Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Another jam-packed episode. We start with reaction to Kamala Harris’ bombshell announcement that she will not seek the governorship in 2026, effectively resetting the race, at least on the Dem side. Next up, we welcome Brad Heavner who has stepped into big shoes as Executive Director of The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA), replacing longtime ED Bernadette Del Chiaro. Heavner has his job cut out for him; the transition comes at a crucial time for California’s solar industry, with rooftop solar facing headwinds from DC and Sacramento. And finally, we tell you Who Had the Worst Week in California Politics.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’ve got a jam-packed episode this week: Podcast cohost Tim Foster marks TWENTY years at Capitol Weekly. Then we speak with Frank Torres, the new Director of Political and Legislative Advocacy for the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals. Finally, we tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We won’t use that old Mark Twain quote (that he probably never wrote anyway) but fighting over water has been California’s favorite pastime for at least 175 years. If you think norcal/socal baseball rivalries are bitter – try the socal vs. Delta water wars. One of the people tasked with managing that aqua drama is Jennifer Pierre, General Manager for the State Water Contractors – a statewide, non-profit association of the public water agencies that contract with the Department of Water Resources to receive water from the State Water Project. The SWP provides water for 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at the California and AI, which was held in Sacramento on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. This is Panel 1: The Here and Now: A Levelset, featuring Mona Pasquil Rogers, Meta; Jonathan Mehta Stein, California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED); Camille Crittenden, Ph.D., CITRIS; Ramesh Srinivasan, UCLA School of Education & Information Studies. The panel was moderated by Robin Epley of the Sacramento Bee
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On July 8, Capitol Weekly and the University of California Student and Policy Center presented California and AI, a daylong look at the Golden State’s approach to regulating Artificial Intelligence. Senator Scott Wiener led the charge both this year and last, and has emerged as one of the key voices in the discussion around AI regulation, and we present his Keynote as part of today’s podcast.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’re joined today by Christina Snider-Ashtari, Tribal Affairs Secretary to Governor Gavin Newsom and head of the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs. Snider-Ashtari was first appointed to the position in 2018 by Governor Brown and previously served as Executive Secretary of the California Native American Heritage Commission. We spoke to her about both governors’ approaches to Tribal policy, about the California Truth & Healing Council, and about the deep Native history on Alcatraz, which President Trump has suggested might be returned to use as a federal prison.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Chris Lehane has a solid gold resume in professional politics: consultant and oppo research in the Clinton White House, Press Secretary to VP Al Gore, and the source of the report on the “vast right wing conspiracy” so infamously cited by Hillary Clinton. Since 2024 he has been VP of Global Affairs and a member of the executive team at OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence organization based in San Francisco. Lehane joined us to talk about the opportunities and dangers of this fascinating new technology and to make the case for the importance of California maintaining its role as a global leader in AI.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Republican Suzette Martinez Valladares was elected to the California State Assembly in 2020 and served for two years, narrowly losing a reelection bid for the newly drawn 40th Assembly district, then winning a seat in the Senate in 2024. She spoke with us about pursuing policy goals during a year that has been, to put it mildly, a wild ride, (with no end in sight) and offered her perspective on the Immigration raids in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’re joined by California Manufacturers and Technology Association head Lance Hastings, who began his career as a capitol staffer and has a long history with California trade associations. Hastings probably thought that the COVID pandemic would be the biggest disruptor of the state’s manufacturing industry in his time, but President Trump’s ‘on again, off again’ tariff policy may give COVID a run for its money. He gave us the lowdown on the state of California’s manufacturing industry, tariffs, and just how long it might take to reshore production.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Today we welcome Amy O’Gorman Jenkins, the state’s preeminent cannabis lobbyist. Jenkins was one of the first lobbyists for the state’s once-maligned, now coveted, cannabis industry, first when she worked out of Darius Anderson’s shop, then later at her own firm, Precision Advocacy. She describes an industry in peril, with legal outlets closing, legal sales dropping, and the state’s cannabis excise tax poised to go up July 1 unless the legislature acts.
