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CA gun control repeal effort builds

Gun rights groups have turned up the heat on Sacramento’s newest firearms restrictions, mounting an effort to repeal seven fresh laws through the ballot this election year. “The group ‘Veto Gunmageddon’ needs to collect 360,000 signatures for each measure

Affordable housing deal appears dead for the year

Matt Fleming August 19, 2016

A deal to spur the construction of low-income housing statewide has apparently fallen apart, according to multiple media reports. Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, said talks have died for the year, largely because of Gov. Jerry Brown’s insistence to include provisions that would

Sacramento eyes electric vehicle boost

James Poulos August 18, 2016

With California’s cap-and-trade legislation on the ropes, zero-emissions vehicle quotas have emerged as the next piece of environmental policy up for debate in Sacramento. A new bill, soon to be introduced by Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Los Angeles, would “require

Farmworker overtime bill to get second chance soon

Matt Fleming August 17, 2016

After a staged, 24-hour hunger strike, proponents of a bill to increase overtime pay for farmworkers announced on Wednesday the once-dead measure will be on the Senate floor next week. The hunger strike was designed link the legislators’ sacrifice of

Los Angeles County plagued by local corruption

Chris Reed August 17, 2016

California doesn’t have nearly the reputation of, say, New Jersey or Maryland when it comes to a history of public corruption. Studies that measure corruption with metrics tend to give most corrupt honors to less populated, poorer southern states like

Recall campaign against CA judge mounts

James Poulos August 17, 2016

Facing a never-before-seen push to oust him because of a ruling, a California judge has become the focus of a political maelstrom centered around the politics of rape, gender and the rule of law. After giving a lenient sentence to

New analysis ranks California nearly last in liberty

Matt Fleming August 16, 2016

When it comes to liberty, California is one of the most restrictive states on its citizens, according to a new study. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, in its “Freedom in the 50 States” report divided liberty into three categories: personal,

Civil libertarians and police embrace asset-forfeiture compromise

Steven Greenhut August 16, 2016

SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly on Monday approved one of the most significant civil-liberties reforms of the legislative session. Remarkably, the bill – to put limits on the controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture by police agencies – had no

Another state agency flaunting California’s environmental laws

Matt Fleming August 15, 2016

The Department of Water Resources has been drilling for weeks in Yolo County without permits required by state law designed to protect against ground water contamination, under the belief its activities are exempt. Like other counties’ battles with Caltrans over the

Elon Musk slams CA air board over credits for zero-emissions vehicles

James Poulos August 15, 2016

Stiffed, as he sees it, by bureaucratic incompetence, Elon Musk took the California Air Resources Board to task for the way it handles zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) credits — at a moment when Musk’s plans for success require a huge leap forward