Image by Natalya KosarevichBy the time you read this you might have already found a new Capitol Weekly feature in either your text messages or email inbox: the Capitol Weekly Insiders Survey.
Gov. Gavin Newsom at a San Francisco event. (Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova, via Shutterstock)Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a multi-billion-dollar package of monetary goodies for Californians, but how much of it will become reality is now up to legislators. The clock ticks: Lawmakers have less than a month to approve the 2022-23 budget, an unprecedented, nearly $300 billion document, and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
A California political rally during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)Democrat Gavin Newsom remains the top choice among likely voters in the state’s gubernatorial primary, and Republican John Cox is in a close race with Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa to gain the second spot on November’s general election ballot. Senator Dianne Feinstein holds a double-digit lead over fellow Democrat Kevin de León.
Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton (Photo: L.A. Times)Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton, then a young news reporter, was in the Capitol when the Black Panthers entered on May 2, 1967. In this episode of the Capitol Weekly podcast, Skelton shares his memories of that historic day with John Howard and Tim Foster.
The state Capitol in Sacramento, viewed from 10th Street toward the West Steps.(Photo: Timothy Boomer)Love ’em or hate ’em, reporters play an important role in the legislative process — as well as with legislative strategy and ethics — in California. Because of this influence, the media in many ways are commonly viewed as a fourth branch of government (or “fourth estate,” as the cliché goes). They don’t approve or reject legislation, but their coverage affects those who do and they often influence the fate of bills.
In this 1974 photo, AP reporter Doug Willis, left, talks with then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. (AP Photo)Doug Willis, who for decades covered California politics for the Associated Press from his perch in Sacramento, was an amazing man – funny, balanced, sane, profoundly accurate, detail savvy and unflappable. He died Dec. 15 at the age of 77. He was my political mentor, friend and boss, hiring me in 1980 to come to Sacramento as news editor. I saw the move as a chance to report on state politics and learn from a master. I did both for 21 years.
A campaign stop in Oxnard during a presidential contest. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)Republicans have created a political mosh pit featuring 36 declared candidates and filled with no shortage of pointed invective. Of the 36 Republicans, 17 are considered serious contenders. As usual, those contenders have descended on early primary and caucus states, chumming through New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina in search of support and generating plenty of news along the way. At the moment, in California, they are only chumming for money.
Gary Webb. (Photo: Fairness and Accuracy in Media)I rarely dwell on the past – a good thing, too – but I can’t help thinking now about Gary Webb, the journalist who killed himself in Sacramento 10 years ago in the aftermath of a story on the CIA and crack cocaine trafficking that brought him fame, and then humiliation, on a national scale. But surely my memories of Gary are as valid as anything contained in “Kill The Messenger,” Hollywood’s version of his life and work.
State Sen. Ben Hueso, a San Diego Democrat and the chair of the Senate Labor Committee, was arrested early Friday morning for suspicion of drunken driving after going the wrong way on a one-way street near downtown Sacramento.
To combat one of the current challenges facing her district, Brown introduced a bill requires that, by 2015, the California Workforce Investment Board set guidelines to aid WIB with training programs for entrepreneurs. The bill’s goal is to help the growth and success of small businesses, which will create an increase in jobs not only in the 47th District, but the entire state.