Image by Blue Planet StudioOPINION – When it comes to expenditures of public funds, taxpayers of every political stripe deserve accountability. Above all, they want to know that their hard-earned dollars are not padding the pockets of unscrupulous actors who fail to honor the public’s trust. California’s most recent legislative session delivered real protections on this metric, though you may not have heard about it yet.
Photo by ANDREI ASKIRKA via ShutterstockNine California research organizations will vie behind closed doors this week as the state’s stem cell agency scores their bids to kick off what would be a first-in-the-nation, $80 million manufacturing network to speed the development of revolutionary medical therapies.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrest an undocumented immigrant in California. (Photo: ICE, 2017)Two California counties profit from a loophole in the “sanctuary state” law, while most others have canceled their ICE contracts under public pressure or let them expire. When California’s sanctuary state law, Senate Bill 54, was approved, the public assumed that local law enforcement would be prevented from cooperating with ICE agents except when dealing with people “convicted of a serious or violent felony,” such as murder, rape, child abuse or battery.
State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: David Monniaux)Californians give Governor Jerry Brown a record-high job approval rating and his budget proposal strong bipartisan support, according to a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. The state legislature’s approval rating is a near-record 42 percent among adults and is at 33 percent among likely voters. Both ratings are similar to December. Asked to rate the job performance of their own state legislators, 48 percent of adults and 45 percent of likely voters approve. (Photo: David Monniaux)