Newsom expected to sign wildfire legislation. Bill would put plug in Mojave water-pumping project. Insurance commissioner to return campaign donations.
Hoping to save California taxpayers some money after spending nearly $1 billion to fight wildfires last year, Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Treasurer Fiona Ma say it’s time to look at purchasing disaster insurance for the state.
Ricardo Lara opens the revolving door for a pharma lobbyist, an immigrant teen sues Trump for her parents, Jerry Brown's judges by the numbers and Pelosi and Becerra get the band back together again.
As Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara will oversee a department with 1,325 employees, a budget of $287 million and a significant law enforcement operation. His transition team includes a man who until last month lobbied for a drug company that received a subpoena from the Department of Insurance.
Adding insult to the debilitating injury California's Republican Party sustained on Election Day, Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara has beaten Republican-turned-political independent Steve Poizner to become the the state's next insurance commissioner.
California Legislature politics, Democrats and moderate Democrats, open seats, Senate, Assembly, alcoholism and suicide among California lawyers, Other Bar