California Voices

Legislators have the opportunity to end the isolation that limits California’s ability to quickly and affordably deploy renewable energy. They need to pass Assembly Bill 813. Or not.

State Controller Betty Yee and her husband were unfortunate victims of California’s lax attitude toward pot.

Your story on the Fair Political Practices Commission offered a welcome opportunity to look at our important role in the political process. However, it promulgated a major misconception. You mistake our caseload for a backlog. Cases come in and are either dismissed or acted upon. Then they’re out of the queue. The FPPC Enforcement Division received 124 complaints […]

Dams like humans have a lifespan. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is almost a century old. We need a rational, adult discussion on how to best store water safely in California.  Even “youthful” dams can pose a danger. The failure of Oroville Dam comes quickly to mind. One source noted that 90 California dams need major upgrades.  […]

The state Department of Motor Vehicles is being sharply and justifiably criticized for hours-long waits for service, but intervention by Gov. Jerry Brown's office blocked a study of DMV operations by the state auditor's office.

California and President Donald Trump are at war again, this time over the administration's plan to freeze nationwide auto mileage standards and withdraw California's ability to set its own auto emission rules.

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

A seat on the state Supreme Court has been vacant for 17 months and Gov. Jerry Brown has been coy about filling it. He seems to be waiting until an Aug. 30 deadline for placing names on the ballot, thus shielding his appointee from facing voters until 2022.

The Trump administration’s rule authorizing the expansion of short-term insurance plans is bad news for small businesses, small business employees and solo entrepreneurs in California that depend on the Affordable Care Act for quality, affordable insurance. The rule says short-term insurance plans may last up to 364 days, and allows insurance companies to renew these […]

CALmatters commentator Dan Walters comments that “legislators lift the red tape imposed by the law for sports arenas, but not for housing.” I often hear the high cost of housing described as a crisis, as if a recent change caused housing prices to rise. But it’s not new or sudden; The California Environmental Quality Act […]