The chambers of the Assembly in the state Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov, via Shutterstock)The first time, she had just one co-author; the second time, a dozen. And now, on her third attempt, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez has convinced nearly half of the California Assembly to co-author her bill to grant collective bargaining rights to rank-and-file Capitol staffers.
Illustration by Vector Image Plus, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As an ambitious attempt to give consumers more control over how businesses collect, store, and use their personal information, it is clear the California Consumer Privacy Act will have effects that reach far beyond the technology sector.
A an illustration of employment in California. (Image: Shutterstock)California’s landmark labor law AB 5, the worker-protection law that limits the ability of employers to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees, is under fire. AB 5 faces lawsuits from organizations representing freelance journalists, ride-share companies and truck owner-operators.
Participants in a Los Angeles rally for immigrants rights. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)Plaza Mexico in Lynwood was ground zero in a final election battle between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Nine miles south of downtown Los Angeles, Lynwood is 82 percent Latino and thus crucial in today’s presidential primary. Both Sanders and Clinton claim support for Latino voters, but how much support depends on age.
A bank oif vending machines entice a customer. (Photo: Deymos.HR, via Shutterstock)If you buy it in a grocery store, you don’t pay sales taxes. If you buy it from a vending machine, you do. Fair? Assemblyman Matthew Dababneh doesn’t think so, but so far some of his colleagues disagree.
As rush hour approaches, traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. (Photo: Frontpage)Permission slips covering an array of fuels used in California – and which account for nearly 40 percent of the state’s carbon emissions – will be put on the auction block as part of the state’s landmark law to curb climate-changing greenhouse gases.
California motorists in a traffic jam. (Photo: Shutterstock)Currently, fuel is about $4 per gallon and California burns about 14 billion gallons annually. Estimates of the magnitude of a potential hike vary widely, but most range from 15 to 20 cents per gallon, which would raise perhaps $2.1 billion to $2.8 billion annually. Efforts are under way in the Capitol, led by the petroleum industry, to exempt transportation fuels from the auctions until 2018.
Sacramento, K Street The measure, SB 743, was offered as a district bill sought by Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, for a local project to make the city attractive to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Gov. Brown later signed the measure. But SB 743 actually has statewide implications and the exemptions could affect cities seeking to build projects – sports related or otherwise — in transit priority areas on so-called “infill development” sites.(Photo: Steve, Wikimedia)
Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved in a new state contract for prison health care, but there’s no telling now exactly much money California is spending under the agreement, which takes effect in just weeks. Even lawmakers are kept in the dark.