Posts Tagged: bipartisan

Opinion

Net neutrality: Congress should step in

An illustration of digital balance and justice. (Image: Anna Kepa, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: California has long been at the forefront of Internet innovation. Now California stands to be the leader in a different way, substituting litigation for innovation. If legislation pending in the California Senate that would impose state level network neutrality requirements passes, it will almost certainly be struck down by the courts. 

Opinion

Fixing Obamacare: It can be done

People in support of the Affordable Care Act rally in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Rena Schild)

OPINION: Democrats and Republicans have found ways in the past to bridge the partisan divide on major health policy issues such as insurance for low-income children, the expansion of Medicare to include drugs, and changing the way Medicare pays for health care services that emphasize value. There’s no reason we can’t do the same to fix the Affordable Care Act, stabilize the marketplace and improve affordability and choice.

Analysis

‘New Democrats’ flexing muscle

A Democratic gathering listens to presidential contender Bernie Sanders at a March 2016 rally at the Wiltem Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

ANALYSIS: Moderate Democrats are nothing new — they have been around for decades. In the 1980’s a group of moderate Democrats called the “Gang of Five” unsuccessfully tried to unseat Speaker Willie Brown. Today, they are more organized and go by the name, “New Democrats.” Generally, a New Democrat is one who, like Republicans, is business-friendly on some key issues, such as taxes and regulation, and skeptical of some environmental controls that curtail economic growth.

Opinion

Targeting the schools’ ‘reserve cap’

School kids at work in a California classroom. (Photo: Monkey Business Images)

OPINION: California voters passed Proposition 2 last November to establish a statewide “rainy day” fund. Unfortunately, a one-size-fits-all law, SB 858, also passed last year as part of the state budget process. SB 858 prevents school districts from saving adequately to prepare for their own rainy day by setting a maximum average “reserve cap” of 6 percent on school districts reserves.

News

Pension initiative draws unions’ fire

School workers at a labor rally in Bakersfield. (Photo: Richard Thornton, Shutterstock)

A union coalition contends that a proposed initiative is being falsely portrayed as only a potential cut in pensions for new employees, when in fact it could cut or eliminate pensions earned by current employees for work done in the future. One of the initiative authors, former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, disagrees with the union reading of the proposal. But it’s a key pension reform issue that could lead to another disputed initiative title and summary.

News

Initiative targets CalPERS’ ‘poison pill’

A pension reform initiative filed last week requires voter approval of termination fees, the big upfront payment demanded by CalPERS when a plan is closed to new members. CalPERS says it needs the money to ensure payment of the pensions promised members who remain in the closed plan. The termination fee is calculated by dropping the pension fund earnings forecast from the current 7.5 percent to as low as 2.98 percent.

News

One-year extension for tax-free Internet service law

An illustration of the Internet and world wide web. (Ramcreations, Shutterstock)

Californians concerned about an internet service tax can breathe easier — at least for a year. The federal law known as the Internet Tax Freedom Act, or IFTA, was extended Wednesday. It has been extended several times since it was passed in 1998.

News

A dog bites dog tale

A bill its author says will help open more dog parks around the state by protecting cities and counties from liability for any “injury or death suffered by any person or pet” occurring at those parks won unanimous approval April 3 by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

 

The bipartisan agreement on the measure might stem

News

Bipartisan bid to end Legislature’s 30-days-in-print anachronism

One of the Legislature’s archaic rules that lawmakers say needlessly delays action on bills would be eliminated through a newly introduced constitutional amendment Republican and Democratic lawmakers hope to place on the 2014 ballot.

 

If voters approve, the change would end the Legislature’s 30-days-in-print rule, which requires exactly that: No hearing or vote can

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