Posts Tagged: governors

Analysis

Capitol action, by the numbers

The State Capitol in Sacramento, looking toward the West Steps on N Street. (Photo: Timothy Boomer)

As the California Legislature commences its 2017 Session, the following is a quick look back at historical numbers for bill introductions and gubernatorial bill actions. Over the last half a dozen years, as a general rule, the Legislature has introduced about 2,100 bills per year, about 1,000 of those measures get to the Governor’s Desk, and he signs roughly 850 of those bills.

News

Under the radar: engrossing and enrolling

(Photo illustration: Erce, via Shutterstock)

After the two houses of the Legislature pass a bill, but before that bill reaches the governor’s desk, the legislation goes through a very important process called “engrossing and enrolling.” Engrossing also occurs after each amendment to a bill. This is a critical procedure and it takes place outside the view of the public or curious journalists.

News

CA120: Next gov’s contest will be Reep on Dem

The Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey face off. (Illustration, Victor Moussa/Shutterstock)

With a flood of expected gubernatorial candidates on the Democratic side, and a lack of Republican candidates lining up for 2018, many are convinced that we are headed for another Democratic intraparty runoff. So, again, it is prediction time. And again, I will go with the math and say the general election of the 2018 governor’s race will follow tradition and feature a Democrat versus Republican.

News

Defying national trend, CA biker crashes decline

A motorcyclist and his bike, ready to roll. (Photo: oneinchpunch, via Shutterstock)

FairWarning: The apparent 10 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities, based on an analysis by the Governors Highway Safety Association, coincided with a projected rise of about 8 percent in traffic deaths overall in 2015. Preliminary figures from the National Safety Council put the traffic deaths total at 38,300, also the highest level since 2008. In California, in contrast to the national trend, motorcycle crash fatalities actually declined by 7 percent.

Opinion

Putting ‘community’ into community colleges

Students attending class at Glendale Community College. (Photo: Wayne Thom)

The leaders of California’s vast community college system this week unanimously adopted a reform agenda with amazing ease – given how fundamentally hard the decision was to engineer. The Board of Governors decided to endorse comprehensive recommendations to better align career technical education (CTE) programs with the workforce needs of California’s employers. It could be the linchpin in a more strategic statewide effort to reduce poverty and reverse the growing opportunity and income gaps.

News

Governor, wife, dogs to live in official mansion

The governor's mansion, now a state historical park, in downtown Sacramento at 16th and H Streets. (Photo: Kensly, Google Earth)

Gov. Jerry Brown, his wife Anne and their two dogs intend to move into California’s official governor’s mansion — a dramatic departure from the midtown loft he currently occupies and the mattress-on-the-floor apartment he had during his first term 40 years ago.

News

Target: CalPERS’ private equity profits

The CalPERS' governing board during a meeting several years ago at the pension fund's headquarters. (Photo: CalPERS board)

Calpensions: After the board was told last April that CalPERS could not track the incentive payments, known as “carried interest,” a wave of media criticism grew with stories in the New York Times late last month and Fortune magazine last week. A pension fraud investigator, Edward Siedle of Benchmark Financial Services, launched an Internet fund-raising campaign on Kickstarter to raise $750,000 for a “forensic investigation” of the California Public Employees Retirement System.

News

Is the governor house hunting?

The governor's mansion, now a state historical park, in downtown Sacramento at 16th and H Streets. (Photo: Kensly, Google Earth)

California’s iconic, 138-year-old governor’s mansion, commanding a busy downtown intersection less than a mile from the Capitol, is getting spruced up and may even become home, once again, to California governors.

Big Daddy

Mail call: Dear Big Daddy

Dear Big Daddy,

Why don’t more legislators become governors? They are all ambitious politicians, aren’t they?

–Curious in Cucamonga

Opinion

Common Core: A critical tool to meet workforce challenges

Youngsters in a California classroom. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The health of California’s evolving and global 21st century economy depends on a skilled workforce. Yet, there are too few qualified applicants to create talent pools for jobs that fuel our economic growth. And while STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs in the state are projected to grow 22 percent by 2020, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that in 2011, 75 percent of California’s 8th graders were not proficient in national math standards.

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