California
In scrapping its LGBTQ-related travel ban, California pivots to ‘hearts and minds’
In September, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom officially repealed California’s 2016 ban on state-funded travel to states with laws targeting LGBTQ+ people. The idea behind the ban — which applied to bureaucrats, lawmakers, academics and even college athletes — was to use California’s economic heft to dissuade other states from enacting such laws. By that metric, […]
In defeat for pork industry, U.S. Supreme Court okays California animal cruelty law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in a case challenging a California law approved by that state’s voters in 2018 that could have a significant impact on pork producing states like North Carolina. As was explained in this column last Spring, the case revolved around a law that requires all pork sold in the nation’s […]
California’s 2035 ban on new gas-powered cars set to apply to Virginia
Many states, including NC’s neighbor to the north, have linked their laws to California’s clean car standards California’s decision to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars beginning in 2035 will also halt the sale of such vehicles in Virginia due to a 2021 law linking the commonwealth to the western state’s vehicle emissions standards, […]
Abortion access is on the ballot in November in these states
WASHINGTON — Voters in at least three states will determine at the polls in November what abortion access looks like for their neighbors, colleagues, friends and family — becoming some of the first Americans to deliver their own verdicts on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Residents of California, Kentucky and […]
North Carolina should follow California’s lead on hog farming
As the dire worldwide climate emergency makes ever clearer, humans have much urgent work to do when it comes to dramatically reducing fossil fuel emissions. Even with rapid and hugely ambitious action, the effects of global warming will continue to worsen in the decades ahead and the best-case scenarios will be largely about minimizing harm. That said, the situation would likely be measurably worse today if it were not for the actions of one very important U.S. state: California.
Reform groups oppose how California eliminated cash bail
This week California became the first U.S. state to officially end cash bail. But some groups pushing for that reform — among them the ACLU and Human Rights Watch — wound up opposing the final bill. In an interview with NPR’s All Things Considered Udi Ofer, deputy national political director of the ACLU and the […]
California becomes first state to officially end cash bail
California became the first U.S. state to officially abolish cash bail Tuesday, a landmark for the national bail reform movement. “This is a transformative day for our justice system,” said Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. “Our old system of money bail was outdated, unsafe, and unfair.” The bipartisan bail reform […]
In bid to recruit teachers, California weighs income tax exemption
Here’s one innovative approach to solving a nationwide teacher shortage: Exempt educators altogether from paying income taxes. That’s the proposal out of California, according to a report this weekend from the U.S. News & World Report. It comes as states, including North Carolina, struggle to bait young people into joining a profession notorious for long […]