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The roles of LAO and DOF in California’s budget process

Image by Vepar5

The Legislative Analyst’s Office serves as the “eyes and ears” for the Legislature to ensure that the executive branch is implementing legislative policy in a cost efficient and effective manner, while the Department works on behalf of the Governor to ensure that he or she has all of the data and information needed to work collaboratively with the legislative branch of state government in crafting the most important bill enacted each year.

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Kudos, criticism mark California stem cell agency as it turns 20

Scientist performing stem cell research for cancer therapy. Image by Manjurul

California’s $12 billion stem cell experiment turned 20 years old this fall, winning kudos from some patients and scientists but failing to fulfill the expectations of voters who thought they had created an enterprise that would lead quickly to revolutionary cures for cancer, heart disease, stroke and much more.

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Rising Stars: Katie Van Deynze of Health Access

Katie Van Deynze. Image by Joha Harrison, Capitol Weekly.

When Katie Van Deynze talks about healthcare policy, people listen. At 29 years old, she serves as Senior Legislative Advocate at Health Access California, where she has established herself as a trusted voice in the Capitol community.

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Why legislators want more options than aye, no or not voting

Former California Assemblymember Adam Gray. Photo by AP.

Legislators in both parties openly admit they frequently don’t vote on bills not because they’re lazy, but because “no” votes are taken personally by their colleagues. But because the “no vote recorded” category encompasses multiple behaviors, there’s a quiet push to change the way votes are recorded to include at least one other category, abstention.

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Online sports betting companies align with California’s gaming tribes

Image by Sinenkiy

Two years after California voters rejected online sports betting following an epic and costly ballot box fight, the two major forces at odds over the issue – California’s powerful gaming tribes and online sports betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel – suddenly find themselves united against a common enemy: so-called gray market “sweepstakes” gambling sites that both camps say are cutting into their profits and undermining legal gaming operations here and across the country.

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Capitol Spotlight: Daisy Gonzales, California Student Aid Commission

Photo by Joha Harrison, Capitol Weekly

Daisy Gonzales, the new Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), is no stranger to navigating crises. From her upbringing as a foster youth, juggling school while moving homes, to managing the Assembly Budget Committee during the recession, Dr. Gonzales knows how to find innovative solutions to challenging situations.

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California preparing for ban on private college legacy admission

Image by AlexLMX

The longstanding private college admissions practice of giving preference to the offspring of big bucks donors or notable alumni will soon come to an end in California. For some observers, the final sunset of legacy admissions across the state’s higher education system can’t come fast enough.

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Don’t look back in anger: experts weigh in on the 2024 election

L-R: Marva Diaz, Marva Diaz Strategies; Laurel Rosenhall of the Los Angeles Times; Paul Mitchell, Political Data Intelligence; and Kristin Olsen-Cate, California Strategies; Mark Baldassare, Public Policy Institute of California; Thad Kousser, UC San Diego; Photo by Joha Harrison, Capitol Weekly

On Nov. 7th Capitol Weekly and the UC Student and Policy Center hosted a post-mortem of the 2024 election that featured three issue-specific panels conducted over Zoom and a live keynote panel. All featured some of the brightest and most experienced political minds in California. The story below features a very brief overlook of each

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The Republican who emptied the asylums

Photo via Lanterman House

Frank Lanterman won an assembly seat in 1950 with one goal: securing a steady water supply for his family’s land holdings and subdivisions in the Verdugo hills community of La Cañada outside Los Angeles, a task he completed in his first year in office. In the years to come, his influence would expand far beyond his hometown and he would become one of the most consequential legislators of his time by leading the effort to transform how California cares for people with severe mental illness.

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