The California Legislature has passed the state budget that included funding to expand MediCal eligibility to undocumented residents under the age of 26. The expansion is projected to aid 90,000 young adults who are living at the brink of poverty, earning less than $16,395 per year in the state. Though a step in the...
A Million Independent Voters Risk Being Irrelevant in California’s Presidential Primary
Presidential challengers hoping to glide to victory through California’s newly relevant primary, a heads-up: Your electoral fate may hinge on convincing enough left-leaning millennials to send postcards over the holiday season. Welcome to the quirk-filled world of California election law. Here, voters without a registered political party can participate in the Democratic...
State Government's Tech Has Been a Mess for Decades. Can Newsom Fix It?
California government’s technology drastically pales in comparison to Silicon Valley, but Gov. Gavin Newsom is betting $40.8 million and a new office will change that. Even though California is home to innovative tech giants like Google and Apple, its government historically has used technology that can’t handle simple tasks–like accepting...
Legislature Must Act to Protect Environment From Trump’s Assaults
California is facing an unprecedented and reckless assault by the federal government on our water quality, air quality, worker safety, fish and wildlife, and public lands. Existing federal protections in those areas keep California a special place and keep Californians healthy. But those protections are threatened. Our state government is...
Fighting for Clean Water With Climate Change Money Can Be a Problem
Combat climate change, or clean up California’s water? Those alarmed by the Legislature’s decision to dip into a greenhouse gas fund to pay for clean drinking water may need to get used to it: Constitutional restrictions on spending that money are set to expire in 2021. At issue is the...
In California, a Blue Wave and Progressive Governor: So Why Are so Many Leftist Plans Going Under?
An unprecedented haul of tax dollars generated by a roaring economy. A governor who campaigned on a big-ticket policy agenda of long-time lefty favorites, including universal childcare and state-funded healthcare for all. A Legislature so thoroughly packed with Democrats it gives rise to a new term—”giga-majority.” Californians could be forgiven for expecting...
Cities Pledge to Find Solutions to California’s Homeless Crisis
With homelessness worsening, Californians are rightly frustrated that our state, with its abundance of wealth and resources, has not made better progress in helping people get off the streets and into housing. There is plenty of blame to go around. Major contributing factors include the challenges lower- and middle- income...
How California is Working to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Millions of Californians face an unprecedented increase in natural disasters brought about climate change with an accompanying increase in risk. Unless. Imagine if everyone is prepared in advance of an emergency, and we all know what to do and where to go to keep safe. Imagine if every Californian in...
Helping Define What It Means to Be ‘Made in California’
Let me start with an admission: government officials — at all levels — don’t do a good job of engaging the public as we grapple with big, complex challenges. Hearings only go so far. Videos and social posts get into only so much detail and nuance. And, most importantly, most...
As Newsom Rethinks Juvenile Justice, California Reconsiders Prison for Kids
As for most high school students, commencement day was big for Osvaldo Moreno. “This is a proud moment for me,” he beamed on a recent June weekend, and not just because he was the first to finish school among six — soon to be seven — children in his family....