Eagle-eyed readers of Capitol Weekly’s recent report on quarterly lobbying payments might have spotted an unfamiliar firm name among the top recipients for the first quarter of 2024: the Deveau Burr Group. Especially close readers also might have noticed that Strategies 360, a perennial top firm in Sacramento, was conspicuously absent from the list of top payees for the quarter ..read more

OPINION – California is the premier state to watch for regulating kids' online safety. From its robust data privacy law to the contentious Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC), the state presents a wealth of opportunities to get kids’ online safety right. However, crucial First Amendment concerns have blocked the implementation of the AADC, and critical questions remain on the best path forward to keep kids safe online ..read more

OPINION - Prior to the pandemic there was a clearer delineation between traditional schools and more flexible “nonclassroom-based public charter schools.” The old-line educational world looked down on teaching that did not involve 100% in-person instruction. But the pandemic changed the point of view of many teachers, parents, and students and realigned the education world around recognizing the value and benefits of more innovative, flexible, and personalized learning models that have demonstrated a track record of success with diverse populations of students for decades ..read more

Special interests, otherwise known as “lobbyist employers,” paid lobbying firms a little more than $76 million to lobby California state government in the first quarter of 2024, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports ..read more

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Nationwide, over half of all high school students are required to take a course on personal finance to graduate. In California, it's just 1%. A ballot initiative proposed for the November ballot would change that: Backers submitted 900,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in March, and the measure appears poised to be certified by the Secretary of State. Tim Ranzetta, teacher, entrepreneur and one of the leading proponents of The California Personal Finance Education Initiative tells us why he believes the measure is necessary ..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

OPINION – The tax laws of most states are an offshoot of the federal tax laws contained in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). States conform to the IRC on either a “rolling” or “static” basis for purposes of computing the state’s tax base ..read more

A professional communicator with decades of experience, this month's Capitol Spotlight subject Brian Green helps the California State Senate Democratic shape the stories it wants to tell ..read more

A once-heralded research venture by the state of California that targeted “don’t eat me” signals that protect cancer cells has now ended. The potential treatment’s obituary boiled down to one phrase repeated six times and buried deep in a corporate document ..read more

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Is the use of NDAs as sinister as critics make out? Our guest today, former Speaker Robert Hertzberg argues that confidentiality agreements are a key part of building trust in sensitive legislative negotiations between diametrically opposed parties - and are sometimes the only way to get warring sides to the table ..read more