Work on water is expected to take center stage first.  That’s because lawmakers are hoping to put a bond measure on the February ballot to pay for increased water storage.  To do that, they’ll need to have a bill ready within a couple of weeks.  Lawmakers are also likely to ask voters to approve a way to pay for increased health coverage for the uninsured.  That may be a tougher sell, says Tony Quinn - co-editor of the California Target Book – a nonpartisan analysis of legislative and congressional elections:

“Here you’re going to have the Legislature and the Governor jointly going and begging the voters to pass something because they couldn’t get it done through the ordinary process, and I do think the voters are going to be asking why and I think that it’s going to be very hard to get this passed.”

Assembly leaders of both parties have put together working groups on both healthcare and water.