It’s the ultimate dilemma for job-seekers: To get a job, some employers require you to have a job. Such hiring policies would be illegal under a bill proposed by Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-San Rafael. His measure, AB 1450, would impose fines on employers or employment agencies that refuse to consider out-of-work applicants for job openings. What do you think of the idea?

North Bay Assemblyman Michael Allen introduced a resolution Wednesday to reverse a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed corporations to spend as freely as individuals in campaigns. “It’s a system that’s out of whack, and for democracy to function well, everybody needs a voice and not to have some voices drown out the others because of overwhelming resources,” Allen said.

Three state Assembly members who represent the North Coast declined on Monday to release their office budgets, days after a Superior Court judge ruled that such information is a matter of public record. The lawmakers expressed support for releasing the information but said they will wait for further direction from legislative leaders or until they had more time to compile the data.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to overhaul public pensions rippled through the North Bay on Thursday, drawing mixed reaction from public employees, labor leaders, elected officials and fiscal watchdogs. Aspects of his 12-point proposal could impact nearly all of Sonoma County’s approximately 25,000 state, city, school and county workers. But the most sweeping changes would apply to future hires only.

More than 2,500 people marched through downtown Santa Rosa Saturday, protesting the concentration of wealth in America. The Occupy Santa Rosa event, modeled on Wall Street protests that began last month, was twice as large as organizers expected, suggesting it is gaining mainstream momentum.

Assemblyman Michael Allen has been appointed to a high-profile state committee that will address a crisis with public employee pensions. But the choice is drawing concern from critics, given the Santa Rosa Democrat’s long history of advocating on behalf of unions.

Police will face new restrictions on impounding the vehicles of unlicensed drivers caught at sobriety checkpoints under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor, however, vetoed a sister bill by Assemblyman Michael Allen that would have placed limits on the hours of DUI checkpoints and required law enforcement agencies to announce the exact locations in advance.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation intended to improve staff and patient safety at state psychiatric hospitals by streamlining the process which individuals who have been declared incompetent to stand trial can be involuntarily medicated. The bill, by Assemblyman Michael Allen, was driven by a recent string of violent attacks at Napa State Hospital.

Chanting “Build it Now,” a group of North Bay activists rallied Tuesday morning at the site of the proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 101 in Santa Rosa. Members of the North Bay Organizing Project, which includes labor, immigration, conservation and bicycle advocates, said the proposed bridge has the potential to create jobs and bring together the east and west ends of the city.

In 2002, at the urging of labor and with the endorsement of management, the county Board of Supervisors approved a more generous set of pension benefits for all current workers. The change, fueled by salary increases and combined with other workforce trends, is now seen as driving the upward spiral in pension costs.