As many predicted, California failed to gain a seat in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1920. The U.S. Census reported 37,253,956 California residents in its official count of the population, a growth of 10 percent, the slowest rate in a century.  These official numbers came out this week along with the results of how the 435 seats in the House will be redistributed among the states based on the current population figures.

Historically, California has done well, amassing 53 of the 435 seats in the House, still by far the largest delegation. The second biggest state delegation comes from Texas, with 36 representatives. Texas added four House seats in the apportionment yesterday - aided in part by the migration of post-Katrina residents from Louisiana.

Demographer William Frey, in a recent presentation for the Knight Digital Media Center's Census Workshop, noted California's "middle class" flight from the pricey coastal areas into the interior.  Many predict that once the citizen's redistricting commission completes drawing the political boundaries there will be an additional seat shifted from the coast to the Central Valley. 

All told, 18 states will either gain or lose house seats, while 32 will stay the same.  Each new house district will include and average of 710,767 residents.  The State Senate and Assembly numbers will stay the same with 40 state Senators and 80 state Assembly members. 

SACRAMENTO - Governor Jerry Brown today announced the following appointments.

John Laird, of Santa Cruz, has been appointed Secretary of the California Resources Agency.  Most recently, Laird taught in the Environmental Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz.  He served six years in the State Assembly, from 2002 to 2008, and was the Assembly Budget Committee Chair from 2004 to 2008. Previously, Laird was a member of the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2002. He was the Executive Director for the Santa Cruz AIDS Project from 1991 to 1993. Laird was Mayor and a City Councilmember for the city of Santa Cruz from 1981 to 1990.  This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $175,000. Laird is a Democrat.

Marty Morgenstern, of Oakland, has been appointed Secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Since 2003, Morgenstern has consulted for the University of California on labor relations matters. He was director of the Department of Personnel Administration from 1999 to 2003. From 1994 to 1999, he worked as a private consultant to various labor organizations. Morgenstern was the Chair of the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley from 1987 to 1994. From 1982 to 1987, he served as a member of the Public Employment Relations Board. Morgenstern served as the Director of the Department of Personnel Administration from 1981 to 1982.  In 1975, he was appointed Director of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations by Governor Jerry Brown. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $175,000. Morgenstern is a Democrat.

Mary Nichols, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed Chair of the California Air Resources Board, where she has served since 2007. From 2004 to 2007, Nichols served as director of the Institute of the Environment (IoE) at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she also held faculty appointments as a professor in residence at the School of Law and the School of Public Affairs. Before joining UCLA, she served as secretary for California's Resources Agency from 1999 to 2003. Nichols served as chair of the California Air Resources Board from 1979 to 1983 under Governor Brown and was a member of the CARB beginning in 1975. She served as assistant administrator for Air and Radiation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton Administration.  Compensation for this position is $142,965. Nichols is a Democrat.

Ronald Yank, of Oakland, has been appointed Director of the Department of Personnel Administration.  He is a retired labor and employment law attorney.  Previously, Yank served as a neutral arbitrator and mediator in the field of labor and employment law from 2007 to 2009 and was a partner at Carroll Burdick & McDonough from 1988 to 2007.  Yank was a partner at Neyhart Anderson & Freitas from 1981 to 1988. Previously, he worked at Carroll Burdick & McDonough from 1974 to1981 and became a partner in 1979. Yank was an associate at Neyhart Anderson Grodin & Beeson from 1973 to 1974.  He was an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at UC Berkeley from 1967 to 1971 and worked at the Law Offices of R.J. Engel as an Associate from 1971-1973.  Yank has represented bargaining units of state employees including the California Correctional Peace Officers' Association and the CDF Firefighters.  This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $142,965. Yank is a Democrat.

Brown today also announced the following State Board of Education appointments:

Dr. Carl Anthony Cohn, of Palm Springs, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education. He has been a Professor and the Co-Director of the Urban Leadership Program at Claremont Graduate University since 2009. Previously, Cohn served as the Superintendent of Schools for the San Diego Unified School District from 2005 to 2007. He was a Clinical Professor with the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California from 2002 to 2005 and the Superintendent of Schools for the Long Beach Unified School District from 1992 to 2002. Cohn is a member of the Association of California School Administrators. Cohn is a Democrat.

Louis "Bill" Honig, of Marin, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education. He has been President of the Consortium on Reading Excellence since 2005. Previously, Honig served as a Visiting Distinguished Professor at San Francisco State University's School of Education from 1993 to 1998. He was the Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1983 to 1993. Honig previously served on the California State Board of Education under Governor Brown from 1975 to 1983. Honig is a Democrat.

Dr. Michael Kirst, of Stanford, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education.  He currently serves as a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1969.   Previously, Kirst served on the California State Board of Education under Governor Brown from 1975 to 1982. Kirst also served as the Director of Program Planning for the U.S. Office of Education and was Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Manpower, Employment, and Poverty from 1967 to 1969.  Kirst is a Democrat.

Aida Molina, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education.  She has served as the Executive Director on Academic Improvement and Accountability for Bakersfield City School District since 2005.   Previously, Molina was a Commissioner with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing from 2004 to 2007.  Molina was a principal with Bakersfield City School District from 2001 to 2005, an elementary school principal with the Sacramento Unified School District from 1999 to 2001, an assistant principal with the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District from 1997 to 1999, and a bilingual teacher from 1992 to 1997.  Molina is a member of the Association of School Administrators and the California Association of Bilingual Educators.  Molina is a Democrat.

James Ramos, of San Bernardino, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education. Ramos has served as the Chairman for the San Manuel Band of Indians since 2008, having previously served as Treasurer, as a member of the Business Committee, and as Chairman of the Tribe's Gaming Commission. Ramos was re-elected in 2010 as a member of the San Bernardino Community College Board of Trustees, where he has served since 2005. He has served as a member and chairperson of the Native American Heritage Commission since 2007. Ramos is a Democrat.

Patricia Ann Rucker, of Elk Grove, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education. Since 2008, she has worked as the Legislative Advocate for the California Teachers Association and was a consultant for the California Teachers Association on instruction and professional development from 1997 to 2008. She also served as a teacher in the Del Paso Heights School District from 1983 to 1997. Rucker is a Democrat.

Trish Boyd Williams, of San Jose, has been appointed to the California State Board of Education. She has served as the Executive Director for EdSource since 1992. Previously, Williams served as a program consultant to the Director for the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth from 1983 to 1990, and as a Presidential Management Intern and then a Management Analyst for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1979 to 1982. Williams is a Democrat.

State Board of Education appointments require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced committee chair assignments for the new session today. In addition to reassigning gavels, Steinberg changed the structure of several standing committees.

The Revenue & Taxation and Local Government committees were merged, forming the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance. The new committee will be chaired by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis.

The Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee was divided into two committees, with Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, chairing Banking and Finance and Sen. Ron Calderon,D-Montebello, at the helm of the Insurance Committee.

The assignments, posted after the jump, are set to be confirmed at a Rules Committee hearing on Jan. 12. Full committee assignments are expected within a week.

Agriculture: Tom Berryhill
Appropriations: Christine Kehoe
Banking & Financial Institutions: Juan Vargas
Budget & Fiscal Review: Mark Leno
Budget Subcommittee #1 - Education: Carol Liu
Budget Subcommittee #2 - Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy, & Transportation: Joe Simitian
Budget Subcommittee #3 - Health & Human Services, Labor & Veteran's Affairs:Mark DeSaulnier
Budget Subcommittee #4 - State Administration, General Government & Judicial: Michael Rubio
Budget Subcommittee #5 - Corrections and Public Safety: Loni Hancock
Business & Professions: Curren Price, Jr.
Education: Alan Lowenthal
Elections & Constitutional Amendments: Lou Correa
Energy, Utilities and Communications: Alex Padilla
Environmental Quality: Joe Simitian
Governance & Finance: Lois Wolk
Governmental Organization: Roderick Wright
Health: Ed Hernandez
Human Services:Carol Liu
Insurance: Ron Calderon
Judiciary: Noreen Evans
Labor & Industrial Relations: open - Vice Chair Ellen Corbett
Legislative Ethics: Mimi Walters
Natural Resources and Water: Fran Pavley
Public Employment and Retirement: Gloria Negrete McLeod
Public Safety: Loni Hancock
Rules: Darrell Steinberg
Transportation and Housing: Mark DeSaulnier
Veterans Affairs: Lou Correa

The 112^th Congress convened this week, with Members of Congress sworn in on January 5, 2011.  Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and immediately adopted a change in House rules, including changes to the budget process and committee rules and a requirement that members cite the related constitutional authority when introducing legislation.  Although a ban on earmarks is one of the most publicly touted House GOP efforts to restrict federal spending, the changes to House rules adopted on Wednesday did not address the issue.  House Republicans say they will implement their ban through leadership decisions, which they can enforce for the entire House now that they control the chamber.

House leaders said the first item on the agenda will be a bill to repeal the health care overhaul law.  Debate is expected to begin on the House floor Jan. 7, with a final vote scheduled for Jan. 12 - even as top Senate Democrats promised to block a repeal effort.

The Senate met on the 5^th to swear in new members, then recessed until January 25^th.

President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.  The legislation makes the most substantive changes to federal food safety laws since 1938. The new law requires the Food and Drug Administration to focus more on preventing contamination rather than interceding after outbreaks of food-borne illnesses have occurred, and authorizes funding for the programs.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates FDA will need $1.4 billion over five years to carry out the legislation's provisions.

Much of the new money needed to implement the law would be spent on hiring as many as 2,000 new food inspectors to conduct more frequent inspections of food facilities. With the shift in power in the House of Representatives, and the focus on cost-cutting, it's unclear if FDA will receive the funds to fulfill its mission.  FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg said her agency is already moving ahead with some of the new law's required changes. She would not speculate on how implementation might be affected if Congress does not provide the additional money.

 President Barack Obama named former Commerce Secretary William Daley as his new chief of staff Thursday. Currently a senior executive of the investment bank JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Daley was commerce secretary in the Clinton administration, and is currently a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase.

Pete Rouse, who has been filling in as Obama's chief of staff since Rahm Emanuel left in the fall, was elevated to be a counselor to the president, a White House aide confirmed.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner notified Congress Thursday that the debt limit is now expected to be reached as early as March 31, sooner than many expected.  In his letter, Geithner said the debt now stands at $13.95 trillion, leaving just $335 billion in "headroom" below the current debt limit of $14.29 trillion. The limit is likely to be reached between March 31 and May 16, he said, urging Congress to act during the first three months of the year.

Geithner warned that failure to raise the debt limit would cause a default on U.S. financial obligations, which he said would be potentially more damaging than the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.  He also warned that even if Congress were to scale back discretionary spending to fiscal 2008 levels, as House Republicans will attempt to do in coming months, that action would delay the need to raise the debt limit by no more than two weeks.

Congress last raised the debt limit in February 2010. Some Republican lawmakers have threatened to oppose increasing the limit. And GOP leaders have said they will insist on spending concessions as a condition of raising the debt ceiling.