On the campaign trail and after taking office, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised bold action to confront the issue he called California’s greatest challenge: making housing affordable again. Or at least returning us to a world where this house doesn’t sell for $900 grand. The rhetoric was lofty: A “Marshall Plan” for...
Why Gov. Newsom Should Veto SB 24, the Chemical Abortion Bill
Senate Bill 24 would require California’s public universities to provide the chemical method of abortion to college women. It would be a needless expansion of the practice of abortion, and Gov. Gavin Newsom should veto it. This measure would not be a wise investment. The Department of Finance points this out in its...
Behind Newsom's Break with Democrats on Environmental ‘Trump Insurance’ Bill
In a break with the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom sided with farmers and water agencies Saturday by rejecting legislation aimed at blocking the Trump administration from rolling back endangered species protections. Over Newsom’s objections, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins pushed forward with votes on what is the most...
CA College Students Shell Out $2K a Month for Housing, Books, Food Alone
The price of college has become a hot-button issue at both the state and national level, but data has been scarce about how much, beyond tuition, California students actually spend on the housing, food, textbooks and other non-tuition items that they also need to earn a degree. On Thursday, a state survey offered some...
Farms, the Environment, and the Future of Water
In the middle of July, I was surprised to find myself trudging through a couple feet of snow while hiking south of Lake Tahoe. It was a striking contrast to the long walks I took on the dry lakebed of Folsom Reservoir near my home during the historic drought just...
What to Watch as CA Lawmakers Wrap up, From Gators to the Gig Economy
Endangered species, gig workers, children, universities, privacy, parolees who want to vote, people who want straighter teeth, and alligators. As California lawmakers wrap up the final week of the 2019 legislative year, the issues they are taking up are sweeping and eclectic, as end-of-session to-do lists usually are. More than...
Rent Cap Bill Won’t Fix California’s Housing Crisis
When California lawmakers vote on a rent cap bill in the coming days, they must consider the consequences it will have on our state’s housing crisis for years to come. Our state’s housing affordability and availability crisis deserves a comprehensive approach that prioritizes building more homes for rent and ownership....
Senate Bill 1 Threatens California Farms, Water Supply: Adam Gray
California has made a sport of disagreeing with President Trump. When he tweets his favorite color is red, one of my progressive colleagues inevitably introduces a bill declaring the best color is blue. So it was somewhat surprising when legislative leaders decided to use the President’s worst habit — ignoring...
California Must Finally End the Backlog of Unprocessed Rape Kits. Here’s How
After a sexual assault, survivors undergo an incredibly invasive procedure, typically involving being examined, swabbed and photographed for several hours. The specific purpose is to collect DNA and other evidence used to identify the perpetrator. It is the ultimate injustice to discover that thousands of sexual assault evidence kits collected...
California Should Make Clear There Is a Right to Housing, Not Simply Shelter
There are two ways to tackle California’s greatest public safety, public health and humanitarian crisis: homelessness. One way is to marshal resources, build programs, replicate successes, and say, with some justification, that we have helped a lot of people, even if the overall situation isn’t much better. The other way...