Posts Tagged: interest

News

State stem cell agency’s first royalties: $15 million from Stanford

Stanford University, where major stem cell research is being conducted.(Photo: yhelfman, via Shutterstock)

The California stem cell agency says it has received $15.6 million in royalties from Stanford University, the largest such payment by far in the 17-year history of the state research agency. Until the announcement, the agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), had received only $557,292 in royalties.

Opinion

Historic budget: CA leads in library modernization. Will Feds follow?

A sign beckons library users with a compelling message. (Photo: Becky Ruppel, via California State Library)

OPINION: This year’s state budget contains an unprecedented investment in California’s public libraries. The $439 million earmarked by Gov. Newsom and the Legislature for renovating and modernizing local libraries will provide decades of ongoing benefits to millions of Californians and the communities in which they live. 

Opinion

For a better CA, focus on broadband, housing, regulations

Satellite dishes overlooking San Diego. (Photo: Jimmy W, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Fortunately, there is an agenda California can pursue that will benefit these people and will help to ensure a thriving economy for years to come.  Three priority areas in on which we have the chance to make a major difference this year are broadband for all, housing affordability, and climate adaptation.

News

California vs. Trump: Angst in higher education

Students at a graduation ceremony at Santa Monica City College. (Photo: American Spirit, via Shutterstock)

In an effort to reassure thousands of worried young people, leaders of California’s enormous system of public and private higher education are setting it on a potential collision course with the incoming Trump administration. The California defiance has intensified and become more formalized since Donald Trump indicated he will appoint Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, an avowed hard-liner on immigration, as his attorney general.

News

Treasurer John Chiang eyes run for governor

John Chiang, then state controller and now California treasurer, at a 2013 gathering. (Photo: Ryan Miller/Invision/AP )

State Treasurer John Chiang said Monday he is “very interested” in running for governor in 2018 and will decide early next year whether to launch a campaign. Chiang, who served two terms as state controller before being elected treasurer in 2o14, is the latest in a number of prominent Democrats who have announced their intention to run for governor or are at least considering the job.

News

CalPERS: Tensions rise over private equity fees

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.

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.

Opinion

Politics, pocketbook go together

Everyone knows about the pharmaceutical companies, defense contractors and other financial interests that dominate political spending in Washington, D.C. Because federal spending provides a big share of those businesses’ revenues, it’s not surprising they spend heavily for a Congress sympathetic to their interests. But fewer know about the financial interests that dominate political spending in Sacramento.

News

Influencing lawmakers: A primer on special interests’ muscle

State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Wikimedia)

ANALYSIS: When we think of “special interests,” we most often associate them with lobbying legislators. However, interest groups not only actively lobby in the legislative arena, but also they are active in efforts to influence state agencies and their regulatory activities. These interest groups vary depending on the role and function of the particular state agency.

Opinion

Prop. 45: A foe drew personal attacks

OPINION: As a surgeon, I weigh in on political issues whenever they impact me and my patients, and when I think I can shed additional light on the matter. That was the case this year when I became a vocal opponent of Proposition 45, which would have given the state’s Insurance Commissioner unprecedented new powers over health care decisions.

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: