Micheli Minute
The Micheli Minute, May 13, 2024
Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
News
Spending on lobbying firms topped $381 million through 15 months of legislative cycle
Two connected puzzle pieces with the words politics and money, representing the influence of wealth in elections.Special interests, otherwise known as “lobbyist employers,” paid lobbying firms a little more than $76 million to lobby California state government in the first quarter of 2024, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports.
News
Turmoil leads to rapid rise for new Capitol lobbying firm
Flag of California in a mixed stack of coins. Image by eyegelbEagle-eyed readers of Capitol Weekly’s recent report on quarterly lobbying payments might have spotted an unfamiliar firm name among the top recipients for the first quarter of 2024: the Deveau Burr Group. Especially close readers also might have noticed that Strategies 360, a perennial top firm in Sacramento, was conspicuously absent from the list of top payees for the quarter.
Podcast
Tim Ranzetta and the California Personal Finance Education Initiative
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Nationwide, over half of all high school students are required to take a course on personal finance to graduate. In California, it’s just 1%. A ballot initiative proposed for the November ballot would change that: Backers submitted 900,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in March, and the measure appears poised to be certified by the Secretary of State. Tim Ranzetta, teacher, entrepreneur and one of the leading proponents of The California Personal Finance Education Initiative tells us why he believes the measure is necessary.
Micheli Files
Using model or uniform acts for bill drafting
Image by Vitalii VodolazskyiWhen drafting new laws in California or in other jurisdictions, sometimes interest groups and those drafting legislation may turn to model laws or uniform acts. They may also review similar laws adopted by the federal government or other states, or even other jurisdictions around the globe. As readers might imagine, there are positive and negative aspects of using these other laws when drafting legislation.
Micheli Minute
The Micheli Minute, May 6, 2024
Sacramento Capitol building. Photo by Pete Bobb.Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
Capitol Spotlight
Capitol Spotlight: Brian Green, California State Senate Democratic Caucus
Brian Green, photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol WeeklyA professional communicator with decades of experience, this month’s Capitol Spotlight subject Brian Green helps the California State Senate Democratic shape the stories it wants to tell.
Micheli Files
Judicial determinations of severability clauses
California justice, image by MehaniqOn occasion, bills in the California Legislature contain severability clauses. These types of bills contain multiple provisions and, when those types of bills are challenged in litigation, a court may be required to determine whether the valid provisions are “severable” from the law’s invalid provisions.
News
CIRM success story dies quiet death
Cancer cells. Cancer outbreak and treatment for malignant cancer. Image by Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeencells in a human body. 3d illustrationA once-heralded research venture by the state of California that targeted “don’t eat me” signals that protect cancer cells has now ended. The potential treatment’s obituary boiled down to one phrase repeated six times and buried deep in a corporate document.
Podcast
How and why are Non-Disclosure Agreements used in lawmaking?
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Is the use of NDAs as sinister as critics make out? Our guest today, former Speaker Robert Hertzberg argues that confidentiality agreements are a key part of building trust in sensitive legislative negotiations between diametrically opposed parties – and are sometimes the only way to get warring sides to the table.