How the meth crisis is harming so many, and how we’re thinking outside the box to deliver evidence-based solutions

Our community faces a serious problem, one that has touched many of our lives and will continue to do so: the meth crisis.

Meth use has spiked all over California and in San Francisco, and worsened through the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased social isolation and mental health issues like depression have only exacerbated the problem. …

On Thursday, McCarthy and several other Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to California’s Public Utilities Commission concerned that California’s net neutrality law would impact a program started after California’s net neutrality law went into effect, where some wireless providers did not count the use of the VA’s telehealth app by veterans on limited plans against their data caps.

This is a non-issue. No benefit or program has been stopped, and the California Attorney General’s office has neither taken action nor threatened to.

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GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s newfound “realization,” one year into a pandemic, that broadband is an essential service…

SB 260 — the first bill of its kind in the nation — mandates all companies with over $1 billion in gross annual revenue disclose and set up targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Sacramento — Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 260, the Climate Corporate Accountability Act (CCAA). SB 260 would be the first law in the country to require U.S.-based companies — those doing business in California and generating over $1 billion in gross annual revenue — to disclose all of their greenhouse gas emissions and set science-based targets to reduce those emissions. SB 260 is…

I won’t lie. It’s been a difficult and frustrating start to 2021.

On the positive side: tomorrow, we’ll have a President and Vice President who believe in science, who believe white supremacy is a bad thing, and who are creating an organized plan to end the pandemic and the economic misery it’s caused.

Also on the positive side: we now have two highly effective and safe vaccines, with one or two more likely to join the list in the coming months. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On the rough side: the pandemic is surging…

What happened on January 6th was nothing short of a violent attempt to overthrow the United States government. We were all shaken by this terrifying attack on our democratic institutions.

We all watched in shock as armed rioters streamed into the Capitol building and as members of Congress, their staff, journalists, and other Capitol employees were forced to evacuate or were sequestered in their offices, praying for their safety and the safety of others.

I won’t mince words: President Trump and his Republican sycophant enablers are responsible for this armed mob storming the Capitol. They’re responsible for delaying our democratic…

As we settle into our second stay-at-home order in the Bay Area, I’ll be honest: it’s a bit of a struggle to offer new words of guidance, comfort, or advice. No one needs to be reminded of how hard a time this is — we’re all living it. Many of us had to make tough phone calls to loved ones to let them know we wouldn’t be gathering for Thanksgiving. And we’ll have to do it again for Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years.

The unusual holiday season, of course, is piling on top of the many reasons folks are struggling…

As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m reflecting on what I’m thankful for during this very unusual and difficult year.

I am thankful for all of our essential workers who keep our communities running during this time.

I’m also thankful for all of you — the members of our community — for hanging in there through the very challenging events of the past 8 months. Thank you for social distancing, for postponing weddings and birthdays, for staying home, for cancelling plans, and for everything else you’ve done to slow the spread of COVID-19. All of your efforts matter — you’ve helped protect our…

All six of my bills that made it to Governor Newsom’s desk this year were signed into law

This legislative session was nothing short of extraordinary — and I mean that in the literal sense. With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on our normal processes and shortening our session, we were forced to cut down on the amount of legislation we pursued.

That being said, amidst the unpredictability of the last 7 months, I’m proud to say that I sent six important progressive reforms to the Governor’s desk, all of which he signed into law.

In total, since I took office four…