Tag "legislature"
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Lawmakers bow to pressure, abandon effort to fix property confiscation laws
Government agencies will continue to have the power to confiscate private property in California – without a criminal conviction – after lawmakers bowed to intense lobbying pressure by agencies with a vested interest in maintaining California’s civil asset forfeiture system. “No
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SB350 support hinges on cost vs. environmental protections
Looking at the results of the California Business Roundtable/California Manufacturing & Technology Association poll on Senate Bill 350, the new climate change policy being considered in the CA Legislature, you can almost see how campaign arguments would be formulated if
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Taxes vs. reform — Transportation negotiations continue
Watching the maneuvering to pass a transportation revenue package in the special session, I can’t help but think of the observation by that great philosopher Yogi Berra who said: “It’s déjà vu all over again.” The legislative scrum over a
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Critics warn drug mandate will increase health care costs
A prescription drug bill, Assembly Bill 339, would save money for many with chronic medical conditions. But critics warn that it also will increase insurance premiums for everyone else and make it harder for insurers to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies
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Groups eye additional “sin tax” revenue
Is a tax on cigarettes a revenue raiser or a “sin tax” — used to discourage individuals from using products considered harmful? The effort to raise taxes on cigarettes – there is a measure in the Legislature as well a
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Legislative transparency bill shelved again
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was mocked for saying about the Affordable Care Act, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy.” But that type of legislating-in-the-dark
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Road repair bill would raise transportation taxes, fees
California motorists will each be paying an extra $900 over the next five years for road maintenance if Senate Bill 16 is approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. But that $18.4 billion increase in transportation taxes
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State senate committee approves minimum wage hike
California’s minimum wage workers will receive a 62.5 percent raise over three years if Senate Bill 3 is approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee recently passed the bill on
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Assembly Republican leader tries to streamline the Legislature
Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor in the 19th Century, never visited California. But he could have had the state Legislature in mind when he said, “Laws are like sausages — it is best not to see them being made.”
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