Proposition 32 would ban political contributions by payroll deduction. That would eliminate the main fundraising tool of unions but not of businesses.

San Fernando Valley lawmaker Richard Alarcon is trying to fend off felony charges of perjury and voter fraud as he battles Raul Bocanegra for an Assembly seat.For nearly two decades, winning political office has come easily for veteran San Fernando Valley lawmaker Richard Alarcon. Until now.

The House Ethics Committee expects to end the case against Rep. Maxine Waters, accused of aiding a bank with ties to her husband.WASHINGTON — For three years, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) steadfastly maintained that during a call with the Treasury secretary in the midst of the nation's financial crisis she was looking out for the interests of all minority-owned banks — not just o...

The former governor is set to inaugurate an academic institute at USC, where bipartisan solutions on the environment, economy and political reform will be studied.SACRAMENTO — He's gone from movie star to governor and back again, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger has a message for politicians in Sacramento and Washington: Both capitals could learn a thing or two from Hollywood.

Baca's leadership is being questioned, and he's under pressure to revamp senior management. 'The sheriff should be sweating an awful lot of bullets,' Supervisor Gloria Molina says.Facing severe criticism of his leadership, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca finds himself confronting his toughest political test since he took the helm of the nation's largest sheriff's department nearly 14 years ago...

How we choose to build our families and impart values are personal matters, not public ones.Everyone else seems to have calmed down. But I'm still shaking my head at the mom Olympics that competed with the real ones this political season.

A protest of cuts was planned ahead of Gov. Brown's speech at Berkeley's Center for Independent Living. Now that he has canceled, the controversy has deepened.BERKELEY — Four decades ago, people with severe disabilities had little political voice. Then Ed Roberts came on the scene, building the Center for Independent Living here into a model emulated worldwide.

Three groups that opposed Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, agree to pay $80,000 in fines after failing to meet reporting deadlines.SACRAMENTO — Three political groups that fought a 2008 ballot measure banning gay marriage in California have agreed to pay the state $80,000 in fines after admitting they broke campaign finance laws.

Sukhee Kang, mayor of Irvine, is among 17 candidates of Asian heritage who are running for Congress. Their numbers indicate a growing political confidence.Brutal, burning images inspired Sukhee Kang to jump into politics.

The mayor is again in the national political spotlight, but some say his energy should be focused on potholes, not politics. The mayor counters that forging bonds with national leaders helps L.A.Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is storming the national stage like never before, rebutting GOP talking points in Tampa, Fla., during the Republican convention, becoming a fixture on Sunday morning ...

Miguel Santana is urging lawmakers to reject a labor-backed plan to award exclusive commercial hauling privileges in a series of new franchise territories.In the latest salvo in a political battle over Los Angeles' lucrative commercial trash collection business, City Hall's top budget guru Friday urged lawmakers to reject a controversial, labor-backed plan to award exclusive hauling privileges in ...

Villaraigosa attends the ribbon cutting for two new parks where two foreclosed homes once stood in South L.A. He says they're the first of what will eventually be more than 50 new parks for the city.For years, the two foreclosed houses near 49th Street and McKinley Avenue in South Los Angeles were dilapidated eyesores like so many others in a neighborhood hard hit by the housing crisis. The ground...

Some civic leaders worry that the remaining candidates may lack the resolve to tackle L.A.'s fiscal crisis.Los Angeles political veteran Zev Yaroslavsky's decision to forgo next year's race for mayor leaves a field dominated by City Hall insiders and heightened anxieties among some civic leaders about whether the remaining contenders will aggressively confront the city's continuing financial crisi...

The Ethics Commission proposal was designed to shift power from incumbents and curb spending in city races. The move draws complaints from reform advocates.Los Angeles lawmakers on Wednesday rejected an Ethics Commission proposal to shorten the campaign fundraising season, which had been intended to shift power away from incumbents and limit the amount of spending in city political races.

The union, backed by an army of 325,000 teachers and a war chest as sizable as those of the major political parties, can make or break all sorts of deals.SACRAMENTO — Last year, as Gov. Jerry Brown hammered out final details of the state budget, he huddled around a conference table with three of the most powerful people in state government: the Assembly speaker, the Senate leader — and...

The California Fair Political Practices Commission had been checking a tip that John Sandbrook violated a conflict-of-interest law.California's political watchdog agency said it was unable to substantiate allegations that the interim head of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum illegally sought a job with USC while he was responsible for protecting taxpayers in talks to turn over control of the stadi...

Though the state senator has said he plans to leave politics to run a nonprofit, an early blueprint for the organization laid out plans to make him a candidate for statewide office in 2014.SACRAMENTO — Sam Blakeslee said he was putting personal ambition aside. The maverick GOP lawmaker from San Luis Obispo announced he would leave politics to run a nonprofit bankrolled by a big donor.

Activists, who accuse police of a political agenda in skid row cleanup, plan another chalking protest.After they were forced out of City Hall park last year, some members of Occupy L.A. made their stand half a mile away on a sidewalk on Towne Avenue that became known as "Occupy Skid Row."

The fines are proposed by the enforcement staff of the state Fair Political Practices Commission against ProtectMarriage.com—Yes on 8.SACRAMENTO — The campaign committee for Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California, faces $49,000 in fines for failing to properly report and handle political contributions it received.

The House Ethics Committee calls for Long Beach Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson's reprimand for violations such as improper staff and resource use. A rare yes vote could further harm her campaign.WASHINGTON — She reportedly made congressional staffers work on her campaign into the night — and when one asked to go home at 8 p.m., she ordered that person to make more phone calls. Staffe...

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to provide fundraising, a donation and lectures to the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy.The University of Southern California and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced a partnership to establish a think tank that will seek bipartisan solutions to environmental problems, economic policy, political reform a...

Medical marijuana backers have donated more than $16,000 to L.A. City Councilmen Paul Koretz and Bill Rosendahl, who has his own prescription to consider too.Medical marijuana advocates suffered a bruising political setback last week, watching helplessly as the Los Angeles City Council moved to shut down hundreds of pot shops.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors votes 3 to 1 to place measure on the November ballot. The measure's foes may sue in an effort to block the voting.After facing years of political pressure from healthcare advocates, Los Angeles County supervisors agreed on a 3-1 tally Tuesday to let voters decide in November whether adult film actors should be required to wear condoms during shooting as a guard...

The city is the latest to fall victim to questionable financial practices. It could run out of money by the end of the summer.Compton this week became the latest city in California to find itself on the brink of bankruptcy, and as with others in crisis, much of the blame lies with questionable financial practices.

L.A. County assessor's office employees and John Noguez campaign donors have begun testifying before a grand jury looking into allegations that Noguez and his staff gave tax breaks to political supporters.Los Angeles County assessor's office employees and John Noguez campaign contributors have begun testifying before a grand jury as part of a wide-ranging criminal investigation into allegations th...

In the latest chapter of small city's political soap opera, Maribel de la Torre is accused of scratching fellow lawmaker Mario Hernandez in a fight over an iPad. San Fernando Councilwoman Maribel de la Torre was charged Friday with vandalism and battery of her former lover and fellow council member, the latest chapter in a City Hall soap opera that has residents of the small town fed up.

The Senate's approval of high-speed rail funding may or may not be wise policy. But it illustrates what the political process looks like when it's done right.SACRAMENTO—When the California Legislature works, this is one example of how it works well.

As the June 28 deadline approaches for the Legislature to place a measure on the November ballot, taxpayers should know what's at stake and what's necessary to fix the state's pension crisis.As the June 28 deadline approaches for the Legislature to place a pension reform measure on the November ballot, taxpayers should know what's at stake and what's necessary to fix California's pension crisis. ...

Stanton has long seen itself as being on the way to Orange County's name-brand destinations. But a fiscal crisis has it on the way to insolvency.The Stanton that Alma Barba remembers was just a wedge of a place in the middle of a growing county. There were the strawberry fields and orange groves she'd pass on the way to school, and the town's well-rooted reputation as being impoverished and gang-r...

With the state facing a $15.7-billion deficit, Gov. Brown pushes for cuts based on President Clinton's 1990s framework.SACRAMENTO — The bitter welfare battles that gripped American politics two decades ago were replayed in Sacramento this week, where a dispute over how hard the government should push poor people to rejoin the workforce threatened to derail the state budget plan awaiting the ...