First Take: Washington delivers budget blow; Whitman, Fiorina pulling away?

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Congress has pulled back an aide package to states, leaving a new $2-billion hole in the state’s budget.

A new tracking poll indicates the races for governor and U.S. Senate are all but over.

With this week’s big bill deadline in Sacramento, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is summoning two ailing lawmakers to cast key votes.

Jack Dolan and Patrick McGreevy look at some of the bills voted on by lawmakers Wednesday, including a ban on plastic shopping bags and a measure to delay the age at which kids may begin kindergarten.

George Skelton provides his own voting guide to the June 8 ballot.

go to twitter.com/latpoliticsca for the latest headlines from California politics.

-- Anthony York