Friday Roundup: Total Croc

State lawmakers don’t seem to have much problem telling other people what to do.But an effort to have them post the salaries of lawmakers and legislative staff online appears stalled in the state Senate.

“As legislators rush to bring more transparency to the salaries of city officials — like the eye-popping compensation enjoyed until recently by administrators in Bell — they’re balking at passing a law that would make it easier for the public to find out their own pay.

“A measure that would legally compel lawmakers to post their salaries, and the salaries they pay staff, on the Internet has stalled in the state Senate. Leaders of the upper house said Thursday that they may instead address the issue through an internal rule, which can be changed much more easily, and with much less public fanfare, than a state law.

“As the struggle over legislative pay disclosure played out in the background, lawmakers approved several other proposed laws, including a stiff new rule meant to protect hospital patients from radiation overdoses and a ban on alcohol sales from self-service lines in grocery stores. A controversial bill to require sterilization of family pets, however, failed to get the votes it needed and appears to be on life support.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will go to Asia, as planned, for an official trade mission beginning September 9, whether or not there is a state budget in place.

Shane Goldmacher reports, “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to jet out of California for a six-day, three-country trade mission to Asia early next month — even if the state has no spending plan in place.

“With a state budget nearly two months overdue and California facing the prospect that it could run out of cash within weeks, the Sept. 9 trip would come at a politically awkward time for the governor. Thousands of vendors who do business with the state are not getting paid. And the checks to health clinics that care for the poor are on hold until a budget is signed.

“Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders have been locked in a stalemate all summer, with no indication a budget deal is within sight.”

Jerry Brown released documents showing the Whitman campaign mischaracterized the size his public pension.

Evan Halper reports, “Speculation that Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown had positioned himself to receive an extra fat pension went viral online earlier this month, helped by this report in the Orange County Register.