Assembly swearing-in, photo by Rich Ehisen, Capitol WeeklyThe 2025-2026 legislative session kicked off on Monday with the swearing in of lawmakers old and new. Both chambers then adjourned until Jan. 6, 2025. In this edition of Capitol Briefs we share a few tidbits from Monday’s festivities.
Katie Van Deynze. Image by Joha Harrison, Capitol Weekly. When Katie Van Deynze talks about healthcare policy, people listen. At 29 years old, she serves as Senior Legislative Advocate at Health Access California, where she has established herself as a trusted voice in the Capitol community.
Sonja Diaz is a practicing civil rights attorney and policy advisor. As Founding Director of UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative (LPPI), Diaz co-founded the first multi-issue policy think tank focused on Latinos in the University of California. Photographed in Atwater Village at a Vote MuralCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: While a majority of Latino men favored Trump in November, three in five Latina voters supported Vice President Kamala Harris, rejecting Trump for the third time. Why the disparity between Latinas/Latinos, and could the Democrats have done more outreach to this crucial constituency? Our guest today is Sonja Diaz, a civil rights attorney and former policy advisor to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and Co-Founder of the Latina Futures 2050 Lab.
Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
Sen. Susan Talamantes EggmanCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: As her final term in the senate comes to an end, Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman joined us to reflect on her twelve years in the state legislature. A self-described “pragmatic progressive,” Eggman represents the 5th Senate District – San Joaquin County, parts of Stanislaus County and the Sacramento County community of Galt – areas which saw a significant Republican shift this year; San Joaquin County went to Trump in 2024. We asked what she thought her party could do to speak to disaffected voters, what she saw as her successes from her time in office, and where she goes from here.
Image by cagkansayinThere are two areas of confusion regarding properly addressing the presiding officer of a legislative committee or on the floor. The rules of the California Legislature provide some guidance, as do Mason’s Legislative Manual.
Former California Assemblymember Adam Gray. Photo by AP. Legislators in both parties openly admit they frequently don’t vote on bills not because they’re lazy, but because “no” votes are taken personally by their colleagues. But because the “no vote recorded” category encompasses multiple behaviors, there’s a quiet push to change the way votes are recorded to include at least one other category, abstention.
Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome.
Image by Andrii YalanskyiIn recent years, Capitol observers have witnessed vacancies occur in state legislative offices and even constitutional offices in California. What is the process for filling vacancies in the California Legislature? What is the process for filling vacancies in constitutional offices?
Los Angeles, photo from Wikimedia commonsCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: While most political junkies have their eyes on DC in the wake of Donald Trump’s successful bid to return to the White House, we’re looking south, where Los Angeles voters delivered a seismic shift to the region’s politics, passing Measure G, which expands the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from five members to nine, and Charter Amendment DD, which creates an independent redistricting commission for the city.