Posts Tagged: session

End of session: Attack of the drones

A professionally operated drone heads into the sunset. (Photo: Concept W, Shutterstock)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 09.09.2015

Drone bills are buzzing the Capitol and making a beeline for the governor’s desk. At least four measures to curb their use already have flown out of the Legislature with bipartisan support. A fifth, approved in the Senate, awaits action in the Assembly. The governor has not disclosed his position on any of the bills, the remnants of a dozen pieces of legislation that have targeted drones during the past two years.

End of session: Stakes high, bills abound, time short

GOP Assembly members, from left, James Gallagher, Shannon Grove, Ling Ling Chang and Marie Waldron confer prior to a recent budget vote. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

by  SHANNON FLAHERTY, JESSICA HICE, VANESSA MAGEE AND SAWSAN MORRAR posted 08.14.2015

The California Legislature faces a lengthy to-do list for the final days of this year’s session and little time to get it done. In what promises to be one the busiest sessions in recent memory, the lawmakers convene Monday and finish by midnight on Sept 11. In addition, Gov. Jerry Brown has called two special sessions to deal with transportation and health care costs.

Brown, lawmakers hunt Medi-Cal money

Demonstrators seeking more funding for health care coverage gathered recently at the state Capitol. Inside, the Senate voted to expand coverage to undocumented choldren. (Photo: Alvin Chen, Capitol Weekly)

by VIRGINIA MCCORMICK posted 06.21.2015

Hoping to fill a “billion-dollar hole,” lawmakers were poised to gather in a special session to figure out new sources of funding for the state’s complex health care programs – including Medi-Cal.

Party animals await ‘the Bash’

Pop singer Coolio performs at last year's Back to Session Bash.

by CAPITOL WEEKLY STAFF posted 01.12.2015

A decade ago, the first Back to Session Bash drew 270 people, mostly political junkies, who wanted to party and celebrate the beginning of the legislative year. Which they did, loudly. Thus, a tradition was born. Each year, the party lovers come into their own and this week, the 10th anniversary Bash will be held Thursday. It promises to be a real blowout.

Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 List

by CAPITOL WEEKLY posted 08.21.2014

There’s nothing like Sacramento in August: Stifling heat, frantic lobbyists, late-night sessions, pain, general angst – and Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 list. Fits right in. This rundown represents our view of the unelected Capitol community’s inner workings.

As clock ticks, online poker folds

A computer keyboard flanked by the elements of traditional poker. (Photo: Pedro Sala)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 08.07.2014

An attempt to establish internet poker in California foundered this week in Sacramento, with rival interests – including tribes, horse racing, card rooms and others – unable to reach agreement on legislation during the final weeks of the legislative session.

A drug- and alcohol-fueled gun battle that left one man dead at the suburban Sacramento residence of a legislative security officer has shed light on the unusual power of a longtime Senate employee and ended the career of the Senate’s chief sergeant at arms. Two suspects in the robbery, kidnapping and ensuing gun play during the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2012, stand trial on Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Odd alliance on medical marijuana: Cops, activists

A dispensary's sign on Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. (Photo: Laurie Avocado)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 05.20.2014

An unlikely relationship is forming between medical marijuana advocates and local peace officers. Traditionally, they have been in conflict,, but they are coming together to resolve one logistical aspect of the unregulated cannabis industry in California that deals with patient confiscation rights and evidence holding.

Pérez, Steinberg: A tense relationship — but productive

State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: David Monniaux)

by ANTHONY YORK posted 05.01.2014

ANALYSIS: Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez of Los Angeles are both Democrats, but the two are hardly friends. The events of the last week captured the uneasy, though often productive, working relationship between the two leaders.

In the months since the FBI raided the offices of Senator Ron Calderon, the most interesting thing that’s happened in the State Capitol is what hasn’t happened in the State Capitol. Unlike broader efforts for political reform that accompanied previous corruption scandals, there has been barely a peep from California politicians of either party about the need to clean up a system that has become consumed by non-stop fundraising.