Guest Commentary

Commentary

Gov. Newsom needs to stand up to the Trump administration on the Delta

John McManus, Golden State Salmon Association: Californians are in danger of witnessing extinctions and permanent damage to the salmon fishing industry, the Bay-Delta, and Central Valley Rivers. Gov. Newsom should lead state agencies to counter the Trump administration’s attack on California’s environment.

By Guest Commentary • January 19, 2020

Reader Reactions

California Public Records Act

Re “California’s high-tech debacle,” Dan Walters, Dec. 19, 2019. I was surprised your publication repeated Adam Andrzejewski’s erroneous and misleading opinion piece without checking the facts.  As a strong advocate for transparency, I publish government employee payroll data as well as revenues and expenditures for hundreds of public agencies large and small. My team responds […]

By Guest Commentary • January 16, 2020

Commentary

California regains its power to regulate internet service providers. Here’s why that’s good news for consumers

Debra Gore-Mann and Paul Goodman, Greenlining Institute: California needs to hold internet service providers accountable. The Federal Communications Commission—the federal agency that is supposed to regulate them—is being run by a chairman bent on eliminating every consumer protection he can get his hands on.

By Guest Commentary • January 16, 2020

Commentary

Don’t fall for schemes to revive California’s costly, failed juvenile justice system

Mike Males, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: Young people deserve a lot better than yet another recycling of so-called “reforms” pushed by interest groups casting about for more clients to rescue a failed juvenile system California should be reforming out of existence.

By Guest Commentary • January 15, 2020

Commentary

The healthcare issue that Democratic presidential candidates are missing

Raphael J. Sonenshein, Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A.: Health care in the Democratic presidential debates has largely focused on Medicare for All versus the more incremental public option. Medicare for All has great appeal to many Democrats, but struggles with other voters. Why don’t candidates talk about a program with wide appeal—Medicaid.

By Guest Commentary • January 14, 2020

Commentary

California must end the plague of human trafficking. This proposal can help

Ling Ling Chang, Republican Diamond Bar: With sex-trafficked children constantly kept on the move, law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions and non-profit service providers must work together. That’s why I introduced Senate Bill 35. Although Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed this legislation, I remain steadfast in my commitment to combating sexual predators who take advantage of trafficking victims.

By Guest Commentary • January 13, 2020

Commentary

Lyme disease led to my daughter’s death. Join the fight against tick-borne disease

Jody Hudson, Alex Hudson Lyme Foundation: With one unnoticed bite, Alex Hudson had gone from a healthy athletic 12-year-old bundle of energy to bearing a decade-long burden of an incapacitating and unknown disease. I still have many questions about how Alex’s condition could have gone undiagnosed for so long. But I choose to look forward in making a positive change, and not look back at what should have happened in her case.

By Guest Commentary • January 12, 2020

Commentary

Nearly half of California students can’t read at grade level. Here’s what we must do about it

Bill Lucia, EdVoice: Nearly half of California students can’t read at grade level. The key to developing strong readers is providing teachers with the preparation and knowledge. Lawmakers should make teaching practices based on the science of reading a budgetary and policy priority.

By Guest Commentary • January 9, 2020

Commentary

GOP to Newsom: You’re failing the people you’re supposed to serve

Jessica Millan Patterson, California Republican Party: California has serious issues and needs serious leaders to fix them. Unfortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent much of his first year grabbing headlines with unnecessary fights with the federal government and ignoring the Californians he was elected to protect.

By Guest Commentary • January 9, 2020

Commentary

California’s new gig worker law is disrupting the music industry and threatening all performing arts

Brendan Rawson, San Jose Jazz: California has overreached in its effort to address the challenges in today’s tech platform gig-work economy. The live music sector, the progenitor of the term “gig” work, is being swept up by this law. The irony would be comical if it were not such a serious problem.

By Guest Commentary • January 9, 2020