Posts Tagged: committee

News

Amendments: A long and winding road

State Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Shuttesrstock)

In the Legislature, there are several types of amendments — amendment is a fancy word for “change” — that can be made to any number of measures, including bills, resolutions and constitutional amendments.

News

A look at Capitol hearings, sessions and floor action

Chamber of the state Assembly in the Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov)

This is the third in a series of detailed articles dealing with the inner workings of the California Legislature. In this installment, we focus on the rules surrounding committee hearings, floor actions and special sessions.

Analysis

Reconsideration: A second bite at the apple

The state Assembly in session. (Photo: Capitol Public Radio)

When a bill in the California Legislature fails passage either in committee or on the floor of the Assembly or Senate, it can be granted “reconsideration.” That can mean a bill gets a new lease on life — or not.

News

CalPERS acts to cut earnings forecast, raise rates

CalPERS' governing board during a 2013 meeting. (Photo: CalPERS board)

Calpensions: A key committee yesterday approved a drop in the often-criticized CalPERS investment earnings forecast, gradually raising record rates already being paid by state and local governments, if approved as expected by the full board today.

Opinion

Helping ER physicians help the mentally ill

Photo illustration: Stephen Finn

OPINION: California is long overdue to take steps, large and small, to address its homeless crisis. No other state has a problem of this magnitude; a problem that disproportionately affects the mentally ill. According to the office of Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, California accounts for 22 percent of the nation’s homeless total.

News

California eyes UC research role into gun violence

Photo: GongTo, via Shutterstock.

A new battlefront has emerged in the nation’s struggle over gun control: a proposed firearm violence research center at the University of California. In a move being closely watched by advocates on both sides, California lawmakers are pushing for the state to study gun violence, taking over a job the federal government dropped 20 years ago.

Opinion

Road charge: A funding option

An L.A. freeway interchange at dusk. (Photo: Shutterstock)

OPINION: California drivers are bearing the burden of the state’s transportation funding crisis, with the average driver spending more than $500 a year to repair the wear and tear on their vehicle caused by bad roads. Gas tax revenues currently fund most of the state’s road maintenance and repairs, but gas tax revenues are declining as cars become more fuel efficient and as drivers adopt hybrids and electric vehicles.

News

Assemblyman Perea to step down

Assemblyman Henry Perea, a power among the Legislature’s business-friendly Democrats, will resign his seat effective Dec. 31, a year before he will be forced from office by term limits.

News

Time machine: Kevin McCarthy, Rookie of the Year

Former state Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, from the August 2004 California Journal. (Illustration: Tim Foster)

The most difficult job in the Legislature is that of an Assembly rookie. Mastering Sacramento is learning curve is akin to scaling Mount Everest, where the summit is shrouded in a fog of policy and politics and the climb must begin even before one is sworn into office. It must be made with a minimum of missteps, and there are few veterans to help show the way.

News

E-smoke, tobacco bills on the move

A smoker savors the vapor from an electronic cigarette, which is the focus of new legislation. (Photo:MisiArt, Shutterstock)

Hang on to your hats, California smokers — a cyclone of tobacco legislation is blowing through the Golden State. Moves to crack down on electronic cigarettes, further regulate smokes in the workplace, raise the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 years old and create new tobacco taxes all won support from the Senate health committee, the bills’ first major policy hurdle in the final weeks of the 2015 legislative session.

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