Photo by Sundry Photography. Design by Ted AngelHello everyone and welcome to the 17th edition of the Capitol Weekly Top 100. Unlike the heroine of Janis Ian’s classic song about the cruelties life can visit upon us at such a tender age, I’m looking at the seventeenth edition of this list with a sense of optimism.
The California state Capitol at dusk. (Photo: Karin Hildebrand Lau, via Shutterstock)The California Legislature has a combined 55 standing committees, with 32 in the Assembly and 23 in the Senate. In today’s Micheli Files lobbyist and law professor Chris Micheli breaks down the original bill referrals to policy committees during the 2025 Session (meaning the first committee that received a bill from the Rules Committee).
Image by EvgeniyShkolenko. The Senate Appropriations Committee will determine on Friday if a bill to exclude sex offenders from a parole program for older offenders will move forward this year. For both offenders and survivors, the Committee’s decision will be life changing.
Image by BrianAJackson. OPONION – Lawmakers can strengthen our state’s economy and its future by rejecting the governor’s disproportionate reductions in the UC and CSU budgets.
Governors Gavin Newsom and Tim Walz, from the This is Gavin Newsom podcastIf we have learned anything over the past several years, it’s that controversy brings eyeballs. And that may have been the plan all along with the This is Gavin Newsom podcast.
Image by WallentineLawmakers have sent Gov. Gavin Newsom hundreds of bills to be acted on before the end of the month. Here are a few of those measures he must consider.
Image by JJ GouinOPINION – The largest minority in California is not an ethnic group or an age range: It is renters. Renters make up 45 percent of the population of California, and are arguably the most underrepresented.
Image by dontree_mOPINION – California is leading on equitable decarbonization that uplifts vulnerable communities instead of imposing new burdens on them. Gutting our state’s visionary program would undermine our climate commitments and housing equity goals.
The Capitol's Top power couple: Ann Patterson and Nathan Barankin. In just a few months, Capitol Weekly will unveil its 16th annual Top 100 list recognizing the most influential members of the Capitol community. As we began researching this year’s list, however, we realized that in all our years of the Top 100 we’ve overlooked a critical dynamic of Capitol clout: the Capitol power couple whose combined prominence and rolodex is greater than the sum of their parts. To rectify that, today we publish our first ever Capitol Weekly Top 10 Power Couples, along with three up-and-coming pairs to keep your eyes on.
RFK, Jr. Photo by APOPINION – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has found his way on to the California Presidential ballot, but typical of his image, it was the most desperate, head-scratching, and absurd launch imaginable.