Beyond "Rabbit on a Skateboard" Redistricting
Illinois' 17th Congressional District They say democracy is a messy business. It sure wasn't glamorous this week when California's Citizens Redistricting Commission met in a cramped and dingy lecture...
View ArticleInmate's Mom: "Isn't There Some Better Way?"
Flickr: Charles Kremenak Last week reader Brenda Atchison shared a painful personal story about her son, who is serving time in an Orange County jail for crimes related to his persistent drug...
View ArticleController to Lawmakers: No Budget? No Paycheck!
Armando Arorizo Bloomberg/Getty State Controller John Chiang announced this morning that he plans to withhold the paychecks of state legislators, starting June 16, if the lawmakers haven't submitted a...
View ArticleBudget, Budget Hoozgotta Budget?
As the legislature's June 15 deadline to produce a balanced budget looms (and with it the threat of forfeited paychecks), the state senate will begin Friday to debate the budget in daily floor...
View ArticleWhat'll My New District Look Like?
California political junkies spent the weekend poring over the draft maps released Friday by the Citizens Redistricting Commission, handicapping the odds that politicians will be re-elected and that...
View ArticleCalifornia's First Ever Budget Veto: A Game Changer?
Fred Silva spent four decades in Sacramento working on state finance and government. So he knows what he's talking about when he says Gov. Brown's veto of the state budget (the first in the history of...
View ArticleKeep Schools Solvent With a Tax on Oil Drilling?
Flickr: Kt Ann Almost 15 percent of California school districts are in critical financial jeopardy, California's state schools superintendent Tom Torlakson announced this week. That's 143 districts...
View ArticleThose Little Pots of Money
Santa Catalina School California's school funding system is bewilderingly complex, even for educators and policy makers. And decisions affecting the state's 6 million students are mostly made in...
View Article300 Californians. One Deliberative Poll. One What?
Flickr: Chad Griffin They'll be meeting in a hotel ballroom in Torrance all weekend... 300 Californians who represent a scientific, random sample of the people of this state. The event, called "What's...
View ArticleCitizens Weigh in on California's Future
What's Next California Three hundred Californians got a crash course this past weekend on California governance, then made their voices heard about what direction they think the state should be headed....
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....