Political Stories Top stories Dan Walters: Late-blooming measure would fast-track bullet train’s ‘bookends’ — Backers of the $2 billion Caltrain electrification project are especially eager to proceed and see its connection to the troubled bullet train as a potential albatross. Therefore, they and Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, are pushing a late-blooming “gut-and-amend” bill to allow the […]

Political Stories Top stories Cathleen Decker: It took only a month to count California’s votes. Here’s why, and here’s why it may get better – The lingering question isn’t who won the presidential primaries or the Senate race; the margins in those races, and most other regional and local contests across the state, were big enough that […]

Political Stories Top stories  California water-bill fight is percolating again on Capitol Hill — California water will retake the Capitol Hill stage in coming days, with compromise nowhere in sight. Deep into a largely arid legislative season, lawmakers will again reflect on the state’s drought as early as Monday and wrangle over efforts to address it. […]

Political Stories Top stories  Pot backers hope California vote will pressure Congress to ease laws — Marijuana advocates are counting on Californians to vote to legalize recreational weed this fall, bringing pressure on Congress to end anti-pot policies that include federal obstruction of banks doing business with the industry. California is nearly six times larger than […]

Political Stories Top stories  With cap and trade in doubt, key questions go unanswered – In Sacramento and elsewhere, fundamental questions about the program’s effectiveness are unanswered, and criticism has been growing over how billions of dollars from auctions of emissions “credits” are doled out. Many of the complaints echo an admonition familiar to schoolchildren: Show […]

Political Stories Top stories  House passes bill to save Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta salmon — Lawmakers are targeting striped bass in a farmer-backed effort to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s salmon while trimming a 1992 environmental law. In what amounts to a multi-pronged move, the House on Tuesday night approved a bill by Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, […]

Political Stories Top stories  California drug price plan is criticized by patient advocates — A state ballot initiative meant to lower prescription drug prices for California faces an expected opponent: the pharmaceutical industry, which has spent almost $70 million to defeat it. But concerns are also coming from a more curious source: some patient advocacy groups. New York […]

Political Stories Top stories  Dan Walters: United States’ 240th birthday finds politics in a dismal state — The nation’s 240th birthday is an appropriate moment to ponder the state of its political system – and it’s a pretty dismal picture. Walters column in Sacramento Bee  A push – and pushback – for new diversity rules in California’s business […]

Political Stories Top stories  Report says Fresno Latinos among least likely to vote statewide – According to the report, Latino gaps in voting are most pronounced in counties of inland California, including Fresno, Kern, Riverside and San Bernardino. For Asian Americans, gaps in voting are greatest in the Bay Area counties of San Mateo, Alameda, Santa […]

Political Stories Top stories  Gov. Jerry Brown signs bulk of sweeping gun-control package into law, vetoes five bills — Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed six gun-control bills into law, including a requirement that ammunition purchasers undergo background checks. The governor vetoed five other measures, including an expansion of the use of restraining orders to take guns […]