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Emmerson, who is 68, has represented his Southern California district in the Assembly and state Senate since 2004. He would have been forced out of office by term limits in 2016.
The 2012 payroll was $516 million, up 39 percent from 2008 when it was just $373 million.
Prosecutors say the four planned to rob the owner because they mistakenly believed he'd buried cash in the California desert.
Sixteen California lawmakers will leave on Wednesday for fun in the sun on a five-day trip paid for by special interests.
Schools in California, Nevada, Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico and South Carolina also are adopting the more lenient lice policy.
A California man who police say dropped his pants and mooned passing motorists on a highway has been arrested for investigation of being drunk in public.
A sometimes tearful former official of the scandal-ridden Bell took the stand in her own defense at a corruption trial, acknowledging she was being paid too much when her salary ballooned past $340,000 a year.
A federal judge is set to decide whether the heavy use of pepper spray by state prison guards against mentally ill inmates violates prisoners' civil rights.
A 16-year-old Northern California boy could be charged with setting a man on fire while riding on a public bus.
State regulators are overseeing an assisted-living facility in Modesto owned by the same people who allegedly left behind more than a dozen residents at a Castro Valley care home last month.
A statewide Amber Alert for a 2-week-old has been lifted Wednesday after the father was arrested by Mexican authorities, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
Internet giant Google says it is exploring using two large barges on the East and West coasts as interactive learning centers.
The deceit of disgraced former reporter Stephen Glass in the journalism world was so extraordinary that his tale was turned into a critically acclaimed movie, "Shattered Glass."
California regulators have fined Pacific Gas & Electric Co. more than $8 million for a contractor's botched inspections of more than 200 welds on natural gas pipelines.
Redlands police say the two 7-foot cow costumes created for the Chick-fil-A chain were nabbed in separate restaurant burglaries.
