My-turn

California’s payday lending regulatory structure is feeble. This state's law ranks as one of the nation’s weakest, and significant ambiguities in the statute’s language and legislative history have been interpreted to favor industry and harm consumers’ interests. Consumers increasingly are vulnerable to myriad dangers.

The California Supreme Court has embarked on a project to improve service to people whose native language is not English. It's not easy. But when Californians get shut out of our courts because they can’t communicate in English—whether the person is a witness in a criminal trial, a small business owner trying to clear her name, or a potential victim of elder abuse—the public ends up paying the price.

In Sacramento, talk is cheap. Politicians say a lot of things to get elected. It’s what they do after they win that shows what their priorities are. But Gov. Gavin Newsom’s swift action on the DMV is a welcome change.

Why a split roll initiative is a bad idea: Changing Proposition 13 to permit commercial property to be taxed at market value would worsen the housing crisis and destabilize government finances. Just as taxpayers make adjustments to reduce their taxes, government officials embrace projects that will increase revenue.

We need an affordable and accessible system of long-term care for all Californians. We believe the public would embrace funding a limited but meaningful range of services for those with long-term services and supports needs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed tens of millions to help local governments recover tax revenues, and $19 million in direct aid to school districts affected by wildfire. If Newsom really wants to change the direction of the state’s long-neglected northern region, he’ll need to do more. He included $2 million in his 2019-20 budget to review options for a new California State University campus in San Joaquin County, likely in Stockton, 135 miles from Paradise, the epicenter of the Camp Fire. The governor’s proposal should be expanded to include study of another potential campus: a Cal Poly for Northern California.

No one has credibly explained why teens of every demographic and locale stopped committing crime. Before we rush to approve Gov. Gavin Newsom's “reform” of the Division of Juvenile Justice, we need solid analysis, not pleasing myths and prejudices, not self-serving credit-grabbing.

While the industry’s choices may well have been informed by the cost of decades of new regulatory burdens, an agenda focused exclusively on regulatory reform will only serve to compound the residential construction sector’s current labor shortage. The first step to building more housing is attracting and sustaining a labor force that knows how.

Imagine if California’s undocumented workers were to stop working. Unharvested crops would rot in the fields. The hospitality industry would shut down. Residential construction would plummet. It would be an economic catastrophe.

It’s great that the free market works well for builders and buyers who want to make a lot of money or have a lot of it to spend. Supply and demand, however, only go so far. Housing is a basic human need that is crucial to giving children and families the ability to grow and thrive and the elderly a safe place to retire in peace.