Guest Commentary

By Mark Herbert Mark Herbert of Concord is Small Business Majority’s California director, mherbert@smallbusinessmajority.org. He wrote this commentary for CALmatters. Loans can make an entrepreneur’s dreams come true, but they can just as easily destroy those dreams. Leila Bardales found that out the hard way. Leila and her husband, part of Small Business Majority’s network […]

By Peter Dreier Peter Dreier is E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and founding chair of the Urban & Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College, dreier@oxy.edu. He wrote this commentary for CALmatters. Almost half of California’s population–17 million people–are renters. Many of them spend more than half of their income on rent, plunging many full-time […]

By Grant Deary and Carol Burger Grant Deary is executive vice president overseeing marketing and external affairs for Nor-Cal Beverage Co., grantd@ncbev.com. Carol Burger is president of Burger Rehabilitation Systems, info@burgerrehab.com. They wrote this commentary for CALmatters. Family business owners look to the next quarter-century, not just the next quarter. We treat our employees as […]

California students need more than a test score. They need a test that opens the door to college.

Marches in support of immigration does matter. But voting is our pathway to fundamentally change immigration policies and so much more.

California's next governor must safeguard the University of California and help it remain the world’s greatest public research and teaching university.

California has the toughest clean air standards and some of the world's most ambitious climate policies. It also has more clean energy jobs, attracts more clean energy investments, and drives more innovation in renewable energy and energy efficiency than any other state.

Proposition 3 is an $8.87 billion water and habitat bond on the November ballot. Jerry Meral, the main proponent of Proposition 3, tells why voters should support it. Eric Parfrey of the Sierra Club explains why people should vote no.

Gov. Jerry Brown has on his desk Senate Bill 1406 by Sen. Jerry Hill, a San Mateo Democrat, that would allow students to begin their bachelor’s degree programs as late as the 2022-23 academic year and graduate by July 2026. He should sign it.

Amid speculation as to why Jerry Brown has waited so long to make his fourth appointment to the California Supreme Court, the governor has said he does not want to rush. The decision will shape how future historians evaluate the Brown era.