Regulations

San Francisco voters may have chance to overturn vaping ban

SACRAMENTO – The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in June to make the city the first in the country to impose a total sales ban on flavored tobacco products, as similar ordinances spread across the Bay Area. It’s also

GOP legislators unlikely to pay price for cap-and-trade vote

Steven Greenhut July 18, 2017

SACRAMENTO – As the California Legislature approached a late-night Monday vote to extend the state’s climate-change-fighting cap-and-trade system, the Capitol buzz focused on Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks. The Democratic assemblywoman was absent because of a long-standing family commitment, thus

San Francisco sues Uber in battle over driver privacy

Steven Greenhut May 16, 2017

SACRAMENTO – The city of San Francisco filed suit last week against the ride-sharing service Uber after the company filed a motion in court to block the release of a drivers’ personal information. This sets up the latest battle between

Credit industry circles California pot banking

James Poulos April 28, 2017

As Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration turns toward tidying up California’s complex and still-unsettled marijuana laws, the massive market for money made from the plant’s products has begun to attract attention from financial services companies that want to take advantage without

Transparency initiative shaped nature of road-tax debate

Steven Greenhut April 12, 2017

It’s no secret that the state’s legislative leadership is less than thrilled about an open-government initiative that California voters passed in the November election, and are doing what they can to undermine its clear intent. Yet, it’s a testament

California Air Resources Board ratchets up emissions regulations

James Poulos April 1, 2017

Continuing a years-long push, the California Air Resources Board cracked down further on emissions, sharpening the debate over the scope of its plans. “The new rules, green-lighted [March 23] … seek to curb methane emissions at oil and gas production

Trump to scrap vehicle mileage standards – fight with California, environmentalists likely

Chris Reed March 16, 2017

President Trump on Wednesday launched the first salvo in what seems likely to end up a war with the state of California and many liberal states over vehicle mileage rules that Gov. Jerry Brown and environmentalists depict as crucial to

California high court says public records are public, even on a private email

Steven Greenhut March 7, 2017

SACRAMENTO – Earlier this month, the California Supreme Court unanimously overturned an appeals court decision that had provided a large loophole in the state’s public-records act. The case, City of San Jose v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County, revolves around

Is lack of competition leading to costly electricity glut?

Steven Greenhut February 7, 2017

SACRAMENTO – A top California utility official once quipped that he was one of the few executives in the country who earned a profit merely by remodeling his office. He was referring to the way the state’s regulated utility system

Assemblyman wants to crack down on unpermitted, self-driving vehicles

Matt Fleming January 12, 2017

It’s not enough that Uber killed its unpermitted, self-driving-vehicle pilot program in San Francisco just a week after it started; an assemblyman wants to squash any further attempts to test vehicles without a permit as well. Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San