Opinion-Editorial

April 26, 2022
Senator Patricia C. Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) recognized Brandi Cassingham as the 2022 Woman of the Year for 36thSenate District. Brandi Cassingham has been the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) & Vice President of Patient Care Services at MemorialCare, Saddleback Medical Center (SMC) in Laguna Hills,...
January 31, 2022
Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) issued the following statement on Assemblymember Kalra’s decision not to move forward with AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act. “I am pleased AB 1400 will not be moving forward this year. The bill would have forced millions of...
September 1, 2021
There is no debate that California faces a housing affordability crisis. We know that it is very costly to rent or buy a home in most parts of the state, especially in the region I represent, which includes northern San Diego and southern Orange counties. Many Californians recognize that increasing...
May 23, 2021
When a bare majority of California’s voters approved Proposition 19 in last November’s election, they likely bought the pitch that it would limit property taxes for seniors, wildfire victims and disabled homeowners. Who could oppose such a feel-good initiative? However, what the supporters of Prop...
April 17, 2021
Like the rest of our nation, many small businesses in San Diego County have struggled to pay bills, keep their workers employed, and provide for their customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the government-mandated shutdown, Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program last year to...
February 25, 2021
Independent contracting and freelancing work have been under assault in California for years because, among other things, it interferes with unionizing efforts. California passed a law in 2019 that significantly hurt worker freedom (Assembly Bill 5) and Congress could pass a similar law this year (...
January 21, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021-22 budget proposal kicks off the annual process of setting California’s spending priorities. Given the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s budget process could be far different from prior years. Click here to read Sen. Bates’ entire commentary in the Orange County...
January 4, 2021
The article “San Diego Scientist Gets Closer to Understanding Why the Coast Collapses” highlights important information about coastal cliff collapses. Unfortunately, the article gives the impression that my legislative effort to prevent further collapses is all about building private seawalls. The...
December 3, 2020
Published by the Sacramento Bee on December 3, 2020
October 30, 2020
Published by the San Diego Union-Tribune on October 29, 2020
June 11, 2020
Re “New emergency agreement for San Onofre provides millions to local governments” (News, June 4):
June 5, 2020
More people will die from bluff collapses if nothing is done. Unfortunately, the Coastal Commission has become the commission of “no” to virtually any strategy besides managed retreat.
June 3, 2020
Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), issued the following statement regarding the events over the past week in the U.S. regarding George Floyd’s death: “The deeply troubling death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has rightly sparked outrage and demands for justice across the nation. Most who...
May 23, 2020
Democrats and Republicans must work together to use California’s rainy day fund prudently and reduce spending in a way that will have the least negative impact on Californians. Failure to do so will only worsen and prolong the painful budget deficit we are now seeing.
May 20, 2020
While powerful forces prefer the state stick to the status quo of doing nothing to shore up our bluffs and improve public safety, I say we must do better.
March 5, 2020
Re “New bill takes aim at voter fraud; raises concerns about voter suppression”
February 25, 2020
Californians deserve better from their state government than another law that would limit their economic opportunities. The Legislature must repeal and replace AB5.
December 29, 2019
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is already dealing with many problems. The last thing that it should be worrying about is whether it is accurately registering people to vote.
December 13, 2019
Re “California’s rising sea level demands aggressive response from state” (Dec. 6): I welcome the call for California’s leaders to address sea level rise in the editorial.
October 28, 2019
Published by the Orange County Register on October 25, 2019.
May 29, 2019
There is broad consensus among North County residents about the need to move the nuclear waste of the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) to a safe and secure location.
April 19, 2019
Published by the Los Angeles Times on April 19, 2019
March 28, 2019
More eligible people voting in our elections is a good thing for our representative democracy. But automatically registering people to vote without their explicit approval at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has led to unacceptable errors affecting our elections and unfairly putting people at risk of violating election laws.
March 25, 2019
While it is not easy to find common ground on solutions, I hope we can agree that taking guns away from high-risk individuals with criminal histories and mental health challenges should be a top priority for government.
January 20, 2019
Gov. Gavin Newsom released his 2019-20 budget earlier this month that, at first glance, has something for everyone to love and dislike. His budget can be classified into three parts — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
April 26, 2022
Senator Patricia C. Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) recognized Brandi Cassingham as the 2022 Woman of the Year for 36thSenate District. Brandi Cassingham has been the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) & Vice President of Patient Care Services at MemorialCare, Saddleback Medical Center (SMC) in Laguna Hills,...
January 31, 2022
Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) issued the following statement on Assemblymember Kalra’s decision not to move forward with AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act. “I am pleased AB 1400 will not be moving forward this year. The bill would have forced millions of...
December 30, 2018
Published by the San Diego Union-Tribune .
December 13, 2018
Democrats hold every statewide office and wield supermajority power in the Legislature. Elections have consequences and many anticipated that Democrats would quickly push for more taxes, more regulations and more government.
September 17, 2018
Published by the Vista Press .
July 6, 2018
California — and San Diego County in particular — has an affordable housing shortage. Coming to a consensus on adequately addressing this shortage has understandably hit speed bumps due to concerns about the environment, public safety and other quality-of-life issues.
June 7, 2018
The Legislature should reject a troubling proposal by the governor to end a state prison's janitorial contract with PRIDE Industries in favor of hiring unionized state employees. A failure to do so will result in a loss for taxpayers, for a vital part of the state's prison health care system and, most importantly, for hard-working people with disabilities.
April 30, 2018
For decades, California progressives have complained about a “loophole” in Proposition 13 that unfairly benefits the owners of commercial real estate to the detriment of homeowners. This characterization has been widely accepted by the mainstream media with little critical analysis.
April 21, 2018
Thanks to Proposition 57, hundreds of sex offenders could be released into our communities through an early parole program. As strong advocates for public safety and most importantly as mothers to our respective families, the prospect of having sexual predators leaving prison early is, to say the least, stomach churning.
April 10, 2018
Published by the San Diego Union-Tribune .
April 6, 2018
The opioid epidemic has negatively impacted the lives of millions of people across the nation, and San Diego County is no exception.

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