Legislation

Here's another Sacramento reform for the long "to do" list -- one that wouldn't require a vote of the people or even the governor's signature. Prohibit the Legislature from voting on any bill after sunset. No exceptions -- and especially not a budget bill. That's a reform the Legislature could enact itself and clearly should. Knock off these incessant all-nighters that increasingly have become a mainstay of the Sacramento playbook.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited a Los Angeles middle school Thursday to celebrate legislation that sets the course for future school reforms and improves the state's chances at qualifying for federal money to carry them out. The signing ceremony occurred at Bethune Middle School in Florence, which officials cited as successfully serving the low-income minority students who stand to benefit most from the new laws. The legislation was approved in the state Assembly and Senate earlier this week despite vigorous opposition from statewide teachers unions and other groups.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) wanted people to stop complaining for a day and count their blessings. What he got was just more complaints. The lawmaker was on the receiving end last week of an angry torrent of ill will from conservative websites. It was a reminder -- as if anyone needed it -- that in the era of 24/7 smack-down politics, nothing is out of bounds. "We're such a polarized nation and we look for things to argue over," Cleaver said. "But to argue over complaining?"

Men who want a prescription for pills to treat erectile dysfunction should have to first see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, according to legislation submitted to Ohio legislators last week by state Rep. Nina Turner,  a Democrat from Cleveland. Turner's bill is in response to another bill, dubbed the Heartbeat bill, now before the Ohio House, that would prohibit abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, typically around the sixth week of gestation.

As the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 nears its time in the congressional spotlight, supporters and detractors alike are fine-tuning their arguments in preparation for another battle over how the Internet will be influenced by federal legislation. The core objective of CISPA is simple: Opening up greater means for communication between private entities and the federal government on issues of cybersecurity and national security. “Today the U.S. government protects itself using classified and unclassified threat information that it identifies from attacks on its networks,” a staffer on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said, introducing the legislation on a conference call April 10. “However, the majority of the private sector doesn't get access to this information because the government has no mechanism today for effectively sharing.” The points of contention reside within the details of the bill.

One day before Michigan's Legislature reconvenes for what could be the final votes on "right-to-work" legislation, President Obama criticized the effort to bar unions from requiring nonunion workers to pay fees, saying it would hurt employees' ability to bargain for better wages. Authorities were bracing for an onslaught of demonstrators Tuesday by boosting the police presence and planning road closures and parking restrictions around the state Capitol in Lansing. When the surprise legislation was rushed through the Republican-dominated House and Senate last week, Democrats angrily objected and hundreds of chanting union activists clogged the hallways.

With lawmakers home for their August recess, a fierce battle has broken out over what precisely is in the mammoth healthcare bills being pushed by congressional Democrats. There has been no shortage of misinformation, much of it advanced by critics of President Obama's overhaul effort who have made sometimes outlandish claims. Here is a look at a few of the most contentious points. Does the legislation include provisions to encourage senior citizens to commit suicide? No. This has become one of the most misleading, inflammatory claims made in the healthcare debate, advanced repeatedly by conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Republican lawmakers working to stoke fears among seniors.

Legislation to be unveiled Monday by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd to overhaul the financial regulatory system is likely to be more modest than either the Obama administration's proposal last summer or a plan Dodd pushed last fall. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, was set to release detailed legislation for the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression, which Democrats want to pass before the fall elections. Tightening federal oversight of the financial system is designed to prevent a repeat of the banking-system meltdown in 2008 and is a priority of President Obama.

Foodies take note: State lawmakers are angling to protect your pomegranate juice, ensure the sanctity of the honey harvest, promote organic agriculture and get bullish on blueberries. There may be a recession raging and bigger issues aplenty, but the California Legislature has nevertheless been busy plowing through some of the more esoteric corners of the state's agricultural bounty. State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) has taken on the cause of a Beverly Hills billionaire to ensure consumers seeking 100% pomegranate juice aren't getting watered-down and sugar-sweetened knockoffs.

Irma Garcia pulled back her sweater to show me where the bullet entered her shoulder and spun her around. It then torpedoed through her body and exited near the middle of her back. "I still have problems with it," she said, standing to show me how the left side of her upper body is still somewhat twisted. It happened 47 years ago in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Charles Whitman, who had served as a Marine, killed his wife and mother and then proceeded to the University of Texas at Austin, where he ascended a campus tower with rifles and handguns and began shooting at people below.