Commentary
It may be a wasted effort
California has a goal of reducing is solid waste stream by 75 percent by 2020 but is falling short of that goal.
No clear frontrunner for governor, but new poll names five with the best shot
A poll shows three Democrats and two Republicans have voter support percentages in the teens. The top two vote-getters in June will face off in November.
She spent six of her last years in arbitration with her HMO. Her husband’s still fighting the system
Arbitrators in medical disputes are supposed to be unbiased, but this couple suspected there is an incentive to favor HMO’s in arbitration.
A former political ally tests LA liberals’ allegiance to Mayor Karen Bass
Mayor Karen Bass isn't vulnerable on her right, but she may be on her left, as City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist and ex-supporter, runs against her.
California promised accountability for inmate deaths in jails. A year later, no results.
Lawmakers passed a law creating a state department to review inmate deaths, but it hasn’t completed a single death review in its first year.
Yousef Baig
California Voices Editor
Denise Amos
California Voices Deputy Editor
Dan Walters
Columnist
Jim Newton
Contributor
Pedro Rios
Contributor
Robert Greene
Contributor
Commentary
California Legislature should recognize that housing is a right, not a Wall Street commodity
Susan Kirsch, Livable California: We have a housing problem, but the crisis is the loss of democracy brought about by the financialization of housing. When legislators become champions of the simplistic explanation that cities are to blame, they abandon critical thinking, their constituents, and their oaths of office.
Commentary
Housing crisis looms large
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Legislature face tough decisions on legislation to speed up housing construction.
Commentary
Newsom scored political points by signing the Trump tax bill. But here’s the downside
Dan Schnur, USC’s Annenberg School of Communications: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to sign a bill that would require Donald Trump to disclose his tax returns to qualify for next year’s California primary ballot was a savvy political maneuver for our governor. But the practical impact of Newsom’s maneuver is negligible and the potential downside is considerable.
Commentary
What’s Trump hiding? Newsom was right to insist presidential candidates release their tax returns
Garry South, Democratic consultant: Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures. Gov. Newsom was right–morally, legally and politically—to sign Senate Bill 27 requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the primary ballot. Good for him for being a Democratic governor with the courage to do so, and to take the resulting flak.
Commentary
Derailing the bullet train
Legislators are working on a plan to shift money from California's bedraggled bullet train project to improvements in commuter transit.
Commentary
Why early childhood education is a women’s rights Issue
Elizabeth Simons, Heising-Simons Foundation: In Gavin Newsom, California finally has a governor who gets the need for high quality, accessible early childhood education and care. And yet California voters rank early childhood spending below other educational priorities. Why the disconnect?
Commentary
California’s two-tier society
California has become a two-tier society with incomes, housing costs, education and ethnicity its markers.
Reader Reactions
California’s fiscal crisis
Re: “California’s other fiscal crisis,” Dan Walters, July 29. Dan Walters does what he does best and makes a complicated and seemingly sleep-inducing issue insight concern. It seems you can’t spell California state government without federal money these days. Walters reminds us that California’s place as the fifth-largest economy in the world is a fine […]
Commentary
Let’s be blunt: Cannabis consumers need protection
Ruben Honig, United Cannabis Business Association: Cannabis consumers cannot trust that they are using safe products unless they purchase from licensed retailers. Many third-party advertisers in California, as well as apps, encourage cannabis ads whether or not the business is licensed. That is patently unfair to licensed operators, and it is anti-consumer.