“We’re talking about close to $2.4 billion in new taxes,” said Republican state Sen. Patricia Bates, who represents portions of Orange and San Diego counties. “Everything in California is costing more and incomes are less.”

As legislators in Sacramento and around the country work to prevent school shootings and protect students from active shooters, Southern California school police officers daily worry about that problem — and many other potential threats to student safety.

“It is time to close the loophole, so that candidates and elected officials cannot use money intended for promoting or opposing ballot measures to instead promote themselves and their campaigns,” state Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) told a Senate committee last month.

The California Senate Government Organization Committee approved SB 465, a bill authored by State Sen. Pat. Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, that would “ensure local governments continue to receive funding for offsite emergency response planning, training and exercises related to the shuttered San Onofre...

If they are serious about restoring the public’s trust, Webb, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should embrace these 2 reforms as part of a broader effort to clean up the DMV mess.