http://www.californialist.org Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:22:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A progressive Democrat winning an election in a traditionally conservative district is no easy task.  Apparently no one gave that memo to Maryland’s newly elected Congressional representative Donna Edwards.  Edwards was sworn into Congress on June 17th making her the first African American Congresswoman in Maryland’s history.  Edwards took the ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/07/03/ending-up-in-a-hot-seat/ Source:SacBee Capitol Alert Secretary of State Debra Bowen has assigned numbers to the 11 ballot measures that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, starting over with No. 1. The quick rundown: Prop. 1: High Speed Rail Prop. 2: Treatment of Farm Animals Prop. 3: Children's Hospital Bond Prop. 4: Parental Notification Prop. 5: Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Prop. ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/29/bowen-assigns-numbers-to-nov-ballot-measures/  Political Commentary by Bettina Duval  Democracy is a messy, inconvenient and elongated process that lumbers on with long periods of distant progress marked by the occasional monumental landmark.  If we are lucky we may be fortunate enough to see one or two of those momentous occasions in our lifetime.  Often we ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/26/small-miracles/ Source: Sac Bee Capitol Alert The executive board of the California Democratic Party met over the weekend and voted the party's position on 11 ballot measures (10 that have already qualified and one that is expected to be certified soon).In all, the party voted to support three measures on the ballot, ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/17/democratic-party-takes-stands-on-ballot-measures/ Source: Sac Bee Capitol Alert The oft-repeated joke on the Senate floor whenever a Democrat-sponsored a "women's bill" comes up is that Republicans would be voting for the measure if only they had a woman in their caucus. Well, joke no more.With her primary win, Republican Assemblywoman Mimi Walters is likely ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/13/womens-caucus-grows-in-senate-shrinks-in-assembly/ Political Commentary by Bettina Duval  For the past few days I have been so disappointed that Hillary Clinton suspended her race for the Democratic presidential nominee.  I've gotten over my anger about how she was treated with a negative feminist spin, although it was very sexist at times and unnecessarily cruel in the portrayal of ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/11/electing-women-does-matter/ Effective on July 1, 2008, California will begin a ban on all use of a hand-held cell phone while driving. Cell phones used while driving must be hands-free to be legal. http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/06/ban-on-hand-held-cell-phones-while-driving/ Governor Releases May Budget Revisions. Parks Win, but Education Still Takes Huge Hit. With the April 15 income tax filing deadline past and the state now having a better sense of actual revenues for 2008-09, on May 14 the Governor released his revised state budget proposal based on a worsened projected shortfall ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/06/excerpt-from-assemblywoman-julia-brownleys-e-news-for-june-2008/ CALIFORNIA LIST Newsletter -Post Primary - June 2008   SLOW DECLINE OF WOMEN LEGISLATORS CONTINUES While the nation's political attention has been focused on the Democratic presidential primary election, our Democratic women candidates here in California ran competitive campaigns in really difficult races AND won!  However, yesterday's primary was a bittersweet victory.   The pendulum is ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/05/california-list-newsletter-post-primary-june-2008/ While the nation's political attention has been focused on the Democratic presidential primary election, our Democratic women candidates here in California ran competitive campaigns in really difficult races AND won! However, yesterday's primary was a bittersweet victory. The pendulum is swinging away from the great strides we made in the early ... http://www.californialist.org/2008/06/04/slow-decline-of-women-legislators-continues/