OPINION - Trying to manage a chronic disease can be overwhelming. Getting access to medications to treat the disease should not be. No one should have to choose between putting food on the table or getting life-saving medication to manage their health.  ..read more

Everyone is talking about Proposition 47 this year. So with that in mind, it’s time for our panel of experts to weigh in. The question: Californians are fed up with crime, and - correctly or not - Proposition 47 is getting much of the blame. Will either lawmakers or voters eventually make substantive changes to this law?  ..read more

Delaine Eastin, who was the first woman to serve as California's Superintendent of Public Instruction, died Tuesday. She served as SUPI from 1995 to 2003 ..read more

OPINION - California’s large, iconic companies are most often in the spotlight, but small businesses are what drive our economy. These locally owned employers are the lifeblood of community prosperity, particularly for women and people of color who often see entrepreneurship as a path to financial independence.  ..read more

While California campaigns and election regulators like the California Fair Political Practices Commission have generally succeeded in providing transparency to the contribution side of the campaign finance ledger, they’ve fallen comparatively short when it comes to expenditures ..read more

A trio of bills aimed at improving care for animals at shelters cleared the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development on Monday. The trio of bills collectively aim at reducing shelter overcrowding and improving record keeping around animal care while requiring more shelters to publicly report data on a variety of care issues, including the number of animals euthanized ..read more

OPINION - Earlier this month, the California Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Senate Bill 1036 (SB 1036), a bill that would cause far-reaching damage to the ability of California - and the world - to fight the climate crisis. Despite its good intentions, in practice, SB 1036 opens individuals and firms engaging with the voluntary carbon market in good faith to increased legal risk and potential civil litigation and misinformed, frivolous lawsuits ..read more

Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome ..read more

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Longtime poverty fighter Jess Bartholow surprised many when she left her longtime gig with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in 2020 to become East Bay Senator Nancy Skinner's Chief of Staff. The move made sense: Skinner has long been an outspoken advocate for California's poor, and was a personal inspiration for Bartholow. But with the senator terming out at the end of this year, Bartholow recently opted for a new post: Director of Govt. Relations for SEIU California, one of the most powerful labor unions in the state and across the country ..read more

On occasion, readers can find bills in the California Legislature that make “continuous appropriations.” What are these types of appropriations? Why are they used? How are they drafted by the attorneys at the Office of Legislative Counsel ..read more