Capitol Weekly Podcast

This special episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live on November 17, 2021 at a panel discussion hosted by Capitol Weekly as part of our Energy Forum. Panel 1, Renewable Energy: Can solar, wind and hydroelectrics meet the demand for electricity as the state transitions away from fossil fuels? And, what does the current battle between rooftop solar proponents and large-scale solar fa...

:38 When do we get the final maps? 3:53 The Voting Rights Act seats 5:10 don't announce based on DRAFT maps 6:05 Did they really eliminate the most Latino district in the US? 9:57 BOE 15:14 The Partisan breakdown 20:42 The nature of redistricting 24:17 The #WorstWeekCA Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

We've got a two-fer episode today: first up, we speak with political data expert Paul Mitchell, who gives us an update on the status of California's new district maps.* Next we turn to Bruce and Lane Campbell, who run Capitol Enquiry, the publisher of GovBuddy and other indispensable tools for keeping track of legislative contact info. Bruce and Lane shared the company's origin story and gave us i...

We are joined today by Bob Stern, one of the authors of the The Political Reform Act of 1974, and a former counsel for California's Fair Political Practices Commission. We asked him about Behested Payments - donations made to a charity or public program at the request of an elected official. The practice comes around for scrutiny by California's political media every so often... most recently when...

With the Recall in the rearview mirror, California political junkies can now fixate on the next big election in the state: the race to replace Eric Garcetti as the mayor of Los Angeles. The contest has already drawn big names like Congresswoman Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Kevin de Leon; Mark Ridley-Thomas had been rumored to be considering a run, but legal issues have put an end to that s...

Agriculture is BIG business in California; More than half the fruits, nuts and vegetables sold in the US come from the Golden State. This summer, the legislature passed AB616, the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act, a bill to expand options for organizing agricultural workers. Modeled on the 2016 Voter's Choice Act, the bill sailed through the legislature, despite being labeled a &quot...

Special Episode recorded October 6, 2021 at Capitol Weekly's conference on California's Mental Health Crisis. This is Panel 3: Mental Health in the COVID Era The CDC reports that many Americans, especially younger adults, minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers, are experiencing negative mental health outcomes, increased substance use, and other impacts as a result of the stress...

Special Episode recorded October 6, 2021 at Capitol Weekly's conference on California's Mental Health Crisis. This is the Keynote address by state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, introduced by Capitol Weekly's John Howard. Sen. Eggman offers the deeply personal story of her own experiences with family and friends who suffered from severe mental illness, her decision to become a caregiver and later,...

Special Episode recorded October 6, 2021 at Capitol Weekly's conference on California's Mental Health Crisis. This is Panel 2: Compelling Treatment – Balancing Individual Rights and ‘Grave Disability’ Respecting personal autonomy while providing treatment is one of the most vexing issues in treatment of severe mental illness and addiction. Our panelists look at this legal and ethical balancing act...

Special Episode recorded October 6, 2021 at Capitol Weekly's conference on California's Mental Health Crisis. This is Panel 1: Origins of California’s Mental Health crisis and Long Term Solutions Our panelists examine the origins of California’s mental health crisis and discuss long term solutions to the problem. Moderated Angela Hart of Kaiser Health News Panelists: Elaine Batchlor, MLK Community...

Anthony York and Paul Mitchell join us to remember Nooner publisher Scott Lay, who died unexpectedly in September. Scott was a fascinating person with a unique backstory: He never finished high school, but later graduated from college and law school at UC Davis. His experience outside the regular high-school-to-university pipeline gave him a particular appreciation for the role of junior colleges,...

Today's guest is Robb Korinke, who turned heads in August with a data-driven pushback on the pundit-driven panic driving Democrats to despair regarding the governor's odds in the Recall. Korinke's projection that Gov. Newsom would win, and win handily, was not only correct, but actually underestimated the size of the groundswell to keep him in office. Korinke leads GrassrootsLab's client activitie...

Last week, the governor signed SB9 and SB10 into law. These bills will effectively end single family zoning in the state, with the goal of making it easier to build new homes in preexisting neighborhoods, near transit. A little-discussed impact of SB9 is that it helps homeowners finance new construction on their property without tying up the equity in their existing home. We're joined today by Ste...

We sat down on Friday for a chat about the looming Recall election with Jonathan Brown, president of Sextant Strategies & Research, a Democratic polling firm based in Southern California. Brown published an intriguing analysis of the race back in August, noting that Democrats were outperforming their registration numbers in early voting, and challenging the chorus of pundits who had predicted...

We are joined today by Anne Dunsmore, Campaign Manager for Rescue California, the organization that is heading the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. Dunsmore is a longtime fundraiser and activist and has plenty of experience with the Recall process: she worked on the campaign to oust Gov. Gray Davis and the earlier effort to remove Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird. Will she make it three-for-thre...

Last week Capitol Weekly published The 2021 Top 100 - naming the most powerful movers and shakers in California politics. We don’t include elected officials. Instead, we look at those who devote their professional lives to fighting for – or against – issues of state politics and policy, including lobbyists, bureaucrats, activists, trade group leaders, Capitol staffers and even journalists. On this...

The decennial census data released last week by the US Census Bureau offered insights into how the country has changed since 2010 and will be instrumental in redrawing California's political maps. We're joined today by Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc., who offers his thoughts on what the data portend for California's redistricting. And he shares his very favorite redistricting story with us! P...

Longtime lobbyist Chris Micheli stops by the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk with Tim Foster and John Howard about his TWO new case books: Introduction to California State Government and Cases and Materials on Direct Democracy in California. Micheli, a lawyer and an adjunct professor at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law has published numerous books on the subject of lobbying, a...

The latest Berkeley IGS Poll finds that among likely voters, 47% favor recalling Governor Gavin Newsom and only 50% favor his retention. Those numbers are a stark warning for a Governor serving amid the most turbulent era in memory, where extreme circumstances within - and beyond - his control could impact the attitude of the electorate at any moment. We are joined today by veteran pollster Mark D...

Today we welcome Randall Hagar, the Policy Consultant and Legislative Advocate for the Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California. Hagar has been advocating for sound mental health policies for over 20 years and helped draft the language for the original Laura's Law, a landmark state law that allows for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment. Hagar Joined us to talk about the growing numbe...

We are joined this episode by Asm. Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, who walks us through some of the groundbreaking investments in education that are enshrined in the 2021-22 state budget, signed last Monday by Gov. Newsom. McCarty, a Democratic member of the Assembly Budget Committee, takes a victory lap, touting the unabashedly progressive education agenda outlined in the Budget - an unprecedented e...

The Bash (AKA The Back to Session Bash) has been a Capitol tradition for close to two decades now. The 2020 edition - the biggest ever - was held as usual in January, before COVID was a concern. Twelve months later, a January 2021 Bash was out of the question. The question then was: cancel or postpone? Bash headmaster David Quintana (AKA Q) consulted with the party's sponsors and decided to schedu...

Note that we're posting early on the holiday weekend - we are joined this episode by California Governor's Office of Emergency Services chief Mark Ghilarducci. Ghilarducci leads the state response to disasters of all kinds. Ghilarducci has extensive experience: he has served California governors since the Deukmejian administration and was the incident commander on the Oklahoma City bombing recover...

As John says in the episode: "When we think of solar energy, we think of Bernadette Del Chiaro." Bernadette is the executive director of the California Solar & Storage Association, whose mission is to promote the widespread deployment of local clean energy technologies. Rooftop solar has been one of the state's biggest clean-energy success stories: California has built the equivalent...

Longtime environmental advocate Annie Notthoff retired from the Natural Resources Defense Council last year but still has plenty to say about California environmental issues. We asked her about CEQA exemptions for housing, what to make of the budget and the drought. Plus: Who had the Worst Week in California Politics? Show Notes: 3:30 Benefits of an ally in the White House 6:07 Housing and CEQA 11...