Posts From Chris Reed
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Gov. Newsom pushes for quick action on wildfire plan
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the Legislature to agree to sweeping reforms in wildfire liability rules by July 12, before lawmakers start a one-month recess. After first calling on legislative leaders to shape new policies to help investor-owned utilities deal with
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Sympathy of state officials not enough for struggling cannabis industry
State officials, from Gov. Gavin Newsom on down, have been sympathetic to the struggles of California’s legal marijuana industry since recreational sales at shops became legal Jan. 1, 2018, so long as local governments gave their OK. This sympathy was
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Study warns air travel a major threat in spread of measles in California
The state Legislature’s push to tighten up vaccine requirements for K-12 students took a step forward last week even as public health officials acknowledged a British medical study that said travelers to the U.S. from nations with measles outbreaks were
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Two new headaches for California high-speed rail project
The California High-Speed Rail Authority – the agency in charge of building the state’s bullet train system – has already faced a tough year, with Gov. Gavin Newsom signaling in February that he’s not confident the full system can ever
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Push to promote ‘defensible space’ in homes at fire risk faulted
After the deadliest and most destructive four-year stretch of wildfires in modern California history, Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in January determined to escalate state efforts to limit fire threats and to adopt safer building and fire maintenance practices. Within
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Are voters ready to approve two massive tax hikes in 2020?
Because voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978 — the ballot initiative that capped property tax hikes at 2 percent per year and required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before taxes could be added or increased — California became known as
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Weakened rent control bill advances in Assembly
Opponents of rent control and new restrictions on how landlords treat tenants succeeded in either weakening or blocking bills that needed to advance last week to have a chance of being enacted this legislative session. Coming seven months after voters
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Assembly passes stricter use-of-force bill, suggesting police unions have lost clout at state Capitol
For the second year in a row, a sweeping police reform measure that law-enforcement organizations said was motivated by antipathy toward peace officers has been embraced by the state Legislature. Last year lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1421 by Sen. Nancy
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California enters fourth year of poor recycling record
California has long considered itself to be a global beacon on environmentalism. But the state is now going on four straight years with a poor record on one of the core environmental practices: recycling. The problem began in January 2016,
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Faculty housing? No thanks, says Berkeley faculty Senate
The need for less expensive housing in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley has been so plain for so long that many of those on the outside of California looking in wonder why local governments, developers and voters can’t get
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