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A Conversation with California’s Legislative Leadership

About the Program
What are the most pressing issues the legislature should address in the next session? The four leaders of the California Legislature—Kevin de León, president pro tem, California State Senate; Jean Fuller, Republican leader, California State Senate; Chad Mayes, Republican leader, California State Assembly; and Anthony Rendon, speaker, California State Assembly—will talk about their priorities and why these issues are important to California's future.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas

Our latest statewide survey finds that Prop 1 (abortion rights) and Prop 30 (emissions reduction) have majority support, while about one-third approve of Prop 27 (online sports gambling).

Report

Policy Priorities for Managing Drought

By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle ...

State, federal, and local water managers have worked diligently to reduce the economic, social, and environmental harm from the current drought. But as the drought continues, the challenges will grow more acute. California can learn from experiences to date—and from Australia’s response to its Millennium Drought—to better prepare both for the year ahead and for future droughts. State leaders should address weaknesses in four areas of drought preparation and response, by: 1) improving water use information, 2) setting clear goals and priorities for public health and the environment, 3) promoting water conservation and more resilient water supplies, and 4) strengthening environmental management.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment

By Mark Baldassare, Jennifer Paluch, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek

Some findings of the current survey:

  • Solid majorities of Californians favor government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and policies to curb global warming.
  • More Californians support than oppose expanding coastal oil drilling; even more favor improving fuel efficiency.
  • Three in four Californians say the state should expand public transit and use existing transportation networks more efficiently—only 18 percent say the state should build more freeways.

Job Approval Ratings:
   President Obama
   Governor Schwarzenegger
   California State Legislature

Time Trends of Job Approval Ratings:
   President Obama
   Governor Schwarzenegger
   California State Legislature

Mood of Californians:
   General Direction of Things in California
   Economic Outlook for California
 
Time Trends for the Mood of Californians:
   General Direction of Things in California
   Economic Outlook for California
 
This survey is supported with funding from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

At Issue, Report

Legislative Reform

By Eric McGhee

PPIC's At Issue series focuses on issues important for California now and in the future. In this issue, PPIC research fellow Eric McGhee discusses three charges often brought against the California Legislature—loss of competence, increasing partisan gridlock, and declining efficiency—and three types of reform aimed at addressing those shortcomings: relaxing term limits, transferring redistricting from the legislature to an independent commission, and reducing the supermajority requirement for the budget. He also offers some recommendations for policy design and briefly discusses alternative reforms.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, Nicole Willcoxon

Some findings of the current survey:

  • Meg Whitman leads Jerry Brown 44% to 39% among likely voters in the race for governor and Brown is favored over Poizner, 46% to 31%.
  • Incumbent Barbara Boxer is in a close race with Carly Fiorina and Tom Campbell for her senate seat.
  • Approval for the state legislature’s job performance drops to 9%.
  • More Californians favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage.

Job Approval Ratings:
President Obama
[PDF]
Governor Schwarzenegger
[PDF]
California State Legislature
[PDF]
U.S. Congress
[PDF]
Job Approval Ratings for Their Own State Legislators in the Assembly and Senate
[PDF]
Job Approval Ratings for Their Own Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives
[PDF]

event

A Conversation with California’s Legislative Leadership

What are the most pressing issues the legislature should address this year? Join us as Toni Atkins, president pro tem of the California State Senate, talks with PPIC’s Mark Baldassare about some of the key challenges and opportunities facing California and how state policymakers can work to address them.

blog post

Redistricting Opens New Opportunities for Communities of Color

By Eric McGhee, Jennifer Paluch, Vicki Hsieh

As California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission draws new political districts, how might the state’s increased diversity affect the racial/ethnic composition of the resulting districts?

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