[Source: Los Angeles Times] Both houses of the California Legislature will convene Wednesday afternoon for the formal beginning of an eight-month session to craft a state budget and consider hundreds of proposed laws. And they will do so with three fewer lawmakers, two having resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. The national conversation over Read More…
Tag: legislators
California lawmaker wants to ban gas car sales after 2040
[Source: Capitol Alert] Sales of new gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles would be banned in California after 2040 under a bill that Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, plans to introduce. France and the United Kingdom are doing it. So is India. And now one lawmaker would like California to follow their lead in phasing out gasoline- Read More…
Despite liberal California Legislature, Chamber of Commerce kills most ‘job-killer’ bills
[Source: The Mercury News] From all appearances, the California Legislature’s 2017 session was one of the most liberal – or progressive, as liberals prefer to say – in the state’s history. In fact, legislative leaders such as Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon are saying as much. However, despite the overall left-of-center tone to the session that ended last week, the California Chamber of Read More…
CA Legislature passes Gov. Brown’s $52B plan to fix roads, hike gas taxes
[Source: KABC News/Associated Press] The California Legislature has approved Gov. Jerry Brown’s $52 billion plan to fix the state’s roads through an increase in gas taxes and other vehicle fees. The measure squeezed by in a late-night vote Thursday by the Assembly, hitting the two-thirds threshold without a single vote to spare. The governor’s 10-year Read More…
State lawmakers consider new bill to increase gas tax for road repairs
[Source: ABC10 / KXTV] Take a deep breath — California lawmakers are still considering raising the tax on gas in order to fund repairs to roads and highways. California drivers in 2016 paid the fifth highest excise tax on gasoline in the country, according to the Tax Foundation. The Golden state was behind Hawaii (#4), Read More…
Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit dies at 64
[Source: The Press Enterprise] Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit died Monday night, Dec. 26 at age 64, his office announced. Benoit, who had been battling pancreatic cancer, “passed away peacefully this evening at his home in Bermuda Dunes,” according to a county news release. His death came one day shy of his 65th birthday, said Read More…
Democrats again gunning for legislative supermajorities
[Source: Sacramento Bee] With California’s legislative session finally behind us, attention turns to the fall elections, where Republicans are largely crouched in a defensive position and Democrats are looking to expand the electoral map. The end of session has traditionally marked the time when staff members hit the phones and fan out across the state Read More…
California lawmakers weigh nation’s highest entry level wage
[Source: Associated Press] California state lawmakers are poised to enact the nation’s highest statewide minimum wage on Thursday, with gradual increases to $15 by 2022. Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders are promoting the boost as a matter of economic justice, and as an example to a nation struggling with a growing divide between Read More…
Lawmakers urge report on growing bullet train costs
[Source: Los Angeles Times] The California high-speed rail authority bowed to pressure from California legislators and members of Congress late Tuesday and released a copy of a 2013 report showing a large estimated increase in the cost of building the initial segment of the bullet train project. The report, disclosed by the Times in a Read More…