Matt Fleming, Author at CalWatchdog.com

Posts From Matt Fleming

Matt Fleming

Why does Hugh Hefner keep contributing to this Senate candidate?

Sure as the sun rises every morning, every election cycle Playboy legend Hugh Hefner gives to Loretta Sanchez’s congressional races. In fact, Playboy’s editor in chief is one of the Orange County Democrat’s top donors this cycle, having given $10,400

Speaker, initiative committee spar over transparency measure

Matt Fleming June 28, 2016

A war of words erupted in recent days between the proponents of a transparency ballot measure and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, after members of the Legislature and legislative counsel dismissed the measure as full of “ambiguities” and introduced their own

Dislike of Clinton, Trump creates third-party moment

Matt Fleming June 27, 2016

If there was ever an opportunity for a third-party run, now would be it. Unfavorable opinions among voters of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — the presumptive presidential candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively — create a

Accusations of political retaliation against a fellow Democrat, as told by Twitter

Matt Fleming June 23, 2016

A bill to expand parental leave was killed in committee Wednesday, leaving the Twitterati to speculate there was an appearance of retaliation by the chairman, Assemblyman Roger Hernández. The perceived retaliation came two months after the West Covina Democrat was asked

Legislature advancing bill to stop license suspensions for unpaid fines

Matt Fleming June 22, 2016

A bill to stop automatic suspensions of driver’s licenses for unpaid fines is only a few votes and one signature from becoming law. Senate Bill 881, sponsored by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, has cleared the Senate already and is working its

Congressman Darrell Issa faces tough political fight for re-election

Matt Fleming June 21, 2016

Is Congressman Darrell Issa really in reelection trouble? Not that long ago, the Vista Republican was on top of the political world. Through his former perch atop the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Issa stood as the face of GOP opposition

Study: Auto voter registration adds 2 million voters in first year

Matt Fleming June 15, 2016

California’s electorate could grow by more than 2 million voters once a new law implementing automatic registration through the DMV starts working in 2017, according to a new study. The study, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, predicts that

Lawmakers counter ballot proposal with watered down transparency measures

Matt Fleming June 14, 2016

Lawmakers will consider two transparency bills on Wednesday in an effort to head off a ballot measure that would go to greater lengths. The Constitutional Legislative Transparency Act, backed by Republican donor Charles T. Munger, Jr., is a constitutional amendment

Republicans in Legislature poised to increase diversity in 2016

Matt Fleming June 11, 2016

Buried beneath the headlines of Donald Trump’s comments of the day and the relatively new top-two primary format that weeded out Republicans from a statewide partisan race for the first time ever rests one nugget of good news for the

Lawmaker gives award to brother, political consultant

Matt Fleming June 9, 2016

In deciding which small business from her district should win an award for “Small Business of the Year,” Assemblymember Nora Campos didn’t have to look far. The San Jose Democrat chose Voler Strategic Advisers, a fledgling political strategy firm that