Embryonic stem cells observed in the laboratory. (Photo: Giovanni Cancemi, via Shutterstock)The Golden State’s stem cell research program is down to its last $144 million after nearly 14 years of financing searches for therapies for everything ranging from diabetes to bubble baby syndrome. Funded with $3 billion in November 2004, California’s stem cell agency has yet to back a therapy that is widely available to the public.
CalPERS headquarters, downtown Sacramento. (Photo: CalPERS)The new CalPERS president, Priya Mathur, lost her board seat this week, defeated by a Corona police sergeant, Jason Perez, who wants to shift the $360 billion investment fund toward higher yields that secure pensions with less focus on social issues. Mathur, a Bay Area Rapid Transit District analyst serving on the board since 2002, rose to the leadership post in January.
Photo illustration of of highway alerting people tom coming elections. (Image: Jim Vallee, via Shutterstock) Earlier this year, the state established a new system that could fundamentally change the relationship between Californians and their voter registration. In a series of changes—most notably the way that voter sign-ups are done at the Department of Motor Vehicles—California has entered an era of nearly automatic voter registration.
A stem cell researcher in the laboratory. (Photo: 18percentgrey, via Shutterstock)The recent federal crackdown on the use of fetal tissue in scientific research could well be a harbinger of an effort to revive restrictions on the use of human embryonic stem cells, placing a roadblock in the way of creation of therapies to treat often deadly afflictions that affect millions of Americans. And it could have an impact on the fate of California’s $3 billion stem cell program, which expects to run out of money for new awards by the end of next year.
A Department of Motor Vehicles building in Los Gatos. (Photo: Stellamc, via Shutterstock)Errors in the new California Motor Voter registration system may undermine the credibility of elections, some worry. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles announced early in September that it sent 23,000 voter registrations with errors to the secretary of state. This included mistakes in political party selections, vote-by-mail options and 3,000 registrations from people who had opted not to be registered.
The sun appears red through a haze of wildfire smoke in California. (Photo: Neil Lockhart) Nearly a year after the 2017 California wildfires hit the north and south state, the report card on FEMA—the Federal Emergency Management Agency—is in. The Sept. 4 analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office detailing FEMA’s performance credited FEMA with fulfilling its own disaster readiness goals, but says that wasn’t enough for the agency to be sufficiently prepared to deal with the horrific fires that engulfed parts of the state.
An illustration of the 2020 census. (Image: Maria Dryfout, via Shutterstock)In the most recent year for which an estimate is available (2015), California received about $77 billion in census-related funding—more than 80% of the total federal funds the state received that year. A number of federal programs draw on population estimates derived from the 2010 Census to calculate the share of federal funding for each state. The 2020 Census will soon update these estimates.
FEATURE: With Sacramento hunkered down for Jerry Brown’s final bill signing, the political mind drifts to Washington where it is always the Season of the Witch. The politics of the time casts its pall across all three branches, with partisan control over the levers of government hanging in the balance.
State Sen. Richard Pan, center, at a Sept. 13 discussion of children's health care issues. (Photo: Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)The anti-vaccine movement is alive and well in California. Despite legal requirements for vaccination and a preponderance of clinical evidence showing that vaccines are effective in protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella, among other diseases, there are pockets of resistance across the state.
The House membership in the 114th Congress. (Photo: Wikipedia)Nine races in November could determine which party controls the House for the next decade—and the map looks good for Democrats. This fall, Democrats face a bad map in the Senate and are in a tough battle to take back the House. But the party is on offense in nine crucial contests around the country that could determine control of Congress for the next decade.