Image by eyegelb.It’s once again time for our experts to weigh in on a question roiling the Capitol community. This week: Will the SEIU-backed billionaire tax make the November ballot? If so, will it pass?
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Capitol Weekly Editor Rich Ehisen interviews Asm. Buffy Wicks at a Conference on Housing, Feb. 24, 2026 in Sacramento. Photo by Joha HarrisonPanelists grappled with California’s housing crisis Tuesday at Capitol Weekly’s first conference of 2026, painting a discouraging picture of the current state of affairs in the Golden State. Panels explored permitting reform, the impact of environmental concerns and new ideas for addressing affordability, punctuated by a keynote address from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), who acknowledged the loads of work that still needs to be done but also sounded an optimistic note that things could improve in California.
Image via Boxabl. The lack of enough affordable housing has plagued California for decades. Can factory-built homes be at least part of the solution? A growing number of housing advocates believe the answer is yes.
Jennifer Barrera, President and CEO of CalChamberCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Our guest Jennifer Barrera has been President and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce since 2021. The venerable institution – founded in 1890 as the California State Board of Trade – advocates for pro-business policies and investments. Barrera is well known and well respected in the capitol community, and has been an effective messenger for the CalChamber’s many causes, including reform of the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). She spoke with us about the Chamber’s approach to the state’s affordability crisis, the increasing calls to tax the ultra-rich and a ballot measure to reform CEQA.
Image by SeventyFour. OPINION – As we close out Black History Month, we celebrate the extraordinary contributions of Black Americans to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Our responsibility is to recognize it early, nurture it, and refuse to let it remain hidden.
Image by Andrii Yalanskyi. Before we discuss specifics of participation in the rulemaking process in California, we need to understand the basics of the regulatory process in this state.
Image by EyeEm Mobile GmbH.OPINION – We don’t have the data we need to understand, and prevent, firearms-related deaths due to intimate partner violence (IPV).
Steven Bradford. Photo from California State Senate Archive. In our ongoing Q&A series with California Insurance Commissioner candidates, this week we bring you answers from former Sen. Steven Bradford.
Image by Jennifer Miranda. OPINION – AI is helping carry California through a difficult fiscal moment. Turning it into the next lawsuit gold rush would be an act of self-sabotage.