Podcast
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
When 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
Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
Capitol Spotlight
A 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
On 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
A 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
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.
Micheli Minute
Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
News
Delaine Eastin, an impassioned and feisty advocate for public education and the first – and only — woman ever to serve as California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, has died at the age of 76. In a statement released after her death, Eastin was remembered not only as the state’s only female Superintendent of Public Instruction, but also only the fifth woman elected to statewide office in California.
Experts Expound
Everyone is talking about Proposition 47 this year. So with that in mind, it’s time for our panel of experts to weigh in. The question: Californians are fed up with crime, and – correctly or not – Proposition 47 is getting much of the blame. Will either lawmakers or voters eventually make substantive changes to this law?
