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More than three years after lawmakers unanimously called for it, the Secretary of State has yet to compile a searchable database to help voters get in touch with the people they put in office. Voters, it was envisioned, would then have one-stop easy access to office contact information for elected officials at all levels of government. That hasn’t happened.
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Once a bill has been passed by both houses of the California Legislature, the bill is sent to the governor’s desk. In order for the governor to act on a bill, it must be “presented” to the governor for final consideration. This means the governor must have the actual bill before him or her in order to either sign or veto the measure.
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The University of California has identified its 10 best research stories of 2021, and right at the top is an article deeply involving the state’s $12 billion stem cell agency. The catch is that the stem cell agency was not even mentioned. That despite the fact that 13 persons with significant links to the University of California, including a UC regent, sit on the board that oversees the agency.
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Is California’s drought coming to an end? Experts say no, not yet, despite the recent historic levels of rain and snow throughout the state. And while 2021 was the driest in California in a century, 2022 is giving people hope that the seemingly interminable drought may finally be over, at least for now.
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When Californians go to the polls later this year, they will confront contentious health care choices. Voters will weigh whether to overturn a state law that bans flavored tobacco products and will likely consider increasing the cap on medical malpractice awards. They may also vote on proposals that effectively legalize psychedelic mushrooms and regulating dialysis clinics.
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Timing can speak volumes. Consider this: As the Omicron variant of the coronavirus increases the infection rate, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut COVID-19 quarantine and isolation times from 10 to five days on Dec. 27.
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Lorena Gonzalez, the San Diego-area Assemblywoman who successfully pushed landmark legislation to reclassify many California independent contractors as employees, is leaving the Capitol to run the California Labor Federation. Gonzalez, 50, will become the group’s executive officer when the current leader, long-time chief Art Pulaski, retires this summer after serving 25 years as the top executive.
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ANALYSIS: One of the long-running points of contention when California courts examine what’s known as “legislative intent” is the judiciary’s general disdain for statements made by the authors of legislation. Those clear-language statements accompanying bills, common in the Capitol, seek to offer guidance and state the purpose and intention of an author’s legislation.
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This summer, California created a department dedicated to stopping its strained electric grid from causing more catastrophic wildfires, and come the new year the fledgling bureaucracy will add a questionably mapped labyrinth of underground cables and pipes to its list of concerns.
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Minimum-wage workers in the Golden State will get an hourly pay raise in the new year. Under California law, the state minimum wage rises to $15 per hour for employers with 26 or more workers and to $14 hourly for employers with 25 or less employees on Jan. 1, 2022.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber, then an Assembly member, on the steps of the Capitol in 2018. (Photo: Phil Pasquini, Shutterstock)
