The Assembly chamber at the state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov, via Shutterstock)California courts are occasionally faced with scrutinizing the lawmakers’ decisions to label some bills as urgency statutes and others as special statutes. It may sound unexciting, but the reality is this: The courts’ rulings can affect millions of Californians.
Chamber of the state Assembly in the Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov)Want to take a deep dive into the California Legislature? You may get your chance. Proposition 54 by Charles Munger Jr. and Sam Blakeslee on the November ballot would force the Legislature to record all its actions and post the video on the web for the public, except for certain proceedings. It would bar lawmakers from acting on any bill until its final form has been published online for at least 72 hours.
The headquarters building of the Board of Equalization in Sacramento, 450 N Street. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)To the passer-by, the tower at 450 N Street is a downtown landmark, soaring assertively 24 stories into the Sacramento sky. But for more than a decade, the Board of Equalization’s (BoE) headquarters building has been a nightmare to an assortment of state bureaucrats. Glass panels fall out; water leaks; elevators stop between floors; there are potentially dangerous contaminants; plaster falls off walls; there are lawsuits.
A physician on the night shift examining a CT scan. (Photo: Beerkoff, via Shutterstock)It’s all about coming up with a plan to hang onto the $1.1 billion in matching funds the feds ship to California each year to help finance MediCal, the immense program that provides health care to about 12.5 million of California’s poorest patients. MediCal is larger than ever now because of the Affordable Care Act, which added more than four million Californians to the millions already receiving MediCal coverage
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)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.
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)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.
State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Wikimedia)ANALYSIS: When we think of “special interests,” we most often associate them with lobbying legislators. However, interest groups not only actively lobby in the legislative arena, but also they are active in efforts to influence state agencies and their regulatory activities. These interest groups vary depending on the role and function of the particular state agency.
Ventura County voters go to the polls in a California general election. (Photo: Spirit of America) We’re never actually out of election season. Not even in off-election years like this one. Gov. Jerry Brown has set the dates for special elections in three Senate districts to fill vacancies left by officeholders who won congressional seats in 2014.
Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, at a sentencing hearing last week in Los Angeles. (Photo: Associated Press)State Sen. Rod Wright, who began his state political career nearly two decades ago and rose to chair the powerful Senate committee that targets alcohol and gambling, resigned from the Senate Monday effective Sept. 22, just days after he was sentenced for voter fraud and perjury.
OPINION: This Labor Day, more than ever, working people are reminding communities that we are your neighbors, and that our unions are keeping the middle class intact and strong. Whether we are your local teachers, police officers, firefighters, or state or county public workers, we continue to work together to provide a quality education for our students, safe neighborhoods for our families, and well-run communities for all of us.