Mike Villines

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner got the backing Wednesday of several newly elected legislative Republicans in his bid for governor in 2010, giving him a majority of the GOP lawmakers serving in the next two years overall.

Just-elected Assembly members Bill Berryhill (R-Ceres), Connie Conway (R-Tulare), Danny Gilmore (R-Hanford), Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), Jeff Miller (R-Corona) and Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert) joined nine other assembly members who'd previously endorsed Poizner. Two other assemblymen just elected to new terms, Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) and Bill Emmerson (R-Redlands) also endorsed Poizner for the first time.

STATE CAPITOL - Republican Assembly Leader Mike Villines (R-Clovis) said his caucus won't support any new taxes as a solution to the $11.2 billion budget deficit being discussed in a special session, and that the GOP feels fortunate to have done as well as they did in the Assembly on Election Night.

At a press conference Thursday, Villines said suffering a net loss of only two seats is better than could be expected when measured against how well Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama did in California as a whole.

STATE CAPITOL -- Flanked by legislative leaders in both parties, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced said Monday that he will call lawmakers back in for a special session on Nov. 5 to tackle the state's worsening budget problem.

Schwarzenegger said the session will deal with not only the budget - now more than $3 billion in deficit after being enacted only weeks ago - but economic stimulus, tax modernization, foreclosure relief and more.

Deputy legislative analyst Mac Taylor will take over the high-profile position of state Legislative Analyst, after the retirement of current Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill.

Taylor, a 30-year veteran of the Legislative Analyst's Office, will officially take over the position on Oct. 24.

The slate of California Republican Party designees to the Electoral College vote includes the current governor and two people reportedly eyeing that job in two years.

The party released Friday its list of people who would cast a vote for Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the Electoral College vote on Dec. 15.

The dysfunction of California government this year has convinced a Madera rancher and agricultural leader run for state Assembly as a Republican in 2010.

Don McKinney, 60, filed paperwork late last week to run for the 29th Assembly District seat that year, when current Assemblyman Mike Villines (R-Clovis) is termed out.

"There's got to be a way to reduce the terrible waste in government," McKinney, 60, told PolitickerCA.com in an interview. "You've got to run this a little more like a business."

Both the state Assembly and Senate passed the state budget and associated legislation Friday afternoon, putting the long-delayed state budget with sight of completion.

In both chambers, the necessary votes came in just over 30 minutes with a minimum of debate. Lawmakers were voting on not only the budget itself but related reforms that had to do with how revenue would be collected under the 2008-09 budget and establishment and use of a rainy-day fund.

Legislators of both parties in the state Capitol were disappointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's vow Tuesday to veto the 2008-09 state budget when it reaches his desk and some went so far as to say that the flaws in the budget were the governor's own fault.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) pointed out that previous budget proposals with reform measures the governor backed died because he couldn't get any Republican legislators to support them.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Governor's Office PhotoState lawmakers approved a compromise budget proposal late Monday, but that proposal appeared to lack the budget reforms necessary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval.

With a combination of more than $9 billion in cuts and more than $7 billion in new revenues - mostly through tweaks in tax withholdings and fees charged to corporations - legislators closed a $17 billion deficit.

Indicating his seriousness in running, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has already assembled a campaign team and a long list of supporters for a potential gubernatorial bid in 2010.

In the announcement of the exploratory committee's formation, Poizner, a moderate Republican, announced that former Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga) will be his campaign chair. Brulte also served as finance chair for the California Republican Party.