Sacramento Bee By Jim Miller and Christopher Cadelago, September 12, 2017 Last-minute amendments have defined the final days of California legislative sessions as much as lawmakers’ busy fundraising calendars and Capitol hallways jammed with lobbyists. Some amendments involved wholesale changes to a bill, with the measures coming up for votes only hours later, if that. […]

CALmatters By Dan Walters, September 10, 2017 If we – the California public – are to hold politicians and other government officials accountable, we must first know what they are doing or not doing. Thus, the first point of conflict is always access to records of official action or inaction. The current legislative session is […]

By Luis Buhler July 3, 2017 In November, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 54 with 65% of the vote.  Unfortunately, the California Legislature has tried to avoid the transparency California citizens have demanded. So far this session, the State Assembly has passed over 90 bills without giving its members 72 hours to review and amend the […]

Capitol Weekly By Anna Frazier, June 15, 2017 A boost in the bill-introduction limit for members of the Assembly could allow up to 800 new pieces of legislation by the end of 2018. But a question arises: Will the crush of new bills, which likely would push the Assembly’s total above 3,000 per session, make it […]

The Orange County Register By Jon Coupal, June 10, 2017 For decades, it has been nearly impossible for ordinary citizens to pierce the veil of legislative secrecy in our state capital. Of course, California is not unique — legislative bodies have sought to conceal their activity for millennia. This is inherent in the differences between rulers […]