Capitol Briefs
Capitol Briefs: Psychedelics are baaaack!
Sacramento capitol rotunda, image by Reina SmythAround the Capitol, one big bill effort dies and another one comes back from the grave.
Posts Tagged: San Diego
Sacramento capitol rotunda, image by Reina SmythNews
San Diego Assemblymember Ward introduces ‘hate littering’ bill
Photo courtesy of California Assembly Democrats via YouTubeAB 3024, The Stop Hate Littering Act, would expand the definition of “intimidation by threat of violence” under the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 to include “distribution of hateful materials on the private property of another without authorization for the purpose of terrorizing the owner or occupant of that private property or in reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing the owner or occupant of that private property.”
News
Rising Stars: Monika Lee, a star on the move
Monika Lee, photo by Scott Duncan PhotographyMonika Lee’s story showcases many of the possible avenues for creating meaningful change in Sacramento. In her five years in the community, Lee has moved up the ranks in three different organizations and worked with a variety of issue areas, letting her passion for equity guide her along the way.
News
California researchers vie for millions in stem cell dollars
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.
Opinion
Infrastructure investment an opportunity to build more equitable CA economy
West Mission Bay Drive Bridge, San Diego. Photo by Unwind via ShutterstockInfrastructure investments offer a chance to build an economy that is more equitable and resilient, and that offers more Californians a pathway to the middle class.
News
PPIC survey: Dems hold edge in key House districts, Prop 30 slips
The California Capitol in Sacramento, surrounded by Capitol Park. (Photo: Merge Digital Media LLC, via Shutterstock)In the final weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8, support for Proposition 30, the state ballot measure on funding to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has slid to less than a majority. On the congressional front, Democrats hold an overall edge across the 10 competitive districts that could determine which party controls the US House of Representatives.
News
Facing drought, climate change recycled water is key to survival
Scant water at Granite Island and River Valley along the North Fork of the American River east of Sacramento. (Photo: Lisa Parsons, via Shutterstock)In 2019, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled what the city calls “The Green New Deal.” This ambitious sustainability plan stipulates many policy and infrastructural changes to prepare the four-million-person city for climate change. To name a few, the Deal includes: transitioning the power grid to 100% renewable energy by 2045; modifying 100% of buildings to be net zero carbon by 2050; increasing zero emission vehicles, and electrifying all Metro and LADOT buses, to reach zero carbon transportation by 2050.
News
Politically savvy surfers in California fight plastic pollution
A surfer catches a wave in Malibu, where the Surfrider Foundation was launched in 1984. (Photo: JAVS, via Shutterstock)A landmark bill designed to drastically reduce plastic pollution in California, SB54, was signed into law on June 30. It imposes the most stringent plastic reduction rules in the United States. It has to. California, like the world, is enduring a seemingly insurmountable plastic pollution crisis.
Opinion
Smart land use planning, not courts, key to wildfire safety
The 2018 Woolsey Fire, which ultimately burned nearly 95,000 acres, seen from the Hollywood Hills. (Photo: Jeff Pinette, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Record-setting wildfires, fueled by the climate crisis and uncontrolled sprawl, are burning at all times of the year. Yet local officials continue to greenlight hillside projects as if these land-use decisions aren’t linked to the never-ending fire season.
News
Lorena Gonzalez leaves Assembly, heads to Cal Labor Fed
Lorena Gonzalez in the Assembly shortly after her 2013 election. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)Lorena Gonzalez, the San Diego-area Assemblywoman who successfully pushed landmark legislation to reclassify many California independent contractors as employees, is leaving the Capitol to run the California Labor Federation. Gonzalez, 50, will become the group’s executive officer when the current leader, long-time chief Art Pulaski, retires this summer after serving 25 years as the top executive.