Capitol Weekly Podcast

The Capitol Weekly Podcast welcomes Maeley Tom, a longtime legislative staffer and Democratic Party stalwart who played a pioneering role as one of the first Asian women in California's capitol. Tom's new memoir, "I'm Not Who You Think I Am" has just been published, and she joins (from a safe social distance) editor John Howard to chat about her career in Sacramento and the amazing backs...

Paula Treat, the grande dame of Sacramento contract lobbyists, has had a wide range of clients including TESLA, UBER, CCPOA, the California Medical Association and several Indian tribes, over her four decade career. She called in from her cabin in Truckee to do her very first podcast ever, and spoke about the challenges of lobbying during a pandemic, what to expect as California begins to reopen,...

Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council, joins us to talk about how his members are coping with the Coronavirus, and what to expect as California reopens. What you can't expect is for things to be the same as they were before COVID-19. Businesses are revising work-from-home and other policies, and most of his members expect to see dramatic changes in the workplace in the wake of the pandemic. W...

Today we are joined by Rose Kapolczynski, a veteran campaign and communications strategist with more than three decades of experience. Rose is best known for running Senator Barbara Boxer’s campaigns, from her initial upset victory in 1992 to her final race against Carly Fiorina in 2010. These days she is working with Boxer on efforts to get Democrats elected, and is also handling the congressiona...

Today we're joined by Rob Stutzman, longtime GOP strategist, the President of Stutzman Public Affairs, and former communications director for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The race for CA25 was being called just as we taped this podcast - Rob weighs in on what Mike Garcia's victory in a Clinton +6 district means for November, and for the Republican Party in general. No stranger to presidential c...

Mike Madrid, longtime GOP consultant, and former Political Director for the state Republican Party, joins us to talk about two of his recent skirmishes: a public battle with a squirrel family that occupied an eave of his house, and his even more public battle with the family that occupies the White House. Madrid has made no secret of his distaste for the Trump wing of the Republican Party, calling...

As California looks at loosening some restrictions on non-essential businesses, one business has been going about their work as best they can all along: the construction industry. Michele Daugherty, President of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Northern California, joined us to talk about the challenges facing the industry in the midst of a pandemic, and about the efforts being made to k...

Political data expert Paul Mitchell joins us by phone (remote from his daughter's packed closet) to talk about the mechanics of a vote-by-mail election in November, how COVID-19 is impacting the prospects for redistricting, and what he learned by turning 50 while on quarantine. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal da...

Following the harrowing scenes of voters braving long lines and exposure to the Coronavirus on Primary Election Day in Wisconsin, there is a renewed discussion of the importance of Vote By Mail options. California has long been a leader in this area, but could we see an ALL VBM election by November? Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation joins us to talk about the positives and negatives...

The state capitol is on Covid-19 lockdown for at least another few weeks, with most legislators and staff working from home. Longtime Senate Staffer Kip Lipper joins us from his Clarksburg digs to talk about how the quarantine is affecting pending legislation, lobbying, the state budget and what it's like doing the people's business remotely in the era of the coronavirus. Hosted by Simplecast, an...

Longtime journalist Steve Weigand joins John Howard and Tim Foster to talk about his new book, "The Dancer, the Dreamers, and the Queen of Romania: How an Unlikely Quartet Created America's Most Improbable Art Museum." The book tells the story of the Maryhill Museum in Klickitat, Washington and the wildly different individuals, including SF socialite Alma Spreckels, and Queen Marie of Ro...

The Kabatecks, John and Brian, join us for another special KabaTalks episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast. As usual, the brothers find themselves on opposite sides of a contentious issue – namely employer rights vs. workers’ rights in the age of coronavirus. John, a voice for small business, maintains that AB5 should be suspended in the face of a worldwide calamity that is swamping small business...

As the state reacts to last night's lockdown order from Gov. Newsom, California's hospitals are on the frontline of the battle against the deadly coronavirus. The hurdles are high: supplies of essentials like masks and ventilators are low; a much-needed shipment of testing kits arrived missing parts; doctors, nurses and other hospital staff risk infection as they provide treatment. Carmela Coyle,...

-- Quick note: We recorded this podcast with former California Gambling Control Commission member Richard Schuetz last week, as the coronavirus situation was evolving - some of the discussions about casino closures may be out of date. -- Many people in politics have led colorful lives, but Richard Schuetz has most of them beat. He began working in casinos as a dealer while still in college, and ha...

With St. Patrick's Day around the corner, we sat down with the owner of the most prominent Irish brogue in California politics: Robbie Hunter, head of the State Building and Construction Trades Council. Hunter started his career as a steelworker, but his labor bonafides go deeper than that: his great-grandfather was an Irish labor organizer and steeplejack who helped build the Titanic, and Hunter...

The aptly-named Super Tuesday turbocharged the Democratic primary this week, propelling former Vice President Joe Biden into the lead in both delegates and the popular vote, supplanting Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who had been the clear frontrunner until last week's blowout South Carolina primary revived Biden's moribund campaign. With former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg and, as of today, Sena...

In the capitol, David Panush is known as a longtime staffer and top-level expert on health care policy - usually one of our first calls when getting background on a convoluted healthcare story - but after dark he sheds the coat and tie and heads up a rock group called Remedy 7 (even the band name is healthcare-related!) The other members of the group are an eclectic mix, including a lobbyist, a wa...

Randle Communications recently released their third annual Digital Influencer Report, tracking digital advocacy trends in 2019. Sad to say that the Capitol Weekly Podcast didn't make the list, but we won't hold that against them. Randle worked with Zignal Labs, hotshots in the field of social media analysis, to produce data for the report. Short take: this year’s report found that digital advocacy...

Author and reporter Timothy L. O'Brien first came to national prominence with the 2005 publication ofTrump Nation, a book examining the then-TV star's fortunes... and which claimed that Trump had vastly inflated the value of his holdings, and was not, in fact, a billionaire - or even close. Trump sued, claiming he was libeled; a judge dismissed the case. That was then; these days O'Brien is a camp...

Democratic political operative Roger Salazar has worn many hats over the years, working high profile gigs for political heavyweights like VP Al Gore and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In 2008 Salazar headed to Nevada to help with the launch the then-new Nevada Caucus. Most won't remember, but up until '08, Nevada was a primary state; Roger was on hand for that very first Caucus and learne...

In the wake of the Iowa Caucus debacle, the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary takes on added significance in a presidential primary race that appears to have blown wide open. Veteran California political consultant Steve Maviglio is from the Granite State - and served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Winning a spot in the sprawling 400-seat body requires retail politicking on...

Longtime lobbyist Chris Micheli stops by the Podcast to talk about his new book: A Practitioner's Guide to Lobbying and Advocacy in California. Lobbying and legislative advocacy is a unique profession: no official training required, no specific level of academic achievement, and no certification of qualification... yet lobbyists play a crucial role in the creation and implementation of the public...

Another KABATALKS episode of the Capitol Weekly pod, wherein two brothers working opposite sides of the political spectrum discuss issues of the day. John Kabateck is a lifelong Republican and longtime spokesperson for the NFIB; Brian Kabateck is a lifelong Democrat and the former head of the Consumer Attorneys Association. John Howard and Tim Foster of Capitol Weekly guide the discussion, which f...

Reporter Scott Soriano joins John Howard and Tim foster to talk about his recently published three-part series on California's rape crisis centers. These nongovernmental organizations provide crucial resources and support to survivors of sexual assault, who often have nowhere else to turn. The value of the work performed by the centers is not in dispute - but who should pay for it is. While Califo...

January means one thing on the Sacramento legislative calendar (well, aside from the governor's budget): the annual Back to Session Bash! Lobbyist David Quintana launched the soiree 15 years ago and has been its guiding light as the event grew from a modest gathering for capitol staffers into the star-studded blowout it is today. John Howard and Tim Foster sat down with Quintana to talk about the...