, was set to vanish Monday, leaving students whose schools go out of business without access to state-arranged tuition refunds. Republicans in the Assembly rejected a measure Monday afternoon that would have replaced a law that expired at midnight. Disagreements among lawmakers, the schools and consumer advocates have led to a stalemate in the Capitol on this issue for more than three years.

In response to a Compton lawmaker who gave official-looking badges to supporters, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez on Friday banned the distribution of Assembly badges to the public. "These badges should be used by Assembly members for security and identification purposes. Period," said Nunez, a Los Angeles Democrat, in a written statement. "This change of policy will prevent any possible misuse in the future."