California Voices

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.

Bruce Maiman, commentator: Since 2013, Nimbies have made the same myopic arguments in using local control tactics to foil mixed-used proposals in San Bruno, Davis, Del Mar, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Napa, Palo Alto and Cupertino, costing developers millions and quashing restorative economic gain for communities, all while California’s housing crisis worsens.

Harvey Rosenfield, author of Proposition 103: Ricardo Lara's troubles aside, going back to the system in which the insurance commissioner is appointed would only please the powerful insurance lobby. It also would disenfranchise Californians of one of their most successful powers: the ability to elect the person who protects their checkbooks.

Although the state's "enterprise zone" program was eliminated as ineffective, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to revive it with a new name.