A view of downtown Los Angeles seen from the Hollywood hills. (Photo: logoboom, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Perhaps the greatest financial risk faced by Californians today has nothing to do with rising interest rates or a looming recession. Rather, it is the loss of access to products they rely upon to protect their most valuable assets: auto, homeowners and commercial insurance.
The 2020 Silverado Fire burns toward homes in Orange County, northeast of Irvine. (Photo: markmandersonfilms, via Shutterstock)Sarah Mapel bought her dream home in Santa Cruz County’s Boulder Creek neighborhood in 2018. Later, she purchased fire insurance through the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, a state-mandated program for consumers unable to acquire such insurance due to high-risk factors. “It was quite expensive,” she said.
Students scurrying to classes on the campus of San Diego State University. (Photo: Pictor Picture Company, via Shutterstock)The forced removal of a university professor from an LA mayoral debate has intensified discussion in the wake of earlier legislation that seeks greater public involvement in CSU’s policing policies. Police officers physically ejected Cal State LA Professor Melina Abdullah from an LA mayoral debate in the University Student Union Theater recently. The Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs and League of Women Voters of Greater LA sponsored the private event at a public university.
Masked youths walk down a street in Pacific Palisades, as a brush fire burns beyond the houses. (Photo: BrittanyNY, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is laying the groundwork to transition millions of homes and buildings from fossil fuel heat to clean energy in coming decades, but the policies guiding our state’s investment in affordable housing are pushing California in the exact opposite direction — by penalizing developers who want to build sustainably.
A pair of pumpjacks at work in Kern County. (Photo: Christopher Halloran, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As Gov. Newsom addressed California residents in the annual State of the State, he seemed to skirt some big issues plaguing the state, but he didn’t miss the opportunity to double down on his recent and harmful energy policies restricting California energy production.
A worker inspects planks at a California timber yard. (Photo: sirtravelalot, via Shutterrstock)The year 2021 was a long year battling COVID-19. As coronavirus restrictions ease under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s SMARTER Plan in 2022, we turn to the Golden State’s labor market. Is it on track to rebound to its pre-pandemic shape? Here are the employment numbers, then and now.
The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Cassionhabib, via Shutterstock)On March 23, about 80 people gathered on a Zoom call to launch Daybreak PAC, a political action committee aimed at moving the California Legislature to the left by supporting progressive candidates and policies. The PAC is headed by activist Jackie Fielder, an unsuccessful state Senate candidate who challenged incumbent Democrat Scott Wiener last year in San Francisco.
A digital expert checks high-speed broadband connections at numerous servers. (Photo: Gorodenkoff, via Shutterstock)OPINION: When life went online in March 2020 due to pandemic stay-at-home orders, ensuring access to high-speed broadband service quickly became one of our state’s highest priorities. Now, nearly a year later, task forces have been assembled, executive orders have been issued and the Legislature faces a flurry of new broadband bills with a dizzying array of both new and old proposed solutions.
A weathered parking sign for the disabled on the Santa Mona Pier. (TFoxFoto, via Shutterstock)OPINION: July 26 marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While the ADA brought much-needed improvements to many aspects of the lives of persons with disabilities, it also fell short in key areas – especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police cruisers on the street in West Hollywood. (Photo: Kit Leong, via Shutterstock)As protests mount over police misconduct in California and across the country, attention is turning to a largely obscure policy that has long shielded law enforcement officers — qualified immunity. At least one member of California’s congressional delegation — a Republican — has joined with a number of House Democrats in seeking to overturn qualified immunity.