Rida Shaikh. Photo by Ellie Appleby, Capitol WeeklyAt just 24, Rida Shaikh has already found her footing in Sacramento, overseeing operations of the Senate Elections Committee. But her path to the Capitol wasn’t straightforward – it was a journey of persistence and defiance of expectations.
Image by Thawatchai ChawongOPINION – As the legislature begins deliberations on cap-and-trade reauthorization, two questions are paramount: Has the cap-and-trade program accomplished its initial goals, and what should be its goals going forward?
Image by solarsevenOPINION – California has long been a leader in environmental protection. Now is the time to reaffirm our promise: to live up to our state’s track record of bold environmental action and keep California at the forefront of the fight against plastic pollution for generations to come.
Oil pump jack and refinery in Bakersfield, California, USA at sunset. Image by MattGushOPINION – The California Division of Petroleum Market Oversight (DPMO) is missing a basic understanding of the impact that decades of bad policies are having on consumers – including the state’s goal to phase out fossil fuels and advance policies that actively increase the price of gasoline while demand remains high.
Image by :smolaw11Just days after three major Jewish organizations announced that an Orange County school district had agreed to settle a lawsuit over controversial ethnic studies courses, 31 Democrats in the Assembly and State Senate introduced a bill intended to prevent situations like that from happening again.
President Trump's portrait superimposed on the California FlagOn Wednesday Feb 26th, Capitol Weekly held its first conference of 2025, and the only one of four this year held online. Throughout three panels and the keynote address by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, participants discussed the state’s longstanding battles with President Donald Trump in three key issue areas – health care, the environment and immigration.
Artist Asher Bingham. Photo courtesy of Megan Jamerson, KCRW 89.9 FM, Los AngelesAs people struggled to cope with the immense loss from the Los Angeles fires earlier, artists stepped into offer help, from teaching free classes to victims of the fire, drawing pictures of destroyed houses or just offering much-needed entertainment to give people a break from the devastation.
Image by hapabapaYou have questions about the myriad of rules around drafting bills in the California Legislature – we have answers! Or to be more accurate, our good friend Chris Micheli has answers.
Image by California Conservation CorpsOPINION – Since its inception, the CCC has been the hidden gem in California’s natural resource work, providing an astounding 81 million hours of tree planting, fish habitat improvement, back country trail construction and maintenance, rural and urban park improvements and energy conservation – on top of critical emergency response on nearly every California natural disaster.
Image by WallentineFor the 2025 Session, legislators in both houses are subject to a 2-year limit of 35 bills. But did the lower caps actually produce fewer bills this year? In a special edition of the Micheli Files, law professor and lobbyist Chris Micheli took a look a bill intros going back almost two decades to give us that answer.