Legislature gets high marks from lobbyists

By most measures, California's Legislature performed dismally this past session. Karen de Sa in the Daily News.

It passed a budget a record 100 days late, and grossly underestimated the fiscal crisis - a situation so severe that lawmakers returned to the Capitol earlier this month for a special session to grapple with a $6.1 billion deficit.

But the dire situation did not inhibit legislators from carrying bills crafted by outside interests who reward them with campaign contributions, a continuing Mercury News investigation of the California legislative process shows.