Inside Government

Gov. Brown thinks long with young CA high-court picks

Jerry Brown will be 80 when his fourth and final term as governor ends in 2018. But it’s plain that he hopes to leave a mark on California life for 40 years after he’s gone — not with the bullet

For 2nd straight election, inattention leads to huge Assembly upset

Chris Reed November 27, 2014

In 2012, Republican officials were appalled at the incompetence of Lancaster City Councilman Ron Smith, a Republican who somehow managed to lose a safe Assembly seat to a Democrat with so much baggage he looked like a muni airport where

Under fire, Feinstein’s water bill collapses

James Poulos November 25, 2014

It has been an uncharacteristically bad week for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. First, her quiet effort to engineer a substantial drought relief bill for California washed out to sea. After working all year with Republicans for a compromise, this week Feinstein encountered

Trial lawyers seek and win extreme verdict they know won’t stand

Chris Reed November 25, 2014

An insane court ruling led me to write this for the U-T San Diego: At a recent federal trial in San Diego, lawyers for Rosario Juarez presented compelling, disturbing evidence that the San Ysidro resident faced repeated gender discrimination while working

Upbeat LAO report lacks key focus: CalSTRS bailout cost

Chris Reed November 21, 2014

The Legislative Analyst’s Office released an analysis of state revenue this week that suggests the state won’t suffer when temporary tax hikes expire. This is from AP: SACRAMENTO — A steadily improving economy will buffer California’s budget from a drop

Jerry Brown about to annihilate UC president on tuition hikes

Chris Reed November 20, 2014

Aficionados of California politics are going to be in for a fun exercise over the next month or two. Gov. Jerry Brown is absolutely going to annihilate UC President Janet Napolitano in their fight over her proposal to get UC

2014’s low turnout eases path for 2016 tenure, pension ballot measures

Chris Reed November 18, 2014

Rick Claussen, Ned Wigglesworth, and Aaron McLear of the Redwood Pacific consulting group have released an interesting memo that is good news for those considering taking on public employee unions in 2016 with ballot measures putting limits on government pensions

Will MWD try — again — to sabotage client seeking new water supplies?

Chris Reed November 17, 2014

I’ve been a journalist in Socal since 1990, and I’ve never seen a story about government behavior as strange as the ones about the giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California trying to sabotage its biggest client’s efforts to broaden

Assembly GOP Leader Kristin Olsen introduces new stars

John November 14, 2014

2014 was a solid year for California Republicans. In the state Senate, the GOP prevented Democrats from regaining a two-thirds supermajority. And in the Assembly, Republicans defeated three Democratic incumbents, which also reversed a Democratic supermajority. “We unseated sitting Democrats for the

Will severe school lunch policies eventually cost Dems? Maybe

Chris Reed November 13, 2014

The news this week that UC San Francisco had “unveiled a repository of sugar science, designed to collect the evidence against sweetened foods and disseminate that information to the public — and persuade people to boot fructose and most other