As the elected leader of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, which represents approximately 12,000 frontline utility workers at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., I have paid careful attention both to legislative activity in Sacramento and to PG&E’s bankruptcy proceeding. Our members work around the clock to deliver...
Black Mother in Labor Told Not to Scream. Can California Fix Maternity Care Racism?
Bettye Jean Ford was in her second trimester when the pressure she had been feeling in her abdomen for weeks turned to excruciating pain. She rushed to a Los Angeles emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and sent home with antibiotics. Still cramping severely, the first-time...
Police Aren’t the Only Ones Who Can Make Communities Safer
After a recent string of shootings in Stockton, the search for answers seems to have turned almost entirely to law enforcement. Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones recently said his first action would be to dispatch additional officers from California Highway Patrol and the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office to patrol...
California’s Pollution Enforcers Want to Save Tropical Forests. But at What Cost?
California’s climate change enforcers are grappling with the thorniest of controversies: how to prevent the planet’s tropical forests from disappearing. The question they aren’t ready to answer — at least not yet — is what focusing on far-away forests could mean for pollution at home. Lawmakers made clear in a...
Teachers Face Tough Grades as California Rethinks Charter Schools
Heather Williams knew as a kid that she wanted to be a piano teacher. She earned her music degree with a piano emphasis from Brigham Young University and spent decades honing her craft. Today she not only runs her own academy near Sacramento, offering private lessons with a special certification...
As California Pays Their Student Loans, Doctors Agree to Treat Poorer Patients
It’s a trade aimed at getting more doctors to treat poorer patients: California this week said it will help repay the student loans of 247 selected doctors in exchange for their promise that at least 30 percent of their caseload will be people enrolled in Medi-Cal. The $60 million student...
Despite Sharp Growth in Electric Cars, Vehicle Emissions Keep Rising
It is tempting to employ any number of puns when considering California’s transportation future: The state is at a crossroads, its policies could run out of gas, dangerous curves lie ahead. But keeping in mind that the state’s climate policies demand the wholesale electrification of transportation, here’s another: California must...
In Blue California, 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...
California’s Housing Budget Is a Wrap. Here’s What's Inside.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders agreed to spend a fresh $2 billion to combat the state’s housing and homelessness woes. Democratic lawmakers and the new governor settled relatively quickly on the amount — which advocates say is the biggest in recent memory dedicated to housing. Ever since, they’ve been trying to resolve the...
Are California Utilities Doing Enough to Fireproof Equipment?
With much fanfare and no less hand-wringing, state regulators approved plans that for the first time set out how California’s electric utilities intend to prevent their equipment from sparking wildfires. But the plans provide scant details, and little evidence to support the companies’ claims that indiscriminately clear-cutting millions of trees and replacing...