With electricity prices rising and pressure to keep the lights on, California is racing to create an expanded power market with other Western utilities to trade vast amounts of electricity.
StateWatch
Posted inLatest News
Court blocks ammunition background checks in new blow to California’s gun control framework
California voters in 2016 passed a ballot initiative championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that in part required background checks for ammunition purchases. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that provision violates the Second Amendment.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California, epicenter of nation’s housing crisis, is finally getting a housing agency
Aside from giving housing and homelessness its own box atop Gov. Gavin Newsom’s organizational chart, the reorg is supposed to simplify the state’s snarled affordable housing financing system.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California Democrats push to block ICE from schools, hospitals and shelters
Highly publicized immigration raids in the early months of Donald Trump’s second term have rattled California communities and prompted lawmakers to push for more laws protecting immigrants.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Newsom picks more housing over CEQA in backing two bills meant to speed construction
The California environmental law known as CEQA can be used to block construction in developed areas. Gov. Gavin Newsom is supporting changes to encourage more housing.
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Newsom proposes to freeze Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented immigrants
To save more than $5 billion, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to shut down new enrollment for adults who lack legal status and to charge premiums for health care. The Legislature has resisted such changes.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A Fox News host? A sheriff? Is there a Republican who can finally win statewide in California again?
Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, and Chad Bianco, Riverside County sheriff, lead the field of Republicans who hope to snap a long GOP losing streak in next year’s California governor’s race.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
No more calling ‘shotgun’? California could ban teens from riding in the front seat
A bill making its way through the California Assembly would require children up to 16 years old to ride in the back seat if they’re not tall enough. Middle schoolers up to age 13 would need to use booster seats if they’re tiny.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Xavier Becerra jumps into crowded race for California governor
In a short video Wednesday announcing his candidacy, former California attorney general Xavier Becerra noted that he had experience fighting Donald Trump after suing his first administration more than 100 times.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Democracy in the dark: How California lawmakers are trying to shield themselves from public view
State lawmakers have introduced at least a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront local officials at public meetings, shield more information from the public and relax rules on financial reports.