January 2016 | Page 5 of 6 | CalWatchdog.com

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CA cities take advantage of misworded marijuana law

California marijuana law has lurched into a new phase of disarray. But legislators in Sacramento have swung into action to correct the mistake behind the chaos. At fault was a drafting error in a key piece of legislation designed to

Brown debuts 2016-17 budget

James Poulos January 8, 2016

More permanent state spending would be devastating to California, Gov. Jerry Brown announced — at least in the midst of another recession. Unveiling his budget for the new fiscal year, Brown flourished a chart bearing that warning, although the proposal

Years after CalWatchdog investigation, bill to end sub-minimum wage advances

John January 8, 2016

More than 2 million workers in California are celebrating the new year’s bump in the minimum wage. Effective January 1, the state’s minimum wage increased from $9 to $10 an hour. But, not all workers in the state benefited from

CA secures federal extension on ID compliance

James Poulos January 8, 2016

Amid fears of travel debacles and administrative nightmares, the federal government gave California a last-minute extension to become compliant with new nationwide ID requirements. At the mercy of the Department of Homeland Security, California had joined a number of states in

Brown declares emergency over gas leak

James Poulos January 7, 2016

Gov. Jerry Brown has intervened as activists, analysts and residents decried a massive ongoing leak in a Los Angeles-area gas pipeline. “More than two months after a natural gas leak began emitting large amounts of a greenhouse gas near a wealthy neighborhood here, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a

Sacramento mired in budget bickering

James Poulos January 7, 2016

Having failed to deliver during a special legislative session Gov. Jerry Brown called last year, Sacramento Democrats and Republicans squared off on Medi-Cal and infrastructure spending this week. A large health care hole has developed in the current state budget, driven

4 or more tax measures likely on crowded fall ballot

Chris Reed January 6, 2016

With low state turnout in the 2014 election making it much easier than normal to qualify a ballot measure for elections this year, Californians may see their most overloaded ballot yet. The glut includes several proposals to raise taxes or

CA schools pass weakened assessments

James Poulos January 6, 2016

Californians troubled by the public school drive toward statewide standardized testing now face a reformed — but weaker — system of assessment. Two separate policy changes fueled the about-face. At the federal level, Congress turned its back on No Child Left Behind,

Will 2016 be the ‘Year of the Initiative’?

Joel Fox January 5, 2016

The Legislature is back in town this week but in the major policy issues department the Legislature is likely to be a sideshow in what can be labeled the Year of the Initiative. With a rush to place measures on

Education sector bond spending continues to spike

Steve Miller January 5, 2016

Schools and universities from the smallest unified school district to the top-tier university systems in the state issued more bonds in 2015 than they had in any year since the boom times of 2005, before the Great Recession. The result