A Bill to Advantage Labor over Business in Using Direct Democracy
The latest effort by the legislature to reduce law-making competition from the initiative process now on Governor Newsom’s desk favors the majority party’s labor allies over the business community. AB 1451 authored by Assemblyman Evan Low requires that at least ten percent of petition signatures come from unpaid signature gatherers. The measure would also ban […]
Why Lara Should Resign
The Ricardo Lara scandal is a good thing. First, Lara’s acceptance of donations from people in the insurance industry exposes the problem of making insurance commissioners elected officials. That means they must raise money, and the people who give money to insurance commissioner candidates are people who want things from insurance commissioners. Second, it points […]
Initial Look at the Numbers: Brown and Newsom
During former Governor Brown’s last year in office, 1,217 bills reached the Governor’s Desk by the conclusion of the 2018 Legislative Session. In his first year in office, Governor Newsom will have received 1,037 bills by the conclusion of the 2019 Legislative Session. In 2018, out of 2,225 bills introduced (Senate – 694; Assembly – […]
Californians and the 2020 Election
All eyes will be on California when voters make their choices in the upcoming presidential primary on March 3. Last year, California experienced a surge in voter registration and voting. On the heels of record low turnout in 2014, the 2018 election had the highest turnout for a midterm in California since 1982. Still, PPIC […]