New Water Rules for Marijuana Growers
Marijuana growers who plan on growing cannabis on private land next season will encounter new state requirements to address the crop’s impact on California’s creeks and streams. The success of the policy will be tested by the state’s ability to bring growers into the legal cannabis sector. Currently, an estimated 80% of the state’s cannabis crop is […]
Los Angeles Public Officials are not Serious about Solving Homelessness
If you thought voter approval of two new taxes in Los Angeles to provide housing and services to the homeless would mean our government officials had no more excuses to ignore the problem, guess again. The new excuse for doing nothing about homelessness is, “We need more time.” That was the word from L.A. County […]
Taxpayers Second Victims in Harassment Cases
In light of the sexual harassment charges that have encircled the legislature, last month Assemblyman Kevin McCarty said he would introduce a bill that would require convicted sexual harassers to pay out of their own pocket instead of taxpayers compensating victims. McCarty’s bill should go further to protect taxpayers. Taxpayers are also victims when sexual […]
Backlash ripples through California politics after women denounce sexual harassment
With sexual harassment and assault allegations ricocheting through the state Capitol, two female lobbyists say they soon faced the consequences of speaking out—a state senator who suddenly wanted to avoid meeting with them. A client of theirs relayed that the senator wanted women excluded from a meeting at a nearby watering hole. The reason: The […]
Eric Garcetti for president? Really?
Someone may be putting something in the Los Angeles water supply. In the past months, two unlikely L.A.-based presidential contenders — Mayor Eric Garcetti and Disney Chief Robert Iger — have been floated in the media, including in the New York Times. But before we start worrying about how an L.A.-based president might affect traffic […]
Civic Education and the University of California
Public service lies at the heart of the University of California’s mission. We uphold this mission through the education of Californians and the creation of new knowledge, at our medical centers and through our agriculture and natural resources operations. And we uphold it with a steadfast commitment to shepherding the next generation of informed and […]
The Kate Steinle tragedy changed history
The Kate Steinle case was always about more than just the Kate Steinle case. The 32-year-old was shot in the back while walking with her father along San Francisco’s Pier 14. She collapsed and died in her father’s arms. It was July 1, 2015. The bullet came from a gun stolen four days earlier from […]
The Gubernatorial Candidates Are Missing Three Big Agendas
What are you going to do if it all goes off the rails? Politicians are advised not to advise hypotheticals, but the candidates for governor need to be pressed to explain how they would address some likely negative turns in California in the years ahead. The candidates are rolling out policy agendas, with Gavin Newsom […]
California continues its legacy of leading the nation with hostile, predatory legal climate
Today the American Tort Reform Foundation issued its 2017-2018 Judicial Hellholes report, ranking civil courts in California among the nation’s most unfair. It is no secret the State of California leads the nation with its hostile legal climate which rewards predatory litigation on the backs of struggling small businesses across the state. Our state being […]