In the News

VENTURA COUNTY STAR: California wants taxpayers to pay back proceeds from a tax break later ruled illegal

May 01, 2013

The California Franchise Tax Board is seeking to collect a total of $120 million from 2,500 taxpayers who took advantage of a tax credit that a court later ruled violated the federal Constitution's commerce clause.

Related Stories: 
Sen. Ted W. Lieu and supporters talk about why the FTB needs to rescind its retroactive tax.

CNBC: California Retroactive Tax Could Slam Small Businesses

April 30, 2013

By: Robert Digitale for the Huffington Post

Brian Overstreet is more familiar with starting a business than lobbying the Legislature, but a retroactive state tax bill has him crying foul and calling for relief.

Related Stories: 
Sen. Ted W. Lieu and supporters talk about why the FTB needs to rescind its retroactive tax.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Realignment legislation jeopardizes victims' compensation

April 28, 2013

By Gillian Flaccus

SANTA ANA -- The California law that eases prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for thousands of lower-level felons to county jails has made it much harder for certain crime victims to collect restitution from inmates.

The state's 33 adult prisons have a seamless system for siphoning 50 percent of the money out of an inmate's prison account -- money earned from a prison job or deposited by friends and family -- to pay victims for their losses.

PRESS DEMOCRAT: Healdsburg entrepreneur fights retroactive tax

April 28, 2013
By
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Brian Overstreet is more familiar with starting a business than lobbying the Legislature, but a retroactive state tax bill has him crying foul and calling for relief.

Related Stories: 
Ending retroactive tax is goal of joint effort backed by BOE Chair Horton

(London) SKYNEWS:Hollywood Hoax: 'End Fake 911 Calls'

April 28, 2013

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Politicians in California are pushing for new laws to crack down on a growing craze targeting celebrities which they say is putting lives at risk.

Dozens of cases of so-called 'swatting' have been reported in glitzy Los Angeles neighbourhoods in recent weeks.

They have stretched police resources and led to potentially deadly confrontations.

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Public safety panel votes to increase penalties for paroled sex offenders who remove GPS monitors

KABC TV LOS ANGELES: Santa Monica residents weigh in on airport traffic, pollution

April 27, 2013

By Amy Powell

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- Noise-weary residents who live near the Santa Monica Municipal Airport are sounding off about the noise and pollution.

Many people who live near the airport would like to see it close. If nothing else, they hope to convince the City Council to drastically reduce its operation.

Residents of Santa Monica, Venice and Mar Vista attended a forum held by the Venice Neighborhood Council Saturday to discuss health and safety issues related to Santa Monica Airport.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: He's no Goldilocks: Sex offender takes shower at random house, police say

April 26, 2013

By Joseph Serna

A sex offender parolee who cut off his ankle GPS device was found after he randomly walked into a man’s house and made himself at home, police said Friday.

Related Stories: 
Sen. Ted W. Lieu's statement on parolee arrested for murder after cutting off GPS-monitoring bracelet