California Politics & News
Stay updated with California news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on state government, progressive overreach, and the conservative response to Golden State policies.
-
- News
California College May Be Next Mizzou: ‘Our No. 1 Goal Is to Get President Veitch Out of His Office’
Students at Occidental College in Los Angeles have staked out tents and sleeping bags as they stage a week-long protest to support diversity on campus, and call for the removal of the college president. Over 400 students, encouraged to wear all black, occupied the Arthur G. Coons Administrative Center at the Eagle Rock campus on…Leah Jessen -
- News
Group Challenges California Law Forcing Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers to Comply With ‘Pro-Abortion Agenda’
Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit legal organization that works to defend religious liberty, has filed a complaint in federal court against a California law that forces pro-life crisis pregnancy centers to promote abortion providers. The Reproductive FACT Act, recently approved by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., requires pregnancy centers to…Kate Scanlon -
- News
Disability Rights Advocates Fight Back After California Passes Assisted Suicide
Disability rights advocates are fighting back after Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., authorized assisted suicide in California. In a letter to lawmakers explaining his decision, Brown wrote that he considered “what I would want in the face of my own death.” “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating…Kate Scanlon -
- Opinion
Fair Pay Act Will Hurt Women in California
California’s attempt to reduce the so-called pay gap through its recently passed Fair Pay Act will hurt women. Women should be paid the same amount as men when they perform the exact same job. No one disputes that. Equal pay for equal work has been the law in California for 66 years. But now, under…Rachel Greszler -
- Opinion
California Democrat Governor’s Conservative Move
Enough is enough when it comes to overcriminalization. That is the message expressed in California Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent letter to the California legislature. In it, he refused to sign nine bills that “multiply and particularize” existing crimes. More than that, he rebuked the practice of overcriminalization. His directive to the legislature was simple: no…John-Michael Seibler -
- News
California Labor Union That Fought for $15 Minimum Wage Now Wants an Exemption
The labor union that led the charge for a $15 minimum wage hike in cities across California is now moving to secure an exemption for employers under union contracts. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor buried the exemption on the eighth page of its 12-page proposal for the Santa Monica City Council to review…Natalie Johnson -
- Opinion
California’s Drought: Not an Environmental Problem. An Environmentalist Problem.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—I was walking through downtown Sacramento recently when raindrops started falling. People on the street stopped dead in their tracks, looked up at the sky, and began acting giddy. “What’s that?” I asked a man. “I think it’s something called rain,” he responded. Such is the gallows humor in a state that hasn’t seen substantial…Steven Greenhut -
- News
California Governor Vows to Override Democrat-Led Legislature on Climate Change Regulations
Jerry Brown isn’t used to losing in the California Legislature. And even though defections from a raft of fellow Democrats in Sacramento forced the second-term governor to abandon two sweeping anti-carbon measures, Brown vows to implement them anyway—through executive order. “I’d say oil has won a skirmish, but they’ve lost the bigger battle, because I am…Rob Nikolewski -
- News
California Republican Resigns From Conservative Group Over Tactics
A California Republican has resigned from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, arguing that the group’s tactics have done more harm to conservative policy than good. In a letter delivered to Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Rep. Tom McClintock criticized the strategy used by the conservative group in fights over Planned Parenthood, immigration, and trade….Melissa Quinn -
- News
13 Photos of the Devastating California Wildfires
More than 550 homes in flames, 62,000 acres scorched, and one death — the Valley Fire in Middletown, Calif. is only 30 percent contained, according to the Los Angeles Times, and doesn’t look like it is anywhere near done raging through Northern California. Its cousin, the Butte Fire, now about 45 percent contained, forced evacuations and…Kelsey Lucas -
- News
California Assembly Approves Legislation to Legalize Assisted Suicide
The California State Assembly passed a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide on Wednesday. According to a report by Reuters, the bill is likely to be approved by the state Senate, but Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., has not made his position on the bill known. The bill, ABX2-15, requires a patient seeking life-ending drugs to make a…Kate Scanlon -
- News
5 Million People Left California Over the Past Decade. Many Went to Texas.
About 5 million California residents left the Golden State during the past decade, marking an “unprecedented” number according to a report released this week. The Sacramento Bee analyzed tax return data from the Internal Revenue Service between 2004 and 2013, the height of the housing crash and recession, which impacted California more sharply than most states….Natalie Johnson -
- News
A Year After Obama Visits, California Farmer Struggles to Keep His Farm, Fighting Drought, Regulations
Joe Del Bosque has been a farmer for most of his life. He believes that regulations are one reason why he may be losing his farm, his American dream. His farm, which President Barack Obama visited in 2014, has also been severely affected by California’s drought.Jamie Jackson -
- Opinion
What We Can Learn From California’s Failed Green Jobs Plan
In the eyes of the Obama administration, California is the gold standard for state energy policy. The feds lavishly laud the Golden State’s aggressive green energy mandates and stringent energy efficiency requirements. But few states have jumped on California’s green energy bandwagon—and with good reason. Exhibit A: The green jobs initiative passed in 2012. Turns…Nicolas Loris -
- Opinion
Drunk Driving Is Down in California (Thanks to Uber)
There were only two drunk driving arrests last New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, the lowest it’s been since 2009, according to crime statistics from the San Francisco Police Department given to the Ferenstein Wire. This recent data comes on the heels of a new study revealing that the introduction of Uber’s low-cost service, UberX,…Greg Ferenstein -
- Opinion
A California Judge Needs a Lesson in the First Amendment
Late Wednesday, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) banning the Center for Medical Progress from releasing video of a meeting with three StemExpress employees at a restaurant last May, potentially violating fundamental First Amendment precedents that bar prior restraints on speech. The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), a group of…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
California Implements Strictest Fracking Regulations in US
California implemented new hydraulic fracturing regulations Wednesday, making the state home to perhaps the strictest fracking rules in the nation. The regulations force increased transparency and accountability through expanded monitoring and reporting of air and water quality, public disclosure of chemicals used in fracking procedures, and estimates of the environmental impact fracking activities may cause….Natalie Johnson -
- News
California Legislature Passes Mandatory Vaccination Bill
The California state legislature passed a controversial vaccination mandate Thursday requiring all schoolchildren receive vaccinations regardless of personal and religious beliefs. The law would end the ability of parents to exempt their children from vaccination unless a serious medical reason is given. Unvaccinated children are required to be homeschooled. Republican Assemblyman Rocky Chavez voted against…Natalie Johnson -
- News
California to Subsidize Health Care for Illegal Immigrant Children
A California budget deal announced this week would provide state-funded health care coverage to children living in the U.S. illegally, making the state the first in the nation to do so. The deal between Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders would cover about 170,000 immigrants 18 and under and is expected to easily pass the…Natalie Johnson -
- News
California Regulation Threatens to ‘Destroy’ Uber’s Business Model
Since its inception, Uber, the breakout ride-sharing app redefining traditional taxi service, has baffled government agencies grappling with ways to regulate one of Silicon Valley’s biggest startups. The latest battle occurred this week after the California Labor Commissioner’s Office decided that Barbara Berwick, a driver for Uber, should be defined as an employee of the…Natalie Johnson