California Cities and State Regulators Are Coming for Your Gas-Powered Leaf Blower
Some 60 cities have banned or restricted gas-powered landscaping equipment. State air quality regulators are looking to do the same.
California
A Major California Upzoning Bill Is Back, but Faces an Uncertain Future
Despite amendments to make the bill more palatable to local governments and community activists, Sen. Scott Wiener's (D–San Francisco) SB 50 faces an uphill battle.
LAPD Officers Falsely Identified Drivers as Gang Members To Boost Their Numbers
Chief Michel R. Moore: "There is no place in the Department for any individual who would purposely falsify information on a Department report."
One Year After It Passed, California's Police Accountability Law Is Working
In requiring greater transparency in police record-keeping, California proves it can do at least one thing right.
California Law Unconstitutionally Discriminates Against Certain Workers, Argue Uber and Postmates
Gig workers and companies are suing over a California law, AB 5, that criminalizes their continued employment.
Louisiana Alligator Farmers and Malibu Fashion Retailers Team Up
As California moves to ban the sale of alligator products, alligator farmers and fashionistas are joining forces.
Two Years After Licensed Marijuana Merchants Began Operating in California, They Account for Just a Quarter of Sales
The state's Cannabis Advisory Committee blames high taxes, local bans, and onerous regulations.
California Freelancers Sue To Stop Law That's Destroying Their Jobs. Pol Says Those 'Were Never Good Jobs' Anyway.
Set to take effect in 2020, AB5 will essentially eradicate large swaths of freelance jobs.
California Freelancers Suffer From Totally Predictable 'Unintended Consequences' of Gig Worker Protection Bill
Plus: Is there anything the upcoming spending bill doesn't contain? And more...
Are California's New Data Privacy Controls Even Legal?
A new paper raises constitutional questions about expansive state-level regulations that reach beyond their borders.
What, Us Worry? California Lawmakers Still Ignoring Dark Pension Clouds.
The guiding principle for California policymakers seems to be: Tell everyone what they want to hear—or at least stick to the rosiest scenarios.
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Challenge to Local Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance
The decision leaves intact local governments’ power to force private developers to build affordable housing.
California Gov. Newsom Picks Fish Over Farms
Newsom is leaning on the side of fish in the state's never-ending fish v. people debate, but is at least trying to deal with farm and urban water needs.
Los Angeles Is Spending Over $1 Billion To House the Homeless. It's Failing.
Los Angeles County saw disease outbreaks and 1,000 homeless deaths last year.
Feds Sue California City Over Law That Mandated Evictions for Criminal Activity—Even When No One Was Arrested or Charged
A Department of Justice lawsuit argues Hesperia’s rental ordinance amounts to illegal racial discrimination.
Did a Controversial Neck Hold Kill This Man?
The cops pulled over David Glen Ward for "stealing" what turned out to be his own car. Then things went south.
California Threatens Landlords of Unlicensed Pot Shops With Prosecution
The drug wars will continue until the state gets its cut of the money.
The Marijuana Black Market Will Keep Its Throne in California, Thanks to Tax Increases
When the government tries to hoover up all the money earned from legalized drugs, this is what happens.
California Regulators Shut Down a Distillery for Serving Alcohol
Confusing regulations put well-run businesses at the mercy of bureaucratic brutes.
California's Restrictive Gun Laws Still Can't Prevent Shootings
Instead of reducing the dangers posed by criminals, California's gun restrictions have increased the threat posed to decent people by the law itself.
Free People Don't Ask the Government for Permission
"Liberty," Thomas Jefferson wrote, "is unobstructed action according to our will; but rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others."
California Tried To Fine a Company $10,000 for Ordering Blind People Ubers and Lyfts Without a Permit
GoGo Grandparent gives people without smartphones a way to use rideshare services. Regulators think that's a problem.
California School Shooting Leads to Renewed Demands for Assault Weapons Ban
Plus: Uber and Los Angeles transit regulators go to war over user data, young adult novelists cancel critic, and ex-ambassador testifies in impeachment hearings.
California Sued Over Law Requiring Corporations To Adopt Woman Quotas
The Pacific Legal Foundation is arguing that a California law mandating corporate boards have a minimum number of women amounts to unconstitutional sex discrimination.
Would a Bigger Legislature Mean a Smaller Government for California?
It's probably true that there is no magic ratio of legislators to constituents. Still, do Californians need more representation?
California's Power Outages Are Making Gov. Gavin Newsom Resemble Recalled Gov. Gray Davis
That's not the comparison you want if you're a California governor. Newsom should spend more time dealing with the nuts-and-bolts of government and less time preening for the national stage.
Bernie Sanders Blames Apple for Silicon Valley's Government-Created Housing Crisis
Development restrictions and NIMBYism, not tech sector success, explain Silicon Valley's housing costs.
California's War on Weed Continues Thanks to a Red Tape-Fueled Black Market
The Golden State is still taking punitive, costly, and pointless measures to fight illegal grow operations.
California NIMBYs Sue To Stop In-N-Out Burger From Coming to Their Town
Opponents use a notorious environmental review law to keep a famed fast food restaurant out of Rancho Mirage.
California's Wonky Insurance and Land Use Regulations Make the State's Wildfires Deadlier and More Destructive
The state has made it exceedingly difficult to build in fire-safe cities, while also making insurance rates in high-risk areas artificially cheap.
Inside America's First Restaurant for Weed
West Hollywood's Lowell Farms Cafe serves food, drinks, and marijuana.
Why Do Environmentalists Seem Determined To Torment, Rather Than Convince?
From plastic bag bans to plastic straw bans to bans on shampoo bottles in hotels, California is adopting supposedly environmental policies that won't save the environment but will piss off residents.
Facebook's Plans To Spend $1 Billion on Housing Development Is a Drop in the Bucket
The source of the state's housing affordability problems are onerous government regulations and fees that artificially drive up the costs of housing.
Gavin Newsom, Supporter of Massive Gas Tax Hike, Demands Investigation of $4 per Gallon CA Gas Prices
The governor's request comes after the release of a report finding the state's taxes and regulations explain half of the higher prices Golden State motorists pay.
Californians Are Fleeing the State's Progressive Policies
California's progressive political imperatives are having such glaring real-world repercussions that it's hard to keep ignoring them.
Vaping Panic Ignores How E-Cigarettes Save Lives
H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." The rub against vaping, and other smokeless tobacco products, is that people enjoy it.
Federal Judge Says California Can't Force Trump To Release His Tax Returns in Exchange for Ballot Access
Written ruling says the state is violating the rights of voters as well as the presidential candidates.
No Charges for Off-Duty Cop Who Killed Man in a California Costco
Would that outcome have been the same for those of us who aren't in law enforcement?
How Rent Control Laws Hurt Tenants
California is about to get a real world lesson in how rent control laws can't solve a housing crisis.
