This investigative report, led by CBS News California correspondent Julie Watts and CalMatters, examines how California's one-party supermajority legislature avoids transparency and accountability by killing controversial legislation without voting on the record. The investigation centers on the fight for fentanyl legislation led by grieving parents and the systematic avoidance of this issue by powerful politicians.
One of the hardest-fought political battles in 2024 happened inside California's Capitol between a group of grieving parents who lost their kids to fentanyl and a handful of powerful politicians who were opposed to increasing criminal penalties.
Chapter 2: Playing politics with Alexandra's memoryIn 2024, CalMatters' new Digital Democracy Database gave us the tools to analyze hundreds of thousands of votes and dozens of hours of legislative hearings in ways that simply weren't possible before. However, it was Alexandra's Law that gave us a case study exposing California's supermajority politics at its best, or worst, depending on who you ask.
California Politics Fentanyl Crisis Legislation Transparency Accountability
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