State funding is insufficient so lower-income residents have trouble getting their subsidies. The problems jeopardize California’s climate and air pollution goals as electric car prices keep rising.
By Ben Christopher, Alexei Koseff and Jeremia Kimelman
Govern For California is using a network of local chapters to amplify the influence of its donors on legislative races. Among the biggest beneficiaries so far is Assemblymember Robert Rivas, who wants to become the next Assembly speaker.
The union representing 2,000 Kaiser Northern California mental health workers announced plans to strike, citing high workloads and long waits for patients.
By David Freeman Engstrom, lawyer, Stanford Law School professor, co-director of the Rhode Center on the Legal Profession and Lucy Buford Ricca, lawyer, director of policy and programs at the Rhode Center on the Legal Profession
Innovations that have emerged from reforms in Utah and Arizona offer new, affordable ways to access legal help. Yet in California, none of these pioneering approaches could so much as be discussed under Assembly Bill 2958.
By Dr. Adam Solomon, chief medical officer for the MemorialCare Medical Foundation
The pre-authorization process is not to deny needed health care, but to ensure the provision of evidence-based care and avoid the potential for costly out-of-pocket medical bills, medical complications and subsequent procedures.
A $279.5 million appropriation to the Port of Oakland was inserted into the state budget last year, and it turns out the money will subsidize a new baseball park.
By Connie M. Leyva, Democratic state senator from Chino
Senate Bill 1149 — the “Public Right to Know Act” — will help keep companies accountable for a defective product or environmental hazard that poses a danger to public health or safety.
“Scope of practice” conflicts are common in the California Legislature and one is a bill that would forbid the State Bar from exploring alternative legal services.
By Terry Tamminen, former California Environmental Protection Agency secretary, CEO of AltaSea
The future of California’s energy supply and our ability to wean ourselves off fossil fuel-generated power could very well hinge on the California Energy Commission’s goal for how much offshore wind energy our state can produce.
The state is pressuring California’s cities to adopt pro-housing policies, including quotas on zoning residential land. However, some cities are trying to find ways to undermine he quotas.
