Transparency

Political Money Watchdog Wants More Transparency, Less Vague Payments

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Wed, 12/02/2015 - 10:13
At the end of California's last legislative's session, a mailer landed in thousands of mailboxes slamming an historic climate change proposal that would have slashed petroleum use in cars and trucks in half by 2030. It was sent by a grassrootsie-sounding group called the California Drivers Alliance. But in reality, it was just Big Oil's mouthpiece, Western States Petroleum Association. 
 

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Stonewalling PUC Hides Jerry Brown's Involvement in Failed San Onofre Deal

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Mon, 11/16/2015 - 11:48

Now we know why Gov. Jerry Brown killed a key piece of legislation that would have forced more public disclosure at the state's powerful utilities commission: He was protecting himself. This shouldn't come as a surprise, because as we saw with Mapgate, the governor often tries to carefully avoid transparency. 

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Will Jerry Brown Apologize for Using State Workers for Personal Business?

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Thu, 11/12/2015 - 14:05
Amid ongoing media scrutiny of Gov. Jerry Brown for using state workers to search for oil on his own private land, he and his staff continue to claim that he received no special treatment. That's untrue, and instead of being tone-deaf to the growing consensus, he should acknowledge his mistake and apologize. 

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Capitol Watchdog: Upcoming Meetings to Watch

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Mon, 11/09/2015 - 10:52

The state's political money watchdog has been aggressive in giving the public the ability to find out who and how much donors spend to sway lawmakers. So why is it considering removing behested contributions solicited by politicians from its website after seven years? Find that and other meetings that have statewide impact below for the week of Nov. 9 - 13.

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California Politics Drowning in Money

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Mon, 10/05/2015 - 11:31
Though the U.S. Supreme Court believes otherwise, the public is disgusted with the money that has swamped our political system and wants a major overhaul. A growing number of Republicans and Democrats alike want more restrictions on wealthy influence peddlers and more disclosure of donors who give to organizations that get involved in elections. 
 

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Dying Days of California Legislature, Best and Worst of Government

Submitted by Eddie Barrera on Mon, 09/14/2015 - 11:51
Want to make a crowded Capitol hallway nervous? Turn on a video camera. 
 
That's what we did in Sacramento over the last days of the California legislative session. We wanted to see what the dying days were like, and we found out: It's ugly. We watched bills appear, disappear or simply stall, lawmakers meeting with lobbyists, and lobbyists wanting to fight each other

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