Arnold Schwarzenegger

PORTLAND,OR -- A fundraiser for U.S Sen. Gordon Smith’s (R-Oregon) re-election campaign featuring California’s Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that was supposed to take place on Thursday has been postponed, Smith spokeswoman Lindsay Gilbride said Tuesday.

According to Gilbride, Schwarzenegger has to stay in California to deal with the budget stalemate there until it is solved.

Gilbride said the fundraiser has been re-scheduled for September 19.

State Senate Pro Tem Don PerataThe national convention party for California state senators is cancelled until there's a new state budget, State Sen. Pro Temp Don Perata (D-Oakland) announced Tuesday.

With a budget more than 50 days overdue and other bills still awaiting action, Perata said in a release, the state senate will remain in session through at least the end of the month.

That would affect Democrats planning to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which starts Monday, and could have an impact on Republicans planning to head to St. Paul, Minn., for the Republican National Convention, which begins Sept. 1.

U.S. Sen. Barbara BoxerDemocratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California has added her name to those opposing Proposition 11, a redistricting initiative.

A press release from the anti-11 group Citizens for Accountability quoted Boxer as saying in a letter to the group that she was concerned that the measure would put too much power in the hands of too few unaccountable people.

Adding to the likelihood that Sunday's budget vote in the State Assembly will be in vain, the State Senate is not scheduled to meet for a budget vote this weekend.

A brief note Friday afternoon from the office of State Sen. Pro Temp Don Perata (D-Oakland) said senators would not meet over the weekend, with a note that the situation could change.

A court order to bring state prison health care construction costs up to an adequate level will add $3.1 billion to the deficit for the 2008-09 state budget, the receiver who filed a suit asking for the order said Wednesday.

Appointed prison health care receiver J. Clark Kelso, who announced the order earlier Wednesday, told attendees at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon that the order would end up costing the state more than a state bond that legislators wouldn't approve earlier this year.

California Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata told the Sacramento Bee Wednesday morning that Democrats have negotiated key points of a compromise state budget with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and that he considers negotiations over.

Perata, (D-Oakland) said the compromise plan includes a major concession by Democrats -- a spending cap to limit annual state expenditures.

State Democratic legislators have taken to YouTube as a wedge to break the logjam over a new state budget.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly members John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) have released a six-minute video on the popular web site, criticizing Republicans for refusing to consider any revenue increases as a way to solve a budget deficit estimated at more than $15 billion.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D)SACRAMENTO - U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wouldn't say what her plans are for 2010, but seemed more concerned with California getting a statewide water bond on the ballot for 2008 during a Tuesday press conference.

Speaking at a brief press conference after a luncheon speech to the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Feinstein said her plan for now is to run for re-election, rather than considering a run for California governor.

More PolitickerCA.com coverage: Suit filed against John Chiang over executive order

State Controller John Chiang criticized a suit filed against him Monday by the California Department of Personnel Administration, saying the move was over a fictional problem invented by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"The Governor based his executive order to cut employees' salaries to the federal minimum wage on a faulty premise that it would improve the amount of cash we will need next month to pay our bills," said Chiang, a Democrat elected in 2006, in a statement. "This is nothing more than false posturing because the State ended July with $5 billion more than the Governor's May projections."