Posts Tagged: support

Will California’s GOP presidential primary really count?

A campaign stop in Oxnard during a presidential contest. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

by Shannon Flaherty posted 08.10.2015

Republicans have created a political mosh pit featuring 36 declared candidates and filled with no shortage of pointed invective. Of the 36 Republicans, 17 are considered serious contenders. As usual, those contenders have descended on early primary and caucus states, chumming through New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina in search of support and generating plenty of news along the way. At the moment, in California, they are only chumming for money.

Firefighters to drones: Buzz off

A drone and its master. (Photo: Ahturner)

by VIRGINIA McCormick posted 07.20.2015

Efforts to contain a July 12 brush fire in San Bernardino County were delayed for eight crucial minutes after response crews spotted a hobbyist’s drone flying close to the fire area. The drone, which US Forest Service officials suspect may have been recording footage of the fire, eventually flew off, allowing grounded air crews to resume. For firefighters, those lost minutes can be devastating as they try to contain a wildfire.

2016 ballot a fight over everything

Voters in Los Angeles casting their ballots on election day. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

by DOROTHY MILLS-GREGG posted 06.22.2015

Bottled water, immigration, condoms, hospital fees, plastic bags, statehood, alimony – those are just a smattering of the issues on, or trying to get on, California’s 2016 statewide ballot. There are 36 proposed initiatives that are either awaiting review in the Attorney General’s Office or are being shopped around California’s 58 counties for signatures.

Senate OKs health coverage for undocumented children

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 Associated Press posted 06.02.2015

The state Senate today approved legislation that would make California the first state in the nation to extend health coverage to children who are in the country illegally and seek federal authorization to sell private insurance to those in the country illegally. The bill, now headed to the Assembly, would allow children under 19 from low-income families to qualify for state-funded Medi-Cal, regardless of their legal status.

By next week, consumers could see their internet service subject to taxation. Currently, internet service providers do not charge state or local sales tax, thanks to a piece of federal legislation called the Internet Tax Freedom Act. But that law, authored 16 years ago by former California Congressman Chris Cox and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, will expire on Dec. 11 unless Congress acts to extend it or make it permanent.

Voters may be apathetic on Election Day, but there are some people in California who are excited indeed about the ballot – those who have a big pocketbook interest in the outcome. Campaign spending on six ballot propositions has approached a quarter-billion dollars – a hefty price tag, even in California

Brown: The final state campaign

Jerry Brown works the crowd in Williams at his final campaign rally for state office. (Photo: Samantha Gallegos, Capitol Weekly)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 11.02.2014

Jerry Brown’s quest for state office began more than 45 years ago in Los Angeles and ended Saturday afternoon in the small town square of Williams, the pleasant farm-belt community where Brown’s ancestors settled in the 19th century.

Support for death penalty at 50-year low

Gurney used for lethal injections, San Quentin Prison. (Photo: Department of Corrections)

by MARK DICAMILLO AND MERVIN FIELD posted 09.12.2014

Field Poll: Support for the death penalty as a punishment for serious crimes in California is now at its lowest point in nearly fifty years. The latest Field Poll finds 56% of voters in favor of keeping the death penalty and 34% opposed. The 56% supporting continuation of the state’s capital punishment laws is down from 69% in 2011. Throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s eight in ten California voters favored keeping the death penalty.

Field Poll: Voter support has diminished for Propositions 45 and 46, two health–related ballot initiatives on the upcoming California general election. Currently, 41% of likely voters are inclined to vote Yes on Prop. 45, the Health Insurance Rate Changes initiative, 26% are on the No side, while a growing proportion (33%) are undecided.

Poll: Curb greenhouse gases — but watch the wallet

The San Ardo oil field, Monterey. Photo: Loco Steve, Wikimedia

by Public Policy Institute of California posted 07.24.2014

Most Californians support the state’s landmark law mandating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a statewide survey released today. More specifically, strong majorities support two aspects of the state’s efforts to address global warming: a requirement that oil companies produce cleaner transportation fuels and the goal that a third of California’s electricity come from renewable energy sources. But residents’ support declines significantly if these two efforts lead to higher gas prices or electricity bills.