The state Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: Feoktistoff, via Shutterstock)Special interests paid contract lobbying firms more $93.4 million to lobby state government in the sixth quarter of the 2025-26 cycle, the most spent in a single quarter since Capitol Weekly started analyzing lobbying firm reports at the beginning of the last cycle.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton. Photo by AP. The Republican National Committee is rolling in money, while the Democratic National Committee struggles. Not so in California.
Letter from the 9/12/25 Senate Daily Journal. Image courtesy of Chris Micheli. Because bills cannot be amended in the final three days of the Session, authors and interest groups have been utilizing letters to the Assembly and Senate Daily Journals in an effort to modify their “intent,” or even address concerns with explicit bill language that cannot be amended. Unfortunately, the use of these letters cannot be a substitute for making actual changes to the proposed statutory language.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On the podcast we often joke about our “very special guests” but legendary California lobbyist Paula Treat truly fits the bill. Treat was one of our very first, and one of our most frequent, guests on the Capitol Weekly Podcast. Next week she will be inducted into the Top 100 Hall of Fame, so we invited her to talk about her Hall of Fame-worthy career, and about the other members of the Class of 2026: Allan Zaremberg, Bob White, Scott Lay, Robbie Hunter and Carmela Coyle.
Anika Bjork. Photo by Sydney Laird, Capitol WeeklyAlthough Annika Bjork’s professional entry into the California Capitol community began just last year, it is a role our newest Rising Star has been preparing for their entire life.
Lobbyist, author and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
Man and woman figures sitting on unequal stacks of dollar bills. Gender pay gap, income inequality, financial disparity, and salary discrimination concept.OPINION — Inequality in the United States is out of control. And this is particularly true in California, which, despite being the wealthiest state of the wealthiest nation in the world, many people are simply not making it.
Assembly Chambers. Photo by Capitol WeeklyLawmakers come back next week for the annual sprint to the legislative finish line. Today we look at a handful of bills and issues on the August docket.
Image of a librarian's hands as she sorts through a pile of children's books that are out of focus. Children's books have been a focus of book bans across the United States.OPINION — Since 1996’s Proposition 209, California has prohibited the consideration of race in public education, employment and contracting. While framed around fairness, the measure’s real-world effect has been to blindfold the state, creating a painful disconnect between the clearly visible systemic inequities and our legal ability to fix them.