My-turn

As California looks to build the ramp that will help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds cross the opportunity gap, it is critically important that early educators fighting to give our kids a stronger future have a voice in building the system that best serves children and families. That’s why this year we at Service Employees International Union will continue our fight for legislation allowing us to form a union.

California’s state and local agencies have $187 billion in unfunded retiree health care and other benefit liabilities that threaten to crowd out public services, such as public safety and education, that Californians expect government to provide. Government must confront the debt.

Some people say that climate change has made megafires inevitable. Others claim that forest thinning and fuel reduction treatments may actually increase fire intensity. Neither argument should be an excuse for inaction. So what can be done to reduce the chance of another Paradise type disaster? Here are a few steps:

Public-private partnerships offer opportunities that share risk, save money and yield the best value for all—public agencies, users, and taxpayers. For the sake of commuters and our economy, California lawmakers should reauthorize public-private partnerships.

On Jan. 7, 1919, Gov. William Stephens gave his inaugural speech, as Newsom will 100 years later, to the day. Many of the words he used to set the tone of his governorship echo to this day.

There probably won’t be 440 press credentials issued for Gavin Newsom’s inaugural on Monday. But although the press corps in Sacramento has declined, it still matters. A relevant press corps can hold officials accountable and help drive positive public policy.

Despite efforts to destroy us, we have persevered. In the past 20 years, the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake have begun to reestablish our government and, with it, our dignity, culture and identity.

Higher education is the lynchpin to our future. Now, as we enter a new era of leadership, we have a chance to think big and be unapologetically bold with solutions to ensure that future is bright for Californians and the state economy alike.

California must institute "Pre-K for All."  We intend to put the needs of the youngest Californians and their families front and center. It’s fundamental to helping California reclaim its historic tradition of leading the nation in education, especially for its most vulnerable children.

Politicians and agencies recite the same old playbook blaming recurring drug scourges on people they most fear and hate, especially immigrants and teenagers. In fact, teenagers and immigrants are the only groups showing hopeful trends. Teens were the only age group to show a decline in drug deaths in recent years. Ads should be advising teens to get the pills away from the grownups.