California Progress Report

• San Francisco Leaders and Environmentalists Object to Water Legislation

  While Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) called today’s signing of several water bills “historic,” several San Francisco leaders and environmentalists object to the water deal and believe that it is more of a 19th Century solution to a current day problem. “This water package is a bad deal for... [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:33am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Health Care Act Victory for California Families

  By Art Pulaski Executive Secretary-Treasurer California Labor Federation Last night's vote in the House of Representatives to pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act was a victory for all California families and an historic milestone on the road to meaningful health care reform. "The entire California Democratic delegation... " [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:28am EST
  by California Progress Report

• House Makes History on Health Reform

  By Anthony Wright Executive Director of Health Access California Earlier tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.3962, a historic comprehensive health reform proposal, by a vote of 220-215. We thank ALL of California's Democratic Congressional Representatives for voting for this desperately needed comprehensive health reform. Given California's health crisis,... [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:25am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Has California Peaked?

  By Robert Cruickshank Over the last few weeks a debate has raged online and in print about whether California is a failed state. By now you likely know my answer: it is, but we can and must revive the California Dream for the 21st century. Doing so, however, requires some... [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:23am EST
  by California Progress Report

• PCL Insider: Water Package Offers Subsidies - Not Solutions

  By Traci Sheehan Executive Director Planning and Conservation League In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, while most Californians were sound asleep, the state legislature passed a package of bills and a bond that rewards bad actors instead of solving the water needs of real people and the environment.... [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 9:46am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Weekly Radio Address: Assembly Lead Water Negotiators Huffman, Caballero Discuss this Week’s Historic Agreement to Solve California’s Water Crisis

  In this Democratic weekly address, Assemblymembers Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) discuss historic legislation passed by the Legislature this week to solve California’s water crisis. You may listen in English or Spanish. The transcript is below. Transcript: Hello, this is Assemblymember Jared Huffman, Chair of the... [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:03am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Feinstein Once Again Flirts With Entering the Governor’s Race

  By Robert Cruickshank With Gavin Newsom dropping out of the governor's race and leaving Jerry Brown as the only Democratic candidate, speculation was sure to rise about Senator Dianne Feinstein and whether she would seek to avenge her narrow 1990 defeat and run for governor in 2010. Sure, most observers... [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:34am EST
  by California Progress Report

• A Good Health Care Bill Emerging from the House

  By Anthony Wright Executive Director of Health Access California As the vote near on the House health reform bill, it is easy to sink into the specifics of the bill, be obsessed by the debate on key details, and mourn amendments that we really wanted but that weren't included. But... ' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:33am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Schwarzenegger Applauds Passage of Peripheral Canal/Dams Water Package

  By Dan Bacher Arnold Schwarzenegger, the worst Governor for fish and the environment in California history, today praised the Legislature for its passage of a water package including an $11 billion bond that provides a clear path to the construction of the peripheral canal and more dams. "Water is the... " [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:32am EST
  by California Progress Report

• "Historic" Water Deal Draws Both Praise and Criticism

  by David M. Greenwald Editor California Progress Report While the Governor and Democratic Leadership are lauding the water deal as an historic achievement, local leaders and environmental groups are lamenting it as the prelude to a peripheral canal that will end the delta as we know it by diverting water... [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:56am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Republican State Senators Vote for Administrative Chaos, Backdoor Cuts in IHSS

  by Doug Moore Executive Director United Domestic Workers of America It is sad that the governor’s Republican enablers in the State Senate have chosen to ignore the pleas of countless California counties as well as thousands of homecare consumers, providers and advocates by allowing the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS)... [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:55am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Assembly Budget Committee Follow-up Informational Hearing on Implementation on IHSS Program Changes

  By Marty D. Omoto Director/Organizer California Disability Community Action Network Citing major health and safety issues impacting over 462,000 children and adults with disabilities, the blind and seniors in the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, the Assembly Budget Committee, chaired by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (Democrat – Santa Rosa) will hold... [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:54am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Making War on the Drug War

  By Peter Schrag Columnist California Progress Report A half generation after California began the national swing to legalizing the medical use of marijuana, the Golden State is becoming the central front in the drive to legalize, regulate and tax recreational and all other adult uses of the drug. Last week,... [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:12am EST
  by California Progress Report

• IHSS Delay Fails by Four Votes in Senate

  By Marty D. Omoto Director/Organizer California Disability Community Action Network With the State’s water crisis dominating attention at the State Capitol, the State Senate reconvened its floor session at 11:35 PM, over 8 hours since it recessed Tuesday afternoon, but failed to pass SB 69, a bill that would have... [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:11am EST
  by California Progress Report

• CAVALA: Bored Pundits Seek To Stir Up More Competition In Contest For Governor

  By Bill Cavala A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination for Governor of California has forced the state’s pundits to face the uncomfortable fact that they are stuck with a field of Poizner, Whitman, Campbell... [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:10am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Proposed Ballot Measure Filed to Protect California State Parks & Conserve Wildlife

  An exploratory committee comprised of parks supporters today filed a proposed statewide ballot measure, called the “California State Parks and Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2010,” which would create a stable, reliable and adequate source of funding to protect state parks and conserve California wildlife. The committee, Californians... [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:09am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Report Shows Longer Wait Times at DMV Due to Furloughs

  The Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes released a report today that shows the Governor’s furlough program has caused longer wait times and an overall deterioration of services at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The average time a walk-in customer waits for service has gone from 27 minutes to 45... [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:49am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Sierra Club California Urges Legislators to Vote No on the Water Package

  By Dan Bacher Sierra Club California is strongly urging everybody to take action NOW to stop legislation that could authorize the construction of two dams and a peripheral canal approximately the size and length of the Panama Canal around the Delta. "We need your help today in order to stop... " [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:47am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Senate Could Take Action on SB 69 Bill That Would Delay November 1 IHSS Worker Requirements Today

  By Marty D. Omoto Director/Organizer California Disability Community Action Network The State Senate adjourned its long Monday evening floor session dealing with major bills addressing the State’s water crisis and will meet again Tuesday morning at 11:30 AM. The State Senate could take final action on SB 69 sometime on... [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:46am EST
  by California Progress Report

• The President’s Ambivalence

  By Clint Reilly Barack Obama must succeed. After so many young people and first time voters invested their hopes in his presidency, his failure would elicit a level of despair that would plague the Democratic Party for decades to come. The Democratic message was resurgent in 2008. Millions of new... [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:45am EST
  by California Progress Report

• It Could Happen Here in California

  By Sam Gold A California Injured Worker There is no amount of corruption, incompetence and ineptitude sufficient to make it acceptable to take hostages at gunpoint in an office building, as an Edmonton, Alberta injured worker is alleged to have done last month. That much should be obvious. It... [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 9:07am EST
  by California Progress Report

• Facing Tough Health Care Choice with Our Children

  By Beth Capell The New York Times reports on a study that found that children without health insurance who are hospitalized are much more likely to die—how much more likely? Well, almost half the kids who died after hospitalization were uninsured, far out of proportion to their numbers in the... [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 9:02am EST
  by California Progress Report

• CAVALA: Legalizing ‘Tommy Guns’ For Street Gang Members?

  By Bill Cavala A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento Well, he didn’t really say that. But he wrote a law review article that concluded that if you can carry it, you can bear it (Constitutionally). Which means the decades old ban on automatic weapons should be repealed (we... [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:57am EST
  by California Progress Report

• PCL INSIDER: Assemblymember Nava Calls On Big Oil To Pay Its Fair Share

  By Traci Sheehan Executive Director Planning and Conservation League On Monday, the Planning and Conservation League (League) joined Assemblymember Pedro Nava as he announced the introduction of new legislation designed to ensure that big oil companies that operate in California compensate the state for extracting oil. The bill, known... [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 7:54am EST
  by California Progress Report