–Women’s March SLO (WMSLO) is starting a month-long public awareness campaign regarding the effects of political violence and intimidation on democratic participation. The rise in political violence, which includes death threats, rape threats, misogyny, disparagement, and sexist and racist abuse, deters people from running for office, serving, and getting involved in public service, according to Andrea Chmelik of WMSLO.
In the News
The statue that details the mission and the duties of the California Highway Patrol commissioner uses male pronouns to reference the commissioner.
A local state senator has taken issue with that due to the fact that the CHP is a woman. ...
California state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), along with a number of Senate and Assembly coauthors, introduced a groundbreaking bill this month that would offer financial incentives from the California Department of Conservation to ranchers and other private landowners to implement grazing practices that restore grassland habitat, soil health and biodiversity on some of California’s most endangered and sensitive landscapes.
Conservation ranching techniques create habitat and sequester carbon. Under a new bill, the state would pay ranchers to implement them.
When people think of California, images of the rugged northern coastline, snowcapped Sierra, sunny southern beaches and golden rolling hills come to mind. Sadly, many of these iconic landscapes are threatened by climate change and development, with some of the most rapid transformation happening in our grasslands.
Sacramento, Calif. — California state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) today, along with a number of Senate and Assembly coauthors, introduced a groundbreaking bill this week that would offer financial incentives from the California Department of Conservation to ranchers and other private landowners to implement grazing practices that restore grassland habitat, soil health and biodiversity on some of California’s most endangered and sensitive landscapes.
Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) released the following statement in response to the state auditor’s report on the California Employment Development Department’s failure to address what the senator calls, “decade-old deficiencies.”
Another bill having to do with gender identity is SB 272 authored by gay state Senator John Laird (D- Santa Cruz). It will update "archaic gender-specific pronouns" used in the state's vehicle code to refer to the California Highway Patrol commissioner. Laird's office noted not only have the male-specific pronouns been used in the statute for over 60 years, they do not reflect the department's current leadership.
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers on Wednesday demanded quick fixes to the state unemployment benefits system a week after two scathing state audits found poor planning and ineffective management caused significant delays in payments to people left jobless during the COVID-19 pandemic.