(Photo illustration: Erce, via Shutterstock)After the two houses of the Legislature pass a bill, but before that bill reaches the governor’s desk, the legislation goes through a very important process called “engrossing and enrolling.” Engrossing also occurs after each amendment to a bill. This is a critical procedure and it takes place outside the view of the public or curious journalists.
AN electric car takes juice at the L.A. Auto Show. (Photo: Juan Camilo Barnal)A hasty attempt to boost electric vehicle sales in California – an idea the governor likes – died in the final days of the legislative session amid intense lobbying and fast-approaching deadlines.
Chamber of the state Assembly in the Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov)Want to take a deep dive into the California Legislature? You may get your chance. Proposition 54 by Charles Munger Jr. and Sam Blakeslee on the November ballot would force the Legislature to record all its actions and post the video on the web for the public, except for certain proceedings. It would bar lawmakers from acting on any bill until its final form has been published online for at least 72 hours.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, viewed from 10th Street toward the West Steps.(Photo: Timothy Boomer)On deadline, lawmakers are poised to act on the most extensive state building construction projects in Sacramento in decades. The $1.3 billion plan, about $200 million less than proposed earlier by Gov. Brown as part of his 2016-17 budget, was placed in legislation Monday before the Senate budget committee, where it awaits action.
A VW bus converted to electric power, displayed last year in Beverly Hills. (Photo: Phil Pilosian)If you’ve ever been behind the wheel of an electric vehicle, you know that they’re really fun to drive. Many Californians have discovered the joys of electric drive, as our state is nearing 200,000 plug-in vehicles sold, and accounted for more than half of all the EVs sold in the U.S. last year. But we need to ramp up sales of these advanced technology vehicles in order to clean up our air, reduce our dangerous dependency on petroleum, and stabilize the climate.
A woman carries a load of cleaning supplies, a key source of common fragrances. (Photo: Bikeriderlondon, via Shutterstock)For Joyce Miller, one sniff of scented laundry detergent can trigger an asthma attack. “What happens is I feel like someone is standing on my chest,” says the 57-year-old professor of library science in upstate New York. “It’s almost like a choking feeling – pressure and choking. And then the coughing starts,” she said.
The CalPERS' governing board during a meeting several years ago at the pension fund's headquarters. (Photo: CalPERS board)A tentative CalPERS proposal would limit the board president and committee chairs to four consecutive one-year terms, a policy that could end the long-running presidency of Rob Feckner in 2017. He has presided over times good and bad at the nation’s largest state public pension system.
An electrical engineer at a solar power plant in California. (Photo: BikerideLondon, via Shutterstock)OPINION: When it comes to climate change, France leads by example. It is the least carbon-intensive major economy in the world. No developed nation emits less carbon per dollar of goods and services produced. But what might surprise many, around the world and here at home, is that the world’s second-least-carbon-intensive economy is here in the United States. Worldwide, when it comes to carbon intensity—to producing more while polluting less—California is second only to France.
A classroom teachers helps a young student with Latin. (Photo: Goodluz, via Shutterstock)The retirement security of California’s retired, current, and future teachers and the stability of the state’s pension fund for educators would be put at risk if a ballot measure addressing those issues is approved by California voters next November, according to an internal analysis by CalSTRS that I requested as chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security.
A drone and its master. (Photo: Ahturner)Efforts to contain a July 12 brush fire in San Bernardino County were delayed for eight crucial minutes after response crews spotted a hobbyist’s drone flying close to the fire area. The drone, which US Forest Service officials suspect may have been recording footage of the fire, eventually flew off, allowing grounded air crews to resume. For firefighters, those lost minutes can be devastating as they try to contain a wildfire.