CalWatchdog Morning Read – September 6

• The right-to-die law fight lives on
• SoCal state Senate race is a wild ride
• College student lobby group wins big with zero budget
• School bond on November ballot result of Capitol inaction
• Prescription drug costs ballot measure ready for war

Welcome back from Labor Day weekend. Campaigns are racing to the November finish line, which means if you haven’t had enough politics in your life up to this point, you’re in luck. And if you feel like you’ve had more than enough — then it’ll be a long few months.

And some campaigns never seem to end, as is the case with the right-to-die law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year. The law’s passage triggered elation among the state groups which had fought for years to allow doctors to give people with terminal illnesses lethal doses of drugs to end their lives.

A key sponsor — Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel — said the law’s enactment “marks a historic day in California.” The law took effect in June and will remain in place for 10 years.

But attempts to block the law have never stopped. Backers of a lawsuit seeking to scrap the measure may have lost the battle last week in a Riverside County courtroom, but they appear to still have a chance to win the war.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• “In the latest sign that the seat of termed-out state Sen. Bob Huff is up for grabs, Democrats have gained a slight voter-registration edge in the tri-county district, which includes Anaheim, Fullerton and Yorba Linda.” But it’s been a wild race for more than a year now. The Orange County Register has more.
• “It was the most successful year yet for the amateur lobbyists of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, owing largely to the sacrifices and sheer stamina of its recent leaders. … What makes that track record so remarkable is the size of the Student Senate’s legislative affairs operating budget: $0.” The San Jose Mercury News has more.  
• “Home builders, school construction companies and others, bypassing the Capitol, spent millions to gather signatures to qualify a $9 billion school bond for the ballot. Eleventh-hour Capitol negotiations to craft a smaller substitute bond in June went nowhere, securing Proposition 51’s fall placement,” writes The Sacramento Bee. 
• “Counting on the growing public outrage over the soaring costs of prescription drugs — and bolstered by the recent fury generated by huge price hikes for lifesaving EpiPens — Proposition 61 proponents are gearing up for one of the most highly anticipated ballot measure showdowns this election season,” writes The San Jose Mercury News.

Legislature: 

• Gone ’til December.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced. 

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