Rida Shaikh. Photo by Ellie Appleby, Capitol WeeklyAt just 24, Rida Shaikh has already found her footing in Sacramento, overseeing operations of the Senate Elections Committee. But her path to the Capitol wasn’t straightforward – it was a journey of persistence and defiance of expectations.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s conference The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump, which was held in Sacramento on Wednesday, February 26, 2025
This is Panel 1 – Health Care. Panelists: Beth Malinowksi, SEIU California; Devon Mathis, California Assembly (Ret.); Amanda McAllister-Wallner, Health Access California; Dr. Richard Pan, California Senate (Ret.); Moderated by Samantha Young, KFF Health News.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Capitol Weekly presented an online conference, The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump. In this episode we present The Keynote, by one of the officials in the forefront of that battle, California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Image by :smolaw11Just days after three major Jewish organizations announced that an Orange County school district had agreed to settle a lawsuit over controversial ethnic studies courses, 31 Democrats in the Assembly and State Senate introduced a bill intended to prevent situations like that from happening again.
President Trump's portrait superimposed on the California FlagOn Wednesday Feb 26th, Capitol Weekly held its first conference of 2025, and the only one of four this year held online. Throughout three panels and the keynote address by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, participants discussed the state’s longstanding battles with President Donald Trump in three key issue areas – health care, the environment and immigration.
Lobbyist and author Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week in Sacramento.
Artist Asher Bingham. Photo courtesy of Megan Jamerson, KCRW 89.9 FM, Los AngelesAs people struggled to cope with the immense loss from the Los Angeles fires earlier, artists stepped into offer help, from teaching free classes to victims of the fire, drawing pictures of destroyed houses or just offering much-needed entertainment to give people a break from the devastation.
Image by hapabapaYou have questions about the myriad of rules around drafting bills in the California Legislature – we have answers! Or to be more accurate, our good friend Chris Micheli has answers.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Brian Joseph has worked as a newspaper reporter and investigative journalist for two decades, writing for Capitol Weekly, the Orange County Register, the Sacramento Bee and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, among other publications. He recently released his first book: Vegas Concierge: Sex Trafficking, Hip Hop and Corruption in America. Using public and private records as well as exclusive, first-person accounts from primary sources, the book shows how prostitutes and pimps ply their trade, how law enforcement agencies trip up and their investigations become compromised, and how self-interest corrupts news organizations and the corridors of power.
Image by WallentineFor the 2025 Session, legislators in both houses are subject to a 2-year limit of 35 bills. But did the lower caps actually produce fewer bills this year? In a special edition of the Micheli Files, law professor and lobbyist Chris Micheli took a look a bill intros going back almost two decades to give us that answer.