Blue Flash Light Of Police Car Against Red Fire TruckOPINION – We are living in an unprecedented moment, and our emergency communications system must meet our demands. We cannot wait to get the state off the legacy 911 system.
Stressed man holding his head while looking at smartphone, frustrated and worried expression indoors. Selective focus.OPINION – In his January budget proposal, Gov. Newsom called for dismantling this statewide Medi-Cal provided benefit, instead shifting the program costs to counties. Make no mistake: in practice, that would dismantle 24-hour mobile crisis response in all but California’s most affluent counties.
OPINION – For a dominant player, a complicated new law is a competitive advantage: it stops the next innovator from ever getting started. This is the ultimate irony. The rules meant to keep big business in check often become the walls that protect them from the small businesses that would otherwise challenge them.
Poor children are forced to work constructionOPINION – California has been a hotbed for human trafficking for years. Despite this growing issue, the California Legislature has dragged its feet in providing support for preventative solutions.
One Pound of Organic CannabisOPINION – California voters were promised something simple and reasonable when they approved cannabis legalization under Proposition 64: a tightly regulated industry that would fund youth programs, protect children, and operate responsibly. Nearly a decade later, that promise has been broken.
Happy senior couple from behind looking at front of house and carOPINION – Over five years ago, California made a historic commitment to prepare for the demographic shift underway as millions of Californians live longer, healthier lives. Buy homelessness among adults 50+ is growing faster than any other age group, with nearly half of Californians experiencing homelessness over age 50.
Aerial view of unfinished wooden frames of affordable houses under construction. Development of residential housing in American suburbs. Real estate market in the USA.OPINION – With some of the most expensive housing in the country, the Legislature has spent years trying to make it easier to build more homes by cutting red tape and reducing unnecessary barriers. The Legislature passed a major housing reform package meant to help projects move faster and build the housing Californians desperately need. The goal was right. But parts of that law lack the legal certainty to be effective.
A Man with psychologist theraphy social problems concept drug addiction talk to a psychological womanOPINION – California spends over a billion dollars annually on addiction treatment – but doesn’t hold treatment providers to quality standards. A new bill could change that.
A gloved hand is holding a test tube, close to a multi-well plate, within a laboratory setting, highlighting scientific research.OPINION – California patients living with rare diseases and chronic conditions are enrolled into new clinical trials every day – not as a last resort, but as a pathway to better treatment and hope. Yet a bill moving through Sacramento could quietly put that progress at risk.
Rear view of a girl paddling in a kayak on the Sella river descent in Asturias, Spain. Active tourism activities. Rural tourism.OPINION – Republican Gov. Earl Warren’s avoidance of ideological excess established a style of governance that Gov. Jerry Brown, a Warren admirer, aptly described this approach as the “canoe theory”: “The way you have to approach the political process is something like piloting a canoe…. If you paddle a little bit on the left side, then you paddle a little bit on the right side, you keep going right down the middle.”