[Source: CaliforniaCityNews.org] The 2016 legislative session ended in the early hours of Thursday morning, after a marathon session of farewells to outgoing legislators and last minute scrambling over legislation. Notably, if the “three days in print” rule comes to pass via Proposition 54 this November, it may be the last year of 11th hour proposals Read More…
Newsroom
Legislature declines to add ‘environmental justice’ members to Southern California air quality board
[Source: Los Angeles Times] The state Legislature has rejected a controversial measure that would have shifted the political balance of Southern California’s air-quality board by adding three state-appointed “environmental justice” members to represent low-income communities suffering from pollution. The legislation to expand the South Coast Air Quality Management District board from 13 to 16 members fell 11 votes short of passage in Read More…
Bid to add more seats to AQMD board fails in Sacramento
[Source: 89.3KPCC] “This is a textbook example of institutional racism.” That was the reaction from Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León’s (D-Los Angeles) after his colleagues in the Assembly voted down a bill he wrote that would have added seats for low-income and minority representatives on the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management Read More…
For small business, one good bill, one bad
[Source: Fox & Hounds/Joel Fox] There are obviously more than two bills that the Legislature is considering which would affect small business in either a positive or negative way, but for this writing, two to focus on is a measure to help small business gain the resources necessary to thrive while also looking at one Read More…
California climate change laws: More electric cars, solar power expected under tough new rules
[Source: The Mercury News] California is already a world leader in developing environmental policies that address climate change. But under a landmark bill sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday requiring far steeper reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than anything the state has ever attempted, the next 15 years will likely see big changes for Read More…
Hundreds laid off at Ashley Furniture factory/warehouse in Colton
[Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin] About 840 employees at an Ashley Furniture HomeStore factory/warehouse in Colton were laid off Friday. “They told us to go into a meeting, and all of a sudden they tried to feed us and they said, ‘You know what, there’s no more jobs,” said Israel Naja, 37, outside the store Read More…
Manufacturers fear impact of new emissions target
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] The passage this week of Senate Bill 32 to implement stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards creates uncertainty for businesses and may lead to more businesses leaving California, said Dorothy Rothrock, president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association. That organization, along with other business groups and the oil industry, has Read More…
Sacramento elites’ power play to hijack SCAQMD
[Source: Assemblyman Travis Allen, Op-Ed OC Register] The American people are increasingly convinced there are two sets of rules in this country: one for the elites, and another for the rest of us. This conviction cuts across partisan, ideological and demographic lines. It is fueled by innate distrust of the actions of powerful elites in Read More…
BNSF seeks to overturn judge’s decision to halt rail yard’s expansion
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] BNSF Railway Co. said yesterday it will appeal a judge’s decision against the company’s $500 million project to expand a rail yard at the Port of Los Angeles. The decision cites BNSF’s plan to build a 153-acre rail yard, called Southern California International Gateway, in west Long Beach. The company Read More…