Outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown offered a pithy observation about the nature of politics during a wide-ranging interview before the Sacramento Press Club this month, to wit: “A lot of politics is timing, circumstances and luck.” While predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger contended with the state’s worst recession since the Great Depression, which...
LeBron James’ Move to Lakers Could Cost Him $20 Million in Taxes
Gov. Jerry Brown has gotten a lot of credit for California’s fiscal rebound. When he came to office, the state budget was running a deficit of $27 billion; now, as Brown leaves office, he’ll leave his successor, Gavin Newsom, with a $15 billion rainy day fund. Thanks, Jerry! But Californians actually...
California Moves Up Primary, Wants Bigger Impact in 2020
Go west, 2020 presidential candidates? Early voting in California's primary will overlap with the traditional early nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. That could force the sprawling field of Democrats to navigate those states as well as California's notoriously complex landscape, where campaigning is done through...
Brown Orders New DNA Testing in Old Murder Case
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered new DNA tests that a condemned inmate says could clear him in a 35-year-old quadruple murder case, which has drawn national attention. On Monday, Brown ordered tests of four pieces of evidence that Kevin Cooper and his attorneys say will show he was...
My Turn: Peace in California’s Water Wars Is Within Grasp
Dare we say it? The outlines of a truce in California’s unending water battles began to come into focus last week, though not everyone is willing to sign the treaty. The State Water Board adopted the first phase of a far-reaching revision to the Water Quality Control Plan for the...
Jerry Brown: Cal Democrats Likely Will Overspend
SACRAMENTO — Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown helped make his party even more powerful in California during the last eight years and now, less than a month before leaving office, he predicts that dominance will make it difficult for his successor to control Democrats' hunger for spending and regulations. The leader...
Gov. Brown Talks Health Care, 4 Terms in Office
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Jerry Brown predicted Tuesday that Republicans would face disastrous electoral consequences if a federal judge's ruling to strike down the Affordable Care Act holds. "It will build such a backlash that the Democrats will not only overtake the Senate, they'll win the presidency and they'll win...
Commentary: New Water Deal Isn't a Political Certainty
Water supply is clearly the most important long-term issue affecting California’s future. It’s also the most politically complicated. Incremental changes in California water policy typically take years, if not decades, to work their way through seemingly infinite legal, regulatory and political processes at federal, state and local levels – and...
Newsom Must Keep His Big Promise to the Valley: Editorial
Fred Ruiz eloquently stated earlier this year why the San Joaquin Valley needs representation on the University of California Board of Regents. "The San Joaquin Valley is the heart of California’s fertile agricultural region. It is home to more than 4 million Californians, and to diverse, distinctive and dynamic communities," Ruiz,...
Walters: School Budgets Squeezed Despite ‘Extraordinary’ State Surplus
Mac Taylor, the Legislature’s soon-to-retire budget analyst, generally takes a very conservative, glass-half-empty approach to the state’s finances. However, the report his office issued this month was downright exuberant, citing California’s strong economy, growing revenues and a historically large “rainy day fund” created by outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown. “It is...