Image by NanoStockkMainly because legislative committees in the California Legislature have to process so many bills at their limited hearings, there is little public debate, particularly among legislators, regarding bills that are heard in the committees of the State Senate and State Assembly. Nonetheless, there are instances when a legislator’s public statements may be considered by the judiciary.
Image by MehaniqMICHELI FILES: It is not the role of the legislative or executive branches of government to determine a statute’s constitutionality. Rather, that role is reserved to the third branch of government – the judicial branch.
Many people in politics have led colorful lives, but Richard Schuetz has most of them beat. He began working in casinos as a dealer while still in college, and has since held senior positions in gaming establishments across the country, notably in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Localized flooding on the American River near Folsom Dam. (Photo: David GreitzerMost Californians are – finally – out of the drought, but the record-setting rains have not washed away emergency conditions for all residents. Gov. Jerry Brown’s April 7 executive order lifted the drought state of emergency for 54 of California’s 58 counties.
The lighthouse off Front Street in Crescent City, Del Norte County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)After hours of passionate testimony, almost exclusively in support of beleaguered executive director Charles Lester, the Coastal Commission voted 7-5 to fire him. Four months later and 600 miles to the north, the aftershocks of the Commission’s political earthquake are still being felt: On June 7, Martha McClure, a commissioner who voted to fire Lester, lost the Del Norte County supervisor seat that she has held for the past 20 years.
A retiree checks out the newspaper in his back yard. (Photo: Budimir Jevtic, Shutterstock)Calpensions: A board working on a proposal to enroll most small business employees in a state-run retirement savings plan, unless they opt out, was told last week that small technology-focused financial firms could do the job. The founders of three firms that offer 401(k)s and other retirement plans to small businesses did not object to competition from the state.
CalPERS' headquarters in Sacramento. (Photo: Coolcaesar/en.wikipedia)Calpensions: After the CalPERS staff gave the board a correction last week for providing misinformation about private equity fees, the board member who has been grilling staff on the issue walked out of a private staff meeting because he was not allowed to record it.
Michael Peevey at a December meeting of the state Public Utilities Commission. (Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)It’s almost impossible these days to see the name Michael Peevey without the word “embattled” attached to it. Peevey stepped down last December after serving two six-year terms on the California Public Utilities Commission, almost all of them as PUC president. He has been subjected to withering public criticism up and down the state for fostering a too-cozy relationship between the PUC and the utility firms he was charged with regulating, most recently Pacific Gas & Electric. “Don’t shoot, I surrender,” Peevey wryly told the commission at its December meeting, a comment that drew laughs.
Millerton Lake in Fresno County formed by the Friant Dam. Photo: K.J. KolbCalifornians in cities and towns across the state cut their water usage only slightly – 2.8 percent — during February compared with the same month in 2013, an indication that despite the severity of the drought, conservation is not taking hold. Felicia Marcus, the chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, said “the February results are very disturbing.”
Frank Gehrke, left, the state's chief snow surveyor, and Gov. Jerry Brown at Echo Summit in the Sierra Nevada. Brown announced his executive order minutes later.(Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)Gov. Jerry Brown, standing in bright sunshine in a dry Sierra Nevada field usually deep in snow, ordered unprecedented measures across California to deal with the state’s historic drought, including 25 percent cuts for residents and businesses. The governor issued an executive order making the reductions mandatory. “As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible,” Brown said.