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CA Dems move to remake state voting
Pursuing a long-held dream of maximizing voter turnout, California Democrats have coalesced around legislation that would fundamentally transform the experience — and inconvenience — of casting ballots. “California elections would be radically retooled, with neighborhood polling places replaced by ‘voting centers’
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Counties say too much water goes to environmental supply
Although water consumption has been on the decline in the state of California, county officials believe these rates can be lowered by cutting supplies to the environment and fisheries. Back in 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a statewide emergency
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New CA pot analysis sees savings, raises questions
According to one respected source in Sacramento, pot is good for California’s bottom line. The state Legislative Analyst’s Office, which produces nonpartisan studies of ballot initiatives, has unveiled a new report considering the fiscal impact of marijuana decriminalization in the Golden
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Coalition backing CA bullet train is fraying
Both in California and Washington, D.C., backers of the state’s controversy-plagued $68 billion bullet-train project are coming off a rough week. As CalWatchdog reported, a Los Angeles public hearing on proposed routes for the project in the San Fernando Valley
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Wary Palm Springs guards its cheap, plentiful water
The California narrative about water is generally a tidy tale about the arid south scrambling to come up with water from the relatively wet north. But plenty of other angles deserve mention, starting with the fact that the state’s best-known
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CA water rights hit hard
After floating the possibility for months, authorities followed through on threatened curtailments on California’s most senior water rights holders. “The action by the State Water Resources Control Board, after weeks of warnings, affects 114 different water-rights holders in the Sacramento and San
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CA budget deal reached, legislators to vote Monday
On Thursday, the California Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review released an overview of the budget adopted by the Conference Committee on June 9. The Conference Committee is composed of both Senate and Assembly members, tasked with negotiating multiple
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Medi-Cal boom strains doctors and budgets
With Medicaid eligibility expanded nationwide under the Affordable Care Act, Medi-Cal enrollees have discovered that care in California is not keeping up with increased demand. “Today, more than 12 million Californians, nearly one-third of the state’s total population, are enrolled in the
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High-speed rail mired in outrage
Reacting to a new analysis showing how California’s high-speed rail could stretch between Palmdale and Burbank, affected residents descended on downtown Los Angeles to voice outrage and anxiety before train officials. “The coordinated protest,” noted the Los Angeles Times, “presents a potent political challenge as state officials push to
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Split-roll property tax introduced in Senate
On Wednesday, California State Senators Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, and Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, introduced new legislation to reform Proposition 13. Senate Constitutional Amendment 5, titled the “Property Tax Fairness” amendment, would make changes to Prop. 13 by assessing commercial and
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