Late last month, news that the University of California planned to increase tuition by up to 28 percent over the next five years sparked waves of walkouts and protests throughout the UC system. At the time, the California Legislature was in recess. However, when lawmakers returned on December 1 to start the 2015-2016 session, they wasted no time penning legislation addressing the issue. As of this writing, there are at least four proposals aimed at curbing the fee hikes. All four of them attack the issue from different angles. Senate Bill 15 takes one approach by taking money from the middle class scholarship program and using ... Read More >
Apr 16
California to hold special legislative session for “rainy day fund” amendment
Governor Jerry Brown called a special session of the state Legislature to replace the "Rainy Day Fund" on the November, 2014 ballot with a dedicated reserve to allow the state to pay down its debts and unfunded liabilities. In Assembly Constitutional Amendment 4 ["ACA 4"], the 2010 Legislature approved the proposal for the November 2014 ballot to go before the general electorate. In calling for this special session, Governor Brown observed that the proposal did not address the volatility of capital gains revenue, did not provide a reserve for schools to help cushion future downturns, and constrained the state's ability to pay down long-term ... Read More >
May 31
California Gun Bills 2013
California legislators representing the northern, southern and central geographic areas of the state introduced and had passed in the Senate seven senate bills intended to toughen gun laws in this state. These gun bills are: Senate Bill 47 (Leland Yee of San Francisco) to update California’s regulation of assault weapons as follows: Amends the definition of assault weapon to refer to a firearm that has one of several specified military-style features and does not have a "fixed magazine" rather than a firearm that has one of those features and "has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine" Defines "fixed magazine" as "an ... Read More >