Legislature Back In Session For Election-Year Challenges

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The Legislature has reconvened for a year of diminished expectations amid a backdrop of election-year politics.

Lawmakers face a $13 billion deficit and hot topics that include pension reform, high-speed rail and a multibillion dollar water bond. Yet along with the legislative debates, most lawmakers will be preoccupied with their own political circumstances.

A new primary system and legislative districts drawn for the first time by an independent citizens commission lend uncertainty to this year's legislative races.

The election-year focus was apparent Wednesday, when lawmakers returned for the first day of this year's session.

Two Democratic lawmakers introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations to spend unlimited sums on elections. The ruling generally is viewed as benefiting Republicans.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press)