California Voices

In this National Library Week, thank a librarian. Libraries are safe, accessible, non-stigmatized places that welcome everyone, even our most disenfranchised. Libraries aren’t the cure for California’s most vexing challenges, but investing more in them makes those challenges less vexing.

The California Chamber of Commerce has been remarkably successful for two decades in defeating or neutralizing bills it places on its annual list of "job killers," but the Capitol's ambiance is changing and continuing that record may be more difficult.

Taxing water, food and other essential needs would limit their affordability and betray our collective resolve that no one should be denied the essentials for health, sanitation and freedom from hunger and thirst.

The federal opportunity zone program created by the 2017 tax overhaul, enables investors to defer capital gains taxes on funds invested in designated communities. Opportunity zones offer one path forward that relies on private capital to bear the cost.

Without a radical change to the corporate culture, a hard to swallow dose of transparency and all-hands-on-deck fire prevention effort, the next PG&E-sparked wildfire will mean a Titanic ending to the company.

A state Supreme Court decision tightening the definition of an employee has become a big legislative issue, putting Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez in the spotlight.

As the cost of health care, housing, food, and transportation continue to rise, we must make work pay better. Expanding the California earned income tax credit will do that for those who need it most.

Managerial miscues plague state government, as three new audit reports confirm. They imply that fixing existing problems should take precedence over launching new services and programs.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

Our democratic spirit desperately needs to be replenished. Empowered with the tools to develop civic virtue, our students can lead the next voting rights revolution, bringing us out of the shadows of our current predicament and closer to the ideal of a more perfect Union.