Posts Tagged: 2014

Recent News

Nearly half-century later, lawyers and doctors see peace over MICRA

Illustration of the elements of medicine and the law. (Illustration: vchal, via Shutterstock)

The latest chapter in a decades-long battle between physicians and lawyers is unfolding through compromise in Sacramento and so far, almost everyone involved has come aboard. The political battle revolves around California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) which limits the amount of money patients can receive if injured by a physician in connection with medical treatment.

News

Governor appoints Alex Padilla to U.S. Senate

Secretary of State Alex Padilla at a 2019 news conference in the state Capitol. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

Alex Padilla, California’s chief elections officer and a former state legislator, was appointed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The appointment is historic: Padilla, 47, becomes California’s first Latino U.S. senator, representing a state in which about 38 percent of the population is Latino.

Opinion

Why California needs another water bond in 2020

A photo illustration showing the depletion of water in aging infrastructure. (Image: miophotolap, via Shutterstock) infrastructure.

OPINION: The California Legislature is currently considering several proposals to put a $4 billion bond measure on a 2020 ballot for safe drinking water, drought preparation, wildfire prevention, and climate resilience. An $8.9 billion bond initiative has also been filed by environmental advocates. Many Californians might ask, “Didn’t we already pay for that?”

News

Gov. Brown, departing, eyes future

California Gov. Jerry Brown takes questions from reporters and others at a meeting of the Sacramento Press Club. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

California’s longest-serving governor will turn things over to incoming Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, but during a recent public appearance Jerry Brown bathed in the upside of politics. “I like sparring with the press, I like raising money, I like attacking my opponents, I like being attacked by my opponents.”

News

Partisanship roils voting reform efforts

A sign outside a Los Angeles voting location in 10 languages. (Photo: Underawesternsky, via Shutterstock)

Moves to make voting easier in California have caused yet another divide between Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans say they are worried because the door to voter fraud might swing wide open. Democrats say California needs greater civic participation by groups who have historically shown lackluster voting turnouts, and automatic vote-by-mail and electronic registration will help.

News

June 5 primary: The chase is on

A voter casts a ballot in the 2016 election in Ventura County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)

The chatter online and in the media is all about the June 5 Primary Election. But, for those of us working in these races, the election has been ongoing for weeks. In fact, as of Memorial Day weekend, 1.25 million California voters have cast ballots, approximately 20% of the expected total turnout of by-mail and poll voters.

Podcast

CA120: A strong voter turnout? Maybe

Attendees at a 2016 political rally in Santa Monica. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

The 2018 primary election is right around the corner. And with stories of higher turnout and a Democratic wave in states like Virginia and Alabama, many political consultants and observers are expecting to see some higher turnout in California this June, with a potentially strong Democratic and Latino surge.

Analysis

CA120: North versus South in 2018 primary

Balancing the political power between L.A. and the San Francisco Bay Area. (Illustration: Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)

ANALYSIS: With five months to the 2018 gubernatorial primary election, there is a natural tendency to try and find the single major factor that will determine the outcome. Will it be Donald Trump, absentee voters, young people, the gas tax, racially polarized voting, the open primary, North versus South, the growing number of independent voters, the new registrants since President Trump was elected, or 25% of the electorate who registered to vote in 2016? The fact is, it will be all of these things.

News

CA120: High diversity, but low turnout looms in 2018

A Ventura County voter casts a ballot in the June 2016 primary. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)

Any sound voter analysis tries to identify prior events that hopefully serve to predict future voter behavior. For this we examine several past elections, including the gubernatorial elections we mentioned in Part I, and other recent presidential primaries. But each appears somewhat flawed as a predictor of what the 2018 primary will look like.

News

Prop. 50: Tuesday’s stealth measure

A street sign for voters. (Photo by Gustavo Frazao, via Shutterstock)

It hasn’t attracted as much attention as some of the gaudier ideas on the November ballot, such as mandatory condoms in X-rated movies, but Californians will have one measure to decide on the June 7 primary ballot. The lone proposal is Proposition 50, which would allow legislators to eliminate pay and benefits for fellow members arrested or convicted of a felony.

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