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☆ Restaurant Groups Push to Overturn California Fast-Food Wage Law
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Heather Haddon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Restaurant and trade groups said they have submitted enough voter signatures for a ballot measure to try to halt the implementation of a new California law that would set minimum hourly wages for fast-food workers in the state starting next year. A coalition of restaurant owners and business groups called Save Local Restaurants said Monday it had filed more than 1 million petition signatures to put the law on hold and place an initiative before California voters on the 2024 ballot. They had until Dec. 5 to submit roughly 623,000 valid voter signatures to place a question on the 2024 ballot asking whether the law should take effect. If voters side against the law, it could be struck down.

☆ California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he told Biden he won't run for the White House in 2024 and will support the president's expected reelection bid: 'I'm all in, count me in'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gavin Newsom told President Biden he was backing his expected 2024 reelection campaign. "He not only beat Trump once, I think he can beat him again," the California governor said of Biden. Newsom told Politico's Jonathan Martin that he "told everyone in the White House" of his decision. Newsom "told everyone in the White House" ranging "from the chief of staff to the first lady" about his intentions, he revealed to Martin — and was firmly behind the president's expected reelection bid. "I'm all in, count me in," Newsom told the pair, per his conversation with Martin.

☆ Results: California Proposition 27: Voters say no to legalizing sports gambling with revenue going toward social causes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

California Proposition 27 would have legalized sports betting and given proceeds to social causes. Proposition 27's revenue would have been allocated to provide resources to address homelessness, mental health issues, and addiction. It was different from Proposition 26, another gambling proposition on the ballot that also failed. Support and oppositionCalifornians for Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support led the campaign in support of Proposition 27. It would provide an ongoing funding source of hundreds of millions of dollars each year to fight homelessness and provide mental health services to those most in need.

☆ To save salmon, U.S. approves largest dam removal in history
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. agency seeking to restore habitat for endangered fish gave final approval on Thursday to decommission four dams straddling the California-Oregon border, the largest dam removal undertaking in U.S. history. Dam removal is expected to improve the health of the Klamath River, the route that Chinook salmon and endangered coho salmon take from the Pacific Ocean to their upstream spawning grounds, and from where the young fish return to the sea. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order surrendering the dam licenses and approving removal of the dams. "The Klamath salmon are coming home," Joseph James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said in a statement. Climate change and drought have also stressed the salmon habitat; the river has become too warm and too full of parasites for many fish to survive.

☆ Massachusetts voters approve 'millionaire tax.' What it means for the wealthy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

If you make more than $1 million a year in Massachusetts, you may soon be subject to a "millionaire tax" approved by voters this week through a ballot initiative. The new law creates a 4% tax on annual income above $1 million, on top of the state's current 5% flat income tax, aiming to fund public education, roads, bridges and public transportation. It's expected the levy will affect roughly 0.6% of Massachusetts households, according to an analysis from the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University. However, California voters rejected a similar tax, aiming to pay for zero-emissions vehicle programs and wildfire response and prevention. "It's very state-specific," Auxier said, explaining how the tax ballot initiatives may hinge on funding priorities, current state tax structure and other factors.

Voters in states from across the political spectrum chose to enshrine abortion rights on Tuesday, a major victory for reproductive rights advocates in the first national election since the fall of Roe v. Wade in June. While the amendment’s defeat will not change whether Kentucky residents have abortion access if the state Supreme Court continues to allow a ban that is currently being challenged, abortion rights advocates were thrilled by voters’ support. Meanwhile, voters in two Democratic states, California and Vermont, chose to officially protect abortion rights in their constitutions. Democrats said they care most about abortion rights, while Republicans said their biggest concern was inflation, according to the poll. “Until there’s a new federal right, state constitutions are really the best avenue to ensure reproductive rights and abortion rights in any given state,” she said.

Proposition 26, which sought to bring point spreads to Native American casinos, was being rejected by 70.1% to 29.9%, tallies showed Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Proposition 27, the measure that sought to legalize online sports betting, was going down to even greater defeat by 83.3% to 16.7%. Proposition 26 garnered $120.7 million in donor support and $43.8 million in opposition efforts, according to the California secretary of state's contribution records. Meanwhile, Proposition 27 drew $169.5 million in support and $237.8 million in opposition. Proposition 27's backers didn't strongly oppose Proposition 26, whose backers aggressively fought the former measure in hopes of bringing Native American casinos a near-monopoly in sports betting.

☆ Lyft-Backed Proposal to Tax Rich for Green Initiatives Rejected in California
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Preetika Rana | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California voters rejected a ballot measure that sought to tax the state’s rich for its planned transition to electric vehicles and other green initiatives, dealing a blow to ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. and the environmental groups that had backed the proposition. With about 95% of the ballots counted, around 59% of the vote was against the proposal and 41% was in favor as of Wednesday morning. The Associated Press projected it would be rejected.

☆ 3 key takeaways for the future of online sports betting after California voted against it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Colin Salao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

California rejected on Tuesday two ballot propositions that would have legalized sports betting. California voters rejected on Tuesday two ballot measures that would have legalized sports betting in the state in 2023. Sports betting is legal in some capacity in 33 states, but California is unlike any other state in the country. "This outcome is a sign that there's going to need to be far more consensus among gambling stakeholders to get sports betting done in California," Grove said. The company had invested $17 million to try to legalize sports betting in California.

Rep. Josh Harder is running against Republican Tom Patti in California's 9th Congressional District. 2022 General EmbedsCalifornia's 9th Congressional District candidatesHarder is a member of the Committees on Agriculture and Appropriations and currently represents the 10th District. When the decennial redistricting process broke up his current district, Harder initially announced his run in the new 13th District. He later switched his candidacy to the 9th District after longtime Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney announced he would not seek reelection. Voting history for California's 9th Congressional DistrictCalifornia's 9th Congressional District is centered in Stockton, and San Joaquin County makes up the majority of the district.

☆ Democratic Rep. Josh Harder faces off against Republican Tom Patti in California's 9th Congressional District election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Josh Harder is running against Republican Tom Patti in California's 9th Congressional District. California's 9th Congressional District candidatesHarder is a member of the Committees on Agriculture and Appropriations and currently represents the 10th District. When the decennial redistricting process broke up his current district, Harder initially announced his run in the new 13th District. He later switched his candidacy to the 9th District after longtime Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney announced he would not seek reelection. Voting history for California's 9th Congressional DistrictCalifornia's 9th Congressional District is centered in Stockton, and San Joaquin County makes up the majority of the district.

☆ A Supreme Court battle between pork producers and California over an animal cruelty law could affect how much you pay for bacon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a battle between pork producers and California. A California law requires producers to raise pigs with enough space to roam freely in order to sell pork in the state's market. Pork producers argued that the law is unconstitutional because it impedes interstate commerce. Pork producers nationwide have balked at the standard, claiming it's costly to meet, disruptive to the industry, and unconstitutional. Ultimately, the groups argued the California law impedes interstate commerce, in violation of a legal doctrine in the Constitution called the dormant commerce clause.

☆ California Tries to Regulate 50 States
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As political polarization grows, states are increasingly seeking to regulate beyond their borders. On Tuesday the Supreme Court will consider where to draw the line in a challenge ( National Pork Producers Council v. Ross) to California farm-animal regulations that has far-reaching implications. California voters in 2018 approved a ballot initiative that established minimum confinement standards for farm animals sold as meat in the state. The law effectively requires that adult female pigs be housed in large group pens even though nearly all hog farmers keep them in individual pens, in part to prevent disease from spreading.

The pork industry has defended the size of the cages used at pig farms as humane and necessary for animal safety. A legal doctrine called the "dormant" Commerce Clause bars states from passing laws discriminating against commerce in other states. "If you're looking for an example of an unconstitutional law, this is it," said Michael Formica, chief legal strategist for the pork producers. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's decision to throw out the lawsuit, finding no Commerce Clause violation. 'DRAMATIC EXPANSION'A ruling by the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, favoring the pork industry would have major implications for Commerce Clause interpretation, according to some legal experts.

☆ California utility targeted Asians in pot searches, lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The data disclosure deliberately targeted Asian Americans, with resulting disproportionate penalties against those of Asian descent, the suit says. “It’s unacceptable that two public agencies would carelessly flout state law and utility customers’ privacy rights, and even more unacceptable that they targeted a specific community in doing so,” she said in a statement. Private utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric are barred from disclosing customer utility data to law enforcement without a court order under state law and California Public Utility Commission rules, he said. Public utilities like SMUD aren’t regulated by the commission, but state law bars them “from disclosing entire neighborhoods’ worth of data to law enforcement absent a court order or ongoing investigation,” Mackey said. Southern California Edison’s policy generally requires a warrant or subpoena to share information with law enforcement.

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