California Legislature

Shades of Brown: Cities and the Governor's Pension Reforms (Part 2)

John Mirisch | Posted 01.09.2012

Read More: Opeb, Governor Jerry Brown, California Pension Reform, Dan Walters, Local Control, Pension Reform, California Pension Funds, Public Unions, Unions, California Legislature, Los Angeles News

Without serious pension reform, kiss new taxes or tax extensions goodbye, no matter how much money special interest groups or unions spend trying to sell us the latest bill of goods.

Read Post

Shades of Brown: Cities and the Governor's Pension Reforms (Part 1)

John Mirisch | Posted 01.08.2012

Read More: California Legislature, Governor Jerry Brown, Dan Walters, Local Control, Pension Reform, Opeb, California Pension Reform, California Pension Funds, Public Unions, Unions, Los Angeles News

Even though there are those who would make it political, the subject of pension reform for government employees in California is not really a political issue: it's a mathematical issue.

Read Post

California Budget Gap Could Be More Than Governor's Projections

Posted 01.04.2012

Read More: State Budgets, Video, Governor Jerry Brown, California, Budget Gaps, Budget, Economic Uncertainty, Public Programs, California Legislature, Business News

California's government could face a budget gap of up to $8 billion in its next fiscal year, substantially more than the $3.1 billion shortfall pr...

Read Whole Story

Bad Lawsuits Against Public Transit

Joel Epstein | Posted 11.29.2011

Read More: Nimby, Streetsblog Los Angeles, Wilshire Subway, Century City, The Daily Show, Los Angeles, California Legislature, Expo Line, Ceqa, Farmers Field, Metro, Jerry Brown, Downtown La, Transit, Aeg, Neighbors for Smart Rail, Beverly Hills School Doard, Los Angeles News

Here's an important story that may not have made it onto The Daily Show yet. While it is only a matter of time before Streetsblog Los Angeles has the...

Read Post

California's High-Speed Rail Mistake

Joel Epstein | Posted 11.13.2011

Read More: Philadelphia, San Diego, Wilshire Subway, Los Angeles, New York, Muni, Farmer?S Field, Fresno, Metro, Bart, Bolt Bus, San Francisco, California High-Speed Rail, Anaheim, Sacramento, Aeg, Jobs, Afl-Cio, California Legislature, Los Angeles News

In an ideal world there would be enough money to build both the high-speed rail and all the regional mass transit California needs. But we don't live in that Emerald City.

Read Post

The Farmers Field Saga: Hide and CEQA

John Mirisch | Posted 11.11.2011

Read More: Ceqa, California Legislature, Farmers Field, Aussie Rules, Fairness, Aeg, Environmental Regulations, Environmental Policy, Eir, La Pro Sports, Business, Los Angeles News

But the question at hand is not whether the Farmers Field project is good; the question is much simpler: should we be granting California Environmental Equality Act exceptions or mitigations for individual projects?

Read Post

Last Call in Sacramento for 2011. Will Gov. Brown Make Ballot Initiatives Simpler?

Jamie Court | Posted 11.10.2011

Read More: Autism, Governor Jerry Brown, California, Ballot Initiative, California Legislature, Los Angeles News

The clock ticking down on the last night in the California statehouse is always a lot like waiting for last call at a rowdy bar around 2 AM -- you wonder how much damage will done before the last shot.

Read Post

Time for Sunshine in Sacramento

Hoyt Hilsman | Posted 10.09.2011

Would you believe that, after the recent scandals in California around illegal compensation and government secrecy, the California legislature is keeping the budgets of legislators and legislative committees secret?

Read Post

No Budget? No Paycheck!

Chris Weigant | Posted 08.29.2011

Read More: John Chiang, Jerry Brown, Cut Pay, California Democrats, California Budget, California Legislature, California Controller, California Congress, California Referendum, Two-Thirds Rule, California Republicans, Controller John Chiang, Politics News

Without getting too far into the weeds of the California budget process, here's what just happened.

Read Post

Jerry Brown Finds A California Budget That Flies, For Now

William Bradley | Posted 08.29.2011

Read More: Meg Whitman, 2012 Presidential Election, California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama, California Governor's Race, California Budget Crisis, Jerry Brown, Republican Party, Governor Jerry Brown, California Budget Cuts, California Legislature, Los Angeles News

The latest round of California's chronic budget crisis is finally coming to an end. It's a significantly better end than in the past. But it's not an ending with finality.

Read Post

Jerry Brown, Democratic Leaders Announce Budget Deal

blogs.sacbee.com | Posted 08.27.2011

Read More: California Budget, California Budget Crisis, California Legislature, California Politics, Jerry Brown, Los Angeles News

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders announced today that they have reached an agreement on a new majority-vote budget plan. "We've ...

Read Whole Story

State Legislature Rejects Measure Banning Lobbyist Gifts

latimes.com | Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times | Posted 07.27.2011

Read More: California Legislature Lobby, California Lawmakers Lobby, California Legislature Gift Lobbyists, California Legislature, California Legislature Lobbying, California Lobbyists, Los Angeles News

Reporting from Sacramento -- Companies lobbying state lawmakers for favorable treatment can continue to shower them with tickets to Disneyland, Dodger...

Read Whole Story

Doing Good While Doing Well: Let's Make it Legal

Paula Goldman | Posted 06.03.2011

Read More: California, Corporate Social Responsibility, Csr, Social Entrepreneurship, Corporate America, California Legislature, Impact, Business News

Right now, instead of recognizing that business and market-based strategies have the potential to bring positive social change to millions, we have legal structures that actively deter such possibilities.

Read Post

California Budget Crisis: Jerry Brown Debates Lawmakers

AP | JUDY LIN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: California Budget Deficit, California Legislature, California Lawmakers, California Budget Crisis, Jerry Brown, Los Angeles News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In an unprecedented public give-and-take, Gov. Jerry Brown appeared before a legislative committee Thursday and engaged ran...

Read Whole Story

California's Humpty-Dumpty Law

Gautam Dutta | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Prop 14, Humpty Dumpty, Senate Bill 6 Lawsuit, Write-in-Voting, Top Two Primary, Senate Bill 6, Lisa Murkowski Write-in Campaign, Proposition 14, California Open Primary Initiative, George Runner, California Legislature, Proposition 14 Lawsuit, Lisa Murkowski, Lisa Murkowski Write-In, California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, Write-in Voting Ban, Lisa Murkowski Joe Miller, California Supreme Court, Jenny Oropeza, Ted Lieu, Tea Party, SB 6, California Open Primary, Politics News

Although SB 6 is sitting on a wall, its Humpty-Dumpty election rules do not have to fall.

Read Post

California politician steps over a line

Peter H. Gleick | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Santa Claus, Senator Dave Cogdill, Easter Bunny, Water Bond, California Legislature, Water, Politics News

[Spoiler Alert: Do not let children under the age of, say, 21, read this.] There are some lines that should never be crossed: California Senator Dave ...

Read Post

We All Have a Responsibility to Speak Out on Arizona

Karen Bass | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: California-Assembly, California, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Los Angeles-California, Arizona Immigration Bill, Immigration, Karen Bass, Arizona, Los Angeles, California Legislature, Politics News

What Arizona politicians have done is unconscionable -- and unconstitutional -- and it may not be neighborly to point that out, but it certainly is the American way.

Read Post

California Considers Repeal Of 1950's Law To Study Causes And Cures For Gays, Sexual Deviancy

AP | By CATHY BUSSEWITZ | Posted 05.04.2012

Read More: Psychiatry, Research, Lesbian, Nurture, Deviant, Heterosexuality, Ex-Gay, Gay, Cause, Ex-Gay Movement, California Legislature, Sexuality, Homosexuality, Gay Rights, Bisexual, Nature, Sexual Deviancy, Gay Marriage, Sexual Predators, Los Angeles News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers narrowly advanced a bill Tuesday that would repeal a state law designed to find the causes and cures of hom...

Read Whole Story

This Foster Care Month Sees Hope Ahead

Karen Bass | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: California-Assembly, California, Los Angeles-California, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Karen Bass, Los Angeles, Foster Care, National-Foster-Care-Month, California Legislature, Politics News

May is National Foster Care Month and for California's 65,000 foster children and those who advocate on their behalf, it's a month to raise awareness ...

Read Post

The Time to March for California's Future Is Now

Marty Hittelman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: California-Assembly, California Budget, Sacramento, California Federation of Teachers, Education Reform, Grover Norquist, California Budget Crisis, California Legislature, Los Angeles News

Most Californians are paying a fair share while the rich and powerful continue to receive more tax loopholes every year. We must reverse this trend.

Read Post

First Openly Gay Leader Of California Legislature Gets Sworn In

AP | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: California Legislature, Speaker of the State Assembly, John Perez, Los Angeles News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The first openly gay lawmaker to lead either house of the California Legislature has been sworn in as speaker of the state ...

Read Whole Story

This Legislator Will Be Voting No on Sen. Abel Maldonado's Confirmation

Pedro Nava | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Women, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abel Maldonado, Civil Rights, Abel Maldonado Confirmation Hearing, Assemblymember Pedro Nava, California Assembly, Maldonado Voted No on Laws That Impact Farmworkers, California Legislature, Pedro Nava, Labor, Lieutenant Governor Appointment, Confirmation Hearing of Abel Maldonado, Maldonado's Poor Voting Record, Consumers, Health Care, Seniors and the Environment, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Los Angeles News

I will be voting no to confirm Sen. Abel Maldonado to the second highest constitutional office in California, a heartbeat from the Governor, that of Lieutenant Governor.

Read Post

California Needs to Press the Restart Button

Lenny Mendonca | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Repair California, California Constitutional Convention, California Budget Crisis, Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Legislature, Los Angeles News

The chief obstacle to a better future for California at this point is its Constitution, which thanks to years of special interest fiddling, amounts to a system that guarantees failure.

Read Post

Poor Women in California Can Expect a Lump of Coal From the Government This Holiday Season

Pedro Nava | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Legislative Women's Caucus, Women's Issues, Breast Cancer Screenings, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Every Women Counts Program, Obama Administration, Breast Cancer, California Legislature, Breast Cancer Awareness, California, Governor Schwarzenegger, Cancer Registry, Women and Politics, Women's Health, US Preventive Services Task Force, Breast Cancer Prevention, Healthcare, California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles News

Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Public Health have embraced the holiday season with a new set of proposed rules that will abandon low-income women.

Read Post

Why the Governor Should Delay His Appointment

Pedro Nava | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Appointment, Political Pundits, Special Election, Governor Schwarzenegger, Lieutenant Governor, Sacramento, Assemblymember Pedro Nava, Pedro Nava, California Legislature, Nava, California Lieutenant Governor Vacancy, Governor's Appointment, Voters, California Budget Crisis, John Garamendi, Politics News

I firmly believe that the Governor should be careful and thoughtful about this appointment. This decision should not be rushed, as some have suggested.

Read Post