Capitol Weekly

Email OPINION – Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) play an indispensable role in California’s health care system, particularly for underserved and rural communities where anesthesia access is critical, yet limited. For decades, California CRNAs have independently provided safe, cost-effective, and patient-centered anesthesia care—a policy reinforced by state statute and upheld by court rulings and regulatory guidance.

Two years after California voters rejected online sports betting following an epic and costly ballot box fight, the two major forces at odds over the issue – California’s powerful gaming tribes and online sports betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel – suddenly find themselves united against a common enemy: so-called gray market “sweepstakes” gambling sites that both camps say are cutting into their profits and undermining legal gaming operations here and across the country.

Email As a practicing rheumatologist, I was pleased by the legislative push to pass SB 966, which would have increased oversight and reporting requirements for Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), the drug pricing ‘middlemen’ who drive up prescription costs for pharmacies and patients while pocketing rebates and discounts from insurers. Many patients statewide—particularly the rheumatology patients I care for—require long-term, expensive treatments to manage their chronic conditions. PBMs have steadily driven up their costs through unfair rebating practices and market control tactics. I applaud our lawmakers for working to address medication access barriers and patient financial protections through the advancement of SB 966, but I am very disappointed in Gov. Newsom’s decision to veto this much-needed bill.

The 8 th District has a accessible and responsive representative in Rep Garamendi. I reached out as a private citizen with concerns about the lack of implementation of military medical training mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017 to nearly 60 lawmakers and military leaders. Only one answered. Rep Garamendi’s staff set up a meeting, heard my concerns, and came up with a follow up plan to seek change. I envy the Californians of the 8 th district for having a representative that answers letters, shows concerns, and seeks positive change.

Email California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a special session of the Legislature for Dec. 2nd to “safeguard California values” against perceived threat from another Trump administration. Today’s edition of the Micheli Files has all you need to know about how such sessions work.

OPINION - The return of Donald Trump to the White House magnifies all the threats that make voter-approved Proposition 4 necessary, increases the likelihood of poisoned air and water and runaway climate change, and destroys the hope that the federal government will help California navigate those challenges in the next four years.

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: While most political junkies have their eyes on DC in the wake of Donald Trump's successful bid to return to the White House, we're looking south, where Los Angeles voters delivered a seismic shift to the region's politics, passing Measure G, which expands the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from five members to nine, and Charter Amendment DD, which creates an independent redistricting commission for the city.

Email In recent years, Capitol observers have witnessed vacancies occur in state legislative offices and even constitutional offices in California. What is the process for filling vacancies in the California Legislature? What is the process for filling vacancies in constitutional offices?

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: As her final term in the senate comes to an end, Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman joined us to reflect on her twelve years in the state legislature. A self-described “pragmatic progressive,” Eggman represents the 5th Senate District – San Joaquin County, parts of Stanislaus County and the Sacramento County community of Galt – areas which saw a significant Republican shift this year; San Joaquin County went to Trump in 2024. We asked what she thought her party could do to speak to disaffected voters, what she saw as her successes from her time in office, and where she goes from here.

Email OPINION – California faces a dual crisis of escalating climate impacts and an acute housing affordability challenge. Seventy nine percent of renters in our state spend more than half their income on housing, and my home city of Los Angeles has the most unaffordable housing