A debate over whether to create harsher penalties for soliciting and buying sex from older teenagers exploded in the California Legislature this week

California Democrats rejected a Republican-backed effort Thursday to advance a policy to increase penalties for soliciting and buying sex from 16- and 17-year-olds, an issue that's caused friction among Democrats and prompted Gov.

Republicans in the California Assembly on Thursday will try to force a vote that could revive a Democrat's proposal to make it an automatic felony to purchase a 16 or 17-year-old for sex.

Both the Senate parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office have concluded that Congress lacks authority to block California’s climate policy.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House voted Thursday to block California from enforcing first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The move comes a day after the chamber voted to halt California standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles,

Republicans, joined by a handful of Democrats, voted to eliminate California’s electric vehicle policy, which had been adopted by 11 other states.