December 2016 | CalWatchdog.com

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Added workplace regulation for the new year

A new round of targeted workplace regulations passed over the course of 2016 will take effect in the coming year, with some slated to come into law the minute the clock strikes 2017. Wage rules First, Golden State businesses

Kern County law enforcement in cross-hairs

Chris Reed December 30, 2016

A year after being branded by a London newspaper as America’s most lethal police force, the Bakersfield Police Department and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office are now the subjects of civil rights investigations by the state Attorney General’s Office. Attorney

Proposed ballot measure would ask if California should join a national popular vote movement — but the state already did

Matt Fleming December 30, 2016

Should California’s elected officials do everything in their power to make the country decide presidential elections by a national popular vote? A recently-introduced ballot measure asks just that, coming on the heels of the second presidential election since 2000 where

Lawmakers look to make marijuana use while driving illegal

Matt Fleming December 30, 2016

When voters decriminalized recreational marijuana use Nov. 8, they also made it illegal to have an open container of pot in a vehicle. But ambiguity in the law may still allow for people to light up while driving, and two

CalWatchdog Morning Read – December 30

CalWatchdog Staff December 30, 2016

Brown struggles to get support for twin tunnels water project More than 800,000 undocumented immigrants issued CA driver’s licenses in last two years New no-cellphone-usage-while-driving law goes into effect Sunday When city retirement pays better than the job Senate leader’s political

Gun sales spike before California law hits

James Poulos December 30, 2016

Unwilling to be locked out of the gun cabinet by Sacramento Democrats, California residents have pushed gun purchases up to record numbers, leaving latecomers to the trend in the lurch. But as the state Legislature added fresh restrictions, developments

New California in-car cellphone crackdown begins

James Poulos December 29, 2016

Amid lingering criticism and doubts about the feasibility of enforcement, Californians braced for new legislation taking effect in January that will ban almost all handling of cellphones behind the wheel. Beginning Sunday, law enforcement will be authorized to punish drivers using the

Gov. Brown struggles to build support for water project

Chris Reed December 29, 2016

Gov. Jerry Brown’s aides treated the release last week of a massive environmental review that marshaled evidence in support of his $15.7 billion plan to build two 35-mile-long tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as an exciting step toward construction

CalWatchdog Morning Read – December 29

CalWatchdog Staff December 29, 2016

Short-term pain with ACA repeal CA wall of debt Brown taps two top advisors for CPUC posts Former Lt. Gov. for Trump’s agriculture secretary? New disclosure rules show greater detail of lobbyists’ influence Good morning! TGIT. Republicans in Washington appear

Study: ACA repeal would have big economic consequences without adequate replacement

Matt Fleming December 28, 2016

California would suffer major economic consequences if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act without an adequate replacement, according to a new study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Republicans in Washington appear poised to repeal the ACA, better known as Obamacare,