Posts From James Poulos
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CA lawmakers look to pull plug on NSA snooping
Big Brother might have to close his eyes. A new bipartisan bill would prohibit California’s cooperation with warrantless snooping by the National Security Agency. Senate Bill 828 is by state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Redondo Beach. Invoking the Bill of Rights’ Fourth
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Prison litigation brings no relief for taxpayers
A panel of three federal judges recently granted California two additional years to bring the state’s prison system into compliance with legally mandated limits on incarceration numbers. Explained the San Jose Mercury News, “At the same time, the judges set strict guidelines for how
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CA vies with other states’ film tax credits
The market for movie and television production is now an incentive-laden free-for-all. Faced with fierce competition from statehouses around the country, two California assemblymen have introduced a new bill upping the stakes in the tax credit arms race. Assembly Bill 1839 has been introduced
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CA Republicans ‘stand with sriracha’
The debate over a hot sauce factory is spicing up California politics. After a small number of complaints over the factory’s alleged smell, the city of Irwindale recently voted to declare Huy Fong Foods, makers of the popular sriracha condiment, a public nuisance.
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Sen. Steinberg dumps carbon tax idea
State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has given up on his plan to replace California’s cap-and-trade law with a carbon tax on vehicles. At first, Steinberg wanted to simplify the way California regulated emissions. To do so, he suggested that revenue
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Momentum grows for police body cameras
For critics of police misconduct looking for an easy fix, one solution towers above the rest: affix video cameras to cops. The idea is picking up steam in California, where top officials are showing increased interest. Yet this also is
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Rizzo heads to slammer
Robert Rizzo is going to jail. Facing over 100 counts of corruption and associated wrongdoing, he will spend 12 years in state prison. The ex-city manager will also serve 33 months of a federal sentence for income tax evasion. The
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CA continues to inhale ‘Medical’ marijuana
Faced with a growing chorus of concern among municipalities, California legislators are about to consider an innovative approach to the regulation of marijuana — tightening standards for the prescription and supply of medical-use pot. Though one new bill offers what
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Covered CA gains only modest signups in ‘final hours’
As the last blanket deadline extension arrived, late signups slowed down on Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. Difficulties brought on by the website’s inability to process a wave of applicants gave officials an opportunity to push back the original
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CalSTRS unfunded liability hits new high
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System just announced it faces $73.7 billion in long-term liabilities. Left untouched, that would spell bankruptcy in 2043. For critics of California’s public-employee pensions programs, the grim numbers heighten the urgency for reform. If CalSTRS wants
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