February 2016 | Page 6 of 7

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Green targeting of dissident CA Dem off to bad start

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, a moderate African-American Democrat from San Bernardino seeking her third term, has brushed back the first challenge to her re-election by Eloise Reyes, a Colton attorney strongly backed by environmental groups. Brown easily won her local party

LAO: Teacher pension fund too risky and complex

Matt Fleming February 5, 2016

Policy analysts are calling on state lawmakers to simplify the way the teachers’ pension fund gets funded — to improve oversight and to avoid the state being left in a lurch. According to the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, the “subjective” funding

New capital punishment plan sharpens CA execution fight

James Poulos February 4, 2016

Obliged by a court settlement to figure out a new method of capital punishment, California officials have exacerbated the state’s protracted debate over executions by settling on a different kind of lethal injection. With a widespread shortage of execution drugs

$Feds freeze offshore CA fracking$

Feds freeze offshore CA fracking

James Poulos February 4, 2016

Twin legal settlements with environmentalist plaintiffs put a freeze on fracking in California waters. “The agreements in Los Angeles federal court apply to operations off Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. operate platforms,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Federal

Good news on several CA drought fronts

Chris Reed February 3, 2016

State officials measured the Sierra Nevada snowpack for the second time in 2016 on Tuesday, and once again the news was good. Capital Public Radio has the details: The latest measurement … showed that the “snowpack is growing quite nicely.”

Minimum wage divides experts

Matt Fleming February 3, 2016

Voters will likely decide on the November ballot whether or not to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, even though experts are still divided on the issue. There will be plenty of anecdotes in between now and November

Another deadline delay for Covered CA

James Poulos February 3, 2016

Whether confused, unsure, busy or just procrastinating, Californians won yet another deadline extension for signing up with the state’s Obamacare exchange for health insurance coverage. Anyone who initiated enrollment prior to last Sunday’s deadline “will earn another week to finish up,”

CA could ban encrypted smartphones

James Poulos February 2, 2016

A worldwide controversy over whether to ban encrypted smartphones has opened a new front in California, where lawmakers introduced legislation that would crack down on the devices. Assembly Bill 1681, introduced by Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, would mandate that phones

Rohrabacher spokesman: No plans to retire

Matt Fleming February 2, 2016

A spokesman for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher confirmed on Monday that the Huntington Beach Republican has no plans to retire at the moment. On Friday, Scott Baugh — both a former state legislator and former chairman of the Orange County Republican Party

New Obamacare rule roils CA farms, farmworkers

Chris Reed February 1, 2016

The Affordable Care Act has long worried the California agricultural industry. But now the complaints have intensified because of a new requirement expanding coverage. Obamacare has largely been in effect for more than two years, but it wasn’t until Jan.