Image by GlaserStudios. With gifts to state officials capped at $630, no legislator should be accepting free tickets to Super Bowl 60, which start on secondary markets at more than $6,000 a piece. But that hasn’t stopped them from taking a lot of free tickets to other sporting events.
Image by Diy13.When voters approved Proposition 64 and legalized adult use of marijuana in the state, there was hope that the illegal market would cease to exist and tax dollars would flow into the state to fund youth education programs and more. Seven years later, the industry says it’s struggling to stay afloat.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Today we welcome Amy O’Gorman Jenkins, the state’s preeminent cannabis lobbyist. Jenkins was one of the first lobbyists for the state’s once-maligned, now coveted, cannabis industry, first when she worked out of Darius Anderson’s shop, then later at her own firm, Precision Advocacy. She describes an industry in peril, with legal outlets closing, legal sales dropping, and the state’s cannabis excise tax poised to go up July 1 unless the legislature acts.
Image by Blue Planet StudioOPINION – When it comes to expenditures of public funds, taxpayers of every political stripe deserve accountability. Above all, they want to know that their hard-earned dollars are not padding the pockets of unscrupulous actors who fail to honor the public’s trust. California’s most recent legislative session delivered real protections on this metric, though you may not have heard about it yet.
Photo by Sheila Fitzgerald via ShutterstockIt’s been three months since San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen urged state lawmakers in a proposed resolution to legalize sex work in California. “It is time to recognize this and move towards decriminalization and ultimately legalization and regulation of sex work,” she says.
Left to right: Ashley Zavala, moderator; Danny Curtin, Jeffrey Roth, Laura Foote and Dan Dunmoyer. Photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s Conference on Housing, and presents Panel 1: Office to Housing Conversion.