Pete Wilson and Jim Costa. Photo by Dan Morain. In the gauzy passage of years, politicians who once fought bitterly spoke of respect for the loyal opposition, and mostly meant it.
ESG and Carbon Credit icons. Image by Thawatchai ChawongOPINION – Without swift action to reauthorize the cap-and-trade program and implement updates to align with the state’s climate targets, one of California’s cornerstone environmental policies could unravel due to lack of market confidence.
Image by ANAN YOSSINGKUM. OPINION – The Verified Emissions Reduction Association, or VERA, is a coalition of members with vast experience in achieving real, quantifiable, permanent, enforceable and addition emissions reductions in a cost-effective manner.
Laura Wilcox, whose shooting death in Nevada County inspired "Laura's Law." (Family photo)Ever since Ronald Reagan signed the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in 1967 granting people with severe mental illness greater rights and speeding the emptying of state asylums, governors have been sidestepping the issue, until now. Unlike governors before him in this state or perhaps any other, Newsom is confronting the issue of untreated mental illness.
Joaquin Esquivel at a water board meeting. (Photo: Water Education Foundation.)As a native of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs where it hardly ever rains, Joaquin Esquivel has always known that water is precious. His uncle often took him to the Salton Sea, and he had family served by a well. He carries that respect for the resource as chair of California’s State Water Resources Control Board. “Growing up in the desert, you are very aware of water,” he said.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber, then an Assembly member, on the steps of the Capitol in 2018. (Photo: Phil Pasquini, Shutterstock)More than three years after lawmakers unanimously called for it, the Secretary of State has yet to compile a searchable database to help voters get in touch with the people they put in office. Voters, it was envisioned, would then have one-stop easy access to office contact information for elected officials at all levels of government. That hasn’t happened.
An aerial view of the California Correctional Center in Susanville, destined for closure. (Photo: CDCR)California authorities have ordered the closure of state prisons for the first time in nearly two decades: Four are destined to be shut down in whole or in part, and three more are being discussed for possible closure.
Demonstrators urging Preident Trump to make his tax retyurns public, 2017. <(Photo: Christopher Penler, via Shutterstock)The state Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a new law that would have forced presidential candidates — including Donald Trump — to disclose their tax returns in order to get on California’s primary election ballot. The Legislature cannot bar a legally certified contender from the primary election, “even if that candidate fails to disclose five years worth of federal tax returns,” the court said.
College students gather in the school library. (Photo: Rawpixel.com, via Shutterstock)Last semester I earned a B+ in a freshman composition course at Skyline College. That may not seem like a big deal. What is so out of the ordinary about a college student taking college English? Well, that wouldn’t have been possible a year ago, without AB 705, a bill that went into effect last January that keeps community college students from being inappropriately placed into remedial courses.
Gov. Jerry Brown discusses public pension issues at a Capitol budget briefing for reporters. (Photo: AP/Rich Pendroncelli, via calpensions.com) Gov. Brown leaves office next week with a smaller cost-cutting pension reform than he wanted. But after he’s gone, union challenges to minor parts of his reform pending in the state Supreme Court may open the door to big changes. The main parts of Brown’s reform add several years to retirement ages and make some employees pay more for their pensions.