Dan Morain

Resources Secretary John Laird is making a final attempt to negotiate a deal with major water users to reduce use before a separate state agency forces the issue by imposing regulations.

Los Angeles’ police union made clear the depth of officers’ opposition to legislation that would toughen the standard for using deadly force.

Compromise seemed distant as legislators raced to complete a final report on the issue of wildfire liability by week’s end. Organized labor and trial lawyers clashed.

City officials and cops protest a proposed state rule that would permit deliveries of marijuana to any city in the state, including those that have sought to ban commercial cannabis sales.

Realtors are funding an initiative on the November ballot that would give homeowners 55 and older a property tax break. Oddly, they’re already proposing a repeat for 2020.

California's new budget includes $12 million for research into Jordan’s Syndrome—named after the daughter of a powerful lobbyist who persuaded lawmakers to spend state dollars seeking a cure for Jordan and others afflicted by the rare condition.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to limit electric utilities’ liability costs for future fires faced tough questions at a committee hearing even as utility representatives said the change is needed to keep them solvent.

Legislation that would alter liability law for California utilities whose equipment sparks wildfires faces a show-down today before a special two-house legislative conference committee.

Actress Jane Fonda and Jennifer Siebel Newsom, appearing on a panel across in Sacramento from the Capitol, called for passage of legislation to limit forced workplace arbitration agreements.

Legislators convened Monday to focus on hundreds of bills left to approve or kill in the final four weeks of the session—and raise money from the interests that care deeply about those bills