Frustrated at the Legislature's annual inability to pass a state budget on time, the California Grange – the state's oldest agricultural fraternal group – is pondering an initiative that would not only block lawmakers from being paid when a budget is late, but fine them for it, too. Steve Wiegand in the Sacramento Bee

Happy chickens equal happy consumers, say proponents of Proposition 2, a November ballot measure that calls for the humane treatment of farm animals. The initiative, proposed by the Humane Society of the United States, would ban farmers from raising egg-producing poultry, veal calves and pregnant pigs in small cages and crates by 2015. Stacy Finz in the San Francisco Chronicle

Termed out Assembly members Lois Wolk, D-Davis, and Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, are competing for the state Senate in the 5th District, which includes South Sacramento County and parts of Yolo, San Joaquin and Solano counties. Aurelio Rojas in the Sacramento Bee

Ratcheting up a media barrage that will spill into millions of California living rooms, proponents of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage broadcast their first TV ads Monday, charging that permanent legalization could endanger religious freedom or change schools' curriculum, charges whose veracity were challenged by legal experts. Mike Swift in the San Jose Mercury

A Shasta County atheist sued top state corrections officials Monday, claiming that his constitutional rights were violated when he was returned to prison after objecting to participation in a program with religious overtones as a condition of parole. Denny Walsh in the Sacramento Bee

Both the weekly dinner and the prayer are required. The students are participants in a special program offered by All Saints Episcopal Church in Sacramento that gives free housing to college students. In exchange for living in one of the apartments owned by the congregation, the students must meet the church's spiritual requirements. Jennifer Garza in the Sacramento Bee

The rejection of the Wall Street rescue plan may have jolted Sacramento's struggling economy and harmed the fragile recovery in the region's housing market. A small but extreme example: As the House voted down the bailout plan Monday, real estate broker Steven Krohn was called by a client who's trying to sell a home near Fruitridge Road. The instructions: Drop the listing price by one-third, to $129,000. Dale Kasler and Jim Wasserman in the Sacramento Bee

Schwarzenegger plans to sign that bill Tuesday. He has approved a toll lane plan for the 10 and 110 freeways and a bill that could help East L.A. and Rowland Heights attain city hood. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times

I like this one too…New "Country of Origin Labeling" law requires stores to tell you where your food comes from -- Born in the USA? Made in Mexico? Picked in Peru? Cultivated in Canada? Supermarket shoppers, now you know. Starting today, new federal rules take effect requiring all U.S. supermarkets and large food retailers provide labels telling consumers which country a wide variety of food came from. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed two bills making it tougher for teachers who commit sex crimes to remain in California's public schools. The new laws close loopholes in California's teacher licensing system that had allowed some teachers accused or even convicted of serious crimes to remain in the classroom. JULIET WILLIAMS AP

But the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court decided on Monday that Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner was following the law when she ruled there is a six-day window in which voters can register and vote at the same time. The decision — also backed by two separate federal judges — means election officials are preparing for the rush of early voting Tuesday, the first day absentee ballots are accepted in advance of the Nov. 4 presidential election. Ohio AP

Brown's Web site dedicated to providing resources for active and retired military veterans. McClintock's campaign recently launched www.vetsfortom.com, that lists resources for military personnel, such as Amvets, that Brown's campaign alleges, lists the same organizations, "in the exact same order, as those listed on the veteran's center that Retired Lt. Col. Brown has had online for more than a year. Brown campaign spokesman Todd Stenhouse said the moves explain how little McClintock knows about the military. The Union

Throughout this election season, Sacramento voters have been bombarded with lectures, stories, blog entries, speeches, mailers, press releases, and even bumper stickers touting which mayoral candidate is the true Democrat, as though the title were some sort of regal honor that will determine the outcome of the election. Do voters even care? I sure don’t. I care about issues; not race, not gender, not stance on gay marriage and DEFINITELY *NOT* whether the candidate worships an elephant or a donkey. Joe Sacramento

Inside Publications publishes newspapers such as Inside East Sacramento and Inside Arden [hey when is Inside Natomas coming?]. The basic premise of her support for Kevin Johnson is that eight years of Fargo is enough. Eight years is enough for a president, a governor, and should be for a mayor as well. I could not agree more. Great points all the way around. Joe Sacramento

After the jump you'll find a press release from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, announcing that it has filed complaints against six churches reported to have participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday with political endorsements. Dallas Morning News

Milk: The film Milk will hit theaters in December. With 30 times the budget of Fireproof, the dramatization of slain gay activist and San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, played by Sean Penn, is already drawing considerable buzz in California. Milk will certainly draw more press than Fireproof, but if the Kirk Cameron flick catches fire like Bella did among the pro-life community last year, it could have a significant impact at the ballot box in Florida, Arizona and California when Nov. 4 rolls around. Lifesites

An immigration reform activist says there's absolutely no reason that American taxpayers should bail out illegal immigrants who should not have been in country in the first place, but were among those given risky loans that have created the mortgage crisis. In a recent column, Michelle Malkin points out that some of the hardest hit areas by the foreclosure wave -- including Phoenix, Las Vegas, and large swaths of California -- also happen to be some of the nation's largest sanctuary areas. She argues that lending institutions like Bank of America have gone out of their way to woo homebuyers who are in the country illegally. One News Now