A person uses a laptop computer to go online and search for housing. (Photo: Tada Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Expanding broadband access is key to advancing equity in our increasingly digital society. So why are California regulators taking steps to restrict the use of federal and state broadband subsidies to support communities that need them most, effectively widening the digital divide?
A view of downtown Los Angeles from a nearby residential community. (Photo: Hayk_Shalunts, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Last year was a terrible year for many working class Californians. The pandemic raged on, claiming lives, disrupting schools, and endangering workplaces, but one by one, the programs put in place to support frontline workers evaporated. Meanwhile, the cost of basic necessities across the board – from groceries, to utility bills, to gasoline – soared.
OPINION: Currently, Kaiser Permanente subcontracts across parts of the state to provide Medi-Cal coverage. We are required to pay upwards of $200 million in administrative fees. This state contract allows us to put that money instead into more and better care for Medi-Cal members and the into communities that we serve.
A wildfire approaches homes in Southern California. (Photo: StacieStauffSmith Photos, via Shutterstock.)OPINION: The California Board of Forestry is currently preparing to adopt an update to California’s Fire Safe Regulations. If adopted, the current draft will NOT stop California from burning. Instead, the new regulations will undermine California’s efforts to solve the growing housing crisis by preventing new fire safe homes from being constructed.
The sports bar at the Sunset Station Casino in Las Vegas. (Photo: Kit Leong, via Shutterstock)OPINION: This year, California voters could be asked to decide among multiple options for legalizing sports wagering. As tribal leaders who have honored decades of trust created with California voters, it’s important for voters to understand what’s at stake.
Sold sign in front of a house in a California residential neighborhood. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Gov. Newsom recently signed 27 new bills to increase affordable housing supply and strengthen accountability for professionals who work in and around the real estate industry. Together, the suite of bills aims to bring transparency and accountability, including the creation of a new enforcement unit within state government.
A construction worker on the job in Anaheim. (Photo: Benjamin Clapp, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is in the midst of transformational policy changes in order to address climate change, with lawmakers and regulators considering dozens of laws and regulations every year that will greatly alter our transportation, water, energy, housing, and other construction sectors.
The young hands of a caregiver surround the hands of an elderly patient. (Photo: Ocskay Mark, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Everywhere you turn these days we’re being told that government doesn’t work, that our democracy is too polarized to deliver for everyday people. The budget Gov. Newsom recently signed tells a different story. It will help turbocharge our recovery from COVID-19 and make a historic commitment on another urgent public health crisis: Alzheimer’s.
An all-electric Nissan Leaf is seen on a freeway in Mountain View. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: A transition to electric vehicles is a bold and necessary vision. Transportation is responsible for almost half of the state’s emissions and the reason why so many of our communities breathe unhealthy air. Reducing emissions is key to mitigating the impacts of climate change and improving air quality.
A sign beckons library users with a compelling message. (Photo: Becky Ruppel, via California State Library)OPINION: This year’s state budget contains an unprecedented investment in California’s public libraries. The $439 million earmarked by Gov. Newsom and the Legislature for renovating and modernizing local libraries will provide decades of ongoing benefits to millions of Californians and the communities in which they live.