Posts Tagged: accountability

News

‘DearCAStaffers’ shuts down as quickly as it began

Illustration of DearCAStaffers account, now defunct, on Instagram. (Image: Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)

In its brief, giddy existence, the anonymous Instagram account “DearCaStaffers” attracted thousands of followers and shared scores of secrets about lawmakers and their staff, before suddenly going dark. Beginning last week, each day brought hundreds of new followers, many of whom wrote anonymous posts about bad bosses and abusive work environments.

Opinion

The pitfalls of overregulation

A power plant in Manhattan Beach, shortly after its 2012 opening. (Photo: Luc Mena)

OPINION: Recognizing the need to reduce the burdens of overregulation to spur our nation’s economy, Congress put on the top of their legislative agenda the REINS Act, which would require the House and Senate to approve any major regulation before it can go into effect. California — no stranger to abundant regulations and the increasing consolidation of power in state agencies promulgating an ever-growing list of major regulations — must also rein in overregulation the way Congress is trying to do to revitalize job creation throughout our state.

Opinion

Top priority: The push for K-12 accountability

Youngsters in a California classroom. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The clock is ticking for our kids. Within a few weeks, The State Board of Education will determine many K-12 school accountability provisions in our education system for decades to come.

Opinion

Crumbling infrastructure is costly, dangerous

California motorists in a traffic jam. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Our transportation infrastructure is literally falling apart due to poor maintenance. Recently, because of deferred maintenance, a guard rail on an East Bay overpass fell onto I-880. The several tons of falling metal didn’t just hold up traffic, it also damaged cars and injured drivers. Our crumbling roads are more than just a nuisance. They’re dangerous.

News

California gets C-minus for integrity

One night in March 2014, state Senator Leland Yee stood before a fancy dinner thrown in San Francisco by the Society of Professional Journalists to receive the Public Official Award — for a second time. Yee, then a candidate for secretary of state, was saluted for “his courage to oppose his own Democratic Party leaders and the governor in 2013 with public criticism of efforts to weaken the California Public Records Act.” A week later, a handcuffed Yee appeared in federal court, accused of taking bribes, political racketeering and even running guns in the Philippines.

News

Assembly power line-up takes shape

Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins announced today the standing committee chairs for the lower house’s 2015-2016 regular session. Earlier this week state lawmakers came to Sacramento to take their oath of office and to officially elect Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, as their leader. Her committee chair lineup is a peek at which members will play a key role in this session’s legislative process

Opinion

Online poker allows regulatory clout, safeguards

OPINION: The California legislature seems closer to licensing and regulating online poker. Now, only a few, yet significant, outstanding issues stand in the way as California poker players wait patiently on the sidelines for state lawmakers to act.

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