Recent Streetsblog CALIFORNIA posts about State Capitol Updates

A Few Bad Bills

By Melanie Curry | | 2 Comments
The California legislature is back from spring recess and the process of hearing and arguing about bills is beginning in earnest. In the next few days, Streetsblog California will talk about some exciting bills coming up that may need your support. But first, we’ll take a quick look at a few bills that are not […]

Santa Monica Lawmaker Takes Aim at California’s Housing Shortage

By Jason Islas | | 11 Comments
California State Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) has set his sights on tackling the dire shortage of homes—and the resulting affordability crisis—currently facing the state. Bloom, whose district includes Malibu, Santa Monica, West L.A., Brentwood, and Beverly Hills, currently has three bills pending—A.B. 2501, A.B. 2299, and A.B. 2522—that seek to lower barriers to new […]

Legislative Update: CalBike Agenda for 2016

By Melanie Curry | | 3 Comments
The California Bicycle Coalition, aka CalBike, continues to push for increasing funding for the Active Transportation Program, which currently receives $120 million per year. The bike coalition wants the state to add $100 million to the program, which sounds like a lot but is roughly one percent of the total transportation budget—even though bike and […]

CA Legislature Wrestles With How Best to Invest Climate Funds

By Melanie Curry | | 4 Comments
As the California legislative session revs up, several committees have been holding oversight hearings on the state’s cap-and-trade system. Last week, the Senate Environmental Quality and the Select Committee on Climate Change and AB 32 Implementation held a joint hearing to discuss California’s successful worldwide leadership on climate change issues. In that hearing, the committee […]

A State Legislator Is Really Proposing to Slash Fines for Running a Red Light to Turn Right

By Damien Newton and Roger Rudick | | 10 Comments
State Senator Jerry Hill (D-Millbrae) has been earning a lot of attention recently for a proposal to slash the fine for drivers turning right at a red light without stopping. This move seems particularly heartless considering California’s streak of leading the country in traffic fatalities, nearly a quarter of which were pedestrians. Failure to yield […]

State Releases Proposed Rules That Would Finally End LOS in Enviro. Law

By Damien Newton | | 9 Comments
Earlier today, the State of California released its anticipated final draft set of changes to the state’s environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Under the new CEQA rule, environmental studies will use measurements that better correspond to actual environmental costs and benefits. This realigns the CEQA process to foster better transit, more walking and bicycling, and […]
Show More Stories