Category Archives: Politics

Politics turns Pretty

Culture, Education, Entertainment, Environment, Politics, ,

The 2020 elections are now a thing of the past. But the thousands of political yard signs that dotted Sacramento County lawns are getting a new life.

As most of the signs are not made from recyclable material, a coalition of local environmental and cultural activists is collecting and distributing them to Sacramento area artists who will turn them into art.

“Some artists want to take it and turn it into planters. Another one wants to turn it into a new type of canvas,” said Shira Lane, of The Atrium 916, “Others want to create kind messaging to make America kind again and bring us together again.”

The goal of the initiative according to Lane is to ensure that the signs do not wind up in landfills. Crafters, hobbyists, art teachers, students, and others have all reached out to get some signs.

Getting Paid to Vote?

Politics, , ,

Last week a new law was proposed in Sacramento to make the forthcoming November 2017 elections a state holiday. What this would mean is that schools and employees would get the day off (but be paid for it).  Private businesses would not be impacted (just like with other holidays that are paid for the public sector but not enforceable in the private sector) although it is hoped ultimately that places of work would ultimately want to be a part of this as well and thus take it on themselves.

The main goal of the bill is to enable those in low income communities to get out and vote.  More than half of the less than 60% of California’s November 2016 eligible voters, as it is did so by mail, thus indicating the difficulty of getting to ballot stations. With paid time out, this might change.

Assembly Bill 674 – developed by Asssemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) is set to break down the barriers of “work and school obligations” preventing so many from voting.  With the mere 2 hours off from work, current state law is deemed inadequate.

As the current law stands, only one holiday (in addition to federal-enacted ones) is marked by Californians – that being a state holiday in honor of Cesar Chaves, the late farm labor leader.

The hope is that Low’s efforts will be more successful than those undertaken by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2015 to get election day to become a federal holiday.

California GOP Convention

Politics,

Sacramento’s Hyatt Regency Hotel and Convention Center just hosted the California GOP Convention, which was attended by thousands of supporters and members of the Republican Party. As Congressman Darrell Issa said:

“I’m excited to be joining Californians from all over the state at this year’s organizing convention.  It’s an exciting time for Republicans. There is a lot of work to be done in Washington to protect Californians and position us for a more vibrant future.”

Up for discussion are a variety of issues including: agriculture, economy and jobs, education, government transparency, healthcare, immigration and more.