A portion of California and its key regions in the 2021 redistricting. (Photo: Victor Maschek)The 2021 redistricting has begun in earnest with the seating of the first eight members of the California Citizens Commission, the so-called “Lucky Eight” because they were seated after a random draw of ping-pong balls. In the quarantine era, this drawing, carried live, likely qualified as riveting entertainment.
Motorists along the Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks. (Photo: Oscity, via Shutterstock)A California transportation plan of historic proportions has been approved – but what happens next? First, is the 12-cent increase in the fuel tax, starting in November. Then, other taxes and fees will kick in to help finance the $52 billion package in Senate Bill 1, which includes $34 billion over the next 10 years for repair and maintenance of roads, highways, bridges and culverts.
Presidential candidates. (Illustration by Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)CA120: With just hours until polls close in California, the crucial Democratic presidential contest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders appears to be tightening. On the Republican side, the unopposed presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is trying to show that he can consolidate the Republican electorate behind his candidacy.
Rookie Assemblymember Patty Lopez, a political novice who captured the 39th Assembly District in a dramatic upset, is being outspent 10-to-1 by her opponent – the same person she beat two years ago for the San Fernando Valley seat.
A photo illustration of an ad campaign program on a laptop. (Photo: Tashatuvango, via Shutterstock)California’s political watchdog, which fights to reveal the political money trail, is opposing legislation that appears to do exactly that. The Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign rules, has come out against two bills aimed at disclosure.
Demonstrators seeking more funding for health care coverage gathered recently at the state Capitol. Inside, the Senate voted to expand coverage to undocumented choldren. (Photo: Alvin Chen, Capitol Weekly)The state Senate today approved legislation that would make California the first state in the nation to extend health coverage to children who are in the country illegally and seek federal authorization to sell private insurance to those in the country illegally. The bill, now headed to the Assembly, would allow children under 19 from low-income families to qualify for state-funded Medi-Cal, regardless of their legal status.
Shasta Lake, 170 miles north of Sacramento. (Photo: Mavensnotebook.com)There may be lack of water, but there’s no dearth of printer’s ink: Here’s a quick rundown of reports from key government agencies.
Jerry Brown works the crowd in Williams at his final campaign rally for state office. (Photo: Samantha Gallegos, Capitol Weekly)Jerry Brown’s quest for state office began more than 45 years ago in Los Angeles and ended Saturday afternoon in the small town square of Williams, the pleasant farm-belt community where Brown’s ancestors settled in the 19th century.
In the face of $150 million in opposition spending, two ballot measures to regulate health insurance insurance rates, require drug testing for doctors and ease caps on medical malpractice awards have declined sharply in popular support, according to the final Field Poll of this year’s election.
OPINION: Seemingly every decade or so, California’s workers’ compensation system is deemed to be “fixed — once and for all.” And yet, like clockwork, each subsequent round of changes to workers’ compensation brings about unintended consequences once in effect.