First Take: Brown courts Latinos. Voters support majority-vote budget.

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With polls showing Meg Whitman gaining support among Latino voters, Jerry Brown launched his new Latino outreach plan in Los Angeles on Thursday.

A new Field Poll indicates strong support for a plan to allow lawmakers to pass a state budget with a simple-majority vote. The budget and polls in the races for governor and U.S. Senate are the topics of this week’s Capital Notes podcast.

A federal ban on gay marriage has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.

Former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who was convicted last year of witness tampering, is among 400 Orange County pensioners who received more than $100,000 in pension benefits last year.

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--Anthony York