SideBar: Optimism in Action Welcomes Former CA Senate Majority Leader Bill Monning to Discuss ‘Importance of Your Vote’

The November 4, 2025 election is a great example of a state proposition (California Prop 50) that may have a major impact on the US Congress for years to come.

MONTEREY, CA, UNITED STATES, October 20, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast, sponsored by Monterey College of Law in collaboration with KAZU 90.3, welcomes Bill Monning, former California Senate Majority Leader to discuss why voting in the upcoming November 4th election is essential to protect your individual rights and beliefs.

William “Bill” W. Monning was elected to the California State Senate in 2012 to represent the 17th Senate District. Monning previously served in the California State Assembly for two terms from 2008-2012. Monning represented Senate District 17, which included all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, and portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties. From 2015 through 2018, Senator Monning served as the Senate Majority Leader under two Presidents pro Tempore. Prior to being an elected official, Monning was a professor at the Monterey College of Law and a Professor of International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Monterey (Middlebury) Institute of International Studies.

“It is tempting to think that mid-term elections in which there are no major national candidates on the ballot are less important,” said cohost Jackie Gardina. “However, every election provides you with the opportunity to make sure that your voice is heard,” said Gardina. “This upcoming November 4, 2025 election is a great example of where the vote on a state proposition (California Prop 50) may have a major impact on significant policy and budget issues in the U.S. Congress for years to come,” said cohost Mitch Winick.

Guest Bill Monning explains on this episode of SideBar: Optimism in Action that on the upcoming November ballot, California Proposition 50 is intended to provide a temporary remapping of the voting districts across California that could affect the political balance between the Democratic and Republican parties in California and in the US Congress. “Registering your opinion on this important issue could influence local, state, and federal policies that affect everybody,” says Monning. In reinforcing the podcast’s effort to emphasize optimism, Monning pointed out that “Voting is the ultimate optimistic act. It reflects your belief that democracy works and that your individual opinions are important.”

During his tenure in the Legislature, the Senator was a leading advocate of efforts to prevent childhood obesity and other preventable chronic illnesses through reduced consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, make health care accessible and affordable, secure rights for workers, and reverse the adverse effects of climate change. In 2015, Monning coauthored the landmark End of Life Option Act, which provided mentally-capable, terminally-ill Californians with the option to request a doctor’s prescription for aid-in-dying medication. In his final term, Senator Monning passed legislation to create the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, which provides short- and long-term solutions for Californians who lack access to safe and affordable drinking water.

Monning, Winick, and Gardina encourage all California SideBar listeners to remember to vote on November 4, 2025 or to send in your mail-in ballot before election day.

Special Announcement: KAZU 90.3 radio and SideBarMedia are excited to announce a new collaboration that will add the SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast to KAZU’s digital programming on the station's website (www.kazu.org/sidebar). KAZU is the NPR affiliate station for Monterey, Salinas, and Santa Cruz. Starting Tuesday, October 21, 2025, the SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast - sponsored by Monterey College of Law, a long-standing nonprofit sponsor of KAZU 90.3 radio - will become the first non-newscast, locally produced podcast featured on the KAZU website and mobile application.

SideBar: Optimism in Action is cohosted by former law deans Mitch Winick and Jackie Gardina, produced by David Eakin, a local theater composer, media consultant, and podcast producer, and promoted by Dena Dowsett, social media specialist. “The podcast features nonprofit leaders, advocates, and community members who represent extraordinary work that is improving the humanitarian, public policy, and charitable needs of our local, national, and global communities,” explained Winick. “Our focus this season is on the amazing individuals who are pursuing positive change during challenging times,” said Gardina.

New episodes of SideBar: Optimism in Action are published on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at www.kazu.org/sidebar. To learn more about law dean cohosts Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick, read our blog, and to preview and listen to more than 70 previous episodes, go to SideBarMedia at www.sidebarmedia.org.

Mitchel Winick
SideBarMedia LLC
+1 831-241-8999
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