California has never been shy about taking bold steps to tackle the most pressing issues affecting our nearly 40 million residents—from efforts protecting and expanding health care coverage to paving the way for more affordable health services. Now we must turn our attention to the next big health care challenge: a growing shortage of...
Sen. Bill Dodd Proposes California Wildfire Warning Center
After four consecutive years of catastrophic wildfires, Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd wants to establish a California wildfire warning center that would allow officials to turn off power and better position firefighting crews during extreme heat and high winds. “It would give us more tools in trying to make sure...
How California Got Tough on Guns
The modern American gun debate began on May 2, 1967, when 30 protesting members of the Black Panther Party marched into the California Capitol with loaded handguns, shotguns and rifles. As photos of gun-toting radicals from Oakland hit front pages across the country, many Americans were shocked to see who...
My Turn: We Need a Bold Vision for Juvenile Justice. Newsom’s Plan Falls Short
Over the past two decades, California’s Division of Juvenile Justice’s inmate population has fallen from 10,000 to around 660. Its annual budget is down 70 percent. Eight of its 11 detention facilities have closed. The division now spends $300,000 per year per inmate, yet three-fourths of those who are released recidivate within three years....
Cheer for the Rams, but in California High Schools, Even Football Powerhouses Are Losing Kids
If the Golden State has a rooting interest in the Super Bowl on Sunday, it won’t just be because the Los Angeles Rams will be on the field. Roughly one player in six on the Rams’ and New England Patriots’ active rosters is a product of California high schools. Year...
Joel Fox: Changing Prop. 13 Could Worsen Housing Crisis
For four decades, Proposition 13, the property tax reform that passed in 1978, has been blamed for many of the ills that have befallen California. Working with Howard Jarvis, a Proposition 13 co-author, and later running his taxpayers association, I have followed the multiple attacks on the measure, many silly...
Jim Patterson: Newsom Is Right to Order DMV Overhaul
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has been a source of frustration for employees and customers for as long as anyone can remember. I started pushing for major reforms of this department in 2016 when my office was flooded with calls from truck driving students who were waiting 12 weeks to...
Gov. Newsom: Is He Getting Things Done?
My Turn: Here’s How Newsom Can Be Rural California’s Governor
The Camp Fire was the most destructive and deadliest fire in state history, and the world’s costliest natural disaster of 2018. The fire destroyed more than 18,000 homes and businesses and caused $16.5 billion in damages in Butte County. In Shasta County farther north, the Carr Fire destroyed over 1,000...
My Turn: The Missing Ingredient to Solve California’s Housing Crisis
In California’s quest to produce affordable housing, much has been said about project streamlining, permitting, zoning and other regulatory reforms. Comparatively little has been said about workers. And to be clear, that’s the elephant in the room. To increase affordability by boosting supply, Gov. Gavin Newsom has established a goal...