Capitol Weekly Podcast

We are joined today by Ken Oliver, Executive Director of Checkr.org, the philanthropic arm of Checkr, a tech firm that is working to reinvent the background check, "making the process fairer through education, and eliminating human bias." Oliver knows firsthand the struggles that formerly incarcerated people face upon re-entry to society: sentenced to life in prison in 1997 under California's Thre...

It's no secret that communicable diseases can have dramatically different impacts on different groups; elderly people, for example, saw the worst effects of COVID, with a death rate far beyond California's average. Black Californians also had higher mortality rates from the disease.  What of California's LGBTQ community?  The truth is, we don't know.  SB 932, a 2020 bill inspired by concerns about...

In this week’s Capitol Weekly podcast CW’s Rich Ehisen is joined by frequent contributor Dan Morain and Washington Bureau Chief of RealClearPolitics and Executive Editor of RealClear Media Grou, Carl Cannon. The trio discusses the impact of President Joe Biden’s announcement to run for a second term on a host of ambitious California politicos, from Kamala Harris and Kevin McCarthy in Washington D....

The only thing denizens of the California Capitol love more than talking politics is eating good grub. With that in mind, our guest today is Carney King, the man behind the very popular new Twitter feed Culinary Caucus. Carney's mission is to find the best food and, more important, the best food deals around the Capitol area. Then we welcome back an old friend to offer his insights into who had th...

The landmark Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967 was intended to to “end the inappropriate, indefinite, and involuntary commitment of persons with mental health disorders” by setting strict guidelines for handling the involuntary civil commitment of individuals to mental health institutions. While lauded by civil rights advocates, critics contend the law is actually an impediment to care for those...

Friend of the Pod Bill Wong joins us to chat about his new book, Better to Win . Wong, a renowned strategist to a bevy of major California Democrats, provides candid and occasionally Machiavellian advice to those who aspire not only to fight for justice, but to win those fights. Wong's story is filled with names familiar to followers of California politics, and gives the fascinating backstory to p...

Heading into recess, hosts Rich Ehisen and Tim Foster look back on a historic week chock full of political news: the Trump indictment, the governor's oil price-gouging bill SBx1-2, the Campaign for Democracy, emissions standards and OH SO MANY candidates for the Worst Week in California Politics. :23 WILD 1:04 Trump indicted 3:42 How social media played into the news cycle 5:53 Trump fatigue 7:06...

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom released a proposal for a $3 billion bond measure aimed at the 2024 ballot, to fund housing for people with severe mental illness. At the same time, Newsom asked the legislature to revise 2004's Proposition 63 - which enacted a 1% on individuals with earnings of $1 million or more, used to help people with mental illness - to help provide more money for housing the men...

We're back with a regular episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast. California political data guru Paul Mitchell joined us to talk about surprising voting patterns and registration numbers following California's aggressive voter registration push under the past two Secretaries of State. Who's voting, who isn't, and why. And, how is the 2024 Senate race shaping up? Plus - Who had the Worst Week in Cal...

This Special Episode was recorded Thursday, March 9, 2023 at Capitol Weekly's Conference on Housing, which was held live in Sacramento at the California Endowment Conference Center. Panel 3: The State of the Rental Market. Panelists: Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh; Asm. Alex Lee; Debra Carlton, California Apartment Association; Alex Lantsberg, State Building and Construction Trades Council; Shanti S...

This Special Episode was recorded Thursday, March 9, 2023 at Capitol Weekly's Conference on Housing, which was held live in Sacramento at the California Endowment Conference Center. Panel 2: Affordable Housing. The second panel of the day explores the issue of Affordable Housing. Panelists: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Mayor of Alameda; Peter Cohen, Sacramento Housing Alliance; Chione Lucina Muñoz Flega...

This Special Episode was recorded Thursday, March 9, 2023 at Capitol Weekly's Conference on Housing, which was held live in Sacramento at the California Endowment Conference Center. Keynote: Asm. Buffy Wicks in conversation with Hannah Wiley of the Los Angeles Times Assemblymember Buffy Wicks is a key voice in any discussion of California housing policy, Wicks represents the East Bay in the Califo...

This Special Episode was recorded Thursday, March 9, 2023 at Capitol Weekly's Conference on Housing, which was held live in Sacramento at the California Endowment Conference Center. Panel 1: Office to Housing Conversion. The first panel of the day examines the proposal to convert offices to housing. Panelists: Danny Curtin, California Conference of Carpenters; Dan Dunmoyer, California Building Ind...

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (which everyone calls BART) is a the lifeline of the Bay Area: a heavy-rail public transit system that operates in five counties with 50 stations. Connecting the suburbs to urban cities through 131 miles of track, BART serves a wildly diverse customer base. One of the groups most dependent on BART is the region's homeless population - and that depe...

Earlier this month, the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California (CBHDA) released a study on the number of healthcare workers available to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment in California. The news is not good. "More than 90% of counties reported difficulty in recruiting Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Marriage and Family Counselors, and psychiatrist...

Educator Marshall Tuck came within a hair of becoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction twice, narrowly losing both the 2014 and 2018 elections (first to incumbent Tom Torlakson, and then to Tony Thurmond).  Tuck first came to statewide prominence as an education advisor to LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who tapped him to head the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. Following his two run...

Los Angeles is never short of political news, and between the mayor's race and the fallout from the leaked recording of city council members, the past few months have been  particularly newsworthy. We checked in with Robb Korinke, a principal, along with Mike Madrid, at GrassrootsLab, and the publisher of several newsletters on California local governments. He gave us an update on how the Bass adm...

With nearly five decades of advocacy under his belt, there are only a handful of people who have lobbied in Sacramento longer than John Norwood. He entered the business in 1974, shortly after graduating from Sac State. To put that in context: Nixon was president, Reagan was governor and Gavin Newsom was in elementary school. Future senator Alex Padilla was still in diapers. A lawyer as well as a l...

In the wake of the horrific January 21 shooting that killed 11 people in Monterey Park, Gov. Newsom visited hospitalized survivors.  His conversation with one patient revealed an added stress for survivors of gun violence and other violent crime: the inability to cover expenses incurred or wages lost due to the incident. "The first thing [the patient] said to me is, 'How many days I'm going to be...

Richard Polanco served 16 years in the legislature, eight years in each house. Elected to the Assembly in 1986, he soon began efforts to build the Latino coalition in the legislature, ultimately helping expand the number of Latino legislators from seven members to 24 by the time he left office in 2002.  Polanco was a shrewd and energetic organizer who grew Latino political power just as anti-immig...

This week marks a huge change at Capitol Weekly, and the end of an era in Sacramento: editor John Howard is retiring. John arrived in the AP's Sacramento Bureau in 1980 and became their California state politics reporter in 1982 - Jerry Brown was governor, and Willie Brown was about to become Speaker. He has covered the capitol every day since, first for AP, then for a variety of publications incl...

High drama prevails in Washington DC this week, where GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has narrowly lost thirteen votes for the Speakership, beating a record that went back to before the Civil War. Speaking of civil war, members of the Freedom Caucus, most vocally Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, are in open rebellion against McCarthy's leadership. With the house narrowly divided, McCarthy can onl...

Podcast hosts John Howard and Tim Foster talk about the biggest California political news stories of the past year - the secret tapes of several Los Angeles City Council members, housing and homelessness, the November elections and more.  Plus, they tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics. Show Notes: :27 The tape 2:47 Housing and homelessness 4:29 The Southwest Airlines meltdown 5:...

Proposition 30, the ambitious plan to combat wildfires and fund EV infrastructure throughout the state by taxing California's wealthiest citizens failed at the ballot box in November. Early polls found broad support for the measure, but a strong opposition campaign led by Gov. Newsom and the CTA turned the tide and ultimately derailed the measure. We spoke with Bill Magavern, Policy Director of th...

With the results of the November election now finalized, 30% of California legislators are newcomers to their offices. Assemblyman Josh Hoover, (R) turned AD7 red, flipping a Sacramento area seat that had voted for Democrat Ken Cooley for four terms. If Hoover is new to the Assembly, he is no stranger to the capitol: he was chief of staff to former Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who left to take a seat...