Political Stories – Top stories Dan Walters: Lame-duck legislative session to raise transportation funds fades — For weeks, key officials, their staffs and stakeholders have noodled around with bringing the Legislature back to Sacramento for a post-election session on financing much-needed upgrades to highways, local streets and transit systems. However, with just days remaining, officially, in the […]
Political Stories –Top stories Where California and Trump could clash over the next four (or more) years — The state’s overwhelmingly Democratic politicians are already publicly rebuking Trump, setting California up to become the center of dissent and legal challenges to his agenda over the next four (or more) years. Here are six key areas that could produce […]
Political Stories – Top stories Dan Walters: Could California succeed if it became a nation? — The political, legal and financial impediments are immense. Would, for instance, a hostile U.S. government be willing to sign over all of its vast property holdings, from trackless deserts to dams and jewels such as Yosemite, without charging us countless billions […]
Political Stories – Top stories Trump promised California farmers more water. Can he deliver? — Battles over California’s water supply have been waged for decades. Legal experts say Trump’s vow to redraw the state’s water map won’t be fulfilled quickly or easily, even with Republicans controlling both the White House and Congress. Any efforts to direct more […]
Political Stories – Top stories Dan Walters: Pelosi, McCarthy personify divide of cities and nation – It would be difficult to name two California cities more culturally, economically and, of course, politically disparate than San Francisco and Bakersfield – just 300 miles apart but in different existential orbits. As it happens, the majority and minority floor leaders […]
Political Stories – Top stories CD 21: Big Valadao win could discourage future challenges — Will the third win be a charm for Congressman David Valadao? Valadao, R-Hanford, is on pace to capture his most impressive victory in California’s 21st Congressional District race. And that could make Democrats leery about taking another tilt his seat, at least […]
Political Stories – Top stories Trump’s impact will be huge in California, where he was soundly rejected – Farmers from California’s Central Valley invested big time in Donald Trump, and soon the president-elect could repay the debt. During a Tulare County campaign event in late August that raised an estimated $1.3 million, Trump heard about the farmers’ need for […]
Political Stories – Top stories California voters approve Proposition 64 and the recreational use of marijuana — Twenty years after California voters made the Golden State the first in America to permit marijuana’s use as medicine, state voters on Tuesday night passed Proposition 64 to legalize pot for adult recreational use. Sacramento Bee article; LA Times article; San Jose Mercury News article; Robin […]
Political Stories – Top stories Dan Walters: Brown says pension reform still on his agenda, but is it? — During this fiscal year, the state must cough up 50 percent of CHP officers’ salaries for pensions, a 59 percent increase during Brown’s second governorship. The same pattern is true of other pension systems, both state and local, […]
Political Stories – Top stories CD 21: Court documents refute claims in Valadao attack ad — Congressman David Valadao’s newest attack ad against Democratic challenger Emilio Huerta paints him as a chainsaw-wielding madman who used intimidation to try to take a woman’s land and water well. The problem: several of the ad’s claims are false, according to […]
