California

WASHINGTON - California's senior U.S. Senator, Dianne Feinstein, showered praise on President-elect Barack Obama's newly announced national security team Monday and predicted they all would quickly sail through the Senate's confirmation process.

Here is the Feinstein's statement:

SACRAMENTO - As a special welcome gift to the more than two dozen new state lawmakers sworn in to office on Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency which will allow him to invoke an unusual Prop. 58 special session of the California Legislature.

With the new paint in many Capitol offices still drying, Schwarzenegger said he made use of the powers granted him under the 2004 ballot measure. Under Prop. 58 the governor can declare a fiscal emergency which then starts a 45-day clock for state lawmakers to present to him a balanced budget. If, after 45 days, he receives no such plan, the governor can require the legislature to remain in session until it provides such a spending plan.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Golden State's senior U.S. senator urged the nation's TV networks to restrain themselves from making projections on who wins today's presidential election prior to the polls closing on the West Coast.

"This Election Day marks a historic moment in our nation's history. The stakes couldn't be higher, and voter turnout in precincts across the country is expected to set records," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) said.

Here's the rest of Feinstein's statement:

SAN FRANCISCO - Leaders with the prestigious Field Poll are projecting that Golden State voters will set several new records during today's general election.

Citing a confluence of population gains, more residents becoming naturalized citizens, aggressive voter registration drives, organized get-out-the-vote efforts and high voter interest, some 13.6 million Californians - a million more than in 2004, the state's previous high -- will participate in the election.

East Bay Assemblyman Sandré Swanson is concerned that right in the midst of one country's most serious financial storms the state's unemployment insurance fund appears like it will go broke by January.

The Oakland/Alameda Democrat made his concerns public during a joint hearing of the Assembly's insurance and budget committees this week in Sacramento.

"This fund is critical to ensure that workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own are able to pay their bills and put food on the table while they look for work," Swanson said.  "The current funding crisis threatens the solvency of that fund and we must address it as quickly as possible."

Starting this week Golden State registered voters should start receiving their vote-by-mail ballots for the Nov. 4 election, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Monday.

Bowen said the number of Californians who vote by mail has swelled in recent years. In the November 2000 General Election, approximately 24 percent of the 11.1 million ballots were cast by mail rather than at polling places. During the last presidential election four years ago, 32.6 percent of the 12.6 million Californian ballots came in by mail. In the primary elections in February and June of this year, 41.7 percent and 58.7 percent of ballots were cast by mail, respectively.

"Interest in the Nov. 4 election is going through the roof and I wouldn't be surprised to see a record number of Californians cast ballots," Bowen said in a statement. "Any Californian can vote by mail for any reason.  Many people enjoy voting at the polls on Election Day, but an increasing number of voters find the mail option to be an easy way to beat the crowds by voting at their convenience."

SAN FRANCISCO - Saying its predatory lending practices turned the dream of home ownership into a nightmare, state Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Monday that his office has reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with Bank of America-owned Countrywide Home Loans and its subsidiary partners.

The settlement will bring $8.68 billion of home loan and foreclosure relief nationally, $3.5 billion of that relief being directed to California mortgage holders and borrowers.

"With this settlement, homeowners will receive direct relief from the catastrophic damage caused by Countrywide," Brown said during a press conference. "Countrywide's lending practices turned the American dream into a nightmare for tens of thousands of families by putting them into loans they couldn't understand and ultimately couldn't afford." 

The settlement brings to a quick close Brown's June 30 lawsuit against Countrywide and marks both a public policy and political win for the former governor who is considering - but has not yet announced - a possible run for governor in 2010.

Here is Brown's statement regarding the multi-state settlement with Countrywide Home Loans, Countrywide Financial Corporation and Full Spectrum Lending:

After being mired in tragedy throughout the month of September - first by the slaying of one council member and then by the suicide of another - the city of Fairfield's governing body is whole again this week.