My-turn

We who are part of the California water community and who work every day from one perspective or another are paralyzed and in our respective bunkers. We must take a leap of faith to admit that the current rigid rules on Delta management fail all of our missions. And that only together can we do a better job managing our water resources going forward.

The JUUL system represents an unprecedented opportunity to help adult smokers switch off combustible cigarettes.

Bureaucracies love secrets. They pay lip service to transparency, but have a powerful instinct to dummy up. This predilection for secrecy clashes on a daily basis with Californians’ fundamental right to information about how their government is working—a right granted by statute and enshrined in the state Constitution.

Construction, heating, and operating of our work and homes account for nearly 40 percent of our nation’s CO2 emissions. But California still doesn’t have a comprehensive statewide plan to help cities cut pollution from homes and commercial buildings. That’s like having a global naval military strategy that omits the Pacific Ocean.

At the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, we are far from naïve. We understand the political and economic challenges that face the completion of high-speed rail, and we are up for the fight and plan to fight along with every elected leader who is willing to fight for California’s quality of life, climate goals and middle-class jobs.

Computer science is an essential 21st Century skill for college, careers and civic participation. Yet many California students lack access to meaningful opportunities to learn computer science. If we are committed to closing the academic achievement gap, we must close the growing computer science access gap for all students.

Despite massive opposition, the Trump administration released coercive and unethical regulations governing Title X. The administration’s anti-abortion agenda has seeped into Title X, a program that doesn’t pay for or provide abortion services. Under these rules, doctors would not be able to tell patients where they can get an abortion, even if they ask. The best doctors could do is give a patient a list of healthcare providers, some of whom provide abortions.

Enriched by the diversity of our communities, California represents a set of human values that nurture and free our minds and our economic system. And the world knows it. That’s why now, more than ever, the world is knocking on our door.

Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown, two of the most consequential governors ever in California, led the state during two of the most well intended but poorly executed movements in this state’s history. The first was the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill. The second resulted in fewer prison inmates, and significant increases in homelessness and untreated mental illness.

Negative impacts of a business tax increase would be felt far and wide, because business taxes get passed on to consumers and shareholders, and have a negative impact on wages for jobs that are preserved. The last thing middle-class Californians need is an even higher cost of living, wage stagnation or more risk for their retirement investments.