Night view of the California state Capitol, where an effort is underway to allow staffers to unionize.(Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)The clerks, receptionists, and those who get the coffee in the Capitol have historically been “at will” employees – meaning the legislators who employ them can fire them whenever they wish. That may be about to change.
Photo illustration: Africa Studio, via Shutterstock.OPINION: Imagine enjoying your summer holiday vacation only to learn that special interest lawmakers beholden to the California Teachers Association are voting to close down your child’s school. As a parent, you’ve never received any school closure information or a single news report.
An elderly man in his wheel chair, taking a a breath of fresh air. (Phboto: Kazoka, via Shutterstock_)Many seniors and people with disabilities who need services through Medi-Cal and Medicare struggle every day to navigate complex health and long-term care decisions. Dealing with a serious illness is difficult enough without having your doctors, specialists, long term care providers, and other health care providers disconnected with no overall attention to the holistic needs of the individual.
Illustration by Tasha Tuvango, via ShutterstockRecent cases of meningitis B on the campus of Santa Clara University have reinforced the threat of vaccine preventable illnesses and the importance of education and vaccination in the fight against meningitis B. Meningitis is a dangerous bacterial infection that can cause neurological injury, loss of limbs and even death.
Some thought an appeal of a court ruling blocking a key part of a San Jose pension reform could lead to a high court review of the “California rule,” an issue in an initiative ballot summary issued last week by Attorney General Kamala Harris. But dropping an appeal of the Superior Court ruling is part of a settlement of union suits against the voter-approved pension reform that could soon be implemented by court action
A classroom teachers helps a young student with Latin. (Photo: Goodluz, via Shutterstock)The retirement security of California’s retired, current, and future teachers and the stability of the state’s pension fund for educators would be put at risk if a ballot measure addressing those issues is approved by California voters next November, according to an internal analysis by CalSTRS that I requested as chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security.
School workers at a labor rally in Bakersfield. (Photo: Richard Thornton, Shutterstock)A union coalition contends that a proposed initiative is being falsely portrayed as only a potential cut in pensions for new employees, when in fact it could cut or eliminate pensions earned by current employees for work done in the future. One of the initiative authors, former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, disagrees with the union reading of the proposal. But it’s a key pension reform issue that could lead to another disputed initiative title and summary.
A physician and a nurse tend to a patient. (Photo: Tyloer Olson, Shutterstock)Here’s the diagnosis: It was the doctors versus the nurses, and the doctors won – for now. An effort to allow nurse practitioners limited authority to treat patients without the supervision of a doctor was blocked in the Assembly amid opposition from physicians, who said the plan would hinder high-quality medical care.
The dry bed of Ivanpah Lake in San Barnardino County, which had been filled by the 2004-05 rains. (Photo: Ed Berlen)Field Poll: By a nearly three-to-one margin (65% to 23%) Californians support Governor Jerry Brown’s call to require urban water districts to reduce their water use by an average of 25% statewide. Support for the Governor’s plan is broad-based and bipartisan, and spans all major subgroups of the state’s adult population.
Calpensions: Employer and employee groups are urging CalPERS to “undertake all efforts” to avoid the “Cadillac Tax,” a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans imposed in 2018 by President Obama’s health care law, a CalPERS staff report said this month. But it’s far from clear that one of those efforts will be Gov. Brown’s proposal to give state workers the option of a low-cost plan with a high deductible, even though the administration mentions the looming penalty tax as a reason for offering the plan.