A trio of bills aimed at improving care for animals at shelters cleared the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development on Monday. The trio of bills collectively aim at reducing shelter overcrowding and improving record keeping around animal care while requiring more shelters to publicly report data on a variety of care issues, including the number of animals euthanized ..read more

OPINION - Earlier this month, the California Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Senate Bill 1036 (SB 1036), a bill that would cause far-reaching damage to the ability of California - and the world - to fight the climate crisis. Despite its good intentions, in practice, SB 1036 opens individuals and firms engaging with the voluntary carbon market in good faith to increased legal risk and potential civil litigation and misinformed, frivolous lawsuits ..read more

Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome ..read more

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Longtime poverty fighter Jess Bartholow surprised many when she left her longtime gig with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in 2020 to become East Bay Senator Nancy Skinner's Chief of Staff. The move made sense: Skinner has long been an outspoken advocate for California's poor, and was a personal inspiration for Bartholow. But with the senator terming out at the end of this year, Bartholow recently opted for a new post: Director of Govt. Relations for SEIU California, one of the most powerful labor unions in the state and across the country ..read more

On occasion, readers can find bills in the California Legislature that make “continuous appropriations.” What are these types of appropriations? Why are they used? How are they drafted by the attorneys at the Office of Legislative Counsel ..read more

OPINION – If your house was on fire, would you throw money at the arsonists fanning the flames? Probably not, but that’s exactly what California is doing by giving away hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars to fossil fuel corporations every year ..read more

The newest Capitol Weekly Rising Star, Loyal Terry, Assembly Fellow for Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), takes inspiration from the lived experiences of his late father, his aunts and uncles, and himself. Terry approaches policy from a holistic perspective, having experienced how housing, transportation, health, and more intersect to impact working-class people ..read more

OPINION – If you’re like us, you’re inspired by the natural world and eager to see California’s beautiful mountains, forests, and lakes protected for future generations. You also might be surprised to hear that the health and survival of these places depends on one species more than most: beavers. Put simply, beavers are our partners in protecting and restoring California ..read more

OPINION - In a well-intentioned move advertised to thwart scammers, some legislators in Sacramento are trying to impose criminal penalties on thousands of legitimate businesses which help veterans obtain benefits.  California’s Senate Bill 1124 undermines the service of veterans like me because it will limit our options on who can help us file claims ..read more

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