Are Latinos being ignored in the debate over police brutality?
Where have Latinos gone in the raging controversy over police misconduct? Why is the issue usually framed in terms of black and white ethnicities? Bill and Sherry tackle the subject against a backdrop of police killings of African American men. They also examine the U.S. Supreme Court decision on employment rights of the LGBTQ community […]
The Coming Battle Over Affirmative Action
California will have another battle over “affirmative action” this fall when the legislature puts a measure on the ballot to repeal Proposition 209, the 1996 ban on affirmative action. While proponents claim this is an effort to redress low numbers of “underrepresented minorities” in California higher education, the impact will be to reduce the number […]
The Cost of California’s New Housing Bills
On June 9, 2020 California’s Senate Appropriations Committee reviewed a flurry of problematical housing bills and placed them “in suspense” until their next hearing on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Between now and then, there will be discussions “behind the scenes” as to which of those bills should be amended or passed onto the Senate floor. […]
California Department of Conservation has opportunity to plan for environmental oversight without damaging the economy
The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) prioritizes protecting public health, safety, and the environment in its oversight of the oil, natural gas, and geothermal industries, while working to help California achieve its climate change and clean energy goals. To do that, CalGEM uses science and sound engineering practices to regulate the drilling, operation, and […]
SB 939 (Wiener) Will Do Far More Harm Than Good
SB 939 (Wiener) is the poster child for a feel-good perception of a solution that would result in far greater economic harm than we are already experiencing. Veiled under the guise of helping restaurants and small businesses in response to the COVID pandemic, the truth is its passage would lead to a domino effect with […]
Mail in Ballots vs. Voting by Mail
As the COVID pandemic draws on, arrangements are being made for a National “Vote by Mail” campaign for the General election in November. The House is trying to pass a stimulus bill which has $3.6 billion allocated for a “National Vote by Mail” project President Trump has spoken out, and has been censured by Twitter […]
In Support Of More Prison Reforms In California
Nearly five decades ago, elected officials in California started enacting sentencing laws that rapidly filled the state’s prisons. Only in the last decade did that process start to reverse. Effecting political change is not for people with short attention spans. Momentum for reform continues and Govern For California has been pleased to support organizations like […]
Not the time to gut Proposition 13 and raise taxes
Under California law, proposed initiatives must be presented to the California Legislature in an “informational hearing” open to the public. Legislators do not vote on the proposals because these are initiatives that have already qualified for the ballot. The hearings are mostly for the benefit of policy leaders and the public. Because the infamous “split […]
Return to the “Thrilling” Days of Budget Delays
Remember more than a decade ago when the state budget was finalized often in August or September, well past the end of the June deadline? Well, as the announcer on the old radio and television show, The Lone Ranger, proclaimed, “Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.” While the legislature passed a […]
Assembly gives market-based insurance reforms a try
California’s Legislature is hardly a bastion of free-market thinking and the state’s insurance markets are the most tightly regulated ones in the nation. So it was as encouraging as it was surprising to see the Assembly last Monday approve, on an overwhelming 56-3 vote, a bill that would give insurance companies more latitude to set […]