“California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell.” That was Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initial response to Politico’s explosive Monday night publication of a draft U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion that suggests justices are poised to strike down Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed the federal constitutional right to...
Californians Should Look to California for Their Oil
In the nearly two months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the images of wartime devastation continue to haunt us. Vladimir Putin’s war crimes have disrupted the world’s economy, driving up energy costs and affecting every Californian. To bring relief from high gas prices and reduce California’s reliance on foreign oil,...
Get the Facts Ahead of June Primary With Nonpartisan California Voter Guide
We get it, California voters. You’ve been busy lately. Just two years ago, you and 17.7 million of your civically-minded neighbors helped decide who ought to become the next president, who should sit in the Legislature and congressional delegation and how the state should handle issues such as property taxes,...
Will Sacramento Mass Shooting Influence Attorney General’s Race?
A suspect in connection with the shooting deaths of six people in downtown Sacramento was released from prison less than halfway through his 10-year sentence because of credits earned behind bars, handing Assembly Republicans an opportunity to decry the state’s recent wave of criminal justice reforms. “The violence we...
Prison Release Proposal Gets More Contentious After Sacramento Shootings
Timing is everything. Since the early months of the pandemic, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been scrambling to reduce crowding in the state’s COVID-racked prison system by making it easier for certain inmates to get out early. In February, the agency announced yet another raft of...
Police Groups Pour Cash Into Schubert’s Challenge of AG Bonta
Amid rising concerns about crime and recent criminal justice reforms, California’s law enforcement groups are spending big this year in several high-profile races. So far in the 2022 election cycle, these groups have contributed more than $1 million to campaigns for the state Legislature and several statewide offices, slightly less than...
GOP Wants Gas Tax Suspended in CA, Dems Eye New Tax on Gas Suppliers
After twice refusing to consider GOP Assemblymember Kevin Kiley of Rocklin’s bill to suspend California’s excise gas tax for six months, a key Assembly committee passed it on Monday — after gutting the contents and inserting an entirely new measure from Democratic Assemblymember Alex Lee of San Jose. Lee’s amendments would, among...
Solving California’s Housing Crisis Starts With Building More Homes
California’s housing crisis can seem insurmountable. The median home price is more than $800,000, the state needs millions of additional homes to give everyone a place to live and homelessness is on the rise. Progress is abysmal. The state called for the construction of 180,000 new units annually between 2015 and...
Are Newest CA Vaccine Bills About Safety or Legislative Overreach?
Lea este artículo en español. Gov. Gavin Newsom is easing mask restrictions and declaring that the pandemic is moving into a less critical phase. Yet an aggressive slate of COVID-19-related bills — to mandate vaccines for children and workers, to allow 12 to 17 year-olds to get the vaccine without...
Progressives: There’s No Democracy in California Democratic Party
The message was clear and, more importantly, it was loud: Progressive activists would work to block the California Democratic Party’s endorsement for any lawmaker who did not support a single-payer health care bill facing a crucial legislative deadline at the end of January. Their threat did not persuade wavering legislators to...