Commentary
One tax measure goes away
It appeared that California voters would be deciding two multi-billion-dollar tax increases next year, but one was dropped and the second is not a slam dunk winner.
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
Electric vehicle fees won’t fix the transportation funding gap
Austin Brown and Dan Sperling, UC Davis: Imposing fees on electric vehicles in California could reduce their sales by 10–24%. The result would be a small increase in transportation funding would come at the expense of the long-term benefits that electric vehicles deliver for individuals and for society. The upshot is that imposing new fees won’t solve our transportation problems. It will only make them worse.
Commentary
An epic Capitol power struggle recalled
Forty years ago today, a year-long power struggle erupted in the state Assembly, one that fundamentally changed the Capitol's culture.
Reader Reactions
Taxation and schools
Re “‘Tax exhaustion’ may be on the horizon,” Dan Walters, Dec. 9, 2019. Conflating Marin and Los Angeles parcel tax defeats misses the billion-dollar elephant in the room. In the four highest cost counties in California—Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara—well over half a billion dollars of property tax, collected for and allocated […]
Reader Reactions
Spending the surplus
Re “Spending California’s surplus, how lobbying affected one consumer protection bill, and what came of Schwarzenegger’s Million Solar Roof goal,” WhatMatters, Dec. 10. It really upset me to see the reporting on Assemblyman Phil Ting’s proposal to use California’s budget surplus to throw more money at undocumented immigrants. Although a noble and generous gesture, I […]
Commentary
How California can wake from the wildfire-blackout nightmare
Nat Kreamer and Mark Ferron, Advanced Energy Economy: More than half a million Californians work in the advanced energy industry, which makes the products and services required to power economies with 100% clean, reliable, safe electricity.
Partnering with this industry will provide Gov. Newsom and his team expertise and resources to help solve California’s wildfire and blackout crisis.
Commentary
In California, medical care means big money — and big politics
Walters: The mother of all medical-care battles will erupt if Gov. Gavin Newsom tries to make good on his campaign promise to install a single-payer system.
Commentary
California cannot fix PG&E by retreating on renewable energy goals
an Smutny-Jones, Independent Energy Producers Association: It is understandable why lawmakers are angry about PG&E’s failure to invest properly in its infrastructure as local communities have suffered greatly from power shutoffs and wildfires. It is wrong, however, to blame California’s world-leading renewable energy policies.
Commentary
California is Ground Zero of the vaping epidemic, and needs to lead the effort to end it
Dr. John Maa, San Francisco surgeon: An entire generation of youth has been exposed to the dangers of a lifetime of nicotine addiction by Juul’s actions. As California is home to Juul, we have a special obligation to take the lead in ending this epidemic.
Commentary
‘Tax exhaustion’ may be on the horizon
Are California's voters getting turned off by constant pleas for new taxes? A new study of what happened in very affluent, very liberal Marin County suggests that they "tax exhaustion" may be developing.