Four California lawmakers who led a bipartisan effort to solve the state's budget crisis have been named to receive the annual John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he vetoed the largest piece of legislation in a package of budget bills because it did not take immediate steps to cut spending.

Bakersfield State Senator Roy Ashburn remains out of public sight and away from his job since his DUI arrest after reportedly leaving a gay night club in Sacramento on March 3. Some call for Ashburn to step down.

Legislators passed a complicated change to the gasoline tax Thursday to address part of the state's $20 billion budget deficit and said it's enough to get the state through its financial problems for now.

Consider it yet another victim of California's ongoing fiscal mess: The state Senate has indefinitely postponed action on a do-gooder resolution that would encourage Californians to give up swearing temporarily.

The state Senate on Thursday approved the initial pieces of a legislative package designed to create jobs in recession-racked California, including a measure that would end three-day-a-month furloughs for tens of thousands of state employees.

California lawmakers began chiseling away Thursday at a $20 billion deficit as part of a special legislative session ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

California would end three-day-a-month furloughs for tens of thousands of state employees under a jobs bill that is scheduled for its first committee hearing this week.

The California Senate approved creating a government-run health care system for the nation's most populous state on Thursday, ignoring a veto threat from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he doesn't blame voters for believing the state will be worse off when he leaves office than when he started.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators said they're optimistic the federal government will help California bridge a projected $20 billion deficit, but it's far too soon to know how much.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday invited California lawmakers to lunch after his State of the State address, but his office was refusing to allow the public to attend.

The California Legislature on Wednesday sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger landmark education reforms designed to overhaul the state's worst schools and let parents send their children elsewhere.

Despite multiple attempts to balance California's budget, the state can still expect to confront shortfalls approaching $20 billion during each of the next five years, according to a long-range forecast released Wednesday.

Lawmakers kept haggling Tuesday in their effort to reach a compromise, as the California Legislature prepared to vote on a package of bills intended to alleviate the state's water woes.