POLITICO • 24th April 2024

Climate offset proposal returns in California, with opponents taking notice

A first-in-the-nation effort in California to regulate the voluntary carbon offset industry sailed through the Legislature last year with no opposition — only to be vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Now, a second attempt by Sen. Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) is drawing scores of pushback amid what she says are rapid changes happening in the climate space.

POLITICO • 23rd April 2024

California Legislature aims to begin shrinking large deficit with early action budget cuts

Faced with a budget deficit of between $38 billion and $73 billion, depending on the estimate, the California Legislature passed an “early action” budget bill to shave $17.3 billion off the figure.

POLITICO • 5th April 2024

California to consider regulating AI algorithm bias again — with even higher stakes

Last year, California lawmakers attempted to establish greater regulations around companies using artificial intelligence — but they were unsuccessful amid broad industry opposition. Now that the bill is in its second iteration, the conversation around the technology has grown more expansive and a couple of industry stakeholders are working to advance the legislation.

POLITICO • 2nd April 2024

California reparations proposals could start with agency for implementation

California lawmakers are in the early stages of their push for reparations proposals, and are attempting to set up a framework for potential restitution in the form of compensation, grants and other assistance.

POLITICO • 28th March 2024

California lawmakers float stricter speech limits on campuses to address antisemitism

In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, members of the state Legislature’s Jewish Caucus have been frustrated with what they view as an insufficient response to antisemitic incidents on California college campuses. Now, they’re hoping they’ll be able to force school leaders to implement limits on what is considered acceptable speech on campus.

POLITICO • 21st March 2024

California bill would target investors who turn homes into rentals, citing housing crisis

Many factors have contributed to California’s housing crisis, and one lawmaker is pinning some of the blame on investors.

POLITICO • 20th March 2024

California lawmakers seek tough balance in retail theft proposals

Retail theft has entered the spotlight in California, and is expected to be a key focus for legislative leaders this session as the perception of stores feeling less safe creeps into the public sphere.

POLITICO • 14th March 2024

As Congress stalls on AI regulation, sweeping California proposal would set benchmark

Of the many proposals introduced by California lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence this year, perhaps the most sweeping one would implement a string of regulations for large AI models and set the tone for similar legislation around the country to address the burgeoning technology.

POLITICO • 6th March 2024

California lawmaker brings back complete streets proposal, adds speed-limiting technology

Drivers in California looking to get away with going over the speed limit may soon literally not have a choice, under a first-in-the-nation proposal that would require new vehicles to have technology that prevents vehicles from speeding.

POLITICO • 28th February 2024

California lawmakers bring back universal health care proposal, but lack funding plan

Two years after suffering a stinging defeat in an effort to bring universal health care to California, lawmakers and the California Nurses Association are trying again to make the Golden State the first in the nation to implement a single-payer insurance system.

POLITICO • 20th February 2024

Bipartisan group of California lawmakers bring back encampments enforcement measure

Republicans don’t often get to take control of the narrative in the California Legislature — but when it comes to addressing encampments dotting the streets of cities across the state, they may force the issue with an anti-camping proposal modeled after policies adopted in Democrat-run cities.

POLITICO • 14th February 2024

California to consider free condoms in high schools again, this time with funding request

Months after Gov. Gavin Newsom cited cost in rejecting a proposal to require California’s public high schools provide free condoms to students, state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City) reintroduced the measure — and this time, she’s hoping to guarantee funding in the budget.

POLITICO • 7th February 2024

California lawmakers look to repeal income-based utility fee proposal

Two years ago, California lawmakers passed a budget trailer bill with a tucked-in provision authorizing the state’s utilities commission to create a fixed, income-based fee by this July that was intended to reduce bills for the poorest residents.

POLITICO • 30th January 2024

California bill targeting hydrogen production pinpoints high stakes in future of energy

California has long had noteworthy emissions targets, such as requiring all new vehicles to be electric by 2035. If a proposed bill makes it through the Legislature this year, the state could set yet another ambitious mandate by clamping down on the ways that hydrogen can be produced.

POLITICO • 25th January 2024

California bill seeks to slow rollout of robotaxis by giving power to locals

The fight between self-driving car companies and efforts to regulate them has reentered the spotlight this year in the California Legislature — and this time, it includes a labor-backed effort to shift control over robotaxis from the state to local jurisdictions.

POLITICO • 18th January 2024

With AI threat looming, California lawmakers look to codify performer protections

The historic actors' strike that rocked Hollywood last year ended with an agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the studios that included what the union called “unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat” of artificial intelligence. But California legislators, worried about the uncertainty of the burgeoning technology, are trying to codify consent protections around AI as law.

POLITICO • 11th January 2024

California Legislature pushes appointment transparency again over Newsom’s objections

In what one lawmaker described as a situation similar to “Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown,” a bill that would require the California governor’s office to reveal diversity data regarding gubernatorial appointees is back on the table after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it for a third time last year.

POLITICO • 5th January 2024

California set to take up youth tackle football ban amid safety concerns

Football may be the most popular sport in the United States, but questions regarding the safety of the sport — especially around concussions and brain injuries — have been constant, with the NFL admitting in 2016 that there is a link between football and degenerative brain disorders like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

POLITICO • 28th December 2023

California targets social media companies over CSAM with legal questions lingering

Recent efforts by California lawmakers to regulate social media platforms have run into legal challenges, but that hasn’t stopped the Legislature from continuing to set rules on an industry that they argue makes it too easy for hate speech and other inappropriate material to fester.

POLITICO • 21st December 2023

As evictions soar, California law aims to close loopholes in Tenant Protection Act

Four years after adopting major legislation capping rent increases and preventing unjust evictions to address the state’s housing crisis, the California Legislature sought to close loopholes in the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 with a follow-up bill this year that passed amid negotiations that went down to the wire.