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Governor Holds Press Conference in Fresno to Discuss State Budget Crisis

7/2/2009 - Gov. Schwarzenegger held a press conference to discuss the next steps that need to be taken to solve our budget crisis. The Governor proclaimed a fiscal emergency and called a Proposition 58 legislative special session to address this emergency.
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ABC News

California resorts to issuing ious over $24.3bn budget deficit‎ - 23 hours ago “California needed the legislature to act boldly and with conviction. Their response was not a solution to California's budget problem but an invitation to ... Times Online - 2711 related articles » California, Hawaii Governors Veto Online Sales Tax‎ - InformationWeek - 305 related articles » Bank of America, Wells Fargo to accept California ious‎ - Bizjournals.com - 272 related articles »

Source: CalNews.com

Judge clarifies purpose at first federal Proposition 8 hearing
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times

In the first hearing on a federal challenge to Proposition 8, a judge reminded lawyers Thursday that the constitutionality of the anti-gay marriage measure would be determined by higher courts and that his job was to give them as many facts and findings as possible. U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, appearing before a packed courtroom, also declined to suspend Proposition 8 before trial, noting that such a move would create too much uncertainty for the state and same-sex couples who would marry. "This case is only touching down in this court," Walker said. "It will have life after this court, and what happens here in many ways is only a prelude to what is going to happen later. "Our job at this point," he said, "is to make a record." Walker's statements Thursday mirrored a tentative ruling he handed down Tuesday. That ruling heartened gay rights activists, who said Walker made it clear he appreciated the gravity of the challenge and their arguments. Neither side objected to Walker's refusal to issue a preliminary injunction.

Federal judge moves to fast track legal fight over Proposition 8
Judge sided with gay marriage advocates -- agreeing that Proposition 8 violates the federal equal protection rights of gays and lesbians
By Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News

A federal judge Thursday refused to temporarily block Proposition 8, moving forward with his plan to put the latest legal challenge over California's gay marriage ban on a fast track to a trial that is likely to produce the most thorough review to date of whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. With all sides in the legal battle poised for a fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker agreed with Attorney General Jerry Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, concluding that it would cause too much confusion across California if he chose to suspend Proposition 8 while the challenge to the voter-approved gay marriage ban unfolds in the courts. Brown has nevertheless sided with gay marriage advocates on the overall lawsuit, agreeing that Proposition 8 violates the federal equal protection rights of gay and lesbian couples by denying them the ability to marry.