Experts Expound
“There’s a lot of hand-wringing about last-minute deals in the Legislature. Does it really matter? Is an 11th-hour deal any better or worse than one hammered out in the previous June?” A deal, as...
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“Will the Democrats’ super-majorities really make a difference in the Capitol?” The super-majorities have the greatest impact on shifting the legislation-blocking role away from Republicans and toward...
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“A perky Jerry Brown delivered his State of the State Address today. He targeted the education bureaucracy, extolled the virtues of teachers and said overhauling environmental regulation is necessary....
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“Clearly, Gov. Brown is adamant about rewriting the California Environmental Quality Act. But why? What’s he got against CEQA? Other than developers, who is he scoring points with?” — It’s the economy,...
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“Gov. Brown says federal oversight of the California prison system is a waste of money, sucks up critical state resources and should come to an immediate end. What do you think?” The numbers tell the...
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“Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg plans to run for the Senate next year, taking Alex Padilla’s seat, and wants to succeed Steinberg as pro tem. Does Hertzberg have a shot? And wasn’t De Leon being...
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“The FBI raided the Capitol and agents apparently are looking at Ron and Tom Calderon, as well as an LA-area water district’s contracting practices. Is this developing scandal limited in scope or is it...
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So what’s Tom Steyer up to? Earlier, he reportedly was going to run for governor or U.S. Senate and he’s been taking lead roles on environmental protection issues. Steyer, who was just named to...
View ArticleExperts Expound: Spending money
“The LAO says the state is flush with cash and multibillion-dollar reserves loom in coming years. How should we spend the money?” Clearly the answer is investing in a high speed rail route between...
View ArticleWill California’s 2016 presidential primary be meaningless — again?
“Too little, too late? Will California’s 2016 presidential primary be meaningless in the process of picking a president?” Isn’t it always? It will be meaningless as usual . . . Too early to know. The...
View ArticleExperts Expound: Universal health care
Everybody’s talking about it, so we though we’d ask our experts: “Universal health care: Do we want it, will we get it? If so, when?” Here’s what they told us. “The fight for universal health care is...
View ArticleExperts Expound: The race to replace DiFi
Dianne Feinstein’s announcement she will not seek another term has sparked a furious three-way battle for the Democratic nomination to replace her. But is there a Republican dark horse in the mix? Or...
View ArticleExperts Expound: single payer healthcare
A single payer health care system is the Holy Grail for progressive Californians. But is it realistic or just a pipedream? We put the question to our experts.
View ArticleExperts Expound: The power of Legislative caucuses
Both the Senate and Assembly have several caucuses beyond the main party caucuses: Rural Caucus, Latino Caucus, Jewish Caucus, Black Caucus, LGBTQ Caucus, etc. But which wields the most power behind...
View ArticleExperts Expound: The impact of crime rates on future elections
From fentanyl to smash-and-grabs, crime has been a big issue around the California Capitol this year. But will rising crime – or even the perception of rising crime rates – cause Democrats political...
View ArticleRating Newsom’s U.S. Senate picks
EXPERTS EXPOUND: With the selection of Laphonza Butler, Gov. Gavin Newsom has now appointed both of California’s sitting U.S. Senators. It has hardly been a process without controversy, and so we asked...
View ArticleExperts Expound: Halloween Edition
Halloween is upon us, so with that in mind we reached out to our esteemed panel of Capitol insiders with the following question: What is the scariest thing for you in the political world right now?
View ArticleExperts Expound: The impact of the budget shortfall
It is shaping up to be a very tough budget year in Sacramento, with the Legislative Analyst's Office predicting the Golden State could be facing a $68 billion budget shortfall. With that in mind, we...
View ArticleExperts Expound: Making the Capitol work better
We’re down to just a few days left in 2023, which makes it a good time for a bit of reflection…and one final question for the year for our stable of Capitol experts: If you were king for a day, what...
View ArticleExperts Expound: How can California Republicans be competitive again?
It's an election year, and once again the California is not expected to do very much on the statewide level. With that in mind we posed a new question to our panel of esteemed experts.
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