VIDEO: Dan Walters talks about why California labor unions want new rules on municipal bankruptcy.

Gov. Jerry Brown has left the state with a hot ticket for Saturday night.

Brown is in Washington, D.C., meeting with officials on issues ranging from health care policy to funding for the California National Guard, but his social calendar also includes the 98th annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

It’ll be Hollywood meets politics at the Washington Hilton. This year’s headliner is late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel, whose job is to roast President Barack Obama.

The governor and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, will be seated at the table hosted by Newsweek and The Daily Beast, according to the White House Correspondents Insider.

Who else is at that table? Playing for Team Hollywood are actresses Reese Witherspoon and Viola Davis as well as J.R. Martinez of “Dancing With the Stars.”

As for Team Government, other guests include CIA Director David Petraeus, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Susan Collins of Maine, Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Carolyn Maloney of New York, as well as Melanne Verveer, who’s ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues.

Rounding out the list is Washington attorney Bob Barnett, who’s been behind a lot of political book deals, according to this Washington Post story.

Other tables are claiming celebrity guests Kim Kardashian, Charlize Theron and George Clooney. Actress Diane Keaton will be sitting with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s daughter Katherine. The list goes on and on.

But hey, it’s not about the stars. It’s about the journalism. C-SPAN will be covering the event live starting Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time. (Translation: 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time.) Click here to learn more about the dinner and see photos from last year’s event.

That’s Saturday. Brown will be busy Sunday morning as well, when he faces host Bob Schieffer of the CBS public affairs show “Face the Nation.” Here’s the online promo: “Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., faces massive budget shortfalls in his state. What’s his plan for fixing it? How have politics changed since his first stint as governor over 30 years ago?”

Good questions. “Face the Nation” runs Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and airs in Sacramento on KOVR-TV (Channel 13) at 8:30 a.m., according to this CBS News website, which lists other local markets as well. You can also watch the broadcast online at this link.

EDUCATION: Sonja Petek of the Public Policy Institute of California will be talking about its survey of Californians’ views on spending cuts in schools, taxes and education reforms. The poll showed that California voters are inclined to support Gov. Jerry Brown‘s sales and income tax increase, but by a less than overwhelming margin, as Dan Walters reported in this post earlier this week. The lunchtime briefing runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at CSAC Conference Center, 1020 11th St. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

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