Articles by Capitol Weekly
AI is California’s next Big One. The future governor must prepare accordingly.
OPINION — No one knows when California’s next major earthquake will hit, but the state prepares for it anyway. We are now facing something even more seismic and unpredictable in artificial intelligence, and we are woefully unprepared. The next governor will tackle a long list of problems, but an AI agenda must be top priority because it touches nearly everything else and the pace of change is too fast for individual Californians to weather on their own.
California must teach students the tools to guide their own learning
OPINION — Beya rushes in a few minutes after her English class starts. I watch her rifling through crumpled loose papers piled next to a binder with broken rings, and searching for a missing library book needed for her reading log. The checklist of reminders I sent home to support her organization is somewhere in the pile, or still unopened in an email. A ninth grader, Beya is conscientious and bright, but disorganization, working memory challenges and difficulty focusing hold her back.
California is building financial foundations for youth — other states should follow
OPINION — California recently reached a significant milestone, with more than 1 million CalKIDS accounts having been claimed by families. CalKIDS is the nation’s largest children’s development account program, designed to support college and career training. Research shows that children who have even a small savings for college (ranging from $1 to $499) are three times more likely to attend college and four times more likely to graduate.
Why the Insurance Commissioner race is about more than insurance
As the only statewide race pitting two Democrats against each other, the contest for insurance commissioner offers more than just election-night drama among a slate of otherwise predictable constitutional officer campaigns. It arguably serves as something of a proxy fight for the soul of the California Democratic Party. “Who knew it would be so juicy?” quipped termed-out state Sen. Ben Allen of Santa Monica, who is facing off against former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim in the down-ballot race.
Why the Insurance Commissioner race is about more than insurance
As the only statewide race pitting two Democrats against each other, the contest for insurance commissioner offers more than just election-night drama among a slate of otherwise predictable constitutional officer campaigns. It arguably serves as something of a proxy fight for the soul of the California Democratic Party. “Who knew it would be so juicy?” quipped termed-out state Sen. Ben Allen of Santa Monica, who is facing off against former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim in the down-ballot race.
Autonomous tractors stay stalled in CA agriculture
In a world where autonomous robots can act as your server in a restaurant or vacuum your floors and driverless cars can get you from A to B, the question is not when but how these machines will continue to integrate across industries and our lives. So what happens when you mix agriculture with automation? The jury is still out in California.
My husband has Parkinson’s. That’s why I started asking questions about paraquat.
Her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis led farmer Sarah Teale to investigate paraquat use in her community, as California and Vermont move away from the weedkiller.
Opinion: Regardless of Flock, California must better regulate use of automated license plate recognition
California should strengthen safeguards for automated license plate recognition, the author argues, so police can use its benefits without amplifying errors, improper access or data misuse. (Photo by etaphop, DepositPhotos) OPINION — If you oppose Flock cameras, you have legitimate reasons to be concerned. If you support the use of automated license plate recognition, you have legitimate reasons to defend them.
Opinion: Regardless of Flock, California must better regulate use of automated license plate recognition
California should strengthen safeguards for automated license plate recognition, the author argues, so police can use its benefits without amplifying errors, improper access or data misuse. (Photo by etaphop, DepositPhotos) OPINION — If you oppose Flock cameras, you have legitimate reasons to be concerned. If you support the use of automated license plate recognition, you have legitimate reasons to defend them.
Opinion: California shouldn’t jail people for minor infractions — AB 2122 would stop that from happening
AB 2122 would bar California courts from using jail threats to enforce fine-only infractions, ending arrests tied to missed payments or court dates. This author urges Gov. Newsom to sign the bill, now on his desk. (Photo by EvgeniyShkolenko, DepositPhotos) OPINION — A jaywalking ticket. A lapsed car registration. Under California law, either one can end with you in a jail cell. Not because the law says these infractions deserve jail time, but because you missed a payment or missed a court date.
Opinion: California bill would stop insurers from blocking rare disease care
California lawmakers passed AB 1887 to bar prior authorization and step therapy for certain rare disease treatments prescribed as medically necessary by specialists. The bill now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. (Photoillustration by Valeriya Potapova via DepositPhotos) OPINION — A patient spends years looking for a diagnosis, searching from specialist to specialist, hoping someone will finally recognize what they’re seeing.
Voters could fund what Trump and California lawmakers will not
California voters will weigh Proposition 38, an $8.4 billion bond for immunology research, as Trump administration actions and a stalled state plan strain research funding. (Photoillustration by lightsource via DepositPhotos) Painful is one word to describe the past 18 months for California researchers affected by the Trump administration’s assault on science.
Opinion: California bill would stop insurers from blocking rare disease care
California lawmakers passed AB 1887 to bar prior authorization and step therapy for certain rare disease treatments prescribed as medically necessary by specialists. The bill now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. (Photoillustration by Valeriya Potapova via DepositPhotos) OPINION — A patient spends years looking for a diagnosis, searching from specialist to specialist, hoping someone will finally recognize what they’re seeing.
Insurance crisis has private foster agencies struggling to stay afloat
After losing their main insurer, 29 California private foster agencies have closed, and advocates say dwindling bridge funds may not prevent more closures. (Photo by Jerome Aufort / Deposit Photos) Left in limbo by the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s private foster agencies say they’re struggling to stay afloat until the new year, when they hope a new governor will help them navigate an ongoing insurance crisis that threatens their existence.
Opinion: The time is now to help lower public utility customers’ rates through reforms to wildfire costs
California’s public utilities seek a state wildfire insurance backstop and litigation-cost reforms, arguing both could speed survivor payouts and help limit rate increases. DepositPhotos - Akhararat_W. OPINION — California’s wildfire recovery system has a problem everyone can see, and no one has fixed: Fire victims wait years for payouts, more homeowners are dropped by their insurers every year and customers who can least afford it are left to pay for it all.
Opinion: The time is now to help lower public utility customers’ rates through reforms to wildfire costs
California’s public utilities seek a state wildfire insurance backstop and litigation-cost reforms, arguing both could speed survivor payouts and help limit rate increases. DepositPhotos - Akhararat_W. OPINION — California’s wildfire recovery system has a problem everyone can see, and no one has fixed: Fire victims wait years for payouts, more homeowners are dropped by their insurers every year and customers who can least afford it are left to pay for it all.
SB 690: predation or privacy?
A measure aimed at protecting people’s privacy has instead become one of the most heavily discussed bills of 2026 among California law firms as debate over the proposal has become focused on what some see as a surprising topic: immigration. A measure aimed at protecting people’s privacy has instead become one of the most heavily discussed bills of 2026 among California law firms as debate over the proposal has become focused on what some see as a surprising topic: immigration.
SB 690: predation or privacy?
A measure aimed at protecting people’s privacy has instead become one of the most heavily discussed bills of 2026 among California law firms as debate over the proposal has become focused on what some see as a surprising topic: immigration. A measure aimed at protecting people’s privacy has instead become one of the most heavily discussed bills of 2026 among California law firms as debate over the proposal has become focused on what some see as a surprising topic: immigration.
Shaping AI’s effect on employment in California
As California lawmakers return, they will deal with a multitude of bills aimed at how artificial intelligence is utilized in hiring and the workplace. We are in a short lull in the legislative battle between Big Tech and Big Labor over the impact of AI on jobs in California. But when lawmakers return in a few weeks, they will deal with a plethora of measures aimed at how artificial intelligence is utilized in the workplace.
Shaping AI’s effect on employment in California
As California lawmakers return, they will deal with a multitude of bills aimed at how artificial intelligence is utilized in hiring and the workplace. We are in a short lull in the legislative battle between Big Tech and Big Labor over the impact of AI on jobs in California. But when lawmakers return in a few weeks, they will deal with a plethora of measures aimed at how artificial intelligence is utilized in the workplace.
Capitol Briefs: The legislative thrill ride
California’s November ballot is reshaped as lawmakers advance bills on ticket prices, data use and cockfighting, while a new report highlights serious psychological distress among California girls. They’re in, they’re out – ballot measures come and go: Thursday was the deadline to place or pull ballot measures from the November ballot and by the end of the day at least five initiatives were officially out.
Ticketmaster in the crosshairs again over California legislation
by Brian Joseph, for Capitol Weekly Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation are once again neck deep in state legislation they contend would protect consumers but which critics say is really aimed at furthering their monopoly over live event ticketing in California and the United States. In late January, the Assembly passed AB 1349 by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights) to ban resellers from listing tickets they don’t actually have, a practice known as speculative ticketing.
California’s higher education Master Plan in flux?
by AIDAN WYROUGH Faced with growing concerns that California’s higher education system is outdated and unresponsive to the needs of an increasingly diverse student population, lawmakers are considering more structural changes to the state Master Plan’s vision of university and college education.
Spending on Lobbying Firms Exceeded $91M in California in Q3
Special interests, AKA “lobbyist employers” as the California Secretary of State calls them, paid lobbying firms more than $91 million to lobby state government in the third quarter of 2025, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports.
Capitol Weekly - The ghost of energy dereg haunts effort to tie CA grid to other states
By Brian Joseph, CAPITOL WEEKLY A quarter century after the California energy crisis, some supporters of energy deregulation have taken to a new idea: turning over control of the state’s energy grid to a West Coast nonprofit. The proposal is known as the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative. It calls for at least five states – Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington – to combine their utilities into a single, broad electricity market.
Classic car community rallies support behind ‘Leno’s Law’
Don’t let George Wendt’s mild-mannered portrayal of loyal "Cheers" regular Norm Peterson fool you; the late actor had some pretty wild times with the cast. Wendt, who died on Tuesday at 76 years old after suffering from health issues, was cast on "Cheers" in 1982 following an audition that involved …
Online sports betting companies align with California’s gaming tribes
Brian Joseph Capitol Weekly Two years after California voters rejected online sports betting following an epic and costly ballot box fight, the two major forces at odds over the issue – California’s powerful gaming tribes and online sports betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel – suddenly find themselves united against a common enemy: so-called gray market “sweepstakes” gambling sites that both camps say are cutting into their profits and undermining legal gaming operations here and...
Online sports betting companies align with California’s gaming tribes
Brian Joseph Capitol Weekly Two years after California voters rejected online sports betting following an epic and costly ballot box fight, the two major forces at odds over the issue – California’s powerful gaming tribes and online sports betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel – suddenly find themselves united against a common enemy: so-called gray market “sweepstakes” gambling sites that both camps say are cutting into their profits and undermining legal gaming operations here and...
Cal Chamber’s Job Killer List Shrinks, but Does Its Influence?
When the California Chamber of Commerce added Sen. Steve Glazer’s SB 1327 — a proposal to tax revenue from the sale of digital advertising as a way to help fund local newsrooms – to its annual list of “Job Killer” bills on May 7, the measure became only the 14th this year to receive the designation. If that number doesn’t change, it would mark the fewest number of bills to receive the moniker since 2001, when only 12 bills were on the list.
Will California Follow Oregon’s ‘Strategic’ Approach to Psychedelics?
Jim Carroccio was desperate. After decades of cognitive therapy, his struggles with PTSD and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder were as acute and debilitating as ever. So it was time to take a trip. Literally and figuratively. The literal trip came when Carroccio and his wife drove from their Arizona home to Bend, Oregon so Jim could undergo psilocybin therapy.
California’s Confusing Primary Voting Process Explained
While the Attorney General, Secretary of State and California Courts wade into whether former President Donald Trump will be on the Republican Primary ballot in 2024, California counties are in the process of mailing out ballots that will be sent the first week of February. And even if Trump stays on the Republican primary ballot, there will be more than a quarter-million voters who have previously voted in a Republican Presidential primary who won’t find him on their ballot.
Training high school and community college students to be nurses and other health workers
There are too few nurses and other health workers in California now, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office. What is in progress to recruit more high school and community college students into training programs? #2 UPMC Closes Care Gaps With New Patient Discharge Process The Pennsylvania health system has eliminated redundant processes and reduced the time and number of people involved in a discharge while boosting patient satisfaction scores. ...
CA Needs Timely Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine - Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly
View – AltaMed Health Services is committed to closing gaps in disparities in health care access and outcomes by providing health and human services to Southern California’s Latino, multiethnic and often overlooked communities. Our work has been especially challenging at the height of the pandemic, with many volunteers and community partners on the frontlines delivering care and providing treatment to those affected by the coronavirus.
Downsize this: California prisons to close and shrink
BY SETH SANDRONSKY , Capitol Weekly Under a 2022-23 state budget, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is launching a process to close prisons and deactivate facilities within others. One on the chopping block is Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, a city of 18,000, in eastern Riverside County, that is closing in March 2025. “CDCR and the (Gov. Newsom) administration are working to minimize impact to staff and the communities,” according to a Dec.
Letter to the Editor: Mental health care - Capitol Weekly
Letters by Capitol Weekly posted 04.13.2021 Twitter Facebook Email EDITOR: I want to commend reporter Sigrid Bathen for her thorough and excellent reporting on an issue important to so many people: providing mental health care for our loved ones. Ms. Bathen’s two-part series shined a critical light on some counties’ resistance to adopting Laura’s Law to enhance outpatient services to those with severe mental health issues.
Proposition 14: Stem cell research
Live Election Results The basics What would Proposition 14 do? Have California continue funding stem cell research, by borrowing up to $5.5 billion. Prop. 14 would generate the money to keep open the state’s own stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and expand its research capacity. That would include dedicating $1.5 billion for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, epilepsy, and other brain and central nervous system diseases.
California’s first surgeon general settles in
California’s head cheerleader on improving statewide health says it’s all about “bringing people together.” And after almost a year on the job as the state’s first surgeon general, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris exudes optimism, saying she has enjoyed an “absolutely phenomenal outpouring of support” from various factions of California’s vast health care sector.
Doing Justice: An Interview With Abby Abinanti, Chief Judge of the Yurok Tribe (Part 1)
Abby Abinanti, the first native woman member of the California State Bar, recounts her life, from her youth in Humboldt County, her career as a lawyer and court commissioner in San Francisco and her role as chief judge for the Yurok Tribe. She was interviewed on February 21, 2019, in Klamath by Mary Louise Frampton, director of the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies at the University of California, Davis Law School.
No. 29: Capitol Weekly's Top 100 - Capitol Weekly
News No. 29: Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 Illustration by Chris Shary by Capitol Weekly posted 08.13.2015 29. Daniel Zingale The California Endowment, a well-heeled nonprofit, is a major player in California politics, and one of the reasons it is so effective is Daniel Zingale. Formerly a top Capitol insider to both Govs.
No. 7: Capitol Weekly's Top 100 - Capitol Weekly
News No. 7: Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 Illustration by Chris Shary by Capitol Weekly posted 08.13.2015 7. Eric Bauman Encounter Eric Bauman at a political event, and you’re probably in for an impassioned and knowledgeable political discussion. Bauman, one of L.A.’s most powerful political leaders, is now chair of the California Democratic Party, replacing longtime chair John Burton. The aggressive Bauman lives and breathes politics.
No. 99: Capitol Weekly's Top 100 Capitol Weekly
Only one reporter got a 48-hour heads-up on the deal to dismantle the nation’s only elected tax board. And Laura Mahoney, current president of the Sacramento Press Club, certainly earned that scoop. The longest-serving member of the capitol press corps that you’ve never heard of, Mahoney has spent 20 years on the Board of Equalization beat for Bloomberg BNA.
Capitol Weekly Top 100: Rob Stutzman - Capitol Weekly
Twitter Facebook Email 92. Rob Stutzman Longtime campaign consultant Rob Stutzman is a charter member of the “Never Trump” wing of the Republican Party, much more Meg Whitman than Larry Elder. Opposing current Republican orthodoxy has probably cost him business from the right wing of the party, but his services remain in demand from more moderate conservatives who believe they can win in California – a tough sell, as his clients Michael Schellenberger and Anne-Marie Schubert found out this year.
Capitol Weekly's Top 100: Henry Perea - Capitol Weekly
News by posted Twitter Facebook Email 47. Henry Perea Henry Perea handles West Coast Government Affairs for Chevron, which means he supervises the company’s lobbying efforts, which are extensive. Perea, a former lawmaker, is based in Sacramento, but his territory his vast and he is considered a significant power player in the capitol, where fossil-fuel producers aren’t always treated gently.
No. 7: Capitol Weekly's Top 100 - Capitol Weekly
News Illustration by Chris Shary by Capitol Weekly posted 08.30.2017 Twitter Facebook Email 7. Keely Bosler Keely Bosler directs the Finance Department, and if you had to pick a year to hold the job, this might be it: Going into the latest fiscal year, the state had a $38 billion surplus, and as Humphrey Bogart said in The Maltese Falcon, “That’s a lot of dough.” It’s better to be flush than strapped, and Bosler helps the governor sort through the priorities.
Capitol Weekly's Top 100: Carrie Gordon - Capitol Weekly
News by posted Twitter Facebook Email 67. Carrie Gordon It is hard to fathom that the California Dental Association has been around since 1870. We don’t know if it has always had this much bite (see what we did there?), but the 27,000-member organization definitely is one of the more effective trade groups in the game. One of the reasons is Chief Strategy Officer Carrie Gordon, a savvy political veteran who keeps a low profile but is well known among anyone inside the Capitol community.
No. 88: Capitol Weekly's Top 100 - Capitol Weekly
News Illustration by Chris Shary by capitol Weekly posted 08.30.2017 Twitter Facebook Email 88. John Garcia Founded in California in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is a massive player in California health care, serving nearly 10 million members through 532 medical facilities, and a network of 16,000 physicians and 149,000 employees.
No. 46: Capitol Weekly's Top 100 - Capitol Weekly
News Illustration by Chris Shary by Capitol Weekly posted 08.30.2017 Twitter Facebook Email 46. Bill Wong The pandemic has affected us all, but for Bill Wong, it’s been particularly difficult: Hate crimes targeting Asian Americans grew exponentially during COVID-19, and the trend appears to be continuing.
Capitol Weekly's Top 100: Carrie Cornwell - Capitol Weekly
Twitter Facebook Email 29. Carrie Cornwell Carrie Cornwell is chief of staff to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and in the world of the Capitol that’s a big deal. Cornwell’s job, of course, is to manage the speaker’s staff. But she does a lot more than that: She is the point person for the speaker’s legislative program, pushing his priorities and fighting proposals he opposes.
Capitol Weekly's Top 100: Chris Woods - Capitol Weekly
News by posted Twitter Facebook Email 31. Chris Woods California’s budget is something of a crap shoot, and nobody knows that better than Chris Woods, the top budget advisor to Senate Leader Toni Atkins. Until the ultimate state budget is finalized and approved, the spending document is really four variations on a theme – rival versions in the Assembly, Senate, Legislative Analyst and governor’s Finance Department.
Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Jennifer Fearing - Capitol Weekly
News by posted Twitter Facebook Email 74. Jennifer Fearing Jennifer Fearing had quite the 2022, when she led a team of women environmental policy wonks on a successful quest to pull an initiative from the November ballot in exchange for a legislative deal that set historic new restrictions on single-use plastics. That legislation, Senate Bill 54, is arguably the biggest recycling reform in the state’s history. But she didn’t abandon her usual focus on animal protections.
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