Posts Tagged: bill

Opinion

Opposition brewing to Sacramento storm water tax

A warning sign blocks motorists from entering an area flooded by storm water. (Photo: Yorklass, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: We strongly suspect that readers of this column are stunned to see the authors’ names together as coauthors. One of us is a conservative taxpayer advocate and the other is a Democratic political consultant. What unites us is our opposition to the City of Sacramento’s proposed storm water tax. Here’s some background.

News

A primer: Getting a bill back from the governor’s desk

The Assembly chamber in the state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)

Once a bill has been passed by both houses of the California Legislature, the bill is sent to the governor’s desk. In order for the governor to act on a bill, it must be “presented” to the governor for final consideration. This means the governor must have the actual bill before him or her in order to either sign or veto the measure.

News

Private prison firms make big money in California

A facility run by CoreCivic, a private-prison company. The photo was taken in November 2019, shortly before private prisons were outlawed in California. (Photo: Shuttertstock)

In January 2020, Californians thought they were getting out of the private prison business. They are, but under a new law, AB 32, which went into effect at the first of the year, the state remains heavily invested in backing for-profit correctional services — including facilities that resemble detention centers run by the same companies who operate private prisons.

Opinion

Lessons learned from failure of medical ‘right to repair’ bill

A hospital's Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI. machine. (Photo: KaliAntye, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: As an organization committed to prioritizing patient access, affordability, and safety, we watched with alarm as state Legislatures across the country became the target of a coordinated campaign to weaken and roll back quality and safety framework.

News

Doctors fight bills sparked by sex abuse scandals

University of Southern California student Daniella Mohazab, right, speaks at a Los Angeles news conference last year. (Photo: Associated Press)

Daniella Mohazab didn’t know what to expect from her first pelvic exam in 2016. The University of Southern California sophomore, then 19, was startled when her doctor examined her vagina for several minutes without gloves, but assumed it was standard procedure.It wasn’t until two years later, when she read about Dr. George Tyndall’s alleged sexual abuse against USC students, that she realized she may have been sexually violated by him as well.

Opinion

Loan rate-cap bill would harm consumers

A loan document ready to be signed. (Photo: Lane V. Erickson, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The California Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on a bill that caps consumer loan rates and threatens to sever a vital credit lifeline for many. Oddly, three commercial lenders who offer the kind of loans subject to this regulation support it.Assembly Bill 539 would cap the interest rate at 36% plus the federal funds rate on loans of more than $2,500 but less than $10,000.

Opinion

Does new bill hurt USC victims?

On the USC campus, a view of the Suzanne Dowark Peck School of Social Work. (Photo: Kit Leong, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Last fall, the University of Southern California (USC) settled a federal class-action lawsuit filed by women alleging sexual misconduct by the former head gynecologist at the student health center, George Tyndall. Regarded by many as one of the largest settlements of its kind, the $215 million federal settlement covered every one of Tyndall’s USC patients who received women’s health services during a specific period.

Opinion

Deadly force proposal needs work

Police officers deployed at a Los Angeles parade. (Photo: Betto Rodrigues)

OPINION: California’s Assembly Bill 931, which would modify the state legal standard governing police officers’ use of deadly force, is a promising advance on existing law, but the current proposal is deeply flawed. To meaningfully reform police practices and properly regulate the use of deadly force, some significant amendments are necessary.

News

Disclosing sexual misconduct — or not

State Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, on the Senate floor. (Photo: Screen capture, YouTube)

Chantal Cousineau said the disclosures started like a whisper. Over the years, she had discussed her experience working with James Toback on the film “Harvard Man” in 2000. But this fall, after allegations about producer Harvey Weinstein emerged, Cousineau sent a tweet: “Can we talk about #JamesToback next?”

Analysis

The art of influencing legislation

The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: N.F. Photography)

ANALYSIS: Influencing legislation is a complicated business. There is no high-tech computer model that can predict whether a bill introduced in the California Legislature will become a law and, if so, the form it will take. However, there are many, knowable influences that regularly shape state legislation in California.

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