Tag "James Poulos"
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CA joins national gun standoff
It’s a gun standoff like in a Quentin Tarantino movie — barrels pointed but nothing resolved for now. That’s why gun law in California and the rest of America won’t be standardized anytime soon. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take
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CA Dems seek new corporate tax
A new bill would hike taxes on corporations with the biggest spread in paid wages. The legislation, Senate Bill 1372, was recently introduced by state Sens. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and Loni Hancock, D-Oakland. It passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee late
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CA lawmakers look to pull plug on NSA snooping
Big Brother might have to close his eyes. A new bipartisan bill would prohibit California’s cooperation with warrantless snooping by the National Security Agency. Senate Bill 828 is by state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Redondo Beach. Invoking the Bill of Rights’ Fourth
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Prison litigation brings no relief for taxpayers
A panel of three federal judges recently granted California two additional years to bring the state’s prison system into compliance with legally mandated limits on incarceration numbers. Explained the San Jose Mercury News, “At the same time, the judges set strict guidelines for how
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CA vies with other states’ film tax credits
The market for movie and television production is now an incentive-laden free-for-all. Faced with fierce competition from statehouses around the country, two California assemblymen have introduced a new bill upping the stakes in the tax credit arms race. Assembly Bill 1839 has been introduced
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CA Republicans ‘stand with sriracha’
The debate over a hot sauce factory is spicing up California politics. After a small number of complaints over the factory’s alleged smell, the city of Irwindale recently voted to declare Huy Fong Foods, makers of the popular sriracha condiment, a public nuisance.
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Sen. Steinberg dumps carbon tax idea
State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has given up on his plan to replace California’s cap-and-trade law with a carbon tax on vehicles. At first, Steinberg wanted to simplify the way California regulated emissions. To do so, he suggested that revenue
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Momentum grows for police body cameras
For critics of police misconduct looking for an easy fix, one solution towers above the rest: affix video cameras to cops. The idea is picking up steam in California, where top officials are showing increased interest. Yet this also is
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CA continues to inhale ‘Medical’ marijuana
Faced with a growing chorus of concern among municipalities, California legislators are about to consider an innovative approach to the regulation of marijuana — tightening standards for the prescription and supply of medical-use pot. Though one new bill offers what
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Covered CA gains only modest signups in ‘final hours’
As the last blanket deadline extension arrived, late signups slowed down on Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. Difficulties brought on by the website’s inability to process a wave of applicants gave officials an opportunity to push back the original
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