𝗧𝗵𝗲 ‘𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹’ 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 I ran into something fascinating recently: there is an unexpected parallel between a decades-old challenge in metallurgy and one of the newest frontiers in artificial intelligence (AI).

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 Did you know that one of the easiest ways to tell whether someone learned government in Sacramento or Washington, D.C. is by the words they use?

𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗔 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 Often, when trying to frame their grand ideas and proposals, legislators will explain that they're doing this “for the kids.” But they, and we, rarely think about the generation after that: the grandchildren.

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 Do you want to hang out today? I do! Let’s read the Declaration of Independence together!

𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 It's been 23 years since California had a Governor who has served as state legislator and known the joys of having a bill signed into law and the pain of a veto. There will undoubtedly be detailed combing of Democratic gubernatorial candidate @xavierbecerra.bsky.social

Hot dogs to celebrate @asmgailpellerin.bsky.social's birthday. Here's a fun fact for you. @gailp831.bsky.social has a remarkably rare birthday for #CALeg legislators. There has only been one CA state lawmaker born on June 24th in the past century: Assemblyman Harvey Hastain who served in 1941-1944.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 Diving into history can be challenging because there is so much to look at. One good way to manage is to use current events as a springboard to explore related chapters.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘀, 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗔 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁 Former Assemblymember Mike Gatto recently reminded me of something that we are likely to see this November. Gatto said that there “are some members of the Legislature who needed 180,000 votes to win, and some needed about 5,000.” It's true.

180 years ago today, forces including future State Assemblyman Henry L. Ford carried out the Bear Flag Revolt, arresting future State Senator Mariano Vallejo and detaining him at the home of future gubernatorial candidate John Sutter. California politics has always been wild.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆? It is often said that two of the strongest metrics to predict who will win an election are: 1) incumbency, already holding the office and 2) cash, having the most campaign funding.

𝗔 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 As we pass through the election cycle, I regularly check the candidate lists, trying to figure out who will be arriving in Sacramento on the first Monday in December.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 Today is the 40th anniversary of the passing of Assembly Speaker Gordon Hickman Garland. Although not well remembered today, Garland did more to fight for the independence of the Legislature than just about any other legislator.

𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗱𝗮’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Timothy N. Machin was a political powerhouse in his era, serving as both California's 10th Lieutenant Governor and 14th Speaker of the State Assembly...

𝗔 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Assemblymember Bruce Sumner died eight years ago today. When I first began reaching out to former legislators for Capitol Weekly, Sumner was high on the list of those I most hoped to interview.

Betty Yee is THE TOP VOTE GETTER in California history, either man or woman.  No governor has even earned more votes.   www.joincalifornia.com/page/12 @alexvassar.bsky.social

Betty Yee for Governor@bettyyeeforca.bsky.social · 5mo ago

As we celebrate Women’s history month, let’s talk about the candidate who has already MADE CALIFORNIA HISTORY by winning more votes than any other statewide candidate in history. More than 8 million Californians voted for Betty Yee when she was re-elected as State Controller in 2018.

ASM Alvarez is someone who everyone could learn something from.

CA Assemblymember David Alvarez@davidalvarezca.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Got a young person curious about how government works or passionate about community change? The Young Legislators Program deadline is Fri, Feb 27! Free, June–Dec, monthly meetings, hands-on experience with state & local leaders in AD80. Apply now: alvarez.asmdc.org/young-legisl...

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 Today would have been the 86th birthday of Assemblymember Margaret E. Snyder. It has been 32 years since Snyder finished her first and only term in the Legislature...

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 In late January, I had the opportunity to join some of my co-workers at a legislative research fair co-hosted by the UC Student and Policy Center and the California State Library’s California Research Bureau (CRB)...

A notable tidbit about Senator Choi's SB1040... by my count, that was the 120,000th regular session Senate Bill in California history.

𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 History is fascinating because it operates on two deeply engaging levels at once: the personal and the universal. On one hand, it is filled with vivid human stories, ambition, courage, personal failings....

Join the authors of the California Capitol Cocktail Trivia Book (@chrismicheli.bsky.social, @ca-parliamentarian.bsky.social, and yours truly) for a book-signing event at Café a Cote, 1201 K Street this Thursday (February 12th) at 5:30 pm.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Last week, @senatorashby.bsky.social (D-Sacramento) introduced Senate Resolution 74 to add two new standing committees to the State Senate. cc: @senatorcabaldon.bsky.social

𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻 The story of the California Legislature is a long one, and as I've researched its history over the years, I have found it helpful to approach it in bite-size pieces of a decade at a time.

Packed podcast: @ca-parliamentarian.bsky.social @chrismicheli.bsky.social and @alexvassar.bsky.social join us to talk Capitol trivia - then we're joined by @sacstatelibrary.bsky.social President @drlukewood.bsky.social Plus, Who had the Worst Week in CA politics? capitolweekly.net/capitol-triv...

Capitol trivia masters, plus Sac State's Luke Wood - Capitol Weekly

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Brian Ebbert, Chris Micheli and Alex Vassar joined us to chat about their just published The California Capitol Cocktail Trivia Book, a lively and engaging collection of little...

capitolweekly.net

This might be the sort of thing @alexvassar.bsky.social would be interested in? I don't know I'm terrible at self-promotion.

Falselogic@falselogic.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I finally scanned this and uploaded it. You can find my lil zine about the California Legislative Process on Itchi.io - flawgic.itch.io/how-to-make-.... It's free so feel free to share! Are there CA politics folks here on Bluesky?

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝟭𝟳𝟲𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲! December 15 will be the State Legislature’s birthday and, in many ways, that’s the birthday for California state government, too.

It has been a while since we had a #CALeg bill on "fandango houses"

The new California State Capitol Trivia Book (by Chris Micheli, Brian Ebbert, and Alex Vassar dives into the politics, procedure, and personalities that make California such an interesting place. Also... reasonably priced for the policy nerd on your Christmas list 🎁 www.amazon.com/dp/B0G38GRKSD

The California Capitol Cocktail Trivia Book

The California Capitol Cocktail Trivia Book [Ebbert, Brian, Micheli, Chris, Vassar, Alex] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The California Capitol Cocktail Trivia Book

amazon.com

Fun Fact: California State Senator James C. Miller (who represented Mariposa in the 1851 #CALeg session) listed his occupation as "Gold Digger" 😆 No, not in the modern sense.

a woman is sitting on a couch and says maybe a gold digger bravo

ALT: a woman is sitting on a couch and says maybe a gold digger bravo

media.tenor.com

𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 Several weeks ago, there was a spirited debate over the federal government's decision to fire artillery shells over a California highway during a demonstration...