Jerry Brown Not Saying “No” To New Laws As Much as Other Modern Governors

Among the many useful activities conducted on behalf of the people of California by the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance is its annual report, How Often Do Governors Say No?

Some more than others is the short answer.

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a lower percentage of bills in 2012 – 12 percent — than the 14 percent he vetoed in 2011, the committee determined.    Read more »

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No More Counseling for Minors Aimed at Changing Them From Homosexual to Heterosexual

California is the first state in the nation to ban minors from receiving what’s known as conversion or reparative therapy, which is aimed at converting homosexuals to heterosexuals.

The bill — SB 1172 by Sen. Ted Lieu, a Torrance Democrat — received plenty of media attention after President Obama’s statement in May that same-sex couples should be able to marry.    Read more »

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Yet Another Fun “Politics on Tap” with Board of Equalization Member Betty Yee, Sacramento lawyer Nancy Miller and Cynthia Bryant, lobbyist for the California Charter Schools Association

(Stick around for the killer horseracing discussion)    Read more »

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With Enough Private Donations, a Statue of Ronald Reagan Will Grace the State Capitol

If private donors pony up, there will be a statue of President – and former California Governor – Ronald Reagan in the “new” section of the state Capitol.

(The “new” section is the East Annex, completed 60 years ago.)

Under legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown – Reagan’s successor  as California’s chief executive — the statue’s design, placement and upkeep will be paid for by the Ronald Reagan Centennial Capitol Foundation, created last year to help celebrate the actor-turned-politician’s 100th birthday.    Read more »

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Gov. Brown Nips Absentee Florists in the Bud

It will be harder for florists to misrepresent the location of their business under legislation signed September 27 by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Four previous bills in 13 years had attempted to prevent call centers, potentially located hundreds or thousands of miles away, from using a local city or neighborhood in their name and duping consumers into believing they are patronizing a “local” florist.    Read more »

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Employers Prohibited from Demanding Access to Social Media Pages of Job Applicants and Employees

Employers can’t demand user names or passwords to access the social media of employees or job applicants under legislation signed September 27 by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The measure is a rare area of agreement for labor unions and employers winning support from the California Labor Federation and the California Chamber of Commerce, which saw the bill as clarifying a murky aspect of employee law.    Read more »

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“Playing the Beer Card” — Brews and Voter Turnout

Here are two articles, forwarded by a subscriber, that could represent the definitive analysis of the politics of beer. Both are reported by the National Journal. The first is “What Your Beer Says About Your Politics.” The second describes how the World’s Most Interesting Man went partisan.

(As the second article suggests, “Stay nonpartisan, my friends.”    Read more »

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Today’s Latin Lesson Honors the Governor Signing Legislation to Allow Driverless Cars on California Roads

A Posse ad Esse

“From Possibility to Reality”

Gov.  Jerry Brown signed  legislation allowing limited operation of the driverless cars at Google’s Mountain View headquarters on September 25. Google’s fleet of a dozen self-driving vehicles, mainly Toyota Priuses, has logged more than 300,000 miles of self-driving without an accident, the company says.     Read more »

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Historical State Capitol Commission Now Responsible for the Whole Capitol

The Historic State Capitol Commission now officially has purview over the Capitol’s East Annex and the park surround ding the Capitol under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Previously, the commission, created in 1981, was charged with reviewing restoration and maintenance of the original Capitol building completed in 1874.

The measure clarifies that the commission is re4sponsible for advising the state on policies relating to the entire Capitol building and its grounds bound by 10th, L, 15th and N Streets.    Read more »

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Yes on Proposition 34 — End the Death Penalty in California

By Gil Garcetti, Jeanne Woodford and Jennifer Waggoner 

Evidence shows more than 100 innocent people have been sentenced to death in the U.S., and some have been executed!

(Proposition) 34 means we’ll never execute an innocent person in California.

Franky Carrillo was 16 when he was arrested and wrongly convicted of murder in Los Angeles.    Read more »

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