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.
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opinion
The Zombie Voter Apocalypse: California Refuses to Admit Its Voter Fraud Problem
Hollywood has always loved making films about the walking dead, but in Southern California it appears they have a real life problem with “zombie” voters. An investigation by CBSLA2 and KCAL9 found that hundreds of deceased persons are still on voter registration rolls in the area, and that many of these names have been voting… -
news
Conservative Group Fights California AG’s Attempt to ‘Chill’ Speech
Though a federal judge recently ruled that a conservative nonprofit group doesn’t have to disclose its donor list to California’s Democratic attorney general, conservatives believe this case is just the latest in an ongoing fight related to political activity and free speech. “This was a great victory for free speech for everyone in this country,”… -
news
California Teachers Unions Force Nonmembers to Pay for LGBT, Other Political Goals
A large California teachers union and its national affiliate are forcing nonunion teachers to pay for political activism, according to a disclosure form acquired by The Daily Signal. Under a category called “human rights,” both the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association require nonunion teachers to finance LGBT leadership training and other political… -
news
California Looks to Cover Illegal Immigrants Under Obamacare
In an unprecedented move, California legislators look to extend Obamacare health coverage to the state’s estimated 2.6 million illegal immigrant population. If passed and signed into law, California would be the first state in the nation to request illegal immigrants be covered through a state exchange, the Los Angeles Times reported. It is against the… -
news
A Family-Owned Business Braces for California’s Minimum Wage Hike
SAN DIEGO—Elvin Lai has been in the hospitality business his entire life. The San Diego hotel where he serves as chief executive officer has been in his family for four generations, and Lai can rattle off childhood memories of his younger years spent at the beachfront property. Lai asked that his hotel name not be… -
news
Under California’s Minimum Wage, This Bookstore Owner Is Struggling to Survive
After more than a decade at the helm of her bookstore, Ann Kinner faces an uncertain future because of new measures at the city and state level to raise the minimum wage. On June 7, San Diego residents will vote on a ballot measure to raise the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour in… -
news
For California Teacher Taking on Unions, Supreme Court Ruling Isn’t the End of Her Case
Two years after California teacher Rebecca Friedrichs first mounted her challenge to public-sector unions, she’s hearing the same thing today that she’s heard from fellow teachers all along: Keep fighting. The Supreme Court ruled 4-4 Tuesday in the case that bears her name, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, leaving in place agency fees public employees pay… -
opinion
New California Law Forces Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers to Advertise Abortions
Did you hear about the new bill that California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law? Under penalty of whopping fines, the new law orders the abortion giant Planned Parenthood and every other abortion facility in the Golden State to post a prominent notice in their waiting rooms, or give the mothers written or digital… -
news
How Unions Hope to Win a $15 Minimum Wage in California
Labor unions are pushing to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour with two initiatives competing for voters’ approval. Two different unions are trying to get questions on the ballot for Californians to have a say on a $15 minimum wage. “One in four Californians is living in poverty because wages are too low to… -
opinion
California Joins the Effort to Persecute, Suppress Scientific Dissent on Climate Change
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has joined New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in trying to prosecute ExxonMobil for supposedly lying to its shareholders and the public about climate change, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reported that Harris is investigating what ExxonMobil “knew about global warming and what the company told investors.”… -
news
Meet the California Teacher Taking On the Unions
For teachers standing in the cold outside the Supreme Court on Monday, as well as thousands of educators across the country, California teacher Rebecca Friedrichs is mounting a battle that could change the power of public-sector unions. In the Supreme Court case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association that went before the nine justices today, Friedrichs is… -
news
California Teachers Gear Up to Take Fight Against Unions to Supreme Court
On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other teachers are calling into question the agency fees that public-sector workers are required to pay to unions, which they say violate their First Amendment rights. If the Supreme Court rules in Friedrichs’ favor,… -
news
California Governor Hails ‘Coercive Power of Government’
California Gov. Jerry Brown raised some eyebrows while attending the U.N. Climate Summit in Paris this month, proclaiming that the “coercive power of the central state” is needed to promote good public policy, specifically when it comes to a cleaner environment. Taking part in an onstage presentation with billionaire and climate activist Tom Steyer, Brown said… -
opinion
California Close Encounter Shows Why Drone Registry Will Be Ineffective
Last week, a drone and a California Highway Patrol helicopter nearly collided 700 feet above the California city of Martinez. Shortly thereafter, the reckless drone pilot was apprehended by police. The man, a Chinese exchange student, was questioned but ultimately not arrested. This is exactly the sort of situation the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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…