News

Senate committee goes to the dogs…and cats

Sen. Janet Nguyen, Sen. Josh Newman, Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, and Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva. Photo by Senate Republicans.

A trio of bills aimed at improving care for animals at shelters cleared the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development on Monday. The trio of bills collectively aim at reducing shelter overcrowding and improving record keeping around animal care while requiring more shelters to publicly report data on a variety of care issues, including the number of animals euthanized.

Podcast

A chat with poverty fighter Jess Bartholow

Capitol Weekly Editor Rich Ehisen and SEIU CA Govt. Affairs Director Jess Bartholow. Photo by Tim Foster Capitol Weekly

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Longtime poverty fighter Jess Bartholow surprised many when she left her longtime gig with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in 2020 to become East Bay Senator Nancy Skinner’s Chief of Staff. The move made sense: Skinner has long been an outspoken advocate for California’s poor, and was a personal inspiration for Bartholow. But with the senator terming out at the end of this year, Bartholow recently opted for a new post: Director of Govt. Relations for SEIU California, one of the most powerful labor unions in the state and across the country.

News

Rising Stars: Loyal Terry, Assembly Fellow, office of Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

Loyal Terry, photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly

The newest Capitol Weekly Rising Star, Loyal Terry, Assembly Fellow for Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), takes inspiration from the lived experiences of his late father, his aunts and uncles, and himself. Terry approaches policy from a holistic perspective, having experienced how housing, transportation, health, and more intersect to impact working-class people.

News

Gaming tribes make clear they’ll lead the way on sports betting in California

Image by Marko Aliaksandr

It might be a bit of an understatement to say the November 5 election is clouded by uncertainty. But there is one thing we know for certain: two years after the most expensive ballot campaign in U.S. history, California voters will not be considering another sports betting measure in 2024. Two more proposed sports wagering initiatives were submitted to the Attorney General’s office last fall. But the effort was abandoned, ensuring that the issue will not come before voters this year, according to tribal leaders.

Podcast

Game Changer? Calmatters’ Digital Democracy project aims to try

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’re joined today by longtime journalist, and co-founder of CalMatters, David Lesher. Last year David stepped down as editor-in-chief to direct a new project at CalMatters: Digital Democracy. Using the latest technology, including AI, Digital Democracy will gather a tremendous amount of data from California’s state government: “every word uttered in public hearings, every dollar given to a politician, every bill introduced, every vote taken and more.”

Analysis

The Micheli Minute, April 15, 2024

Heiress Paris Hilton. From her Instagram

Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.

Micheli Files

Judicial review of California regulations

Image by bangoland

California Government Code Section 11350 provides that any interested person may obtain a judicial declaration regarding the validity of any regulation or order of repeal by bringing an action for declaratory relief in superior court in this state in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure.

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