Commentary: Commission on Status of Women's Job Done

Article here.

'The state is broke. As the governor has said, California needs to focus on core functions like education. As we seriously contemplates trimming three weeks off the school year, even the Commission on the Status of Women's annual budget, a paltry $465 thousand dollars, becomes a luxury the state can no longer afford.

There are plenty of private groups that do what the commission does. The National Organization of Women, The California Budget Project, the American Association of University Women, and more. They aren't going away.

Unlike 1965, when the commission was established, women are a significant presence in commerce today. They now make up more than a quarter of the Legislature. California has a woman Attorney General.

And finally, there's this. The status of men needs attention. Men are more likely to be victims of violence than women. They are more likely to be in prison, or homeless or to commit suicide. Men are less likely to graduate from high school or go to college. They die at younger ages than their sisters. To serve all of its citizens, California urgently needs to get its fiscal house in order. Eliminating the Commission on the Status of Women is one small step in that difficult journey.'