House Democrats Introduce Crude-by-Rail Safety Bill
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for stronger safety standards for crude oil transported by rail. They introduced a bill in Washington on Wednesday that would ban tank cars with thin walls. These contraversial tank cars have been at the center of several recent explosive derailments of trains. Congressman Mike Thompson of Napa is one of the authors of the bill.
For California's Powerful, Following the Law Often Means Writing It Yourself
The assumption behind our representative government is that we all have the same influence when it comes to governing and writing laws. But that assumption isn't quite true. Thousands of laws are written every year at the state capital. Politically powerful groups -- to get what they want -- often quietly just write the laws themselves.