A push for better dental care for low-income children

Capitol Weekly podcast: Scott Lay

Scott Lay, editor and founder of The Nooner, the widely read online information source that tracks campaign cash and offers political analyses. (Photo: John Howard)

by STAFF posted 05.22.2017

Recorded May 20, 2017: In the heat of the convention battle for the state Democratic Party leadership, The Nooner’s Scott Lay sat down with Capitol Weekly Editor John Howard to chat about the intense fight among the party delegates to pick a successor to John Burton, the party chair since 2009.

Capitol Weekly podcast: Ruth Bernstein and Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell of Political Data and Ruth Bernstein of EMC Research((Photo: Tim Foster)

by STAFF posted 05.19.2017

Political Data’s numbers cruncher Paul Mitchell and pollster Ruth Bernstein of EMC Research stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to chat about the results of a new EMC Research/Capitol Weekly poll of the new voters of 2016. Will those voters be back next year?

CA120: Will those new 2016 voters return for the midterms?

A March 2016 rally in Los Angeles for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

by PAUL MITCHELL posted 05.18.2017

History tells us that presidential-year new voters are likely to skip mid-term elections. Will the new voters of 2016 be any different? The answer to that question could have a profound impact on the 2018 elections.

Hunting for a job — with a felony

Illustration by David Carillet, via Shutterstock

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 05.16.2017

Should someone convicted of a felony have to admit that on the first application for a job? Several Democratic lawmakers don’t think so. They are pushing a bill that would prohibit a public or private employer from asking a prospective employee, on an initial application for employment, if they had been convicted of a crime .

Life without parole: Reforms target youthful offenders

Photo illustration: A young woman in custody clings to a chain-link fence. (Shutterstock)

by DANIEL MARACCINI posted 05.15.2017

New legislation to overhaul California’s youth criminal justice system includes a key provision that bars life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders. Currently, the United States is the only country in the world to impose life-without-parole sentences on minors. Throughout the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down decisions that have begun to reverse the trend.

Budget: Brown warily eyes federal impact

Gov. Jerry Brown, unveiling his revised state budget, is flanked by a chart showing billions of dollars of Medi-Cal cuts. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 05.11.2017

Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget draft is a no-frills document reflecting fears about the policies of the Trump administration, a Republican-led Congress and the likelihood of an economic recession. “The potential of a federal reduction in aid to California is real enough,” Brown noted, as he unveiled his revised $180 billion spending plan for 2017-18.

California eyes herbicide compound for carcinogen list

Spraying crops with an herbicide to prevent crop losses to pests. (Photo: pfalztv, via Shutterstock)

by MATTHEW KRAMER posted 05.10.2017

California is deciding whether to add a popular herbicide’s ingredient to the list of officially recognized cancer-causing compounds — a move that has run into a legal road block. At issue is glyphosate, a prime ingredient in the Monsanto Company’s herbicide Roundup.

Technical amendments: Below the radar, but crucial

State Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Shuttesrstock)

by CHRIS MICHELI posted 05.09.2017

Substantive amendments deal with the core of the bill. But there are also important technical amendments that need to be made to legislation, often to ensure that the bills are properly enacted into statutes.