Image by Adao via ShutterstockANALYSIS: In the California Legislature, there are six possible vote thresholds required for passage of bills in order to enact a statute. We look at each.
An illustration of the lack of equity between men and women. (Image: Thapana Studio, via Shutterstock)OPINION:
The railroad trestle over Gaviota Creek. (Photo: Robert Ashworth, via Wikipedia)Approximately 75% of California’s population lives along the state’s 1,271 miles of coastline. By some estimates, half a foot of that coast will be lost by 2030, and as much as seven feet of coast by 2100. Along with rising sea levels, increasingly strong king tides, flooding, and El Niño events will affect low-lying areas with greater power and frequency.
The chamber of the state Senate in Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov, via Shutterstock)In simplistic terms, lobbying the state Senate and Assembly floors is similar to lobbying legislative committees, except that the scale is much larger. For example, some committees have as few five members (elected officials), while others have over 20 members. As you would assume, most committees in the 40-member Senate have fewer members sitting on them than do their counterparts in the 80-member Assembly.
An interior view of one of the rooms of the Spacecraft Fabrication Facility of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock) California faces an increasing demand for affordable higher education and a need for adequate facilities suited to a rapidly evolving economy. PPIC estimates that by 2030 the supply of college graduates will fall 1.1 million short of workforce demand. All three public systems—UC, CSU, and CCC—are working to bridge that gap.
Republicans gather at a 2016 rally in Costa Mesa for GOP presidential contender Donald Trump. (Photo: Mike Ledray, via Shutterstock)Encouraged by their Nov. 7 election victories in other states, Democrats now have even higher hopes of flipping the House in 2018, and a big factor governing whether they will succeed rests on outcomes in eight Republican-held California districts. The eight incumbent Republicans in Southern California and the Central Valley that Democrats hope to defeat a year from now make up one-third of the 24 seats needed to give Democrats control of the House.
The Assembly chamber in the state Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Felix Lipov)ANALYSIS: During the budget negotiations in September, there was talk in the Capitol about whether it was proper – or even legal – for California lawmakers to pass two measures amending the state budget that had been adopted three months earlier. These two bills, known as “junior” budget bills, were approved along with a half-dozen budget trailer bills making numerous policy changes in state law for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Gov. Brown signed them all.
State Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa. (Photo: Youtube frame capture)A California legislator has launched an effort to terminate the $3 billion California stem cell agency, which is already set to go out of business in about three years. Republican state Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa said in a video, “It’s time to shut this down….We as taxpayers need some protection.”
A political rally in 2016 prior to the primary election. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)CA120: The 2016 elections have yet to fade in our rear-view mirror, but already the most important topic in Sacramento — and nationally — is the coming 2018 election cycle. After a tumultuous 2016, many of us are expecting the mid-term elections to be a deep and engaging referendum on the current administration and whatever intervening events occur in the coming year and a half.
Illustration by Tim Foster, Capitol WeeklyAt the heart of California’s Emerald Triangle is Humboldt County, a legendary locale in the world of weed, as prized by marijuana aficionados for its cannabis as Napa Valley is for its wine. “Humboldt is the absolute, undisputed leader in cannabis,” said Luke Bruner, a local resident who has advised state and local officials on marijuana issues.