Regulations

Added workplace regulation for the new year

A new round of targeted workplace regulations passed over the course of 2016 will take effect in the coming year, with some slated to come into law the minute the clock strikes 2017. Wage rules First, Golden State businesses

State forces Uber to stop testing self-driving vehicles

Chris Reed December 23, 2016

Uber’s defiance of a California Department of Motor Vehicles’ demand that the pioneering transit company stop testing its self-driving Volvo sport-utility vehicles in San Francisco ended Wednesday when the DMV revoked the vehicles’ registrations, making them illegal to operate on

Court OKs constitutional challenge to new state law affecting farm industry

Steven Greenhut December 13, 2016

SACRAMENTO – A federal appeals court last week has taken the highly unusual step of finding a U.S. constitutional cause of action in a challenge to a California state law – the latest wrinkle in a long-running and bitter dispute

Sacramento seeks central taxi regulations

James Poulos September 13, 2016

The latest battle in California’s ongoing legislative and regulatory war over ridesharing services has shifted to new ground, as livery supporters rallied to pass a new bill concentrating decision-making in state hands. Although car companies based in San Francisco would be spared

New report alleges work abuses by Apple’s Chinese suppliers

Steve Miller September 8, 2016

A statute passed by California lawmakers in 2010 to stem labor abuses abroad has been of meager help in policing tech giant Apple, a group that studies labor abuses in China claims. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, heralded

Ferret ban in California not gone just yet

Matt Fleming August 25, 2016

Bad news for ferret lovers: Your pet is still illegal in California. But change may be coming. On Thursday, the California Fish and Game Commission continued reconsideration of the ban on domestic ferrets that’s been in place since 1933 until its

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,

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

Industry confronts new CA computer energy regs

James Poulos August 13, 2016

California’s massive computing industry faced the prospect of sweeping changes at the hands of Golden State regulators worried that idle devices are drawing too much power at too great a cost. “All computers sold in California could be required to