The state Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: Feoktistoff, via Shutterstock)Special interests paid contract lobbying firms more $93.4 million to lobby state government in the sixth quarter of the 2025-26 cycle, the most spent in a single quarter since Capitol Weekly started analyzing lobbying firm reports at the beginning of the last cycle.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton. Photo by AP. The Republican National Committee is rolling in money, while the Democratic National Committee struggles. Not so in California.
Letter from the 9/12/25 Senate Daily Journal. Image courtesy of Chris Micheli. Because bills cannot be amended in the final three days of the Session, authors and interest groups have been utilizing letters to the Assembly and Senate Daily Journals in an effort to modify their “intent,” or even address concerns with explicit bill language that cannot be amended. Unfortunately, the use of these letters cannot be a substitute for making actual changes to the proposed statutory language.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On the podcast we often joke about our “very special guests” but legendary California lobbyist Paula Treat truly fits the bill. Treat was one of our very first, and one of our most frequent, guests on the Capitol Weekly Podcast. Next week she will be inducted into the Top 100 Hall of Fame, so we invited her to talk about her Hall of Fame-worthy career, and about the other members of the Class of 2026: Allan Zaremberg, Bob White, Scott Lay, Robbie Hunter and Carmela Coyle.
Anika Bjork. Photo by Sydney Laird, Capitol WeeklyAlthough Annika Bjork’s professional entry into the California Capitol community began just last year, it is a role our newest Rising Star has been preparing for their entire life.
Lobbyist, author and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
Illustration by Chris Shary for Capitol WeeklyNo. 65
Speaking of Swalwell…every political reporter dreams of doing stories that have a huge impact on readers. But few can imagine their work having the kind of impact the stories San Francisco Chronicle reporters Alexei Koseff and Sophia Bollag
Illustration by Chris Shary for Capitol WeeklyNo. 73
Healthcare is always a major policy issue in Sacramento, and even more so now with massive federal spending cuts coming next year. Which makes people like SEIU Senior Government Relations Advocate Tiffany Whiten even more influential than usual.
Illustration by Chris Shary for Capitol WeeklyNo. 77
Pappas’s business partner Erin Niemela has been on this list for years, but for some inexplicable reason we have not deigned to have Emily here as well. Full disclosure – we did include her in a list
Illustration by Chris Shary for Capitol WeeklyNo. 96
The campaign waged by SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan to impose a one-time tax on billionaires to backfill federal health care spending cuts has undoubtedly fired up progressives statewide. But it also brings to mind a quote attributed to