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Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
To address homelessness, we need affordable housing and addiction treatment
'California has spent billions on homelessness. Audit shows we haven't been tracking it | Opinion,' ( April 11, 2024) An audit done in 2024 revealed that the state spent $24 billion over five years to solve our homelessness crisis. Sacramento Homeless Union President Crystal Sanchez said recently that a real solution to homelessness is more affordable housing. Proposition 1, passed last year, and CARE Court, established by Gov. Gavin Newsom, aim to address other root causes of homelessness by compelling treatment for mental illness, drug addiction and alcoholism. Both these solutions are paramount to addressing the scourge of homelessness we see around us. We need shelter and jobs. We also cannot accept non-treatment of mental illness, drug addiction and alcoholism as merely 'lifestyle choices.' Our society can have standards, allow for quirky eccentricities and honor those who flaunt convention without okaying behavior that adversely affects everyone. Leslie Shaw Klinger Modesto 'Trump's Medicaid cuts versus California's healthcare stance,' ( May 15) In the Republican's so-called 'big beautiful bill,' Medicaid is the biggest loser, and 13.7 million Americans will lose their health care. We, the people, get no tax on tips and overtime. Meanwhile, the rich will pay less taxes thanks to President Donald Trump. This alone would increase our national deficit. The nation's credit rating just got downgraded, and our interest rates and borrowing costs have increased. This bill would just make everything worse. Elected officials making decisions for the rest of us are only benefitting the rich and defrauding every other American. It's much easier to please Trump and the Republican party than represent us — the majority who aren't rich enough to help officials get elected. Diane Kroeze Modesto 'Rooftop solar subsidies raise electricity costs in California,' ( May 16) California has long established rooftop solar as a cornerstone of its energy and climate goals. Rooftop solar is a key tool in providing affordable housing for all, allowing middle class families to maintain control over their energy bills. Assembly Bill 942, however, threatens to inject chaos into the housing market. Under the bill, new homeowners purchasing properties with existing solar installations would have their contracts retroactively changed to the less favorable Net Energy Metering 3.0. This would diminish the value of homes with solar panels to buyers and create unnecessary friction in the home sale. For homebuilders, this is particularly problematic. AB 942 will create new housing market risks, exacerbating housing costs. While AB 942 claims to address energy 'affordability,' it will have the opposite effect. California should be doing everything we can to help homebuyers enter into affordable and energy resilient homes. AB 942 undermines that goal. Chris Ochoa Senior counsel, California Building Industry Association 'Prison closure, Ozempic limit, cap-and-what? 5 takeaways from Gavin Newsom's budget,' ( May 16) It would be a mistake for Gov. Gavin Newsom to restrict Medi-Cal coverage of weight loss drugs, like Zepbound and Wegovy. Medi-Cal will continue GLP-1 coverage for diabetics, meaning California won't offer overweight Medi-Cal patients access to GLP-1 drugs to help them avoid becoming diabetic, but it will pay for these treatments once they put on so much weight that they develop the disease. This is illogical. GLP-1 drugs will save Medi-Cal money. It is common sense that a person who is not obese or diabetic will need less medical care over time. Hank Naughton Clinton, Mass.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The experience that changed a Modesto student's perspective on homelessness
'Riverbank council declines more funds for homeless project. Backers address fears,' ( April 23) At the start of my sophomore year of high school, I joined the cross country team. During practices, my teammates and I jogged through neighborhoods toward the local park, crossing through open roads full of life and struggle. I vividly remember the homeless population stuffed into cars on a 94 degree afternoon. These cars, parked without power, were homes for those trapped in a harsh reality. This wasn't a typical sighting of homelessness: There were children in these cars — my age and younger — growing up without opportunities, caught in a relentless cycle of poverty. I realized then how much we as a society take for granted. My education, warm meals and safe and clean living conditions were not just everyday parts of my life, they were privileges. I urge all of us to put ourselves in the shoes of those we overlook. Only by feeling their sense of disconnection and isolation can we truly foster compassion and inclusion. Rudra Patel Modesto Opinion 'California forestry policies: A marriage of priorities?' ( April 24) In the name of wildfire prevention, both President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom are pushing for more logging through mechanisms that skirt environmental oversight, further degrading our forest ecosystems. But thinning usually does more harm than good: It can accelerate fire spread by exposing the forest floor's fuels to sun drying and wind penetration; it significantly lowers carbon sequestration, putting more emissions into the atmosphere; and even the supposed benefits are less impactful in areas where vegetation can grow back quickly and there's a lack of old-growth trees. Most importantly, thinning is often used as a pretext for commercial logging, targeting valuable trees instead of the more fire-prone vegetation. In this case, Trump wants to feed the timber lobby with more lumber, and Newsom has pushed an agenda of building a 'woody products' industry in California. Neither has the environment's best interests at heart. Jeff Zhou Glendale 'Why fossil fuel companies must pay for climate damages,' ( April 18) The fossil fuel industry has made a fortune making me sick: My days in elementary school were spent in an environment full of lead from fossil fuel additives and smog — the pollution was so bad, outdoor physical exercise classes would be cancelled. As a student at UC Santa Barbara, I saw the 1969 oil spill cover our pristine beaches. The fossil fuel industry told us that oil was a 'natural' component of the shoreline. Years later, my father-in-law's home was lost in one of the Malibu fires, and my parents' home was destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire. It is time for the fossil fuel industry to be held accountable for its deceptions. Call your state representatives and demand they pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025. Charles Williams Cupertino
