The Schwarzenegger administration's latest contract offer to the state prison guards union would boost pay more than 14 percent over three years, but the union would have to give up some of its management power in return. Union officials said they are unwilling to make such concessions. They also contend the proposed pay scale would put prison guards further behind other state and local law enforcement agencies.

Adults who smoke in a vehicle carrying children could be fined $100 under a bill that cleared its first committee Wednesday. A 2006 report by the Harvard School of Public Health said particulate matter in a smoker's car can be as much as 10 times higher than in a smoker's home. That can sharply increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer and other ailments, Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, told the Senate Health Committee. Oropeza’s bill would make it illegal to smoke a cigar, pipe or cigarette in vehicles carrying a minor, regardless of whether the car is parked or moving. It also creates a public health education program focused on the dangers of second-hand smoke. According to Fox news the committee sent her bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 6-3 vote. Smoking in a car with the windows down isn't enough because the U.S. surgeon general has said there is no safe level for second-hand smoke, American Cancer Society lobbyist Alecia Sanchez testified. "Children are completely captive. There's no refuge for them" in a vehicle, she said.