California Voices

Sen. Connie Leyva and Nancy E. O'Malley, Alameda County District Attorney: Promptly testing DNA evidence in sexual assault kits will prevent backlogs of forensic evidence in laboratories or evidence rooms and can identify an unknown assailant, link crimes together, identify serial perpetrators, and exonerate the wrongly convicted.

Ryan Haight, National Infertility Association: I am obligated to keep fighting for better infertility options for people trying to conceive. This includes advancing healthcare policies Assembly Bill 767 which will benefit thousands of people.

Charter school advocates, having been on the losing side of last year's elections, knew they would be targeted by their foes in the education establishment. But a new compromise bill spares them from death.

Eve Bukowski, stage 4 cancer patient: If the goal is to make medicine more affordable and accessible, the last thing patients need is a new legal roadblock that will stifle access to lower-cost alternatives. Assembly Bill 824 would restrict access to medication.

While California's labor unions have achieved near total power in politics, they continue to see a decline in union membership.

Gerald Haslam, author and California State University graduate: Count me among those advocating free California State University tuition for California residents. It would be a brave investment in California’s future, but California State Universities and the community colleges have long been a bootstraps institutions.

Sen. Kamala Harris is trying to join the very few Californians who have won the presidency, but she seems to be fading.

Sen. Jim Beall, San Jose Democrat: California should step in as a partner with the hundreds of local communities struggling to provide affordable housing. That’s why the state needs Senate Bill 5.

When the state Supreme Court tightened the legal rules defining work, it touched off an epic political battle now nearing a climactic point.

Art Pulaski, California Labor Federation: The system is rigged to the advantage of the wealthy few and corporate interests at the expense of everyday working people. Wages are stagnant. Income inequality and job insecurity are soaring. Workplace mistreatment is on the rise. To help shape the future of work, workers know they need a countervailing force: a strong labor movement.