Voters may be apathetic on Election Day, but there are some people in California who are excited indeed about the ballot – those who have a big pocketbook interest in the outcome. Campaign spending on six ballot propositions has approached a quarter-billion dollars – a hefty price tag, even in California
OPINION: This Labor Day, more than ever, working people are reminding communities that we are your neighbors, and that our unions are keeping the middle class intact and strong. Whether we are your local teachers, police officers, firefighters, or state or county public workers, we continue to work together to provide a quality education for our students, safe neighborhoods for our families, and well-run communities for all of us.
OPINION: It’s the end of August and, like the rest of California, Sacramento is seeing temperatures rise. But over at the Capitol, legislators are sitting in the middle of a blizzard of alarmist rhetoric from the chemical industry about legislation to disclose the use of toxic flame retardants on furniture.
OPINION: To our disappointment, SB 648 which started out as a tough crackdown on electronic cigarette manufacturers to ensure the health and safety of our children may end up giving tobacco companies the green light to once again begin marketing to California’s children.
California’s Capitol is ruled by a handful of powerful special interests, according to more than two-thirds of those surveyed by the Public Policy Institute of California. PPIC’s survey of likely voters also noted that despite a recent string of scandals that have tarnished the Senate, the public’s perception of lawmakers has remained constant.
Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, reversing an earlier position, says he has joined a group opposing online gaming because of concerns that young people could be harmed. “I was once on the wrong side of this issue – speaking for and supporting internet poker – but I have since learned about some of the tactics used by online gaming companies to lure young people,” Brown wrote in an open letter.
Pumpjacks in a Kern County oil field, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)It has been killed repeatedly in the state Legislature or at the ballot box, but the backers of an oil severance tax hope 2014 is the year to get it done, to the tune of $2 billion annually. But history is not on their side. Above: Pumpjacks in Kern County, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)
In 2011, fueled by pro-development and business interests, the state of Nevada passed legislation intended aimed at ending what many saw as a blissful, decades-old union with California — the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
For the third time in five years, California lawmakers have rejected an attempt to give the California Coastal Commission, which has jurisdiction over 1,100 miles of coastline, authority to impose fines on those who violate coastal protection laws. Opponents of the plan were led by business, farm, petroleum and construction interests, and the measure failed after Assembly Democrats who backed it earlier withdrew their support.