Amid a calamitous pandemic that has strained his relationships with fellow Democrats in the Legislature and given momentum to a Republican-led effort to throw him out of office, Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to pull off a political balancing act as he begins his third year leading California. He wants...
Opinion: Californians Deserve Safe and Breathable Air
The first time my lungs seized up on me, I thought I was going to die. I had made the trek to a government building to file some paperwork in the heat of the Central Valley summer day, only to find that the gate I parked near was shut. Not...
Assembly Republican Leader: Now Is the Time for the Legislature to Lead by Solving Problems
“Overdose deaths far outpace COVID-19 deaths in San Francisco” was a recent headline from the Associated Press highlighting the troubling fact that while COVID-19 is the most immediate threat facing Californians, it is not the only one worthy of our attention. COVID-19 has claimed the lives of about 1.8 million people worldwide,...
Opinion: Hold Investigative Hearings Into California’s Mass Unemployment Fraud
As residents of one of the highest taxed states in the nation, Californians have a right to expect the government they pay handsomely to provide the basic services their taxes fund. We expect that when we lose our job, the money we paid in unemployment insurance will be available to sustain...
California’s New Goal: Vaccinate a Million People in 10 Days
Getting the coronavirus vaccines into the arms of as many Californians as possible has become a race against time as COVID-19 cases continue to spiral upward and a more infectious variant of the virus takes root. Many questions remain unanswered about how the next — and much larger — wave of...
Opinion: Will Gov. Newsom Patch up the Local Control Funding Formula for Schools?
One of my 6th graders struggled with everything. Her notebook pages were often blank and, when she did write, it was incoherent. The 12-year-old was reading at a pre-kindergarten level. Then mid-year, she began working with our school’s new full-time school psychologist. The results were immediate. Diagnosed with a learning...
California’s Plan to Bring Many Students Back to School for in-Person Learning in Careful Stages
As one of the most challenging years we have faced in recent history is ushered out, we enter 2021 with trepidation and hope. Amid the darkest moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is light at the end of the tunnel, with new vaccines arriving and a renewed sense of purpose...
Even More Contagious? Here’s What You Need to Know About the Mutating Virus Now in California
As California continues to ride its worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials have more unsettling news: Six cases of a worrisome, potentially more infectious new coronavirus variant have been detected in California. The new strain, first detected in the United Kingdom, also has been seen in Colorado...
How Newport Beach Ended up With 2 Affordable Housing Units in 8 Years
They say you get what you pay for, but when it comes to affordable housing, wealthy Southern California cities are paying to get almost nothing. And that’s exactly the way they want it. Between 2013 and 2021, the state of California allocated the city of Newport Beach a total of two...
California Should Solve State’s Recycling Problems, Not Cause New Ones
In the iconic movie “The Graduate,” a would-be mentor takes the new college graduate Dustin Hoffman aside and cryptically says, “I want to say just one word to you: plastics. There’s a great future in plastics.” Today we are living that future: trillions of plastic items – single-use bags, straws,...