Public Policy interim chair Mark Peterson spoke to the Los Angeles Times about controversies surrounding Proposition 29, which would require a licensed medical professional to be present while dialysis patients are receiving treatment at the state’s 600 dialysis centers. The measure would also require centers to disclose physician ownership interests and patient infection data. Peterson said voters are often skeptical about issues that they are not properly informed about — in this case, the “high levels of technical detail” about the treatment and care that dialysis patients need. That skepticism is heightened when private interests are involved, he said. “When there is a special interest from one side or the other that’s really pushing a particular ballot initiative, voters add on to their underlying suspicion this general skepticism of why is the ballot initiative process being used by a special interest?”