Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) issued a joint statement Wednesday afternoon confirming a Monday vote: "Due to the late hour in which the cap-and-trade package becomes eligible for a vote tomorrow evening, we have decided to schedule the vote instead for Monday, July 17. Taking up AB 398 and the companion air-quality measure AB 617 next week will also allow our discussion on long-term housing affordability solutions in California to catch up to the climate effort."

Los Angeles-area Rep. Brad Sherman has introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump, making good on a promise to move the process forward.

Sherman's move has put him at odds with House Democratic leaders, who have tried to quiet talk of impeachment, hoping instead to focus on the economy, healthcare and the investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election.

Sherman, an 11-term Democrat who represents part of the San Fernando Valley, was the first to draft and circulate articles of impeachment last month. He formally introduced the measure, HR 438, on the House floor Wednesday afternoon.

Gov. Jerry Brown continues to add to his resume as global climate crusader, announcing on Wednesday a partnership with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to measure how states, cities and businesses are cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

The initiative is yet another repudiation by Brown of President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate. Last week, the governor told an international audience that Trump "doesn't speak for the rest of us" on global warming, and announced plans to host a climate summit in San Francisco next year.

Brown also assumed the role of quasi-ambassador in a recent trip to China, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing to discuss climate change. And in Sacramento,  Brown hosted the Fijian prime minister, the president of this year's United Nations conference on climate change, who bestowed on the governor the title of "special advisor for states and regions" for a November confab in Germany.

The state Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday advanced a bill that would define "stealthing" as a form of rape, though lawmakers said it was unclear whether or how it would be enforced. 

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) introduced the legislation in May through the "gut and amend" process, stripping the contents of an unrelated bill to insert the new language. It targets stealthing, or the practice of intentionally removing or tampering with a condom during sexual intercourse without consent.

The latest version of the bill would make it a crime of felony sexual battery to remove or tamper with a condom or intentionally use, without consent, a condom that has been tampered with during sex. It also goes further, making it a felony to lie about being on birth control or another form of contraception other than a condom.

A state law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this week would make it harder for violent sex offenders released under a court's conditions to live in counties where they have no work or family ties.

Assembly Bill 255 will require judges to consider additional factors, such as residential, family or employment connections, when weighing where to release offenders who fall under the Sexually Violent Predator Program. 

Offenders in the program have been convicted of a sexually violent offense and diagnosed with a mental disorder making them likely to repeat their crime. Inmates must complete rehabilitation treatment at a state hospital after fulfilling their prison sentences before they are released into the community. 

Rep. Jimmy Gomez was sworn in as Los Angeles’ newest congressman in a ceremony between House votes Tuesday, saying in brief remarks afterward that his approach to policy and politics is driven by personal and community experience.

“As the son of immigrants who believes in this country and everything it promises, I am a living embodiment of that promise, [and I] have a profound commitment to protecting the rights of other immigrant families, no matter where they are from or the god they worship,” he said.

The 34th Congressional District is one of the most diverse in the country, and includes downtown, Koreatown and much of L.A.’s Eastside.

The House of Representatives voted unanimously Tuesday to honor one of the creators of "Bakersfield sound," Merle Haggard, by renaming a post office in his hometown.

The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), would rename the post office at 1730 18th St. in Bakersfield as the ‘‘Merle Haggard Post Office Building."

Such bills are considered noncontroversial and tend to move through Congress easily. It still needs to be considered by the Senate and signed into law by President Trump.

Real estate investor Paul Kerr announced Tuesday that he will challenge nine-term Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), one of the Democrats' top California targets for 2018.

Issa won reelection by a razor-thin margin last November.

In a statement announcing his run, Kerr, 62, emphasized issues affecting lower- and middle-income families, including healthcare, wage stagnation and veterans' services.

State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said local law enforcement in California should continue to investigate and prosecute shootings by police officers when appropriate, contrary to an initial proposal from a Sacramento lawmaker.

“I think any time you can keep things as local as possible it's always the best way to do it,” Becerra said Tuesday.

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) had originally wanted to expand Becerra’s authority to criminally investigate police-involved shootings. McCarty modeled his legislation after similar laws in Connecticut and Wisconsin that require agencies other than the department that employs an officer involved in a shooting to handle the investigation. McCarty had said the bill was a way to help promote public trust after a rash of controversial police shootings in California and across the country. That legislation passed the Assembly last month without Becerra weighing in.

A state bill that would change the way courts assign bail for defendants before trial cleared its final policy committee hurdle on Tuesday with amendments meant to ease concerns over its cost and impact on victims. 

In approving the measure, members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee said disadvantaged communities with a high police presence can't wait any longer for lawmakers to fix a broken bail system that harms the poor. But they urged its co-authors to address the financial and logistical burden it could impose on counties.

Senate Bill 10 was approved by the committee by a 4-2 vote and now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), chair of that committee, voted in favor of moving the legislation out of the Public Safety Committee.