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CA drought spawns regulatory struggles

As Californians are left reeling from an ever-worsening drought, state and federal regulators struggle to recast the rules surrounding water use — and the infrastructure designed to deliver it. Party politics In conversations with the New York Times, analysts warned that the drought’s lasting effects

CA housing becomes political football

James Poulos July 9, 2015

To borrow one metaphor, California’s housing market has become a double-edged sword, reminiscent of the bonanza days before the 2008 economic crisis. That’s why, to borrow another, it has also become a political football. With residents increasingly priced out of the state’s coastal metropolises, politicians

Shooting returns CA to center of immigration fight

James Poulos July 8, 2015

A slaying in San Francisco has sparked a national furor over its status as a so-called “sanctuary city” for unlawfully present immigrants. In an area popular with tourists, a five-time deportee named Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez shot Kathryn Steinle as she walked

Special contracts allow ‘full-time’ teachers to work for both union and district

Steve Miller July 7, 2015

It’s been called “ghost teaching,” and it thrives in California. Full-time teachers are paid six-figure salaries to work for their union while keeping their school district seniority and pensions afloat. The dual work arrangements are built into union contracts. “This

CA tech doubles down on driverless cars

James Poulos July 6, 2015

Despite a spate of media attention surrounding a narrowly missed collision between two self-driving prototype vehicles, California companies fielding driverless cars forged ahead, insisting that the developing technology was safe and getting safer. An unexpected trial Both cars in the incident “were equipped with similar

Dem split stalls right-to-die bill

James Poulos July 5, 2015

Under pressure from powerful faith-based constituencies, Southern California Democrats serving in the Assembly have broken rank with their party and halted its so-called “right-to-die bill,” which cleared the Senate early last month. Unanticipated opposition “The state Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday postponed

CA expands health entitlements

James Poulos July 3, 2015

As California included some unlawful immigrants in Medi-Cal, its version of the Medicaid program, a new study suggested that, nationwide, that population is holding down the costs of health entitlements. The findings promised to sharpen the debate over immigration reform and its connection to

Brown signs vax bill, drawing lawsuit vow

James Poulos July 1, 2015

As Gov. Jerry Brown signed a tough new vaccination bill into law, its vociferous opponents — who had fought the measure tooth and nail — vowed to sue the state and rally voters against it. Senate Bill 277 “requires almost all California schoolchildren

CA GOP flexes Sacramento muscle on road repairs

James Poulos July 1, 2015

In a move that handed Sacramento Republicans a sudden share of power, state legislators finally turned their attention to California’s deteriorating infrastructure. In recent years, California’s roadways have fallen into what analysts often agree is terrible shape. “Our streets and highways are in horrible

SCOTUS affirms power of initiative in redistricting case

Joel Fox June 29, 2015

The people can serve as legislators. In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court declared that an initiative by the voters to create a commission in Arizona to draw congressional districts was constitutional. California established a similar commission in