In 2013, California’s Legislature busied itself passing more than 800 new laws. In the coming weeks, CalWatchdog.com will report on the many affecting businesses in 2014. Overtime for nannies and domestic workers The “Domestic Workers Bill of Rights,” Assembly Bill 241, by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, “would specially regulate the wages, hours, and working conditions of domestic […]

This is Part 3 of a series on the EDD. Part 1, an interview with Spokesman Dan Stephens, is here. Part 2, EDD computers must be fixed by Dec. 31, is here. Three months after a California Employment Development Department computer crash cut off tens of thousands of Californians from their unemployment benefits, the EDD’s system does […]

This is Part 2 of a series on the EDD. Part 1, an interview with Spokesman Dan Stephens, is here. Just after the Labor Day weekend, the California Employment Development Department released a $100 million computer upgrade. It crashed. Without warning, 150,000 jobless Californians were cut from unemployment benefits. The EDD blamed a computer glitch and said […]

Obamacare’s computers aren’t the only government systems struck by major glitches. Two months after a California Employment Development Department computer crash cut off tens of thousands of Californians from their unemployment benefits, the EDD remains overwhelmed by overdue unemployment claims from thousands of people looking for jobs. State Labor Secretary Marty Morgenstern, an appointee of […]

The California Department of Water Resources announced this week that the Central Valley may only get five percent of the water it needs next year. The Central Valley, the heart of California, is the state’s top agricultural producing region, often called “the nation’s salad bowl” for the great array of fruits and vegetables grown in its […]

One out of five cigarettes puffed in California is smuggled. Yet a proposed $2 tax increase on every pack of cigarettes, which would increase the price to $9 per pack, would ignite cigarette smuggling, a new study by the California Foundation for Commerce and Education found. Senate Bill 768 by Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los […]

Despite the California Constitution section which guarantees California’s 121 charter cities the authority over their  municipal business, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 7, which will deprive these cities of state funding and financial assistance for projects if they do not pay the prevailing wage. The bill was a classic special interest sponsored bill, sponsored by the State […]

Roll over, Cesar Chavez, here comes Silvia Lopez. Silvia Lopez is a quiet, thoughtful 15-year Gerawan Farming employee, and the de facto leader of thousands of Central Valley farm workers who have been protesting for nearly a year to oust the United Farm Workers union from the farming company. Seven hundred Gerawan farm workers took […]

If Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has his way, your babysitter soon could join a union and cost you a lot more. The San Francisco Democrat has authored several domestic-worker unionization bills that have been vetoed by California governors. Now he’s back with Assembly Bill 241, which just passed both houses of the Legislature and is awaiting […]

The surprising recall election of two Colorado Democratic lawmakers Tuesday for backing gun control laws was a warning shot for lawmakers across America eager for more gun control laws. Not for the Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature. More than two dozen gun control bills are being voted on this week. And while lawmakers are making a pretense […]