Darrell Steinberg

Should California tighten gun-control laws in California in response to mass shootings? State lawmakers advanced a dozen measures Wednesday that would toughen some of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. Under a bill passed by the Senate,...

SACRAMENTO — Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has rolled out his revised budget proposal, both houses of the Legislature are outlining their own ideas for how the state's money should be spent in the next year. The Senate wants more funding for mental...

The California Senate on Wednesday approved a package of seven gun control bills, including background checks for people who buy ammunition, introduced in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The shooting deaths...

The California Senate unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would significantly enhance a prescription-monitoring program aimed at curbing drug abuse and overdose deaths. The bill passed after sponsors made concessions to overcome pharmaceutical...

SACRAMENTO — The leader of the state Senate won bipartisan support Wednesday for a bill that would streamline California’s environmental laws. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said his measure, which heads next to...

Former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg can’t get enough of Sacramento. Eleven years after he left the Assembly, Hertzberg said Wednesday that he has decided to run for a state Senate seat being vacated in 2014  by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-...

SACRAMENTO -- Bolstered by higher revenue estimates from the legislative analyst, the Senate budget committee on Friday advanced a spending plan that differs from Gov. Jerry Brown's in a number of significant ways. Democratic senators, sometimes with...

Democrats and special interests have a long wish list of government programs they want to spend more on now that California's budget crisis has faded. They hope to use the latest report from the nonpartisan legislative analyst, who forecast more tax...

SACRAMENTO — State Capitol politicians may have an extra $3.2 billion to play with. Or they may not. It depends on whose figures you believe: nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor's or contrarian Gov. Jerry Brown's. I tend to have more...

Medical marijuana dispensaries that abide by security rules in California would not be subject to local or state prosecution for illegal sales under a measure approved Monday by the state Senate. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)...

Operators of medical marijuana dispensaries are welcoming action Monday by state lawmakers that would block prosecutions for illegal drug sales by cooperatives and collectives under certain conditions. The state Senate on Monday approved legislation...

SACRAMENTO — Dynamics have shifted dramatically in California's Capitol since Gov. Jerry Brown returned two years ago—both fiscal and political dynamics. The two are intertwined. And Brown is the beneficiary. In short, because the state'...