Posts Tagged: $50

Opinion

Keep cool, California: Heat pumps are a good way to go

A building with window air conditioners, which are not as efficient as heat pumps. (Photo: David Crockett, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Unlike states like Texas and Florida, where only 1% of homes lack A.C., roughly a quarter of California homes are not equipped with central cooling. Studies show that the access to cooling in homes is highly correlated with heat-related mortality – and low-income households are less likely to have the cooling they need to stay safe.

Opinion

Women’s History Month — and the ‘Shecession’

A woman factory worker on the job. (Photo: SritanaN, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: In America, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing shutdowns set back years of progress women have made to be recognized as equals in the workforce. March is Women’s History Month and as we honor the women who stood up for our rights and freedoms, we must reflect on how the pandemic has disproportionately impacted women.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Paul Mitchell on redistricting, COVID-19

Political data expert Paul Mitchell joins John and Tim — remotely, of course — on the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about the mechanics of a vote-by-mail election in November, how COVID-19 is impacting the prospects for redistricting, the census and what he learned by turning 50 while on quarantine.

News

New privacy law takes center stage

Developer Alastair Mactaggart, center, gets a hug from Sen. Bob Hertzberg, left, while Assemblymember Ed Chau looks on. Chau and Hertzberg pushed Mactaggart's privacy bill through the Legislature. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

The new law gives consumers the right to access their personal information collected by big businesses. It gives them the right to delete it, the right to know what information is being sold and the right to stop businesses from selling their information. It also prohibits businesses from selling the personal information of youth under 16 unless they opt in.

Opinion

DACA is the Dreamers’ lifeline

Demonstrators protest the elimination of DACA at a September 2017 gathering at UC Berkeley. (Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald)

OPINION: Adriana and her six-year old daughter are like two peas in a pod, taking walks on the beach together, baking brownies, cuddling at home with a book, and occasionally splurging on a trip to Orange County’s Disneyland Resort. Arriving from Guatemala when she was five years old, Adriana has always lived here in Orange County.

News

Follow CA’s political money: New rules in 2018

Photo illustration, political cash on the move: IQoncept, via Shutterstock

The Disclose Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed earlier this month, passed the Legislature after years of negotiations with labor unions and other interest groups. Supporters call it the strongest campaign money transparency law in the nation, but others say interest groups had too much sway over the bill.

News

An LGBT ‘caucus’ for Capitol staff

A gathering of gay rights activists at the state Capitol. (Photo: Karin Hildebrand Lau)

Bish Paul descended into Empress Tavern’s basement downtown and was greeted with a surprise. Over 50 capitol staffers mingled beneath the brick arches a block from the state Capitol. LGBT aides and allies drank and chatted, discussing Sacramento’s LGBT community and shared Capitol connections.

News

Assembly bills vs. Proposition 54

The Assembly in session on June 15, 2017, the deadline to approve the 2017-18 state budget.(Photo: Anna Frazier, Capitol Weekly)

A boost in the bill-introduction limit for members of the Assembly could allow up to 800 new pieces of legislation by the end of 2018. But a question arises: Will the crush of new bills, which likely would push the Assembly’s total above 3,000 per session, make it harder to meet the provisions of Proposition 54?

News

A Capitol dispute over disclosure

A photo illustration of an ad campaign program on a laptop. (Photo: Tashatuvango, via Shutterstock)

California’s political watchdog, which fights to reveal the political money trail, is opposing legislation that appears to do exactly that. The Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign rules, has come out against two bills aimed at disclosure.

Opinion

Cutting ‘fatal flaw’ helps budget

Gov. Jerry Brown at a Capitol briefing last year on his revised state budget. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

OPINION: Californians can breathe a sigh of relief. When proponents of a 2016 ballot proposal to extend Proposition 30’s tax rates on wealthy Californians amended their measure this week, they did something that was both politically smart and fiscally sound: They eliminated a provision the governor a few days ago called the measure’s “fatal flaw”, that would have exempted this proposed new revenue from the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

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