Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner of the East Bay said that approach inspired her to successfully push for setting aside $2 billion in this year's state budget to prevent homelessness.

Cities and counties can use that money toward homeless services and emergency rental assistance. She hopes some of that money will be offered to the elderly.

"Emergency rental assistance is the best solution, far better than trying to deal with the problem once they lost their home," Skinner said.

A new study released today by researchers at UC Davis School of Medicine suggests that California’s Gun Violence Restraining Order law (GVRO), also known as a “red flag” law, has prevented mass shootings since it went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.

California’s law, AB 1014, the first of its kind in the nation, was authored by then-Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. AB 1014 allows either a law enforcement officer or a family member to seek a court injunction to remove firearms from a person who poses a significant danger to himself or others.

“The UC Davis study shows the importance of having a tool to get guns out of the hands of dangerous people before it’s too late,” Sen. Skinner said. “It’s imperative that here and across the country we do whatever we can to prevent more mass killings.”

Despite recent efforts to reduce California’s prison incarceration rates, severe racial disparities persist in our criminal justice system. According to a report last month by the Public Policy Institute of California, African-American males account for 28.5 percent of the state’s male prison population, despite the fact that black men make up just 5.6 percent of the state’s adult males.

African-American women and Latinos are also significantly over-represented in state prisons.

Here in the Bay Area, we pride ourselves on being environmental trailblazers. Our achievements include pioneering curbside recycling, prohibiting the use of ozone-depleting Styrofoam, and leading the effort to ban plastic bags, straws, and utensils.

California, likewise, has long been a global leader on environmental and climate change issues. But there is still much work to do, particularly when it comes to reducing air pollution, meeting our renewable energy goals, and slashing the amount of plastic trash that litters our beaches, parks, and waterways.