[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

A program approved by the state Air Resources Board years ago may allow automakers to drastically cut back on the number of clean-running carsthey manufacture in California. Automakers have been stockpilingcredits and may cash them in soon in the face of changing clean airrules by the board.

The recent state Supreme Court rulingoverturning California's gay marriage ban is unlikely to have a rippleeffect on other states, experts say. "While the California ruling isvery significant, a lot of states have already taken action on this,"said Christine Nelson, an analyst for the National Conference of StateLegislatures.

Americans are "sick and tired of the war in Iraq,"John McCain told a group of veterans on this Memorial Day. He went onto add that pulling out now would be a "mistake." Not unlike themistake of continuing to back an unpopular war in a national election.

There's more... 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Vivian Kahn

Much of the recent press coverage on Proposition 98 has focused on the effect this proposed constitutional amendment would have on renters. Homeowners who ignore this ballot measure because they think it has nothing to do with them do so at their own peril because this devious initiative would amend the California Constitution in ways that could, in fact, have sweeping impacts on all Californians.

The proponents of Proposition 98 advertise the measure as an effort to control public agency use of eminent domain because they know that California voters would likely support a measure to protect homeowners from having government take their property to use it for private development. They also acknowledge that passage of Prop 98 would end rent control (although they dismiss concerns about immediate impacts on renters claiming that nothing happens until tenants vacate their units). In fact, the same section of Prop. 98 that could undermine renter protections such as “just cause eviction” regulations would also threaten a wide range of land use and environmental regulations and programs.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Gavin Newsom
Mayor
San Francisco

California has always been a place where traditional barriers of class, race, gender have been pushed aside by a spirit of equality and opportunity that says to all - no matter who you are, and no matter where you come from - "It Can Be Done."

In that spirit, yet one more barrier gave way when the California State Supreme Court ruled that all Californians - regardless of the traditional barrier of sexual orientation - have the right to marry.

This is an historic moment - both for California and our country. From this moment forward, there can be no going back.

The road ahead will be difficult. Despite today's historic ruling, the same groups that sponsored the 2000 California ballot measure that challenged marriage equality are getting closer to placing a measure on the November ballot that would write discrimination into our state Constitution. This effort would not only overturn laws granting the most basic rights to same-sex couples - it would effectively nullify today's Supreme Court ruling.

Stand up for Marriage Equality today. Sign the petition now.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

An umbrella coalition representing a wide spectrum of interest groups,from education, labor, public safety, environment, health care andsocial services—nearly every state general fund service—has formed in order to press Governor Schwarzenegger to raise taxes, rather than slash 10% of spending across the board, reports the SacBee. The coalition as of yet remains unnamed, but they’re ready tocarry it all the way to a ballot initiative if they can’t persuade thelegislature in their favor.

Governor Schwarzenegger is calling on the state Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court’s recent decision to ban parents from home schooling their children if they lack a teaching credential, reports the LA Times. If the courtrefuses to act, the Governor is planning on pushing through legislationto safeguard the right to home school children.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

A new agreement between five powerful Indian tribes in California and Democrats in the Assembly has brought a landmark multi-billion dollar casino deal one step closer to completion. The gambling expansion, one of the largest in the state’s history, would add up to 22,500 slot machines. However, several knotty issues remain on the table, including whether the casinos will allow workers to unionize by using discreet card checks.

The Assembly Public Safety Committee has rejected Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero’s bill to overturn a state Supreme Court decision to keep police disciplinary records private, without even coming to a vote. The bill was heavily opposed by police office unions, and supported by the ACLU, as well as the folks over at the Orange Punch.