Image by Wasan TitaSome of the most challenging negotiations lawmakers face come when trying to remove an initiative from the upcoming ballot. There’s a reason for that. Actually, a lot of reasons.
Rudy Salas, photo by APAccording to recent USC polling, and the election buzz among national prognosticators, voters could be on the verge of electing the first Latino in the House of Representatives from the state’s Central Valley. Yes, you read that right.
Image by hapabapaIn looking over the 1,200 bills that reached Governor Newsom’s Desk during the 2024 Session, I found several with interesting provisions. They are in random order as I came across them in my review of the bill language.
Panel discussion about the impact of California's budget shortfall. L-R: Kristen Hwang, Calmatters; Jess Bartholow, SEIU California; Scott Graves, California Budget and Policy Center; Beth Capell, Health Access California; Michelle Cabrera, County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California. Photo by Joha Harrison, Capitol WeeklyIn a sign of the times, Capitol Weekly’s annual health care conference on Thursday focused broadly on expenses and efficiency, befitting for an American health care system that has become one of the most expensive in the world.
Image by SvanblarOn occasion, bond measures are submitted to voters in the State of California, such as this November 5 when the statewide electorate will consider two different $10 billion bond measures, one on climate change and one on school facilities.
Longtime Capitol lobbyist and regular Capitol Weekly contributor Chris Micheli is a “self-professed legislative geek.” To that end, he has collected and is now sharing with us the following statistics from the recently-concluded 2023-24 California Legislative Session:
Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, Sen. Roger Niello, Sen. Brian Jones. Photo via Alvarado-Gil X account. California’s Fourth Senate District covers 25,000 square miles, basically 1/6th of the state. It stretches from Death Valley in the South to Truckee in the North and juts out West to grab Modesto, the district’s largest metropolitan area. Now the region’s representation in the Senate over the next legislative cycle could severely compromised because the decision by its senator, Marie Alvarado-Gil, to jump political parties.
OPINION – Patriotism is front and center in this year’s election and that’s a good thing. But this election has also seen the continuation of a troubling trend: attacking those who serve. It’s deeply unpatriotic and we should call it out.
Photo by APIn spite of some gains, if the expectation from the Democratic Convention was that it was going to swing any Trump voters toward the Harris campaign, or give her a dramatically widening lead in the race, this has not been met, at least according to the California data.
Image by WallentineLawmakers have sent Gov. Gavin Newsom hundreds of bills to be acted on before the end of the month. Here are a few of those measures he must consider.