Image by GladkikhOPINION – The California Assembly is currently contemplating legislation that will increase health care costs for taxpayers, small business owners, and unions, while giving a multi-billion dollar handout to Big Pharma.
Image of Tall orange tile roof tower aerial San Francisco city skyscrapers with Coit Tower, CAOPINION – Thousands of people, including families, youth and seniors, live and work in downtown San Francisco, yet Senator Wiener’s new bill, Senate Bill 1227, proposes to eradicate all protections under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the area.
Image courtesy of 24K-ProductionThere is a growing acceptance in mental health circles that some psychedelics – particularly psilocybin, MDMA, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and mescaline – have great promise for treating certain mental health disorders, including post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. But some observers fear legalizing it could kick off a psilocybin Gold Rush that emphasizes profits over patient care.
The climate crisis, image by Marti Bug CatcherOPINION: Sound investment decisions depend on access to sound information, and when it comes to assessing the climate impacts associated with large companies’ activities and products, we are flying blind. That is why I ardently support California’s Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act.
Cassidy Denny, image by Scott Duncan PhotographyCassidy Denny, Legislative Director to Senator Angelique Ashby, did not envision joining the policy world when she was recruited to Colorado State University to play volleyball as an undergraduate. It wasn’t until Denny learned about the policies behind slavery and other tragedies involving Black history on a learn and serve trip to Ghana that Denny realized that she wanted to pursue a career in justice.
Photo by Sheila Fitzgerald via ShutterstockIt’s been three months since San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen urged state lawmakers in a proposed resolution to legalize sex work in California. “It is time to recognize this and move towards decriminalization and ultimately legalization and regulation of sex work,” she says.
Sen. Scott WienerCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: SB 932, a 2020 bill inspired by concerns about potential disparate impacts of COVID on LGBTQ people, directed the California Department of Public Health to collect sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data. A new report released by the State Auditor says that CDPH has fallen short and recommends that state law be amended to require more comprehensive practices around SOGI data collection.
Asm. Buffy Wicks, in conversation with Hannah Wiley of the Los Angeles Times, at Capitol Weekly's Conference on Housing. Photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly.CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at Capitol Weekly’s Conference on Housing, and presents the Keynote for the event: A conversation between Asm. Buffy Wicks and Hannah Wiley of the Los Angeles Times.
Shutterstock - Siker StockCalifornia lawmakers could be among the next to ban the social media app Tik Tok.
The scene at the Last Kind Words Saloon in Furnace Creek, in Death Valley. (Photo: Thomas Trumpeter, via Shutterstock)Jerry Brown said the bill would cause “mayhem” and vetoed it, now its author has another plan to extend bar closing hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. – this time limiting it to cities that already want it. “There is no mayhem,” Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said of Brown’s memorable phrase. “That was our grumpy governor. And I love him to death, but he was wrong about this.”