State Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Shuttesrstock)Substantive amendments deal with the core of the bill. But there are also important technical amendments that need to be made to legislation, often to ensure that the bills are properly enacted into statutes.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont addresses a May 2016 rally in Ventura. (Photo: Joseph Sohm) For California’s “Berniecrats,” the fire’s not out yet. Nearly a year after propelling Sen. Bernie Sanders to a close second finish against Hillary Clinton in California’s presidential primary, some of his most ardent supporters are still organizing – this time within the state Democratic Party itself.
A woman hails a ride-share driver. (Photo: Maridav, via Shutterstock) OPINION: Technology has given us more freedom to choose the way we work, live, travel, and shop. But many Americans are hitting bureaucratic roadblocks on their way find full- and part-time work with peer-to-peer services like Lyft, Postmates, and Handy.
A housing tract in San Jose, Calif. (Photo: PBK-PG, via Shutterstock)OPINION: When California residents in the Bay Area making over $100,000 per year are considered “low income” and thereby eligible for government subsidies for housing, something is seriously wrong. The issue of affordability is hitting critical mass in regions throughout the state.
Assembly GOP Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley, during an August 2016 floor session. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli) Chad Mayes, the affable leader of Assembly Republicans, says he wakes up every morning thinking about the low state of his party in California. Mayes has plenty to ponder. Republicans have no statewide officeholders, a paltry 26 percent of registered voters (just a bit higher than the 24 percent who decline to state a party affiliation) and Mayes himself has to deal with a 25-55 Democratic supermajority in his Assembly.
Motorists along the Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks. (Photo: Oscity, via Shutterstock)A California transportation plan of historic proportions has been approved – but what happens next? First, is the 12-cent increase in the fuel tax, starting in November. Then, other taxes and fees will kick in to help finance the $52 billion package in Senate Bill 1, which includes $34 billion over the next 10 years for repair and maintenance of roads, highways, bridges and culverts.
Sunlight streams through the bars of a prison cell. (Photo: nobeastsofierce, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Proposition 57’s 50 percent good time credit should be applied retroactively to all incarcerated people, including lifers who committed violent crimes. Contrary to popular fears, releasing reformed lifers may be the best thing we can do to reduce violent crime.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, viewed from 10th Street toward the West Steps.(Photo: Timothy Boomer)In the state Capitol, there are three types of measures that can be considered by California lawmakers – bills, constitutional amendments and resolutions. All are printed by the Office of State Publishing and are made publicly available –usually by the next day – online and at the Bill Room in the basement of the old section of the state Capitol.
The power plant in El Segundo, Calif. (Photo: Don Solomon, via Shutterstock)OPINION: One of California’s tools in fighting climate change and promoting clean air is the emissions reduction program known as cap and trade. Cap and trade is one part of California’s broader approach to growing clean energy jobs and investment — and it works best in concert with the state’s full suite of policies.
Pedestrians crossing Hollywood Boulevard. (Photo: Sean Pavone)Pedestrian deaths are on the rise throughout the nation, but California is bucking the trend. Preliminary data by the Governors Highway Safety Organization shows an increase in pedestrian fatalities throughout the United States, rising 12 percent to 5,997 in 2016. Yet California, home to the highest number of pedestrian deaths for years, is finally seeing a drop.