AM Alert: Talking cuts
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, will be taking on all comers tonight in an Internet town hall on the state budget.

Steinberg and Leno, a member of the joint legislative budget conference committee, will answer e-mailed questions in a live webcast from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Submit questions here both before and during the event.

Watch the webcast here.

Meanwhile, parse out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's comments on the budget crisis, taxes, illegal immigration and other topics, by watching indexed segments of his videotaped interview with The Bee editorial board.

Lawmakers figure to have a pretty restless week as they battle over the budget and the governor's call to eliminate, consolidate or reorganize scores of state boards, departments and agencies.

Today, the Senate Business, Professional and Economy Development Committee looks at reorganization possibilities for everything from the Board of Registered Nursing to the Bureau of Automotive Repair.

The board and agency reduction hearings continue throughout the week.

On Tuesday, the Assembly Public Safety Committee takes up Senate Bill 226 by Sen. Diane Alquist, which would crack down on identity theft by requiring suspects caught in a particular county to be tried there for all the identities they are accused of stealing around the state.

On Wednesday, the Senate Health Committee considers Senate Bill 600, a plan by Steinberg and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, to impose additional taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products.

Then on Friday, the California Citizens Compensation Commission will meet to confirm its recent decision to cut salaries of constitutional officers and lawmakers by 18 percent for those who take office or start new terms after December 2010.

Compiled by Peter Hecht