John Mockler, one of the most influential voices on California education policy for more than 40 years, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 73. The architect of Proposition 98, the 1988 initiative that sets state support for public schools, Mockler also served as executive director of the State Board of Education and Gov. Gray Davis’ cabinet secretary for education.
Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Attorney General Kamala Harris. (Photos, Shutterstock. Composite, Tim Foster)ANALYSIS: There are rumblings beneath the surface about the danger of a race-tinged political war breaking out within the California Democratic Party. Antonio Villaraigosa’s challenge is to rouse the big Latino population of Los Angeles and the rest of California on his behalf in a primary race against fellow Democrat Kamala Harris. He realizes more than anyone the huge, mostly untapped, potential of the Latino vote. Harris would have the Northern California Democratic establishment, and, presumably, the preponderance of African-American voters on her side.
Voter Ben Rich casts his ballot at the Venice Beach lifeguard headquarters. (Photo: AP/Jae C. Hong)Though the final chapter is still unwritten on Election 2014, we know this much: Republicans took advantage of a traditional dip in midterm turnout and some big spending in targeted races to pick up enough legislative seats to end Democrats’ supermajorities in both houses. The GOP picked off two Democratic Assembly incumbents – Steve Fox, D-Palmdale, and Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton — and were headed to unseat a third – Freshman Assemblyman Al Marutsuchi, D-Torrance.
A major Sacramento-based lobbyist and his firm have been fined a record $133,500 for throwing fundraisers for politicians and candidates – parties that violated the state’s laws governing gifts and campaign donations to public officials. The enforcement arm of the state’s Fair Political Practice Commission posted the settlement with lobbyist Kevin Sloat and the firm, Sloat Higgins Jensen and Associates, on the FPPC web site on Monday.
Providing up to 1.4 million driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants will cost $65 million for the Department of Motor Vehicles during the first six months after the law takes effect January 1, 2015, according to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget plan. DMV plans five new temporary offices to handle the load.
Gov. Jerry Brown, acting before a weekend deadline on an array of major gun bills, signed into law measures to ban lead in ammunition and require tougher screening to keep weapons from the hands of the mentally ill.
The Democratic governor signed 11 of the gun bills on his desk, including a ban on lead
This time, it’s the Arts Council that benefits
(Ed’s Note: This story originally appeared in California City News, a content partner of Capitol Weekly.)
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“We’ve done everything we possibly could, including lobbying at the state Legislature and
A freshman Republican in the California State Senate is pushing against the grain to change his party’s congressional position on immigration reform.
Local transportation officials across California are not happy: The feds, weighing in on a public pension dispute, are holding back billions of dollars. That means trains may not run on time, buses may not get bought or fixed and projects may not get built. And that could translate into a lot of unhappy passengers.