Third House

Spending on lobbying firms topped $550 million through 21 months of legislative cycle

Image by ohmygouche

Special interest groups, or “lobbyist employers” as they’re known in the parlance of the California Secretary of State’s office, paid lobbying firms more than $84 million to lobby members of California’s state government in the third quarter of 2024, the most of any quarter thus far during the 2023-24 legislative cycle, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports. 

Podcast

Election Day Episode with Paul Mitchell

Photo by Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We have reached the end of the road – Election Day. After a years-long presidential campaign filled with twists, turns and surprises, we are at the deciding point: will the next president be former president Donald Trump, or Vice President Kamala Harris? And, which party will control congress? Does the path to control of the House run through Orange County? What does all of this mean for California’s 2026 gubernatorial race? Political data guru Paul Mitchell joins us to read the tea leaves and tell us what to expect on Election Night.

CA120

CA 120: Understanding the polls

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, image from Associated Press

There is likely nothing more confusing to voters than the avalanche of polls that spill forth every election year. With what many consider to be America’s most crucial election in generations just days away, this lengthy piece from pollster and election data analyst Paul Mitchell is a valuable guide to understanding how polls are conducted and presented to you, the voters. 

News

The Republican who emptied the asylums

Photo via Lanterman House

Frank Lanterman won an assembly seat in 1950 with one goal: securing a steady water supply for his family’s land holdings and subdivisions in the Verdugo hills community of La Cañada outside Los Angeles, a task he completed in his first year in office. In the years to come, his influence would expand far beyond his hometown and he would become one of the most consequential legislators of his time by leading the effort to transform how California cares for people with severe mental illness.

Podcast

Special Episode: Health Care in CA, Panel 2 – Office of Health Care Affordability

Health Care in California, Panel 2: Office of Health Care Affordability - Targets. L-R: Sigrid Bathen, Capitol Weekly; Dr. Richard Pan, California Health Care Affordability Board; Elizabeth Mitchell, Purchaser Business Group on Health; Ben Johnson, California Hospital Association; Lynne Kinst, Hemophilia Council of California. Photo by Joha Harrison, Capitol Weekly

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s conference HEALTH CARE IN CALIFORNIA, which was held in Sacramento on Thursday, October 3, 2024. This is PANEL 2 – OFFICE OF HEALTH CARE AFFORDABILITY: TARGETS. Panelists are, Ben Johnson, California Hospital Association; Lynne Kinst, Hemophilia Council of California; Elizabeth Mitchell, Purchaser Business Group on Health; Dr. Richard Pan, California Health Care Affordability Board. The conversation was Moderated by Sigrid Bathen, Capitol Weekly.

News

The forgotten report that upended mental health care in California

“The Dilemma of Mental Commitments in California.” Photo by UC Davis Library

If there was any single event that sped the emptying of state asylums in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was the publication of a 204-page report entitled, “The Dilemma of Mental Commitments in California.” The report was an exposé, a philosophical treatise, and a policy prescription.

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