More than a dozen members of the California Teachers Assn., including the union’s president, were arrested in the state Capitol on Thursday evening as part of the group’s week-long protest against deeper budget cuts.

The teachers congregated in the hallways outside the offices of the Legislature’s top two Republican leaders, Sen. Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga and Assemblywoman Connie Conway of Tulare, and refused to leave when the building closed at 6 p.m., said Officer Sean Kennedy, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

While Kennedy gave a preliminary arrest count of 13 people, the teachers union issued a news release putting the number at 26. The arrests mark the second time this week that law enforcement has had to break up the union’s events. On Monday, CHP arrested 65 people after an event in the Capitol rotunda, where protesters –- mostly college students -- chanted, yelled and danced.

Thursday’s demonstration was more peaceful, Kennedy said.

The teachers union said the arrests were meant to draw attention to Republican opposition to the tax extensions favored by Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislators. Earlier in the day, Republicans produced their own plan to balance the state’s budget, arguing that higher-than-expected tax collections this year will produce $2.5 billion in education funding, without new levies or extensions.

CTA President David Sanchez dismissed the plan as “deliberately misleading” and “gimmicky.”

“I am not willing to sit idle while a handful of Republican lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly refuse to face the realities happening in the classrooms and communities across California,” he said in a statement. “So a few CTA members decided to visit two of them today to let them know that we are in a state of emergency and it’s time they started acting like it.”

-- Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento

For months, the favorite Republican talking point to dismiss Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for an election on taxes has been that the voters have already spoken. Back in 2009, more than 65% of voters signaled thumbs down on extending the same taxes that Brown now seeks.

Why, Republicans have asked repeatedly, should the public have to say no again?

But in the Assembly GOP budget plan released Thursday, Republicans propose to ask voters to reconsider two measures they also rejected in that 2009 election: taking money from mental health and early childhood programs.

In their budget plan, Assembly Republicans also list the elimination of redevelopment as a potential budget-balancing move. But legislation to do just that faltered on the Assembly floor two months ago, a single vote shy of passage and with all but one of the GOP Assembly members opposed.

Eliminating the program, which Brown has proposed, remains an option in the plan because Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Fullerton) has been an outspoken opponent of redevelopment and insisted it be listed, according to Republican caucus staff.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

Republicans in the Legislature on Thursday produced for the first time a detailed plan to balance California’s budget, relying on no new taxes but deep spending cuts, in particular for the state workforce, the mentally ill and the disabled –- and a dose of optimistic assumptions.

The plan, unveiled by Assembly Republicans only days before Gov. Jerry Brown will update his own budget blueprint, would fund public schools at the same level as the governor has proposed and avert further reductions to the state’s universities.

After months of brushing aside calls for a comprehensive package, Assembly Republicans stepped forward with a proposal that minority leader Connie Conway (R-Tulare) outlined in a letter she sent to Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles).

The GOP budget is precariously balanced –- with a razor-thin reserve of less than 1% -– and would require voters to sign off on shifting $2.3 billion from mental health and early childhood programs to shrink the deficit.

Still, Republicans called it a victory. They said it laid bare the lie in Brown’s repeated claims that deep cuts to schools and police are inevitable without more taxes.

Under their plan, Republicans would wipe away the biggest chunk of California’s estimated $15-billion budget shortfall by projecting $5-billion more in tax receipts than Brown did in January. Tax collections have outpaced forecasts by roughly $2.5 billion in the last four months, and Republicans said they expect the trend to continue.

The state workforce would face layoffs or pay cuts totaling 10% of payroll*. An additional 10% would be whacked from departments’ operating and equipment budget. Combined, those cutbacks would save $1.7 billion.

[Updated: The original version of this post said the state workforce would face a payroll cut of 15% due to incorrect information provided by the Republican caucus. The correct number is 10%.]

Republicans would also enact roughly $1.4 billion in cuts to services for the needy that Brown first proposed in January but that legislative Democrats have blocked. Those include plans to cut welfare grants, eliminate day care centers, slash in-home assistance for the elderly and reduce services for the disabled.

Republicans also said they have identified nearly $1 billion in savings through trimming government “waste,” such as shrinking Medi-Cal eligibility fraud ($300 million) and transferring prisoner medical care to the University of California or the private sector ($400 million). The GOP budget also includes provisions to hire private contractors instead of state workers to perform many services, such as electronic court reporting, saving $700 million.

Many of the ideas in the GOP budget have been dismissed by the Democrats before. And as recently as last week, Conway had said Republicans were reluctant to detail a plan because it would “get picked apart, criticized” without any chance of enactment by the Legislature’s ruling Democrats.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

Former state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has endorsed Hermosa Beach City Councilman Patrick "Kit" Bobko in Tuesday's crowded special election to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice).

Bobko is one of six Republicans on the ballot in the strongly Democratic, largely coastal 36th Congressional District. Poizner, who lost last year's hard-fought Republican gubernatorial primary to former EBay chief Meg Whitman, is one of the highest-profile Republicans to endorse in this race.

In all, there are 16 candidates on the ballot.

--Jean Merl

With the special election to replace former Rep. Jane Harman less than a week away, two of the lesser-known candidates have begun airing campaign ads on cable TV.

Democrat Dan Adler, an entertainment industry businessman and former Disney executive, launched his "Send a Mensch to Congress" ad campaign throughout the 36th Congressional District, which runs from Venice to San Pedro.  The ad is aimed at improving turnout, especially among minorities and new voters, and features Adler's Jewish heritage and his wife's Korean background.

Republican Craig Huey's TV ads, aimed at delivering his cut-government-spending message, portrays two youngsters who get a whopping tax bill at their lemonade stand.

Adler and Huey are making their first bids for public office in a 16-candidate field that includes several elected officials, including Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, Redondo Beach City Atty. Mike Webb and Hermosa Beach City Councilman Patrick "Kit" Bobko.

[Updated at 2:57 p.m. Wednesday: Bobko began airing a cable TV ad about a week ago. His spot talks about his family’s commitment to public service (his mother is a teacher, his father is in the military) and his own graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy.]

If nobody wins a majority in Tuesday's election, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will compete in a July 12 runoff.

--Jean Merl

Days before his updated budget is set to be released, Gov. Jerry Brown announced a proposal to consolidate pieces of the bureaucracy that he said would save “millions of taxpayer dollars.” But it would do nothing to impact some generous, long-term appointments doled out by his predecessors.

Brown will seek legislation to fold the state’s Department of Personnel Administration and State Personnel Board into a new California Department of Human Resources. The two organizations handle different pieces of the state’s payroll administration.

The State Personnel Board is made up of appointees who serve 10-year terms. Four of the five members of the current board were appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, including his former chief of staff, Patricia Clarey and his former legislative secretary, Richard Costigan. Board members receive a annual salary of $40,669, according to Brown spokesman Evan Westrup –- up to $406,690 over the course of a 10-year term. Brown’s plan would not eliminate the board, Westrup said, because it is protected by the state Constitution.

“This reorganization does not –- cannot –- change that,” says a report from Brown’s office released Tuesday.

Brown’s plan does not call for board salaries to be reduced.

The consolidation would not save the state any money in this budget year, or in the fiscal year that begins July 1. A statement from Brown’s office said the reorganization would take place in July 2012, saving the state up to $5.8 million by eliminating 15% to 20% of the staff at the two agencies. Brown’s office said they thought the staff cuts could be reached through attrition and would not require any layoffs of public employees.

“To the extent feasible given the existing conditions of the state budget, there will be no layoffs, and positions abolished or reduced under this reorganization shall be done through attrition,” the administration said.

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65 arrested in teachers' protest at state Capitol

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

Photo: Gov. Jerry Brown signs a budget bill in March. Credit: Ken James / Bloomberg

The state Senate on Monday approved a measure requested by the Los Angeles Police Department to require BB guns to be made in bright colors so that police officers do not mistake them for real firearms.

The legislation was opposed by Republican senators who said it goes too far in regulating personal conduct.

"Clearly this is over the top," said Sen. Ted Gaines (R-Roseville) "We’ve got to draw the line somewhere for gun rights, and we can start with BB guns."

Sen. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) sarcastically questioned whether the state would extend the requirement to sticks, which he said are also used by children pretending to have guns and might be mistaken in the dark for the real thing.

But Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) said his bill is needed to protect children and law enforcement officers from situations in which a BB gun is mistaken for a real weapon.

De Leon cited several incidents throughout California, including one in December in which an LAPD officer shot a 13-year-old boy who was carrying a pellet gun in Glassell Park.

SB 798 next goes to the Assembly for consideration.

-- Patrick McGreevy

California renters could see more apartment buildings designated non-smoking under a measure approved Monday by the state Senate.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) said his bill is needed because of confusion over the power landlords have on the smoking issue. Although there is no law that prohibits designating apartments as smoke-free, some landlords have told Padilla they would like explicit legal authority to adopt such restrictions, he said.

“While more than 86% of Californians do not smoke, there is very little smoke-free rental housing in California," Padilla said. "With this bill, we have an opportunity to expand the availability of smoke-free housing for families throughout our state."

He argued that smoke drifting from one apartment to another could cause health problems.

SB 332 passed on a 33-2 bipartisan vote, with no one speaking in opposition during the Senate session. It now goes to the Assembly for consideration.

-- Patrick McGreevy

State lawmakers acted Monday to restrict paid signature-gathering for initiatives in California amid allegations that the practice allows well-financed special interests to buy customized laws.

Those who circulate petitions for money would be required to wear a badge identifying whether they are a paid signature-gatherer or a volunteer and indicating whether they are registered to vote and, if so, in which county, under one measure approved by the state Senate.

“California’s initiative process is broken,” said Sen. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), who said his SB 448 will help voters understand how signatures are being gathered for an initiative, referendum or recall.

Senators also passed a bill making it illegal to pay signature-gatherers an amount for each signature they turn in, which would force initiative proponents to pay a flat fee or hourly rate to those circulating petitions.

Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) said the ban on paying a bounty for signatures is part of a broader effort needed to make sure the system is not abused by those who can afford to pay to qualify initiatives.

"It’s an opportunity for monied interests to game the system," Wright said of the status quo.

Sen. Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) said she introduced SB 168 to prevent fraud that might be encouraged if signature-gatherers have a financial incentive to turn in more signatures.

The secretary of state's Election Fraud Investigation Unit handled 240 cases of alleged fraud in the last 16 years that resulted in 33 convictions.

Republican senators opposed SB 168, with minority leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga saying it might violate the constitutional right to free expression.

Sen. Mark Wyland (R-Escondido) said the legislation benefits unions with access to large numbers of signature-gatherers and "disenfranchises'' groups that must rely on paid signature-gathering to get their issue on the ballot.

Both measures next go to the Assembly for consideration.

-- Patrick McGreevy